Botanical Description.--A little plant, about 3° high. Leaves
alternate, broad, lanceolate, 5-nerved, serrate from middle to
apex. Petioles much longer than the leaves, 2 stipules at their
bases. Flowers greenish, monoecious in axillary spikes, pedunculate, as
long as the leaves, crowned by a prolongation of the axis in the form
of a cross. Staminate: Numerous, in upper part of spike; calyx 4 parts;
no corolla; stamens 8-16, small, free. Pistillate: Less in number,
at the base of the spike; perianth of 3 imbricated leaflets; ovary,
3 uniovulate locules; style, 3 branches which also subdivide. Capsule
3-celled, each cell containing a globose seed with cicatrix.
Habitat.--Luzon, Panay and Mindanao. Blooms in October.
_Echinus Philippensis_, H. Baillon. (_Croton Philippense_, Lamk.;
_Rottlera tinctoria_, Roxb.; _Mallotus Philippensis_, Müll.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Banato_, Tag.; _Buas_, _Vuas_, Iloc.; _Monkey-face Tree_,
_Kamala_ or _Kamala Dye_, Indo-Eng.
Uses.--The capsular fruit of this plant is thickly beset with reddish
glands and hairs, which, when brushed off and gathered in powder form,
constitute the _kamala dye_ of the Hindoos. It was mentioned by the
Arabian physicians of the tenth century under the names of _Kanbil_
and _Wars_. In India the powder is highly valued as a yellow dye-stuff
for silk. Medicinally it is used as an anthelmintic, the English
physician Mackinnon, of the Bengal Hospital, having been the first to
scientifically prove this property; he reported that it was successful
in expelling the tape-worm. It is now official in the Pharmacopoeia
of India and also in the U. S. P. as an anthelmintic and purgative;
in Switzerland it is commonly given to expel the bothriocephalus
which abounds there, the lake fish acting as hosts.
The dose recommended by the Pharmacopoeia of India is 8-12 grams,
divided in 3 or 4 doses. This amount sometimes causes nausea and
colic; in the third or fourth stool the tænia is commonly expelled
in a lifeless condition. Dujardin-Beaumetz advises a dose of 30
grams of castor oil in case the tænia has not been expelled 2 hours
after the last dose of kamala. The powder is efficacious but the
tincture seems to be surer; the dose is 6 grams for children and 20
for adults, given in divided doses in aromatic water every hour for
6 hours. This tincture is prepared by macerating 200 grams of kamala
in 500 cc. alcohol for 7 days; then filtering with expression and
adding enough alcohol to complete the 500 cc.
The powder is also used in India as a local application in herpes
circinata. It is insoluble in water; in ether and alcohol it yields 80%
of a red resin. Anderson noted that a concentrated ethereal solution of
kamala after a few days formed a solid crystalline mass, yellow, very
soluble in ether; this substance he named _rottlerin_, C_11_H_10_O_3_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account