Part 23

Abrus precatorius, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Saga, Sagamamin, Bangati, Tag.; Bangati Gikosgikos, Vis.; Kanaasaga, Pam.; Bugayon, Iloc.; Jequiriti, Prayerbeads, Eng.

Uses.--The part of the plant most important in therapeutics is the seed, the size of a small pea, bright red with a black spot, hard and shining. The Filipino children use them to make rosaries and other decorations. In the distant past the Filipinos used these seeds to weigh gold, a practice followed even to-day by the Hindoos. The famous Susrutas, author of the "Ayur Veda," recommends them internally for nervous diseases; modern therapeutics, however, limits their use to one disease, though that is frequent and stubborn enough, namely chronic granular conjunctivitis.

Some physicians state that these seeds are poisonous and others the contrary, but the fact that they are used as food among the poor classes of Egypt, demonstrates their harmlessness in the digestive tract at least; when introduced into the circulation they undoubtedly exercise a toxic effect. We have already mentioned that their use is limited nowadays to the therapeutics of the eye; the decoction of the seeds known in Europe under the name of "Jaqueriti"--so named in Brazil--produces a purulent inflammation of the healthy conjunctiva and it is precisely this counter-irritant effect which makes it useful in chronic granular conjunctivitis, the persistence of which has defied the most heroic measures of therapeutics. The French oculist, Dr. de Wecker, was the first to employ jequirity for this purpose, in the form of a 24 hours' maceration of the seeds, 10 grams to 500 grams of water. It is necessary to use a product recently prepared and with this several applications a day are made. It is now known that the inflammation of the healthy conjunctiva is not caused by germ-life contained in the solution but by an inorganic ferment discovered by Bruylans and Venneman and named jequiritin; they state that it is produced during the germination of the seeds or of the cells in the powdered seeds. Warden and Waddell, of Calcutta, have isolated an essential oil, an acid named "ábric" and an amorphous substance called abrin, obtained by precipitation with alcohol from a watery infusion of the pulverized seeds. Its action is identical with that of "jequiritin."

The infusion appears to possess considerable value as a stimulating application to indolent ulcers.

The root is a good substitute for licorice, is emollient and has an agreeable taste. The extract is useful in catarrhal diseases of the bronchi and in dysuria. The leaves contain the same properties as the root and an extract prepared from them is used as a substitute for licorice.

Botanical Description.--A vine, with leaves opposite, abruptly pinnate, a stylet taking the place of the terminal leaflet. Leaflets linear, entire, glabrous, tipped with a small point. Common petiole with 2 awl-shaped stipules at the base. Flowers in small racemes. Calyx gamosepalous, caducous, 4-5 short teeth. Corolla papilionaceous, wings horizontal. Stamens 9, monadelphous with bilocular anthers. Style very short. Stigma globose. Pod 4-5 cm. long, truncate at the ends, with 5-6 red seeds, each with a black spot.

Habitat.--Common in all mountainous regions of the islands. Grows near houses and roads.

Mucuna pruriens, DC. (M. prurita, Hook.; M. utilis, Wall.; Dolichos pruriens, L.; Carpopogon pruriens, Roxb.)

Nom. Vulg.--Nipay, Lipay, Vis.

Uses.--The pods are official as an anthelmintic in the Pharmacopoeia of India. They are used in the form of an electuary triturated to the proper consistency with honey or syrup. The dose for adults is one soupspoonful, and for children a teaspoonful, given every morning for 3-4 consecutive days. The last day a purge is given to expel the lumbricoids.

Botanical Description.--A vine with ternate leaves. Flowers red, keel larger than the standard and wings. Pods about as thick as the little finger, lacking transverse grooves, curved in the form of the letter f, covered with bright red down, which causes an unendurable itching. They are divided into 3 or 4 oblique cells each containing a brown, shiny seed.

Habitat.--Luzon and Panay.

Erythrina Indica, Lam. (E. corallodendron, L.; E. carnea, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Dapdap, Kasindik, Tag.; Dapdap, Kabrab, Vis.; Dapdap, Sulbang, Pam.; Indian Coral Tree, Eng.

Uses.--This tree is well known on account of the beauty of its crimson flowers. The decoction of the leaves is a useful cleansing and deodorizing application for ulcers. The bruised leaves are used locally in painful affections of the joints and to abort syphilitic buboes and abscesses of all kinds. The juice of the tender leaves is used in Concan to destroy maggots in ulcers, and the powder has a similar use. A decoction is used locally in ophthalmia.

The root and the leaves are used as a febrifuge in the Philippines and in India, according to Wight. In Brazil the bark is given in small repeated doses as a hypnotic and in the Philippines as a diuretic and purgative; a decoction of the leaves is similarly used. The bark contains an alkaloid discovered by Rochefontaine and Rey, called erythrin, which acts upon the central nervous system, diminishing its normal functions even to the point of abolishment, without modifying motor excitability or muscular contractility. W. Young isolated a glucoside, migarrhin, similar to saponin, but possessing the additional property of dilating the pupil.

In bronchitis with dyspnoea the following infusion of bark is very useful:

Fresh bark, } Freshly bruised leaves, } aa 2 grams. Water 1,500 grams.

Boil till reduced one-half, filter and add:

Simple syrup 200 grams.

Dose: Wineglassful every two hours.

Botanical Description.--A large tree, 20° high, thorny, with ternate leaves. Leaflets rhomboid, broad, entire, glabrous. Secondary petioles: that of the middle leaflet long, bearing 2 glands, those of the others short, bearing 1 gland each. The leaves fall at the end of the rainy season and the flowers bloom. They are a handsome scarlet color, large, in terminal racemes. Calyx half-cylindrical, oblique, truncate, entire. Corolla papilionaceous; standard elongated, lanceolate. Wings short. Keel very short, 2-lobuled. Stamens diadelphous. Anthers large. Ovary woolly. Stigma thick. Pod curved, rounded, furrowed in parts corresponding to the seeds which are numerous, oval, pointed at the ends.

Habitat.--Common throughout the islands. Blooms in February.

Clitoria ternatea, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Kolokanting, Pakingang, Tag.; Kolokating, Vis.; Butterfly-pea, Eng.

Uses.--The pounded seeds mixed with oil are used locally for painful joints. They possess purgative and emetic properties and Dr. J. Shartt has employed a mixture of the powdered roasted seeds, 8 grams, with double the quantity of acid tartrate of potassium. Its action is gentle, but sure. The alcoholic extract of the root, a soft, brown, resinous substance with an odor recalling that of jalap, is a very active cathartic, producing sharp effects in doses of 30-60 centigrams; in fact it produces such severe tenesmus that its use in such doses should not be recommended.

The root bark is used internally in an infusion (4-8 grams to 1 liter of water) as an emollient in irritability of the bladder and urethra and has been recommended for such a purpose by Mooden Sheriff. It is a diuretic which frequently acts as a purgative, a fact that is not surprising in view of the above-mentioned properties of the alcoholic extract.