The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines, Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera [book club suggestions TXT] 📗
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Make an infusion and add syrup of orange flowers 50 grams. Dose, several tablespoonfuls a day.
Botanical Description.—A plant 2° high; stem beset with hairs, many-angled. Leaves lanceolate, varying from entire to cut-pinnatifid. Flowers green, sessile, axillary, in small clusters. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla wanting. Stamens 5. Filaments flattened, inserted near the center of the flowers opposite the parts of the calyx. Anthers in 2 globose parts. Ovary superior, globose, depressed, unilocular, uniovulate. Style none. Stigmas, 2, 3 or 4, short, divergent. Fruit a lenticular seed covered by the membrane of the ovary.
Habitat.—Common in gardens and fields. Blooms in May.
Birthwort Family.
Aristolochia Indica, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Timbag̃an, Malaubi, Tag.; Indian Birthwort, Eng.
Uses.—The root has a wide use in medicine in the Philippines; it is bitter, of a nauseating odor and has the reputation of being a powerful antidote for the bites of poisonous serpents and insects. It has further use in the treatment of malarial fever, in dyspepsia, and in the flatulent colic of teething children. It is regarded as tonic and emmenagogue. In various forms of diarrhœa it appears to be effective and Dr. Gibson states that it is useful in intestinal disorders. In the Philippines it is not only given internally but also externally applied over the abdomen, mixed with hot cocoanut oil (10 grams of the powdered root to 100 oil).
The first Portuguese settlers in India called the drug “Cobra Root,” because the natives regarded it as an antidote for the bite of the terrible “Cobra da Capello.” This reputation, however, seems not to have been deserved, judging from the fearful mortality in India and Ceylon due to the bite of the cobra.
Dr. Imlach, a surgeon of Singapore, states that in one season in one collectorate, Shikapore, no less than 306 cases of snake bites were officially reported, the mortality being 63, or about 20.58 per cent. Other reports make it safe to conclude that in the entire province during the year no less than 300 deaths were due to this cause alone. Dr. Waring believes that if an antidote for snake bite exist in the vegetable kingdom it will most probably be found in the natural order Aristolochiaceæ.
In North India this drug is used as emmenagogue and anti-arthritic, and in Banda for intermittent fevers and intestinal disorders. The juice of the leaves is emetic. The dose of the powdered root is 3–5 grams daily.
Botanical Description.—A twining shrub, with leaves heart-shaped, ovate, acute, glabrous. Petioles short. Flowers dark reddish-gray, in panicles. Calyx wanting. Corolla globose below, the tube cylindrical, expanding at the top. Anthers 6, in pairs. Filaments, none. Styles 6, very coarse, a membrane at the base including all. Stigmas simple. Seed vessel inferior, 6-ribbed, 6 cells and many winged seeds. The seed vessel after casting the seeds resembles a pair of balance scales with its little plates or pans. Hence the Tagalo name Timbag̃an meaning “balance.”
Habitat.—In Luzon and Panay. Blooms in November.
Pepper Family.
Piper Betle, L. (Chavica Betle and C. auriculata, Miq.; Piper Betel, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Hojas de buyo, Sp.-Fil.; Itmó, Tag.; Mamin, Bic.; Buyo, Mamón, Vis.; Samat, Pam.; Betel Pepper, Eng.
Uses.—A masticatory, used all over the extreme Orient, is composed of the leaves of this plant, a little slaked oyster-shell lime and a rounded slice of the bonga or areca nut; the Filipinos call this combination bayo, though the name is not of native origin; the Tagalos call it hitsú. The use of buyo by careless persons is decidedly repugnant, for the mixture of the lime and the pigment of the bonga imparts a blood-red or rather brick-red color to the saliva which they spit in mouthfuls into the streets and other public places with no thought of the feelings of others. Unless the mouth is carefully cleaned the teeth become encrusted with a sort of black enamel and the breath assumes a detestable odor. When used in small quantities and with proper toilet of the mouth, and this is the common practice among the Filipinos, buyo seems to be a very useful preservative of the teeth and a gingival and stomachic tonic. These properties are readily understood when we consider that the lime is antacid, the bonga astringent and tonic and the betel aromatic and stimulant.
The buyo leaf plays a very important part in the therapeutics of the infant of the Philippines: in its indigestions, colics and diarrhœas the heated leaves are applied to the abdomen previously anointed with hot cocoanut oil. In bronchitis and laryngitis the heated leaves are applied over the chest or neck after rubbing the parts with oil. It undoubtedly produces good effects and the physicians of India recommend it in the same cases and in the same form as in the Philippines. Applied to the breasts of parturient women it dries up the milk and in the same way tends to reduce any glandular enlargement.
Dr. Kleinstück of Java recommends the essence of the leaves in all sorts of catarrhs and as an antiseptic in doses of one drop to 140 of the vehicle. This essence is obtained by distillation; it is dark in color, has an acrid taste and an odor resembling that of tea. Its density is 1.020. The dried leaves contain one-half per cent. of the essence and it is probable that the fresh ones contain a greater proportion.
Botanical Description.—A plant with yellow flowers and scandent stem, climbing straight up trees or artificial supports. Leaves cleft at the base, acute, entire, glabrous, dark green. According to Blanco it is cultivated best in somewhat sandy soil. Pasay, near Manila, and Bauang, in Batangas, furnish a leaf most highly appreciated.
Piper nigrum, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Pimienta, Sp.; Paminta, Malisa, Tag.; Black Pepper, Eng.
Uses.—The berry-like fruit of the pepper is more extensively used as a condiment in cooking than in the treatment of disease. Used in moderation, however, it is of considerable value as a convenient stomachic and aid to digestion in tropical countries where the digestive functions readily become sluggish. Its abuse may lead to serious consequences, such as inflammation of the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, of the portal system and the liver itself.
Pepper is used as a febrifuge in the various forms of malarial fevers, in the form of granules of 8 or 10 berries in a cup of brandy and anise (Spanish); this is taken by the patient in one dose at the beginning of the cold stage and followed by large quantities of water to relieve the thirst caused by the pepper. This treatment causes the cold stage to rapidly subside and more rapidly induces and intensifies the sweating stage. It is said that no further attack of fever follows.
Piperin (C17H19NO3) is febrifuge and is given in pill form internally in doses of 30–60 centigrams; the action of the crude drug is evidently due to this neutral principle.
Botanical Description.—The plant is a perennial, climbing shrub. Leaves oval, tapering at both extremities, 7-nerved. Flowers yellow, in a spike. Stigmas 2, bifid. Fruit globose, with one seed.
Habitat.—The dried fruit of the pepper is universally familiar. It was at one time cultivated in the Philippines, especially in Batangas, and Gen. Basco promulgated a series of orders to encourage its cultivation. Padre Gainza, afterward Bishop of Nueva Cáceres, wrote a report about its cultivation, but since then the subject has entirely disappeared from notice.
Chloranth Family.
Chloranthus officinalis, Bl. (C. Indicus, Wight.; C. inconspicuus, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Unknown.
Uses.—All parts of the plant are aromatic. The leaves and stems lose this property after drying, but the roots, if properly dried, preserve it for a long time. They have a camphoraceous odor and bitter, aromatic taste, reminding one of that of Aristolochia Serpentaria. The mountaineers of Java use an infusion of the powdered root and the bark of the Cinnamomum Culilowan to treat puerperal eclampsia. Combined with carminatives like anise and onion, they use it with some success in virulent small-pox of children. The infusion seems to be efficacious in fevers accompanied by debility and suppression of the function of the skin. It has also been prescribed in the intermittent fevers of Java, mixed with an infusion of the leaves of the Cedrela Toona. Blume states that it is one of the most powerful stimulants known.
Botanical Description.—A plant 3–4° high. Stem quadrangular. Leaves opposite, broad, lanceolate, serrate, with stiff-pointed teeth and somewhat scaly beneath. Petioles very short, clasping the stem at their base, with 2 intermediate stipules ending in two awl-shaped points. Flowers compound in axillary spikes, which bear the flowerets in 2 ranks, each flower with a keeled bract. The corolla (if it may be so called) a fleshy, 3-lobed lamina. Perianth wanting. Receptacle dome-shaped. Anthers 4, inserted on the surface of the lamina, 2-valved. Ovary 1-celled, with 1 ovule. Style short. Berry-like fruit, globose, with 1 seed covered by a somewhat brittle membrane.
Habitat.—La Laguna and other provinces of Luzon. Blooms in September.
Laurel Family.
Cinnamomum pauciflorum, Nees. (Laurus culilaban, Var., Blanco.)
C. tamala, Nees. (L. culilaban, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg. (of both).—Kalig̃ag, Makalig̃ag, Tag., Vis.; Kandaroma, Iloc; Cassia Lignea or Cassia, Eng.
Uses.—The bark of both species is known in pharmacy as Chinese cassia or Chinese cinnamon (cassia cinnamon). Indeed it is very like the cinnamon of Ceylon, comes in curled quills, has the same odor and taste though not so delicate; but it is darker in color, with a surface less clean and smooth. Its chemical composition is identical with that of the latter and nowadays it forms an important article of commerce.
Cinnamon renders good service in therapeutics as a stimulant of the digestive tract and a heart tonic. In the atonic diarrhœas so common in the Philippines a tincture of cinnamon in doses of 8–10 grams a day, or the powder in cases where alcohol was contraindicated, have given me unhoped-for results.
In Spain and the Philippines it is very popular as a condiment in the kitchen of the confectionery and as a flavor for chocolate; in fact in those countries it takes the place of vanilla in France. It enters into the composition of several elixirs and compound tinctures, such as “Botot’s Water” (dentifrice), “Elixir of Garus” (tonic stimulant), “Balsam of Fioraventi” (external stimulant), laudanum and the elixir of the Grande Chartreuse (diffusible stimulant).
Lately it has been demonstrated that the essence is a powerful antiseptic, in the presence of which typhoid fever bacilli cannot develop.
Botanical Description.—A tree, 15–20° high. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, 3-nerved, entire, glabrous. Flowers yellow, paniculate, umbellate. Common peduncles very long, those of the flowerets long. Calyx none. Corolla, 6 ovate, hairy petals. Stamens 9; 6 external to the rest and bearing the anthers, 4 on each filament, 2 below the others; the 3 inner stamens bear 2 anthers each.
In the second species the flowers form loose, terminal panicles. Stamens 9; 6 filaments inserted on the receptacle, spatulate, each bearing 4 anthers on the inferior face; the other 3 filaments thick, each bearing 4 anthers. Between the last filaments are 8 nearly globose glandules.
Habitat.—Both species are common in the forests of Luzon. The first species blooms in May, the second in January.
Cassytha filiformis, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Malabohok.
Uses.—This plant has no therapeutical uses in the Philippines. In Senegal it is employed, according to Dujardin-Beaumetz, mixed with lard to treat urethritis; its action is to decrease the ardor urinæ. It is not stated whether this mixture is used internally or externally.
In Cochin China the same writer states that it is used as an antisyphilitic. In India it is used for the piles and as an alterative for bilious disorders. It possibly acts as a circulatory stimulant.
Botanical Description.—A slender, thread-like, cylindrical vine, without leaves, that covers the trees like a mantle, so luxuriant is its growth. Flowers
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