The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines Part 12

_Melia Azedarach_, L.

Nom. Vulg.--_Paraiso_ (_Paradise_), Sp.-Fil.; _Pride of India_, _China Tree_, Eng.

Uses.--The root was official in the U. S. P., 1880, as an anthelmintic; it is administered in the following form:

Fresh root bark 120 grams.

Water 1 liter.

Boil till reduced one half.

Dose.--For a child 1 soup-spoonful every 15 minutes till nausea is produced.

In view of the narcotic effects produced by this drug, the foregoing method of administration seems to us imprudent; we prefer to give 30-70 grams of the decoction and follow with a purgative such as castor oil.

This drug is also tonic, febrifuge and astringent, and a decoction of its leaves and flowers is used as a wash for ulcers. Some believe that the leaves and fruit contain toxic principles, which may well be true considering the effects of large doses of their preparations. It has also been observed that the bark collected in March and April may cause dilatation of the pupil, stupor, etc.; this may be explained by the fact that at this season the sap is rising in the tree and the bark contains an increased amount of active ingredients.

The fruit yields a fixed oil, and by fermentation and distillation produces alcohol.

The root bark referred to is bitter and nauseous, if taken from the superficial roots--the part usually employed; the bark of the deeper parts is astringent by virtue of the contained tannin.

Jacobs a.n.a.lyzed the bark and isolated an amorphous resin of yellowish color and very bitter taste. It is soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform, slightly soluble in sulphuret of carbon, insoluble in turpentine or benzin. He believes that it is the active principle of the root, and produces the anthelmintic action already mentioned: the proper dose is 0.20 centigrams to a child of 4 years, followed by a purge of calomel.

Botanical Description.--A tree, 30-40 high, with leaves alternate, compound, odd-pinnate; leaflets opposite, ovate, pointed, dentate. Flowers in large axillary compound panicles. Calyx, 5 sepals. Corolla, 5 petals, rose-colored within, lilac-colored without. Stamens 10, united into a cylindrical tube, expanded at both ends, the mouth 15-toothed. Anthers inserted near the apex of the tube, short, fleshy, bilocular. Ovary free, of 5 biovuled cells. Style of equal length with the tube. Stigma b.u.t.ton-shaped. Fruit a drupe, about the size of a small olive, yellow when ripe, with a dark brown pit of 5 one-seeded cells.

Habitat.--Native of China; is cultivated in most gardens in the Philippines.

_Dysoxylum Blancoi_, Vidal. (_D. salutare_, F. Villar; _Turroca virens_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Igiw_, _Agiw_, _Taliatan_, Tag.; _Ananangtang_, _Bakugan_, _Makasili_, Vis.; _Malabangaw_, Pam.; _Basiloag_, Iloc.

Uses.--The bark of the trunk, dry and finely powdered, is used in doses of 1 1/2-2 1/2 grams as an emetic, and, according to Padre Blanco, its effect is very certain.

It is also a febrifuge, and Padre Mercado states that it cures "all forms of asthma, suffocative affections of the chest, and griping pains of the belly." He also states that it yields marvelous results in malarial fevers, given during the cold stage in doses of 4-8 grams in water or wine in which it has macerated 12 hours. He also recommends its use before breakfast as an anthelmintic in lumbricoids, and finally attributes to it virtues as an emmenagogue.

Padre Blanco calls attention to the species _D. schizochitoides_, Turcz. (_Turroea octandra_, Blanco), _Himamaw_, Tag., as a subst.i.tute for _D. Blancoi_.

The Tagalo "herb-doctors" pretend that the part of the bark near the earth is doubly efficacious, for which reason they administer only that portion which is within one meter of the ground, giving it in the doses already mentioned.

Botanical Description.--Tree 16-20 meters high. Leaves glabrous, odd-pinnate, petioles very long; leaflets entire, opposite, short-petiolate, acute, oblique at the base. Flowers in axillary panicles. Calyx, 5 imbricated sepals. Corolla, 5 linear, lanceolate petals united at the base. Staminal tube, 10-toothed and 10-anthered. Ovary 5-celled, each cell containing two ovules. Style somewhat longer than the stamens. Stigma thick and depressed. Seed vessel globose, depressed, somewhat downy, 5-angled; with 5 compartments each containing 2 seeds.

Habitat.--Batangas and Laguna.

_Sandoric.u.m Indic.u.m_, Cav.

Nom. Vulg.--_Santol_, Tag.

Uses.--The santol is doubtless one of the best known fruits in Manila. The most savory portion is the center, which consists of seeds covered with a white pulp of a delicious flavor in the ripe fruit of good quality. The fleshy covering is edible only in the center of the fruit and only a very thin layer of that, the rest having very little flavor. The whole fruit is used in making a confection often prescribed as an astringent. Padre Mercado compares it very appropriately to the quince. The root of the santol is aromatic, stomachic and astringent, by virtue of which latter property it is used in Java in the treatment of leucorrhoea.

Botanical Description.--A tree, 30-40 high, well known in the islands. Leaves ternate; leaflets 4-5' long, half-ovate, obtuse, entire, stiff and downy, the middle one elliptical. Flowers in panicles. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla much longer than the calyx, 5 greenish petals, linear and curved downwards. Nectary a cylindrical tube attached to the corolla for half its length, mouth 10-toothed, containing 10 sessile anthers. Style somewhat longer than the stamens. Stigma 5-parted. Fruit about size and form of a small apple, thick, brown, pericarp indehiscent, 5 or more one-seeded compartments.

Habitat.--Grows in all parts of the islands, commonly along the roads.

_Carapa Moluccensis_, Lam. (_Xylocarpus granatum_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Tabigi_, _Nigi_, _Kalumpang sa lati_, Tag.; _Migi_, Pam.

Uses.--The seeds contain a yellow oil, bitter and astringent, with a characteristic odor, having a taste somewhat resembling the odor. In decoction they are used for diarrhoea and dysentery, on account, doubtless, of the tannin they contain. The dose is 1-2 seeds dried, pounded and infused with 200 grams of sweetened water.

The bark, also bitter, is said to be useful in fevers.

In America they extract an oil from the species of the _C. Guianensis_, Aubl., with which the negroes anoint themselves to keep away stinging insects. Wood soaked in this oil is also proof against insects.

Botanical Description.--This tree, 20 high, grows in swampy districts. Leaves opposite, abruptly pinnate. Two pairs of wedge-shaped leaflets, entire and glabrous. Petiole very short. Calyx inferior, 4-5-toothed. Corolla, 4-5 concave petals, slightly notched at the end. Nectary notched, ovate, 8-9-toothed. No filaments. Anthers equal in number to the teeth of the nectary and inserted between them. Ovary very thick, globose. Stigma s.h.i.+eld-shaped. Drupe globose, resembling a very large orange, 5 chambers, each containing 1, 2 or more seeds, convex on one side and concave on the other, angular and much crowded. Testa hard and porous.

Habitat.--Common throughout the Archipelago.

_Cedrela Toona_, Roxb. (_C. odorata_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Kalantas_, Tag., Pam.; _Lanigpa_, Vis.

Uses.--The infusion of the flowers is antispasmodic. The trunk bark is an excellent astringent, and Dr. Waitz recommends it in extract as a treatment for infantile diarrhoea, for which I also have found it very useful. Blume says that it contains marked antispasmodic virtues, and Dr. G. Kennedy confirms it. Other physicians of India, among them Ros and Newton, have recommended the bark as a subst.i.tute for cinchona, given dry in doses of 30 grams.

Infusion.--

Bark dry, pounded 30 grams.

Water 150 grams.

Filter and add:

Syrup of cinnamon 20 grams.

Dose.--Several dessert-spoonfuls a day.

The powdered bark is very useful as an application to indolent ulcers which it instantly deodorizes; like powdered quinine it is used in the treatment of superficial gangrene.

Botanical Description.--A large tree. Leaves odd-pinnate. Leaflets oval, lanceolate, ac.u.minate, entire, glabrous, 5-6 pairs. Flowers yellow, in terminal panicles. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla, 5 oblong petals. Stamens 5, free, inserted on the apex of a disk. Ovaries sessile, 5 many-ovuled cells. Style short. Stigma on a disk. Seed vessel coriaceous, 5 compartments, septicidal, 5-valved. Seeds compressed, pendulous, prolonged in a membranous wing.