_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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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