The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines Part 16

Water 500 grams.

For v.a.g.i.n.al injections a solution of 20 to 250 water.

Botanical Description.--The "pterocarpus," L., is a tree of the first order with odd-pinnate leaves. Leaflets alternate and coriaceous. Flowers yellow, in racemes, with caducous bracts and bractlets. Calyx turbinate, with short teeth. Petals exserted, markedly unguiculate. Standard and wings curled. Keel obtuse with its petals slightly or not at all coherent. The staminal tube, cleft above and below or above only. Stamens superior, often almost, and at times entirely, free. Anthers versatile. Ovary pedunculate, with 2 ovules. Style curved. Stigma terminal. Pod orbicular, smooth or spiny, usually containing one seed, encircled by a broad, rigid wing, the point curved downward.

Habitat.--In the mountains of Luzon, Panay and Mindoro. Blooms in March.

_Pongamia glabra_, Vent. (_Robinia mitis_, L.; _Gadelupa maculata_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Balikbalik_, Tag.; _Butong_, Vis.

Uses.--The oil expressed from the seeds is used in India for lighting purposes, and in addition is of notable therapeutic value. It is an excellent local remedy for the itch, for herpes and especially for pityriasis versicolor, used alone or emulsified with lemon juice. In stubborn cases Dymock recommends the addition of oil of _hydrocarpus_, camphor and powdered sulphur. Dr. Gibson states that he knows of no plant in the vegetable kingdom possessing more notable curative properties in itch, herpes and other cutaneous diseases than the plant under consideration. It is also used as an embrocation in articular rheumatism.

The powdered leaves mixed with common salt and pepper are given internally with a little milk, as a remedy for leprosy.

The juice of the root makes a useful wash for gangrenous ulcers and a good injection for fistula.

Botanical Description.--A tree, 18 high, with leaves opposite, odd-pinnate. Leaflets in 3 pairs, ovate, lanceolate, entire, glabrous and membranaceous. Flowers slightly spotted, racemose. Calyx bell-shaped, with 5 scarcely visible toothlets. Corolla papilionaceous, petals equal, clawed. Standard with 2 callosities athwart the base. Stamens 10, diadelphous. Pod with one seed, which is flat, smooth, veined, bright red.

Habitat.--Luzon and Panay. Blooms in October.

LEGUMINOSae.

Brasiletto Family.

_Caesalpinia Bonducella_, Flem. (_Guilandina Bonducella_, L.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Bayag-Kambing_, _Kalambibit_, Tag.; _Dalugdug_, Vis.; _Fever Nut_, _Physic Nut_, _Bonduc Seeds_, Indo-Eng.

Uses.--The seed is the part of the plant employed and is official in the Pharmacopoeia of India. It is used as a tonic and antiperiodic in intermittent fevers and in general where tonic treatment is indicated. It has given good results in the malarial fevers of India, according to English physicians. The Pharmacopoeia of India contains the following preparation under the name of "Compound Powder of Bonduc"

(Pulvis bonducellae compositus).

Seeds of Bonduc, powdered 30 grams.

Pepper 30 grams.

Mix and keep in a well-corked flask.

Dose.--1-2 grams 3 times a day.

In the Philippines the powdered seed is given in affections of the digestive tract, especially in diarrhoea and feeble digestion. The same name of Bonduc is given to the seeds of another species that grows in the Philippines, _C. Bonduc_, Roxb.; _Kamot-Kabag_, _Bayan-Kambing_, Tag. The seeds are identical in chemical composition and therapeutic indication.

The two princ.i.p.al substances contained in the seeds are an oil, 24% and a resin, 1.88%. The former is straw-colored and slightly bitter by virtue of the presence of a resin that may be precipitated by alcohol. The resin or bitter principle exists as an amorphous powder, white, bitter, not acrid, soluble in chloroform, alcohol, acetone, crystallizable acetic acid, fixed and essential oils; slightly soluble in ether and bisulphide of carbon, insoluble in water and petroleum ether. The alkalies do not affect it. It melts at 140, decomposing and leaving only a carbon. Its discoverers, Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen, have given it the name _bonducin_ (C_14_H_15_O_5_). Hydrochloric acid colors it red; sulphuric acid, a maranthin red in half an hour.

Bonducin seems to be the active principle of the seeds and is given internally in doses of 10-20 centigrams; according to Dr. Isnard, of Ma.r.s.eilles, this dose has given as good results in fevers as the same quant.i.ty of quinine.

Botanical Description.--A shrub with prostrate stem bristling with thorns. Leaves twice abruptly pinnate, a thorn taking the place of the terminal leaflet. Leaflets in 10-14 pairs, ovate, expanded, with a spine at the apex. Common petioles th.o.r.n.y, with 4 leaf-like stipules at the base. Flowers yellow, in racemes. Calyx 5-parted, curved downward. Corolla inserted on the calyx, 5 petals, 4 nearly equal, the uppermost broader and shorter. Stamens 10. Filaments very unequal in height, inserted on the calyx, united and woolly at the base. Pistil very short. Stigma thick. Pod rhomboidal before maturity, p.r.i.c.kly, containing 2 semi-globose seeds with testa hard, mottled and tough.

The other species, _C. Bonduc_, Roxb., is distinguished by leaflets unequal at the base, by the absence of stipules, and by the bright orange yellow seeds.

Habitat.--Common in Luzon, Panay and Jolo. Blooms in December.

_Caesalpinia Sappan_, L.

Nom. Vulg.--_Sibukao_, _Sapag_, Tag.; _Palo del Brasil_, Sp.; _Sappan Wood_, Eng.

Uses.--The decoction of Sibukao is given in hemorrhages, especially of the lungs. It is probably the red color of this decoction which originated the idea of giving it to check bleeding, and this is the practice of the native Filipino doctors, as well as of the Arabs and Hindoos. The natives of Cochin China, reasoning in an opposite manner, prescribe it as emmenagogue. Some authors recommend Sibukao as a subst.i.tute for logwood. The decoction is administered in chronic diarrhoea, especially that of children. A few cases of phlebitis have been reported as occasioned by its use. The extract is made as follows:

Sibukao in small pieces 500 grams.

Boiling water 4 1/2 liters.

Macerate for 24 hours, boil until reduced by half, filter and evaporate the filtrate to a syrupy consistency. Do not use iron vessels.

Sibukao contains much tannin and gallic acid, and a peculiar substance which distinguishes it from logwood, _brasilin_ (C_22_H_20_O_7_), which gives a red color to alkaline solutions instead of blue or purple. It is a crystalline pigment which may be considered a compound of hematoxylon and fenol.

Botanical Description.--A very common tree, 12-15 high, with spiny trunk, leaves twice abruptly pinnate. Leaflets linear, notched at the apex. Flowers racemose. Calyx boat-shaped. Corolla, 5 petals, the uppermost broad, short, spotted red. Stigma bifid. Pod sabre-like, woody, with 3-4 seeds separated by part.i.tions. The wood is well known everywhere in the Philippines, being a very important article of commerce, and there is no fear of logwood being subst.i.tuted for it, as the latter is more expensive, and subst.i.tutions are not ordinarily made under such circ.u.mstances. In commerce it occurs in large pieces of all shapes and forms, since the branches and trunks are cut into pieces which vary from 1/2-2 meters in length. Its color is reddish-yellow or white with more or less red grain. Blooms in September.

_Caesalpinia pulcherrima_, Swartz. (_Poinciana pulcherrima_, L. & Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Flores y Rosas Caballero_, _Caballero_, Sp.-Fil.; _Barbadoes Flower-Fence_, Eng.

Uses.--The leaves are emmenagogue, purgative like those of senna, and excitant. The bark especially is a powerful emmenagogue, used in some countries for criminal purposes. The decoction of the flowers is pectoral and febrifuge and is given in bronchitis, asthma and malarial fever. The flowers contain a bitter principle. The roots are acrid and poisonous. The seeds of the green fruit are eaten frequently by children; when ripe they contain gallic and tannic acids, by virtue of which they are used in tanning hides and to dye yellow combined with alum, and black combined with salts of iron. They also contain a pigment and a resin.

Infusion of the Flowers.--

Flowers of the caballero, dry 20 grams.

Water 500 grams.

Sugar 70 grams.

Mix. Dose, a winegla.s.sful several times a day.

Botanical Description.--A shrub, with p.r.i.c.kly trunk. Leaves twice abruptly pinnate. Leaflets 5-8 pairs, glabrous, ovate and elliptical, bearing a spine at the extremity, 3 stipules to each pair of leaflets. Flowers yellow and red, in racemes on the ends of the branches. Calyx divided almost to the base, with 5 concave parts. Corolla, 5 petals 1' long with short claws, one petal very small and straight, the others larger, with wavy edges. Stamens 10, crimson, 3' long, free, woolly, united at the lower end. Pistil the same length as the stamens. Stigma somewhat concave. Ovary sessile, unilocular, many-ovuled. Pod compressed, with 7 or more seeds inserted on the superior suture and separated from each other by fleshy divisions.