Part 56

The seeds yield 25-30 per cent. of a yellowish oil, more active than castor oil as a purgative but less certain. Ten or twelve of the former equal in effect 30 to 40 drops of the latter. Its density is 0.919, and it differs from castor oil in being only slightly soluble in absolute alcohol. In some parts of the Philippines it is used for purposes of illumination, and it is exported to Europe to adulterate soaps and candles. It contains a little stearin which begins to be deposited at 9° and is entirely solidified at 0°.

The fruit is strongly purgative, and this action is not due to the oil but to a peculiar resin so active that 3 fruits produce drastic effects. Whatever purgative action the oil possesses is due to the resin which it contains in solution. It seems, therefore, preferable to treat the seeds with alcohol, thus dissolving the resin, and use the tincture thus obtained in place of the oil.

The natives use the plant to intoxicate the fish in ponds and sluggish streams.

The seeds of the species J. multifida, L., also called tuba in Tag., and mana, are likewise purgative in their action. Dr. Waring saw a case of poisoning with the fruit; the patient, a young man, suffered violent vomiting, intense pain in the stomach and head, and marked prostration. He recovered under the use of lime juice and stimulants.

Botanical Description.--The J. Curcas is a small tree growing as high as 9°. Leaves alternate, cordate, glabrous, 3-5 cut-lobed. Flowers yellowish-green, monoecious, in terminal umbels, staminate and pistillate flowers mingled without order. Staminate: Calyx, 5 unequal sepals; corolla bell-shaped, 5 petals, woolly within, a small notch at the end, bent downward; stamens 10, in 2 whorls of 5. Pistillate: Calyx and corolla as above; several tongue-like staminodes replace the stamens; ovary free, oblong, 3-celled, 1 ovule in each cell; style 3-branched. Seed vessel fleshy, of 3 capsules, each bearing 1 oval, coriaceous seed.

Habitat.--Luzon and Visayas.

Aleurites Moluccana, Willd. (A. triloba, Forst. and Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Lumbán, Kapili, Tag.; Belgaum or Indian Walnut, Indo-Eng.

Uses.--The kernels are rich in oil which is used for illumination and the manufacture of soap. For industrial purposes it is superior to linseed oil, according to the report of the Madras Drug Committee.

Dr. O'Rocke states that in doses of 1-2 ounces it acts as a gentle and sure purgative, producing copious bilious evacuations after 3-6 hours, without causing nausea, colic or other similar effects. The municipal physician of Sampaloc, Señor Xerez, states that he has frequently used this oil in Manila, as a purgative, and he agrees perfectly with Dr. O'Rocke as to its effect.

D. Anacleto del Rosario, the distinguished Filipino chemist, tells me that he once witnessed a case of poisoning by the fruit of the lumbán, the patient being a native boy. Doubtless the milky juice, so active in all the Euphorbiaceæ, was the cause of the symptoms. It is true that the kernel causes colic and copious alvine discharges.

Nellino's chemical analysis of the seeds is as follows:

Water 5.25 Fatty matter 62.97 Cellulose 28.99 Mineral matter 2.79

The ashes contain the following matters:

Lime 28.69% Magnesia 6.01% Potash 11.23% Phosphoric acid 20.30%

The oil is yellow, syrupy, transparent, odorless, insipid.

Botanical Description.--A tree with leaves bunched or clustered, 3-5 lobulate with as many nerves. Petioles about as long as the leaves. Flowers white, terminal in panicles, the pistillate mixed with the more numerous staminate flowers. Staminate: Calyx monophyllous, cylindrical, 2-toothed; corolla, 5 linear petals twice as long as the calyx; stamens 20 or more, joined in a column at their bases. Pistillate: Calyx and corolla as above; ovary of 2 or 3 uniovulate locules, encircled by a disk; style 2-or 3-branched. Seed vessel large, ovate, compressed, fleshy, 2 sutures at right angles, 2 compartments, in each a hard nut.

Habitat.--Grows all over Luzon and is well known to the natives.

Croton Tiglium, L. (C. glandulosum, C. muricatum, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Tuba kamaisa, Tag.; The Purging Croton, Eng.

Uses.--The fruit is used by the Filipinos to intoxicate the fish in ponds and sluggish streams. The seeds contain an oil that is official in all Pharmacopoeias as one of the most powerful hydragogue cathartics. As it is intensely irritating it should never be administered alone but combined with other substances, such as castor oil, or in pill form. The internal dose is 1 to 2 drops. It is considered a specific for lead colic and is indicated when not only purgation but active irritation of the digestive canal is desired.

Applied to the skin it is a strong irritant causing rapid and painful vesication. Great care should be exercised not to raise the hands to the eyes after touching the oil, as serious inflammation might result.

Botanical Description.--A small tree, 8-9° high, with rough trunk. Leaves alternate, ovate, acute, minutely serrate, both surfaces beset with sharp hairs. Flowers yellowish-white, monoecious. Staminate: Fewer than the pistillate, growing above them; calyx 5-toothed; corolla, 5 woolly petals; stamens 16, joined in the center. Pistillate: Calyx 5-toothed; corolla much less developed than in the staminate; ovary free, 3 uniovulate locules; styles 3, bifid. Seed vessel dry, with thin envelope bristling with stiff hairs; 3 carpels each containing a seed.

Habitat.--Common in Luzon.

Acalypha Indica, L. (A. Caroliniana, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Not known.

Uses.--This plant is not used medicinally in the Philippines, but is very common in India. Dr. G. Bidie, of Madras, states that the expressed juice of the leaves is in great repute, wherever the plant grows, as an emetic for children and is safe, certain and speedy in its action. Like ipecacuanha it seems to have little tendency to act on the bowels or depress the vital powers, and it decidedly increases the secretion of the pulmonary organs. Probably an infusion of the dried leaves or an extract prepared from the green plant would retain all its active properties. The dose of the expressed juice for an infant is a teaspoonful.

Dr. A. E. Ross speaks highly of its use as an expectorant, ranking it in this respect with senega; he found it especially useful in the bronchitis of children. He also makes favorable report of a cataplasm of the leaves as a local application to syphilitic ulcers and as a means of relieving the pain attendant on the bites of venomous insects.