Part 15

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 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.

RUTACEÆ.

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, diaphoretic, antiseptic and abortive. It contains an essential oil, and rutinic acid (C25H28O15, 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 mass. 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 principally 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, bloody 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 passive 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 chorea.

The Chinese make extensive use of this drug and it is one of their principal 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, albuminous.

Habitat.--Common everywhere in the Philippines.

Xanthoxylum oxyphyllum, Edgew. (X. violaceum, Wall.; Fagara 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.

Habitat.--Batangas, Morong, Manila.

Murraya exotica, L. (M. paniculata, Jack.; Connarus foetens, and C. santaloides, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Kamuning, Tag.