The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera (good books for 7th graders TXT) 📕
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The root yields a juice which is employed in skin diseases, in abscess, acid in cardialgia. In Jamaica the juice of the leaves is sometimes used for constipation.
Botanical Description.—A small tree with leaves alternate, simple, entire, irregularly nerved or veined at the base, petiolate. Flowers of a handsome red color, hermaphrodite, regular, axillary. Calyx gamosepalous, tubular, of 5 parts. Corolla, 5 free petals slightly dentate at the point. Stamens numerous, united on a free column on the cusp. Compound nectary of 5 unilocular, many-ovuled ovaries. Styles 5, joined at the base. Fruit of 5 carpels, thin, twisted on themselves in spirals, forming a cone, pubescent, of a greenish-brown color, each containing a single row of angular seeds.
Habitat.—Luzon, Panay.
Abroma fastuosa, R. Br. (A. angulata, Lam.; A. communis, Blanco; A. augusta, L.)
Nom. Vulg.—Anibog̃, Tag.; Anabo, Vis.; Perennial Indian Hemp, Eng.
Uses.—The root bark is used in India as an emmenagogue in the congestive and neuralgic forms of amenorrhœa. It seems to act as a uterine tonic. The dose is 2 grams of the juice of the fresh root mixed with pepper which also acts as a carminative and stomachic.
Botanical Description.—A shrub 3–4 meters high with hairy branches. Leaves opposite, oval, oblong, serrate, tomentose. Flowers purple, solitary, terminal. Calyx, 5 sepals. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 5, united in the form of a tube. Ovary sessile, with 5 many-ovuled compartments. Styles 5, united in the form of a tube which divides into 5 stigma-bearing branches. Capsule membranous, 5-angled, truncate, dehiscent at apex. Seeds albuminous, covered with filaments of cotton.
Habitat.—San Mateo, La Laguna, Batangas, Iloilo.
Theobroma Cacao, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Cacao.
Uses.—The roasted bean ground with sugar constitutes chocolate, one of the most generally used foods of the Philippines.
It is very nutritious by virtue of the fat and sugar it contains, but all stomachs do not bear it well and its use is the unsuspected cause of much dyspepsia. The custom of drinking it very hot and following with a large quantity of cold water is a very common cause of dilatation of the stomach in the Philippines. The seed of the cacao contains several substances: cacao butter, albumin, theobromine, starch, glucose, gum, tartaric acid, free or combined, tannin, and mineral substances. Of these the butter and theobromine are the most important.
Theobromine (C7H8N4O2) is a weak alkaloid, crystalline, slightly bitter, slightly soluble in cold water, more soluble in hot water, less soluble in alcohol and ether; stable in the air up to 100°; sublimes without decomposition at 290° in microscopic crystals of the form of rhomboid prisms ending in an octohedric point (Keller).
This alkaloid is very little used in therapeutics and its physiological action is said to be analogous to that of caffeine but weaker. It is better to use the salt of the alkaloid, and that most frequently employed is the salicylate of soda and theobromine in doses of from 2 to 6 grams daily in solution or pill. Lately, however, Dr. Gram has maintained that theobromine is a powerful diuretic operating when other diuretics fail and further that this effect is produced without injuring the heart. The double salt is non-toxic, though sometimes in exceedingly weak patients it produces vertigo. Dr. Gram administers 6 grams a day in one-gram doses.
Cacao butter is a white substance, slightly yellowish, unctuous to the touch, brittle; with the agreeable odor peculiar to cacao, and a sweet and pleasant taste. Its density is 0.961, it melts at 30°–33°, and solidifies at 25°. It dissolves in 20 parts of boiling alcohol, in 100 parts of cold alcohol and in twice its weight of benzin. Cacao butter is obtained by grinding or mashing the roasted seeds in a hot apparatus and mixing the mass with a fifth or tenth of its weight of boiling water. It is then pressed between two hot iron plates and the butter thus obtained is refined by boiling water. It is then put aside in earthen pans, or still better, in moulds, where it solidifies. It does not easily become rancid and, for this reason, enters into the composition of many ointments and pomades, or is used alone. It serves as the base for suppositories and is, finally, a highly valued cosmetic. A common substitute is made by mixing oil of almonds, wax and animal fat.
Before going further let us describe the composition of Spanish chocolate according to the French chemist Boussingault:
Botanical Description.—A small tree about 10° high, with leaves broad, 6–12′ long, hanging or drooping, lanceolate, entire, and somewhat pubescent on both surfaces. Petioles very short with 2 deciduous stipules at the base. Flowers in clusters on the roots, trunk and branches. Peduncle very long. Nectary divided in 5 parts, straight, awl-shaped and 2-nerved. Calyx, 5 sepals. Corolla, 5 petals curved upward in the form of a bow as far as the middle, where they form a hollow with two little horns; then curving downwards, then upwards, widening at the end, the edge finely dentate. Stamens 5, inserted on the nectary, and alternating with the lobes of the latter. Anthers 2 on each filament, concealed in the hollows of the petals. Ovary globose. Style awl-shaped. Stigma cleft almost to the middle, 5-parted. Fruit broad, spindle-shaped, 4′ or more long, dark reddish, warty, 10-ribbed, with 5 compartments each containing many compressed, ovoid seeds.
Habitat.—Common in orchards and gardens throughout the islands.
Geranium Family.
Oxalis corniculata, L. (O. Acetosella, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Taig̃an dogá, 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 potassium 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 quantity of oxalic acid mixed with potassium oxalate. In China, India and the Philippines the entire plant is used as an antiscorbutic.
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 potassium 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 Cebú.
Biophytum sensitivum, DC. (B. cumiagianum, Turez.; Oxalis sensitivum, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Makahiya, Damog̃hiya, 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 Linnæus 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 refreshing and is given internally mixed with water and sugar as a refreshing drink in fevers and as an antiscorbutic. For the latter the ripe fruit is eaten uncooked.
In Mauritius the juice is used to treat dysentery and hepatitis. Padre Blanco says that the natives use a decoction of camias and unthreshed rice in diarrhœa and bilious colic. In connection with the subject of camias and balimbins we should
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