Part 38

Caffeine is also useful in headache, neuralgia, and asthma and as a general tonic. For the latter action it is best given in pill form, 0.02-0.04 gram a day, with the extract of cinchona or other bitter tonic.

"Etoxy-caffeine," which is caffeine in which an atom of H has been replaced by the C2H5O, exists as white, needle-like crystals, slightly soluble in water; it is narcotic and sedative to the cerebro-spinal system. In doses of 0.24 gram it is useful in headache.

Botanical Description.--"A small tree that reaches a height of 8-9°. It grows readily in the province of Batangas without cultivation," Blanco.

A small tree or shrub with leaves opposite, smooth, glossy, rich green, oval, edges fluted. Flowers fragrant, white, growing in small clusters in the axils of the leaves. Calyx 4-5-toothed. Corolla short-tubed with 4-5 spreading lobes of about the same length. Berry red, containing two plano-convex seeds enveloped in arils.

The plant is widely cultivated in gardens. It finds ideal conditions for growth in some of the hilly and mountainous regions of Luzon, notably in Benguet and Batangas.

Morinda citrifolia, L.; variety: bracteata, Hoock, Jr. (M. ligulata, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Bankundo, Pankundo, Bangkuro, Nino, Kulit, Tumbongaso, Lino, Mambog, Takpus, Tag. and Vis.; Taliantar, Pam.; Apalot, Iloc.; Indian Mulberry, Indo-Eng.

Uses.--In the Philippines, as well as in India, the root of the plant is widely used as a red dye. As a medicine the Tamul physicians use it in decoction to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. The fruit is emmenagogue and perhaps aperient. In Bombay the mashed leaves are applied to wounds and ulcers to hasten cicatrization; they also use the decoction internally as a febrifuge and tonic, 10 grams to 500 of water, a wineglassful twice a day.

The root bark contains a crystalline substance called by Anderson morindin, C28H30O15. It is a glucoside and exists in the form of yellow needles, soluble in alcohol and in cold water, insoluble in ether; dissolves in alkalies producing an orange-red color.

There is another species, M. tinctoria, Roxb.; M. Royoc, Blanco, called in Tagalog Tumboung aso kapay, the roots of which are used by the Filipinos for the same purposes as the leaves of the former species; the dose, 8 grams a day. The powder is also applied to ulcers and sores, especially those of gangrenous aspect.

Botanical Description.--A small tree 11 or more feet high, branches opposite, quadrate at the extremities. Leaves opposite, oval, oblong, smooth, entire, glabrous. Petioles very short, with 2 broad, lanceolate stipules curved outward. Flowers white, opposite the leaves, fixed on globose, solitary receptacles from which spring the flowerets. Calyx proper, very short, monophyllous, a lanceolate leaflet springing from the border. Corolla tubular, woolly inside about the middle, with 5 lobules. Stamens 5, inserted on the walls of the corolla. Anthers thin, incumbent. Pistil somewhat longer than the corolla. Stigma cleft in 2 laminæ. Fruit: the receptacle of the flowerets ripens to a globe bristling with the remains of the calyces, like a berry covered with many smaller ones, each containing 2 monospermous, quadrangular seeds.

M. tinctoria, Roxb., is a climbing shrub with leaves opposite, ovate, keeled; petioles very short; flower and fruit like the foregoing species.

Habitat.--In Luzon and, especially the M. tinctoria, in Malinta, Calauan and Tanauan.

Pæderia foetida, L. (P. sessiflora, DC.)

Nom. Vulg.--Kantutan, Kantutæ, Tag.; Lilitan, Tæ-tæ, Vis.

Uses.--The foetid odor of this plant has suggested both the technical and common names for it. The natives regard it as a cure for rheumatism. The root is emetic. The leaves, boiled and mashed, are applied to the abdomen in retention of urine; the decoction of the leaves is used for the same purpose and also has some reputation as a solvent for vesical calculus. For fever, cloths soaked in the decoction are applied to the head, the same preparation being given internally at the same time.

Botanical Description.--A slender, twining plant with leaves 3' by 1', opposite, oval, acute, entire, long petioles and caducous stipules. Flowers dark rose color, in compound axillary and terminal cymes. Calyx of 5 persistent lobules. Corolla tubular, pubescent, 5 lobules. Stamens 5, free. Ovary inferior, flattened, 2 uniovulate locules. Style with 2 stigma-bearing branches.

Habitat.--Luzon, Mindanao, Cebu, Panay.

COMPOSITÆ.

Eupatorium Ayapana, Vent.

Nom. Vulg.--Aya-pana, Sp.; Ayapana, Apana, Tag.; Ayapan, Indo-Eng.

Uses.--A native plant of Brazil now naturalized and well known in the Philippines and many other tropical countries; it is called by its Brazilian name, Aya-pana, more or less modified. The entire plant is aromatic and its infusion has an agreeable, bitter taste. Its virtues have been much exaggerated, but it is certainly a good stimulant, diaphoretic and tonic. An infusion, 30 grams of the leaves to 1 liter of water, is given in dyspepsia, a small cup after each meal. In the island of Mauritius this infusion was widely used as a stimulant and aromatic in the cholera epidemics of 1854 and 1856.

It is used internally and locally for the bites of venomous snakes and insects. The leaf-juice is a good application for foul ulcers, as is also the decoction of the entire plant. "It appears probable that this plant has fallen into unmerited neglect."--Pharm. of India.

Botanical Description.--An aromatic plant 3° high, leaves opposite, sessile, coherent at the base, lanceolate, entire, glabrous. Flowers in racemose panicles. Common calyx cylindrical, of many imbricated, awl-shaped scales, the lower ones smaller; within are 20 or more hermaphrodite disk-flowers. Corollas are funnel-form, 5-lobed. Style a little longer than the stamens. Stigmas 2, long. Seed 1, quadrangular, with simple, downy, sessile pappus. Receptacle nude.

Habitat.--Common in fields and gardens. Blooms in January.

Blumea balsamifera, DC. (Conyza balsamifera, L.)

Nom. Vulg.--Sambon, Tag.; Lakbandulan, Hamlibon, Lalakdan, Lakadbulan, Gintingintin, Gabuen, Ayoban, Alibun, Vis.; Sobsob, Iloc.

Uses.--Sambon is a panacea among the Filipinos; its virtues are prodigious according to the ignorant natives who wear the leaves in the hat or the "salakod" (rain hat), to prevent "tabardillo" ("burning fever"; tabardillo pintado = spotted fever). They use the decoction to bathe convalescents, and for rheumatism they vaporize it in an improvised bath-cabinet consisting of a chair in which the patient sits enveloped in blankets that reach to the floor and retain the steam.