The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines Part 9

GERANIACEae.

Geranium Family.

_Oxalis corniculata_, L. (_O. Acetosella_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Taingan doga, Susokayoli_, Tag.; _Darasig_, Vis.; _Malabalugbug dagis_, _Ayo_, _Kongi_, _Yayo_, Pam.; _Indian Sorrel_, Eng.

Uses.--The part of the plant used in medicine is the leaf which is acid by virtue of the pota.s.sium oxalate which it contains. The decoction is used internally as an antipyretic in fevers and in dysentery. Mistaking the properties of the plant it is given for vesical calculus which, if composed of oxalates, would be increased instead of diminished by the treatment. In fact the salt of sorrel in the leaves contains a large quant.i.ty of oxalic acid mixed with pota.s.sium oxalate. In China, India and the Philippines the entire plant is used as an antis...o...b..tic.

The cold infusion of the leaves is given internally in doses of from 30 to 60 grams, but it is not a medicine to be given indiscriminately, because in addition to its power of adding to the bulk of calculi of the oxalates, the contained pota.s.sium oxalate is poisonous in doses of 25 to 30 grams. If a concentrated solution is taken, it operates as a corrosive poison, producing violent pains in the stomach, vomiting, faintness and great weakness. If the solution is dilute its absorption is rapid and it operates very energetically. When a patient is poisoned by a concentrated solution, the stomach-pump is contraindicated, because the mucous membrane of the organ is corroded and ulcerated; if by a dilute solution, use the pump to remove as much of the poison as possible. The best antidote is a watery solution of a soluble salt of lime, _i. e._, the saccharate, which forms an insoluble salt with oxalic acid.

The juice of the leaves is an antidote for the _Datura_ (Stramonium). In India they make a decoction of the plant, mix it with onion juice and apply it to the head as a fomentation in hemicrania.

Botanical Description.--A plant 1 high, with a creeping, glabrous stem, leaves horizontal, ternate with common long petiole. Leaflets sessile, obcordate, with downy borders. Flowers axillary or terminal, from 1 to 3 in number on a common long peduncle. The pedicel is also long. Calyx common to the family. Corolla, 5 petals ending in small claws. Stamens 10, monadelphous, the 5 shorter ones bearing each a small gland on the outer surface of the base. Ovary large, fluted. Styles 5, short. Stigmas hemispherical. Seed vessel pyramidal, containing many seeds enveloped in an elastic aril by which they are ejected when the fruit opens.

Habitat.--Abundant in Luzon, Panay and Cebu.

_Biophytum sensitivum_, DC. (_B. c.u.miagianum_, Turez.; _Oxalis sensitivum_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Makahiya_, _Damonghiya_, Tag.; _Mahihiin_, Iloc.

Uses.--A decoction of the leaves is used internally as an expectorant. The bruised leaves are used as an application to wounds and contusions. In Java the decoction is used internally in asthma, phthisis and snake bites.

The peculiar property which this plant possesses of closing its leaves when touched, has caused the natives of India to attribute to it mysterious virtues. Symbolism has determined its therapeutic application and the Hindoos pretend that it endows with delicacy and modesty women who lack these virtues and that it restores virginity.

Botanical Description.--A plant about 7' high. Stem straight, nodose and without branches. Leaves abruptly pinnate, the place of the odd leaflet taken by a stylet. The leaflets nearly linear with a small point at the apex, 11-13 pairs, 2 stipules to each pair. Common petioles long, cleft at the base and disposed in whorls around and on the end of the stem. Flowers sessile, verticillate, on the ends of several very long peduncles which rise from the midst of the petioles. Calyx, 5 sepals. Corolla, 5 petals, clawed, rounded at the end and slightly notched, forming a tube. Stamens 10, free. A small gland on the outer surface of the base of each short stamen. Styles 5. Seed vessels ovate, 5-angled, containing many seeds.

Habitat.--Common in all parts of the islands.

_Averrhoa Bilimbi_, L.

Nom. Vulg.--_Kamias_, _Kalamias_, Tag.; _Kilingiwa_, Vis.; _Pias_, Iloc.

Uses.--The small fruit of the camia springing from the branches and trunks of the trees is widely known in the Philippines, where they eat it green, pickled, and in salad; and when ripe fresh and preserved. Its qualities and therapeutic applications are the same as those of the following species.

Botanical Description.--A tree 4-5 meters high with odd-pinnate leaves. Leaflets 12 pairs, ovate, linear, acute, soft and downy. Flowers small, pinkish or purplish, on trunk and branches. Stamens 10, five alternately longer. Pistils divergent. Fruit oblong, obtuse at the end, with five broad ribs.

Habitat.--Very common throughout the islands.

_Averrhoa Carambola_, L.

Nom. Vulg.--_Bilimbin_, _Balimbin_, Tag.

Uses.--The common name of this tree, whose fruit is so common, causes it to be confused with the name which Linnaeus gives to the former species. Balimbin is a fruit of an acid taste, agreeable when ripe, serving the same uses for food as the camia. Its acidity is due to the presence of oxalic acid, which makes the green fruit useful for removing ink and rust stains from clothes. The juice of the fruit is refres.h.i.+ng and is given internally mixed with water and sugar as a refres.h.i.+ng drink in fevers and as an antis...o...b..tic. For the latter the ripe fruit is eaten uncooked.

In Mauritius the juice is used to treat dysentery and hepat.i.tis. Padre Blanco says that the natives use a decoction of camias and unthreshed rice in diarrhoea and bilious colic. In connection with the subject of camias and balimbins we should mention the fruit treatment of the bilious diarrhoea of the tropics, spoken of by the French physicians of Cochin China. Dr. Van der Burg of the Dutch Indies also strongly recommends the treatment of diarrhoea by fruits; in temperate regions using fruits like peaches, pears, etc., and in the tropics, lychies, mangosteens, etc. In regard to the mangosteens we must not forget that, while the bark is given because of the amount of tannin it contains, the composition of the pulp is very different. The fruit acids seem to exercise great influence in the cure of this obstinate disease and I do not hesitate to recommend for this purpose the camia and the ripe balimbin.

Botanical Description.--A tree much like the former. Leaves odd-pinnate. Leaflets, 3-4 pairs, obliquely ovate, acute, the terminal leaflet nearly lanceolate. Flowers on the trunk, branches and in the axils of the leaves. Fruit oblong, with 5 very prominent acute-angled ribs.

Habitat.--It grows, like the former plant, in all parts of the islands.

RUTACEae.

Rue Family.

_Ruta graveolens, L._ (_L. angustifolia_, Pers.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Rudu_, Sp.; _Rue_, Eng.

Uses.--The rue of the European, American and Indian pharmacopoeias is emmenagogue, antispasmodic, anthelmintic, excitant, diaph.o.r.etic, antiseptic and abortive. It contains an essential oil, and rutinic acid (C_25_H_28_O_15_, Borntrager), starch, gum, etc. The essential oil is greenish-yellow, thick, acrid and bitter; specific gravity 0.911. It boils at 228, is slightly soluble in water, and soluble in absolute alcohol. It is promptly oxidized by nitric acid, and is converted into pelargonic acid and other fatty acids.

Rutin (or rutinic acid), according to Weiss, is a glucoside which exists in the form of fine needles, bright yellow in color. It is slightly soluble in cold water and more so in boiling water. It melts at 190, and solidifies at freezing point, forming a resinous ma.s.s. Its physiological properties are as yet unknown. The part of the plant employed is the leaves, which owe their property, apparently, to the essential oil they contain, from which they also derive their strong and disagreeable odor and their bitter, acrid and nauseous taste.

It is used princ.i.p.ally as a uterine stimulant or emmenagogue, for which purpose it is given in doses of 0.10-0.15 centigrams of the freshly powdered leaf and 0.05-0.10 centigrams of the fresh leaves infused in a liter of water. The dry powder of the leaf should not be used because the essential oil volatilizes and a large proportion of it is lost, which is the most active principle of the drug. It is an agent which should be prescribed with the greatest prudence for large doses are poisonous even to the point of causing death. The symptoms following such doses are colic, vomiting, b.l.o.o.d.y diarrhoea and tenesmus.

It is also used as an antihemorrhagic after childbirth, but its action is slow, not being felt for several hours after the administration of the drug; for this reason it cannot take the place of ergot, though it seems to be superior to the latter in pa.s.sive hemorrhages. The essential oil is given internally in doses of 2-6 drops on a piece of sugar. It is sometimes used as an antispasmodic in hysteria, epilepsy and ch.o.r.ea.

The Chinese make extensive use of this drug and it is one of their princ.i.p.al abortives. In Hindostan the dried leaves are burnt and the smoke inhaled as a cure for catarrh in children. They are careful not to administer it to pregnant women.

Botanical Description.--A plant, 1 meter high, with leaves alternate, compound, the inferior ones 2-3-cleft; leaflets narrow, oblong, slightly fleshy. Flowers greenish-yellow, hermaphrodite, arranged in corymbose terminal cymes. Corolla, 4-5 free, concave petals. Calyx deeply divided, persistent. Stamens 8-10, free, in two whorls, inserted beneath a thick disc. Ovaries 5, unilocular, many-ovuled. Styles 5, first free, then united, forming a column terminating in a small stigma. Follicles 5, united at the base, 1 centimeter long, free superiorly, hard, rounded, rugose, opening on top. Seeds ovoid, angular, blackish, alb.u.minous.

Habitat.--Common everywhere in the Philippines.

_Xanthoxylum oxyphyllum_, Edgew. (_X. violaceum_, Wall.; _f.a.gara piperita_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Kayutana_, Tag.; _Salay_, _Saladay_, Vis.

Uses.--The trunk bark is stimulant and is used as a sudorific in the treatment of fevers. The fresh bark is quite irritating, for which reason it is best to use bark taken from the more mature parts of the trunk, powdered and desiccated. The dose is 1/2-2 grams 2-3 times a day. Its stimulating properties render it useful in colic and in India it is used as a stomachic and digestive. Is seems also to possess diuretic properties.

Botanical Description.--A tree 30-35 high, with trunk thickly set with large spines. Leaves odd-pinnate. Leaflets ovate, acute, obtusely serrate, small transparent vesicles on the surface, spines on the midrib and common petiole. Calyx very small, monophyllous. Corolla twice as large as the calyx, 4 petals. Stamens 4, inserted on the receptacle, the same length as the petals. Ovary superior, 4-angled. No style. Stigmas 2.