The green fruit is highly esteemed by Radja Kalikesen as a carminative,
tonic and purgative. Dr. Twining also mentions these same properties,
recommends it as a tonic and aperient of great benefit in atony of
the digestive organs and expresses surprise that the Europeans make
no use of it. According to the same author a dose in the treatment
of diarrhoea and dysentery is 4 grams twice a day. He quotes a case
of hypertrophy of the spleen which he cured with this fruit.
Some of the leaves bear horn-shaped galls, flattened, narrow and
hollow. They are caused by an insect which stings the leaves and
deposits its eggs in them. These leaves with galls are astringent and
very useful and effective in dysentery and diarrhoea, especially that
of children. The dose for a child of more than one year is 0.40 to 0.50
gram a day, administered in fractional doses every two or three hours.
Fridolin has obtained from its fruit an acid, which he calls
_chebulinic_ (C_28_H_25_O_10_) and presumes to be a mixture of tannic
and gallic acids. As Stenhouse had formerly indicated, no principle has
been discovered to which the purgative properties can be attributed,
unless it be a green oleo-resin turned red by nitric acid, obtained
from the fruit by Apery.
Botanical Description.--A tree of the second order, with leaves
3' long, alternate, lanceolate, entire and glabrous. Petioles
short. Flowers terminal, in spiked panicles. Calyx superior,
bell-shaped, colored, downy within, 5-toothed. Corolla wanting. Stamens
10, longer than the calyx. Anthers roundish. Ovary cylindrical. Style
curved and longer than the stamens. Stigma simple. Fruit ovoid, 2-4
centimeters long, 5-10 acute angles, wrinkled, with blackish, hard,
compact mesocarp; contains 1 seed.
Habitat.--Batangas, San Mateo. Blooms in May.
_Quisqualis Indica_, L. (_Q. villosa_, Roxb.; _Q. spinosa_, Nares.)
Nom. Vulg.--_Tagaraw_, _Niogniogan_, Tag.; _Tangolon_, Vis.;
_Babebabe_, Pam.; _Tartaraw_, Iloc.
Uses.--The fruit contains a kernel that tastes much like cacao, for
which reason the Tagalogs call it "niogniogan" (like cacao). This
kernel is a powerful anthelmintic, used also in India, the dose for
a child of 4 years being 2-4, pulverized and mixed with a little
molasses or sugar. A large dose produces hiccough, a fact well known
to the natives. Dr. Bouton states that they may cause convulsions
and other similar nervous disorders.
They yield a light green, fixed oil, probably the active principle
of the plant.
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