Part 2

Father Blanco, in describing certain plants, mentions their medicinal uses in the Philippines, but his descriptions are few and very deficient as one would expect in a work of the scope of his Flora. A Jesuit of some reputation, Father Clain, published in Manila in 1712 a book entitled "Remedios fáciles para diferentes enfermedades?" in which he speaks of the medicinal virtues of some of the indigenous plants, almost the same ones that appear in another work, a frank and pleasing little treatise written by Father Santa Maria. Father Mercado is the only one who has written a special treatise on the subject and his manuscript remained unedited until the Augustinian Fathers of Manila published it in the last edition of Father Blanco's "Flora"; but neither this work nor those of Clain or Santa Maria are useful to a physician, nor are they as accurately written as works of a scientific character should be. From time to time superficial articles have appeared in the Manila papers regarding the virtues of some plant or other and these books and articles comprise the whole literature on the subject up to this time.

Some physicians regard with small favor the therapeutic application of plants by the Filipino "herb-doctors" (curanderos) as being entirely empirical. This disparagement is unjustified because in all the most rational and scientific remedies that we make use of, the first step towards the final development of their relative position among remedies is due to empiricism which is founded on daily experience, on observation of results obtained in specific cases, facts that are handed down from father to son for generations. The scientific explanation is lacking, but those first ideas frequently owing their origin to chance, or, perhaps, to superstition, have often been based upon the observation of facts which, although fortuitous, are none the less positive.

Many of the plants mentioned in this book are official in the Pharmacopoeia of India and we see no reason why their use should be proscribed in the Philippines. Filipino physicians not only can but should employ many indigenous plants in their therapeutics; in many instances they would find them more useful than the exotics, which are not always fresh and are commonly reduced in strength by long keeping or damaged by some circumstance of voyage or climate. The price is another argument in favor of the use of native drugs. If the pharmacists would prepare extracts and keep on hand the crude drugs most in demand the public would gain a great advantage and the druggists be well repaid for their labor. Physicians and pharmacists will surely understand these advantages and when finally one considers that the patients generally prefer to be treated with native plants, I feel justified in the hope that their use will spread rapidly in the Philippines.

To employ therapeutically the drugs described in this work is not to experiment "in anima vilis," as some would have us believe. To experiment is to employ unknown remedies of unknown virtues and properties.

In this treatise I am not attempting to fix the indications for this or that product, but simply make known the diseases in which the Filipinos and the natives of other countries employ the products. Any physician has a perfect right to prescribe these drugs, as have also the "curanderos" and even the laity, with this difference, however, that the physician is capable of observing results and guiding himself by the physiologic action of the drugs. His knowledge of the physiologic and anatomo-pathologic problems of the human body, will enable the physician to make scientific inferences that would be hidden from the common "curandero."

As neither the Manila nor the provincial physicians keep these medicinal plants in stock, with the exception of those that are official in the European and American pharmacopoeias, it will be necessary for the physician who wishes to use them, to busy himself with seeking them and laying in a sufficient stock to serve him when the opportunity presents itself. It is necessary to preserve them by drying and this is best done by exposing them several days to the fresh air in a dry place--for example, the corridors of the house--being careful not to expose them to the rays of the sun, in which latter event the fleshy and juicy plants which do not desiccate rapidly, putrefy or ferment.

A convenient way to get them is to visit the Binondo Square where there has been market for native drugs from time immemorial. The gardeners from the neighboring towns, especially those from Pasay and Singalon, regularly offer the plants for sale and will undertake to supply you with any that may not be on hand. Inasmuch as the common names of the plants lead to many mistakes and much confusion, it is indispensable to acquaint one's self with the description of the plant and be sure that the actual product conforms in all respects to the description. For this purpose it is well to obtain flowering specimens, and bearing this fact in mind I have been careful to indicate the flowering season of each plant. By making excursions to the towns of San Mateo and Angono I have obtained an abundance of whatever I sought and at the same time have learned by talking with the mountaineers and "curanderos," what uses they make of their plants. The "curanderos" know a great deal concerning these uses, but become very reticent as soon as they are questioned about them. Whether it is dread of ridicule or selfishness or fear that silences them, the fact remains that it is no easy matter to glean any useful facts from them. And yet by tact and friendliness one may elicit much more information from them than first impressions would lead one to hope.

Leaves should be gathered when fully developed, rejecting the old, dried and worm-eaten ones.

The best time to gather bark is one month before the period of inflorescence, when it is rich in sap. The flowers are best gathered when about half expanded. The fruit is gathered green or ripe according to the active principle sought. The seeds should always be mature.

Not all parts of the plant are equally provided with the active principle which may be localized in the root or the flower; or distinct principles may exist in different parts of the same plant. Therefore the part indicated, and only that part, should be employed.

In the root the active substance usually resides in the bark, sometimes in the parenchyma that envelopes the woody tissue and rarely in the woody tissue itself, as, for example, in "rhubarb" and "pareira brava."

The stem bark is also a frequent seat of the active principle, of which the outer portion contains the greater amount, according to the valuable experiments of Howard.

Some plants owe their therapeutic importance to their wood, others to their leaves or flowers, and regarding the localization of the active principle in these parts we have nothing especial to indicate. The fruit, however, may have a pericarp consisting of mucilage, starch, sugar and gum, etc., while the seeds contain fatty matter, fixed or essential oils or alkaloids, as is the case with coffee and cacao. In view of these facts, we repeat that it is indispensable to use that part of each plant which I have indicated as applicable to a determined case or condition.

I earnestly hope that the physicians and pharmacists practising in the Philippines may undertake investigations and experiments regarding the therapeutic properties of the plants of my native land, and that my endeavors may have acted as a stimulus or inspiration to the loyal and earnest study of the subjects that are now awakening such interest, not only in Europe and America, but in India and Japan.

I should be pleased to receive notes, plants or reports of researches from any one interested in the subject matter of this book, and I shall consider it a pleasure, as well as a duty, to devote my forces, small as they may be, to aiding any one who may do me the honor to claim my assistance.

T. H. P. de Tavera.

Paris, April, 1892.

CONTENTS.

Dicotyledonous, Polypetalous.

Dilleniaceæ--Tetracera macrophylla 17-18 Magnoliaceæ--Illicium anisatum, Michelia Champaca 18-20 Anonaceæ--Artabotrys odoratissimus, Anona squamosa, A. reticulata, A. muricata 20-22 Menispermaceæ--Tinospora crispa, Anamirta Cocculus, Cissampelos Pareira 22-27 Nymphæaceæ--Nymphæa Lotus, Nelumbium nucifera 27-28 Papaveraceæ--Argemone Mexicana 29-30 Cruciferæ--Brassica juncea, Raphanus sativus 30-31 Capparidaceæ--Cleome viscosa, Cratæva religiosa 31-32 Bixineæ--Bixa Orellana, Pangium edule 32-34 Portulacaceæ--Portulaca oleracea 34 Guttiferæ--Garcinia mangostana, G. venulosa, G. Cambogia, G. morella, Ochrocarpus pentapetalus, Calophyllum Inophyllum, Mesua ferrea 35-40 Dipterocarpeæ--Dipterocarpus turbinatus 40-42 Malvaceæ--Sida carpinifolia, Abutilon Indicum, Urena sinuata, Hibiscus Abelmoschus, H. tiliaceus, H. Rosa-Sinensis, Thespesia populnea, Gossypium herbaceum, Bombax malabaricum, Eriodendron anfractuosum 42-51 Sterculiaceæ--Sterculia foetida, S. urens, Kleinhovia hospitata, Helicteres Isora, Abroma fastuosa, Theobroma Cacao 51-57 Geraniaceæ--Oxalis corniculata, Biophytum sensitivum, Averrhoa Bilimbi, A. Carambola 58-61 Rutaceæ--Ruta graveolens, Xanthoxylum oxyphyllum, Murraya exotica, M. Koenigi, Citrus acida, Bigaradia decumana, Ægle decandra, Feronia elephantum 61-70 Simarubaceæ--Samadera Indica 71-72 Burseraceæ--Garuga pinnata, Canarium commune 72-75 Meliaceæ--Melia Azedarach, Dysoxylum Blancoi, Sandoricum Indicum, Carapa Moluccensis, Cedrela Toona 75-80 Celastraceæ--Celastrus paniculata 80-81 Rhamnaceæ--Zizyphus Jujuba, Rhamnus Wightii 81-82 Anacardiaceæ--Mangifera Indica, Anacardium occidentale, Odina Wodier 82-86 Moringeæ--Moringa pterygosperma 86-88 Leguminosæ (Papilionaceæ)--Agati grandiflora, Abrus precatorius, Mucuna pruriens, Erythrina Indica, Clitoria ternatea, Pterocarpus santalinus, P. Indicus, P. erinaceus, Pongamia glabra 88-95 Leguminosæ (Cæsalpineæ)--Cæsalpinia Bonducella, C. Sappan, C. pulcherrima, Cassia fistula, C. occidentalis, C. alata, Tamarindus Indica, Bauhinia malabarica 96-106 Leguminosæ (Mimoseæ)--Entada scandens, Parkia Roxburghii, Acacia Farnesiana 106-109 Crassulaceæ--Kalanchoe laciniata 109-110 Combretaceæ--Terminalia Catappa, T. Chebula, Quisqualis Indica 110-113 Myrtaceæ--Psidium pomiferum, Eugenia Jambolana 113-116 Melastomaceæ--Melastoma malabatrichum 116-117 Lythraceæ--Ammannia vesicatoria, Lawsonia alba, Punica Granatum 117-122 Onagraceæ--Jussiæa suffruticosa 122-123 Passifloraceæ--Carica Papaya 123-127 Cucurbitaceæ--Trichosanthes palmata, T. anguina, T. cucumerina, Lagenaria vulgaris, var. Gourda, var. courgourda, var. clavata, Luffa Ægyptiaca, Momordica balsamina, M. charanta, Citrullus Colocynthis 127-134 Ficoideæ--Trianthema monogyna 134 Umbelliferæ--Hydrocotyle Asiatica, Carum copticum, Foeniculum vulgare, Coriandrum sativum 134-138 Cornaceæ--Alangium Lamarkii 138-139

Dicotyledonous, Gamopetalous.

Rubiaceæ--Hymenodictyon excelsum, Oldenlandia corymbosa, Randia dumetorum, Ixora coccinea, Coffea Arabica, Morinda citrifolia bracteata, M. tinctoria, Pæderia foetida. 140-149 Compositæ--Eupatorium Ayapana, Blumea balsamifera, Sphoeranthus Indicus, Spilanthes Acmella, Artemisia vulgaris, Carthamus tinctorius 149-155 Plumbagineæ--Plumbago Zeylanica 155-156 Sapotaceæ--Achras Sapota, Mimusops Elengi 156-158 Oleaceæ--Jasminum Sambac 158-159 Apocynaceæ--Allamanda cathartica, Thevetia nerifolia, Cerbera Odallam, Plumeria acutifolia, Alstonia scholaris, Nerium odorum 159-167 Asclepiadaceæ--Calotrops gigantea, Tylophora asthmatica 167-170 Loganiaceæ--Strychnos Ignatii 171-173 Boraginaceæ--Ehretia buxifolia 173 Convolvulaceæ--Ipomoea hederacea, I. pes-capræ, I. Turpethum 174-176 Solanaceæ--Solanum nigrum, Capsicum fastigiatum, Datura alba, Nicotiana Tabacum 176-182 Scrophulariaceæ--Limnophila menthastrum 182-183 Bignoniaceæ--Oroxylum Indicum 183-184 Pedaliaceæ--Sesamum Indicum 184-185 Acanthaceæ--Acanthus ilicifolius, Barleria Prionitis, Justicia Gendarussa, Adhatoda vasica, Rhinacanthus communis 185-190 Verbenaceæ--Lippia nodiflora, Tectona grandis, Vitex trifolia, V. Negundo, Clerodendron infortunatum 190-194 Labiatæ--Ocimum basilicum, O. gratissimum, O. sanctum, Coleus aromaticus, Rosmarinus officinalis, Anisomeles ovata, Leucas aspera 195-199 Plantaginaceæ--Plantago erosa 199 Nyctaginaceæ--Mirabilis Jalapa 199-200 Amaranthaceæ--Amaranthus spinosus, Achyranthes obtusifolia 200-202 Chenopodiaceæ--Chenopodium ambrosioides 202-203 Aristolochiaceæ--Aristolochia Indica 203-204 Piperaceæ--Piper Betle, P. nigrum 204-207 Chloranthaceæ--Chloranthus officinalis 207-208 Lauraceæ--Cinnamomum pauciflorum, C. tamala, Cassytha filiformis 208-210 Euphorbiaceæ--Euphorbia pilulifera, E. neriifolia, E. Tirucalli, Phyllanthus reticulatus, P. Niruri, P. urinaria, Jatropha Curcas, Aleurites Moluccana, Croton Tiglium, Acalypha Indica, Echinus Philippensis, Ricinus communis 210-223 Urticaceæ--Artocarpus integrifolia, Laportea gaudichaudiana 223-225 Casuarineæ--Casuarina Sumatrana 225-226

Monocotyledons.

Musaceæ--Musa paradisiaca, M. sapientum 227-228 Zingiberaceæ--Zingiber officinale, Curcuma longa, Elettaria Cardamomum 228-231 Amaryllidaceæ--Crinum Asiaticum 231-232 Liliaceæ--Aloes Barbadensis, Allium sativum, A. Cepa 232-234 Palmæ--Areca Catechu, Cocos nucifera, Nipa fruticans 234-238 Cyperaceæ--Cyperus rotundus 239 Gramineæ--Zea Mays, Andropogon Schoenanthes, Saccharum officinarum, Oriza 240-243 Bambuseæ 243-244

EXPLANATION.

For the common words of the different Filipino dialects I have adopted the orthography which in my various treatises on those dialects I have demonstrated to be the easiest, most rational and convenient. I should be inconsistent as to my own theories and convictions if I continued to follow the old form of spelling. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the matter I will state that the consonants are pronounced as follows:

g always as in get. h gutturalized aspirate. k as in English. w always as initial w in English, win, wan. ng as ng in sing, hung, etc.

ABBREVIATIONS.