The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines Part 24

_Carum coptic.u.m_, Benth. (_C. ajowan_, DC.; _Ammi coptic.u.m_, L.; _A. glaucifolium_, Blanco; _Daucus opticus_, Pers.; _D. anisodorus_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Lamudio_, _Damoro_, Tag.; _Lamudio_, Vis.; _Caraway_, Eng.

Uses.--The fruit, of which both form and taste remind one of anise, is official in the Pharmacopoeia of India as a carminative, stimulant and antispasmodic. It is indicated in flatulent colic, atonic dyspepsia and diarrhoea and gives very good results. It has been used in cholera, but is of little value in that disease. In moderate doses it increases salivary and gastric secretion.

The P. of India contains the 2 following official formulae: _Oleum_--obtained from the fruit by distillation; is colorless when fresh but soon turns yellow; possesses the odor of the fruit and an acrid, burning taste. _Aqua_--600 grams of the fruit ground and mixed with 9 liters of water; this is distilled till 4 1/2 liters have gone over, these const.i.tuting the "aqua cari."

Dose.--1-2 drops of the essential oil in emulsion or on a piece of sugar. Of the "aqua," 30-60 grams as a carminative or to disguise the taste of other drugs (such as castor oil), thus frequently preventing nausea or vomiting.

Botanical Description.--Leaves finely pinnately compound. Common petiole clasps the stem at the base. Flowers white, in flat compound umbels. The secondary peduncles 12. Flowerets of each partial umbel about 16. Calyx of flowerets superior, 5 globose sepals. Corolla, 5 equal petals, with rounded lobules. Stamens 5. Ovary tuberculate. Styles 2, very short. Seeds 2, united, furrowed and nearly glabrous at maturity.

Habitat.--Cultivated in gardens. Blooms in October.

_Foeniculum vulgare_, Gaertn. (_F. officinale_, Allion; _F. panmorium_, DC.; _Anethum foeniculum_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Anis_, Sp.; _Fennel_, Eng.

Coriandrum sativum, L. (_c.u.minum cynimum_, Wall.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Cominos_, _Calantro_, Sp.; _Coriander_, Eng.

Uses.--The fruit of both species has the same therapeutical application being stomachic and carminative par excellence. It yields an aromatic essential oil with stimulant properties, popular because of its agreeable odor and taste.

As a rule the infusion is given in doses of one liter a day (15-30 grams of the seeds to one liter of water). The essence and the alcoholate are also employed, the former obtained by distillation, the latter by macerating the fresh seeds in alcohol. The dose of the essence, 4-8 drops on a piece of sugar or in potion; the alcoholate, 2-10 grams in sweetened water or infusion of aromatic herbs.

Both plants are official in the Spanish Pharmacopoeia and they and their preparations are common in all drug stores.

Habitat.--Common, cultivated in the gardens and well known.

Botanical Description.--_F. vulgare_: Aromatic, stout, smooth herb, 4-6 high. Leaves with many slender thread-like divisions. Large umbel of yellow flowers, no involucre and no involucels. _C. sativum_: Low aromatic herb, leaves pinnately compound, small umbels with few rays, flowers white.

CORNACEae.

Dogwood Family.

_Alangium Lamarkii_, Thwaites. (_A. decapetalum_, _hexapetalum_ and _tomentosum_, Lam.)

Nom. Vulg.--(?)

Uses.--According to Mooden Sheriff, the root bark is an efficient emetic in doses of 3 grams. In smaller doses it is febrifuge and produces nausea. The bark is extremely bitter; its reputation in the treatment of skin diseases is undeserved. It is a good subst.i.tute for ipecac, having given good results in all conditions in which the latter is indicated, with the exception of dysentery.

The febrifuge dose is 0.35-0.60 gram; alterative, 0.15-0.30 gram.

It is furthermore prescribed in India for syphilis and leprosy and is one of the many remedies used for the bites of rabid animals. The bruised leaves are applied to the joints of rheumatic patients.

Botanical Description.--A tree 20-30 meters high, leaves alternate, persistent, petiolate, no stipules, oblong, dentate, ac.u.minate, pinnately nerved. Flowers whitish, regular, hermaphrodite, in terminal cymes. Receptacle concave. Calyx short, 10-toothed. Corolla, 10 narrow, elongated ribbon-like petals. Stamens 30-40, filaments free and glabrous. Ovary inferior, held in the concavity of the receptacle, one-celled, with 1 seed, crowned by an epigynous disc, above which rises a simple style with dilated stigma. Fruit a globose drupe, crowned by the calyx, with 10 inconspicuous ribs. The putamen encloses an alb.u.minous kernel.

Habitat.--The mountains of San Mateo.

DICOTYLEDONOUS, GAMOPETALOUS.

RUBIACEae.

Madder Family.

_Hymenodictyon excelsum_, Wall. (_H. Horsfieldii_, Miq.; _Chinchona excelsa_, Roxb.; _Exostema Philippic.u.m_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Huligaga_, Tag.

Uses.--The bark of this tree has a wide reputation in India as a tonic and febrifuge. The inner layer of the bark possesses astringent and bitter properties much like quinine. Ainslie states that it is used in India to tan hides and therapeutically where an astringent is required. O'Shaughnessy experimented with it in the hospital of the Medical College of Calcutta and reported good tonic and antipyretic effects.

In 1870, according to Dymock, Broughton a.n.a.lyzed the fresh bark and reported that the bitter taste was due to _esculin_, which after drying and coming in contact with decomposing organic matter is transformed into the almost tasteless _esculetin_. Naylor studied the bark at a later period, and attributed the bitterness to an alkaloid that he named _hymenodictyonine_. This substance exists in the form of a gelatinous ma.s.s, cream-colored, very hygroscopic. An ethereal solution, carefully evaporated, deposits it in the form of crystals. Its empirical form is C_23_H_40_N_2_; it is probably volatile and is notable for its lack of oxygen. It differs from _quinoidine_ in that it is inactive (?) and that in combination with platinum it retains less of this metal than does quinoidine. It differs from _paricine_ in its proportion of hydrogen, and from _berberine_ in containing more carbon. In the presence of sulphuric acid its solution a.s.sumes a yellow color, changing to wine-red and then to dark red. Naylor extracted another principle which he found combined with the alkaloid in a soda precipitate of the latter; it is a product of the decomposition of a glucose, the formula of which is C_25_H_49_O_7_. This compound remains insoluble when the alkaloid is treated with ether. Repeated boiling in alcohol renders it colorless. It is bitter, soluble in alcohol and dilute acids; insoluble in ether and chloroform. Reaction, neutral.

Botanical Description.--A large tree, with leaves opposite, oval, entire, acute, downy. Petioles long, flat above, with 2 stipules. Flowers axillary, in compound verticillate racemes. Calyx adherent, with 5 promptly deciduous teeth which leave a scar that also disappears. Corolla much longer than the calyx, funnel-form, the limb 5-cleft. Stamens 5, inserted near the middle of the tube. Filaments rudimentary. Anthers 2-celled. Style longer than the corolla. Stigma globose. Seed-vessel rather rough, ovoid, flattened, of 2 compartments, where are inserted numerous seeds, imbricated, circular, encircled by an entire wing.

Habitat.--Angat and the woods of San Mateo. Blooms in August. (P. Blanco states further that this tree grows to a height of about 3 yards in Angat and that it exhales a strong odor resembling that of vinegar at times, and again like that of tobacco.)

_Oldenlandia corymbosa_, L. (_O. biflora_, Lam.; _O. ramosa_, Roxb.; _O. herbacea_ and _serabrida_, DC.; _O. burmaniana_, Mig.)

Nom. Vulg.--Doubtful.

_Uses._--The Sanscrit writers often mention this plant as an important remedy for the fevers due, according to their theories, to disordered bile, _i. e._, remittent fevers, accompanied by gastric irritability and nervous depression. The entire plant is used to make a decoction, often combined with aromatics. Dymock observed in Goa that this plant could be gotten in all the shops of the herb-venders, and that it was widely used as an alterative in mild fevers in combination with _"Hydrocotyle Asiatica_ and _Adiantum lunulatum_."

In Concan they apply the juice to the hands and feet in fevers, giving at the same time a dose of one "tola" (6.80 grams) in sweetened water or milk. This juice is obtained by soaking the bruised plant in water. In remittent fever the decoction is also used as a liniment for the whole body. It is given internally for skin eruptions due to excessive heat, especially "lichen tropicus."

Botanical Description.--A small herb, stem straight, about 30 centimeters high, glabrous, dichotomous. Leaves opposite, linear, green, lanceolate, stipulate. Flowers small, hermaphrodite, axillary, solitary, or in pairs, alternate or opposite. Calyx gamosepalous with 5 short teeth. Corolla gamopetalous, funnel-shaped. Stamens 5, free, inserted in the tube of the corolla. Ovary inserted in the hollow of the receptacle, 2 many-ovuled locules. Style simple, ending in a bifid stigma. Capsule rounded-oval, membranous. Seeds numerous, polyhedrous, alb.u.minous, surface granular.

Habitat.--In the rice fields.