The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines, Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera [book club suggestions TXT] 📗
- Author: Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera
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The first cigar causes symptoms familiar to nearly everybody; dizziness, malaise, cold sweat, vomiting, diarrhœa, dilatation of the pupils and rapid heart action—an acute intoxication. Chronic intoxication or nicotism manifests itself by disturbances of digestion, vision and especially circulation. It has been assigned as one of the causes of early atheroma and of angina pectoris. It should therefore be proscribed in persons who present symptoms of gastro-intestinal or of heart disease, and in every patient who complains of slight precordial pains, commonly attributed to flatus, but in reality cardiac neuralgia, a fugitive symptom announcing the possibility of that grave accident, angina pectoris, capable of ending the life of the patient with one stroke.
Nicotine (C10H14N2) is an oleaginous liquid heavier than water, colorless, changing to dark yellow on contact with the air. Nicotianin or “camphor of tobacco” is another substance found in the leaves, crystalline, tasteless, with an odor resembling tobacco. Nicotinic acid is a product of the combustion of nicotine.
Botanical Description.—The tobacco plant is so familiar to all Americans that its description here would be superfluous. It grows in all parts of the islands, the best qualities being cultivated in the northern provinces of Luzon, especially Cagayan and La Isabela.
Figwort Family.
Limnophila menthastrum, Benth. (Tala odorata, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Tala, Taramhampam, Tag.; Talatala, Pam.; Taratara, Iloc.
Uses.—An infusion of the leaves is given as a diuretic and digestive tonic. The plant is aromatic. It is seldom used, but is given for the same troubles and in the same doses as chamomile and Eupatorium Ayapana.
Botanical Description.—A plant 1° high, with leaves opposite, lanceolate, ovate, serrate, hairy, many small pits on the lower face. Flowers rose color, solitary, sessile. Calyx, 5 sharp teeth. Corolla tubular, curved, compressed, downy within, limb cleft in 4 unequal lobes. Stamens didynamous. Ovary conical. Style shorter than the stamens. Stigma 3-lobuled. Seed vessel, 2 multiovulate chambers.
Habitat.—Known universally. Blooms in June.
Bignonia Family.
Oroxylum Indicum, Vent. (Bignonia Indica, L.; B. quadripinnata, Blanco; Colosanthes Indica, Bl.)
Nom. Vulg.—Pinkapinkahan, Pinkapinka, Taghilaw, Abag̃abag̃, Tag.; Abag̃abag̃, Vis.
Uses.—The Hindoos consider the trunk bark an astringent and tonic and use it commonly in diarrhœa and dysentery. In Bombay it has a wide use in veterinary practice as an application for the sore backs of the domestic cattle. Sarangadhara recommends for diarrhœa and dysentery the infusion of the roasted bark mixed with infusion of Bombax malabaricum.
Dr. Evers experimented with the powder and an infusion of the bark obtaining a strong diaphoretic action. He obtained the same effect with baths containing the bark and reported successful results in thus treating 24 cases of rheumatism. The dose of the powder was 0.30–1 gram a day in 3 doses; the infusion (30 grams bark to 300 boiling water), 90 grams a day in 3 doses. Combined with opium it had more pronounced diaphoretic effects than the compounds of opium and ipecac. The plant possesses no febrifuge properties.
Botanical Description.—A tree, 5–6 meters high, trunk straight, hollow, the hollow space containing many thin partitions covered with small points; branches opposite. Leaves 4 times odd pinnate. Leaflets obliquely ovate, acute, entire, glabrous. Flowers in racemes with long, primary peduncles, large, fleshy, lurid, violet color, odor mawkish. Calyx inferior, cylindrical, monophyllous, entire. Corolla much longer than calyx, fleshy, bell-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, all fertile, fixed on the corolla, nearly equal in height. Style longer than stamens, flattened. Stigma cleft in 2 flat leaves. Silique or pod about 3° long and 2′ wide, flattened, borders grooved and curved downward, containing a great number of seeds encircled by a broad, flat, imbricated wing.
Habitat.—Common in many parts of Luzon, in Mindanao, Cebú and Paragua.
Pedalium Family.
Sesamum Indicum, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Ajonjoli, Sp.; Lig̃á, Tag.; Log̃á, Vis.; Lag̃is, Pam.; Sesamé, Indo-Eng. (Benné Oil, Til Oil, Jinjili Oil.)
Uses.—The leaves are emollient and in the Philippines, India and the Southern States of North America they are commonly used to make poultices, as a substitute for linseed.
The decoction is prescribed internally as an emmenagogue and demulcent and externally as a lotion. It has the reputation of stimulating the growth of the hair and is used for this purpose quite commonly by the women of India.
The seeds are emollient, laxative, diuretic and emmenagogue; they contain an oil to which we shall refer presently. In some countries they form an article of diet; in the Philippines they are much used as a condiment. Waring reports good results in amenorrhœa, adding a handful of the bruised seeds to a hot sitz-bath. Two or 3 dessert-spoonfuls of the seeds eaten fasting and washed down with a glass of water, are very efficient in chronic constipation, both by their mechanical effect and the oil they contain; being non-irritant they are especially indicated in cases of constipation with hemorrhoids.
The seeds contain up to 45% of oil known in the Philippines under the name of lana, an Ilocano word meaning “oil.” It is bright yellow, viscid, does not easily become rancid and is used for illuminating purposes in some Philippine provinces. In Japan and among the poor of India it serves as a food; in the latter country it is also very commonly used as a cosmetic, perfumed with various essences and used to anoint the hair and the body after the bath. In America it is given in place of castor oil in doses of 30–60 grams. In pharmacy it may be properly substituted for olive oil, especially in Linimentum Calcis prepared for burns.
Botanical Description.—A plant 2–4° high, stem straight, square, grooved. Leaves trifoliate. Leaflets lanceolate, serrate, slightly downy. Common petiole long; secondary petiole very short. Flowers pinkish white, in spikes, each flower bearing 2 small glands. Calyx with 2 bracts at the base, top-shaped, monophyllous, 5 lanceolate teeth. Corolla large, 5-lobed, bell-shaped, expanded in the middle where it is spattered with small spots. Stamens didynamous. Anthers long. Ovary downy, quadrangular. Style same length as stamens. Stigma bifid. Seed vessel quadrangular, elongated, 4 opposite grooves, 4 chambers each containing many small ovoid seeds.
Habitat.—Universal. Blooms in October.
Acanthus Family.
Acanthus ilicifolius, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Diliwariw, Dolo-ariw, Tig̃log, Lagiwlagiw, Tag.; Titiw, Vis.; Dulawari, Pam.
Uses.—We are not familiar with the medicinal uses of this plant in the Philippines, but believe that its sole use is in the soap-making industry; the ash of the plant is rich in soda and potash salts and lye is prepared from it.
In Goa the leaves, rich in mucilage, are used locally in fomentations for rheumatism and neuralgia. Rheede mentions as useful the application of the bruised sprouts to snake bites. Bontius attributes expectorant properties to the plant. The natives of Siam and Cochin China use it as a cordial and as a medicine for paralysis and asthma.
In Concan the sweetened decoction of the plant with a little cumin seed is given for dyspepsia with pyrosis.
Botanical Description.—A plant about 3° high, stem straight, beset with sharp eminences. Leaves opposite, membranaceous, lanceolate, pinnatifid, large teeth ending in prickles. Petioles very short, 2 thorns at the base. Flowers purplish white in spikes. Calyx double; the outer one of 2 parts, the inner 4. Corolla bell-shaped, lower lip broad, keeled, fleshy, notched above. Upper lip wanting, a notch in its place. Stamens 4, didynamous. Ovary superior, conical. Style of equal length with stamens. Stigma bifid. Seed vessels 2-celled, each cell with 2 heart-shaped, flattened, rough seeds.
Habitat.—Very common in regions inundated by salt water.
Barleria Prionitis, L. (Barreliera Prionitis, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Kokog̃manok, Kulanta, Tag.
Uses.—This plant is not used medicinally in the Philippines. The natives of Bombay are accustomed to use its juice to anoint the soles of their feet during the rainy season in order to toughen the skin and prevent fissures due to prolonged maceration.
The leaf juice is bitter and acid; it is a favorite with the natives of India in the treatment of the catarrhal fevers common among their children, administered in doses of 2 tablespoonfuls a day mixed with sweetened water.
In Concan the dry bark is given for whooping-cough and the juice of the fresh bark in doses of 2 “tolas” (7.60 grams) for anasarca. Dr. Bidie states that the action is diaphoretic and expectorant.
Botanical Description.—A plant 2–3° high, stem creeping, the ends rising; enlarged at the joints, glabrous. Leaves smooth, opposite, lanceolate, finely serrate, fringed, somewhat downy below, glabrous above. Petioles short, 4 axillary spines. Flowers straw-color, axillary, sessile, solitary. Calyx deeply cleft in 4 parts, ovate, ending in spines. Corolla funnel-shaped, tube short, throat nude, limb 5-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous. Ovary 2-celled. Style same length as stamens. Seed-vessel ovate, flattened and sharp-pointed, 2-celled, each cell with a flat, heart-shaped seed.
Habitat.—In Guadalupe, Mandaloyon and San Juan del Monte. Blooms in April.
Justicia Gendarussa, L. (Gandarussa vulgaris, Nees.; Dianthera subserrata, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Kapanitulot, Tag.; Bunlaw, Vis.
Uses.—In the Philippines this plant has the same applications as the Lagundi or Vitex, soon to be described. In India they give a decoction of the leaves for chronic rheumatism, the action probably being diaphoretic. The juice is employed for the coughs of childhood and externally as a resolvent for enlarged cervical glands. The bark of the young branches has a purplish color; in Java it is considered a good emetic.
Botanical Description.—A shrub 5–6° high, stem straight, branches smooth, obscurely 4-angled. Stems and leaves violet color, emitting a disagreeable odor (Blanco). Leaves opposite, lanceolate, acute, glabrous, obtusely serrate. Flowers terminal, white-green, in racemes of 3 sessile flowers with lanceolate bracts. Calyx, 5 long teeth. Corolla, short tube, 2-lipped, upper lip notched, lower lip broad with palate, ending in 3 lobules. Seed vessel with 4 seeds in its lower part.
Habitat.—Luzon, Mindanao, Panay.
Adhatoda vasica, Nees. (Justicia Adhatoda, L.)
Nom. Vulg.—(?)
Uses.—The Filipinos are but slightly familiar with this plant and it has no place in their therapeutical armamentarium. In India, however, it is very common and enjoys much reputation in the treatment of catarrhs, the grip, asthma and non-febrile, especially chronic, bronchial affections. The flowers, leaves and roots, but especially the flowers, possess antispasmodic properties and are prescribed in certain forms of asthma; they are bitter and slightly aromatic, and are given in infusion or electuary.
Drs. Jackson and Dott have testified from their own experience to the usefulness of the drug in chronic bronchitis, asthma and afebrile catarrh. Dr. Watt states that the natives of Bengal find relief for asthma in smoking the leaves. In Bombay its expectorant action is commonly known and its juice is used, mixed with borax and honey.
The dose of the aqueous extract made by evaporating the juice of the leaves, is .25–1 gram. The tincture is preferable, made by dissolving this extract in alcohol; dose 2–4 grams. Its efficiency is increased by the addition of pepper seeds (Waring). The Sanscrit writers recommend for cough, 3.80 grams of the leaf juice with honey. “It is very desirable that further trials be made to test the value of this remedy.”—Pharmacopœia of India.
Botanical Description.—A shrub with straight, smooth, ashy-gray trunk. Branches of same color
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