TREES IN MEDICINE 



651 



and one-fourth inch tliick and 

 shaped Hke disks. It is the 

 bitterest substance known, and 

 when one has heart failure, or 

 nervous exhaustion, or is run 

 down or needs a tonic, some 

 doctor is sure to give him the 

 alkaloid from one of these 

 peculiar Indian trees. Text- 

 books on medicine frequently 

 refer to " emergency heart stim- 

 ulants," meaning by this drugs 

 used by hypodermic injection 

 to produce prompt stimulation 

 of a weakened heart. Some 

 of the most valuable heart stim- 

 ulants require a good deal of 

 time after being given to pro- 

 duce their effects, hence the 

 need of emergency heart stimu- 

 lants. Strychnine, we know, is 

 a splendid emergency heart 

 stimulant. But another one, 

 hardly less valuable, is caffeine. 

 Caffeine is a principle dis- 

 covered in the coffee bean, which grows on a bush, not 

 a tree — the Caffea arabica. Tea leaves contain a sub- 

 stance, identical with caffeine, called theine. The most 

 important commercial sources of caffeine are tea leaves 

 and the kola nut. The kola nut is the seed of the Sterculia 

 acuminata, a tree found in Guinea, especially near the 

 coast, and now cultivated in South America and the West 

 Indies. It is a very important commercial product to 



TAKING .MEDICINAL TREE PRODUCTS TO MARKET IN CEYLON 



These un%vieldy carts, drawn by patient bullocks, are the chief means of transporting to market in Ceylon the 

 several tree products obtained there which are used in the manufacture of medicines. These carts are loaded with 

 cinchona bark and cinnamon. 



the portion of Africa where it is found, because it is 

 rich in caffeine and contains besides a somewhat similar 

 substance called theobromine. For generations the natives 

 have been accustomed, both in health and disease, to 

 chew the kola nut as a stimulant. 



Caffeine is a powerful drug, for it stimulates not only 

 the heart, but also the depth of the respiration, the work- 

 ing power of the muscles, the excretory function of the 



kidneys, and is the one drug 

 which will stimulate the think- 

 ing mechanism of the brain and 

 increase the imagination. To 

 the native of Guinea the kola 

 nut corresponds to our morning 

 tipple of coffee. 



Another African tree which 

 has various species — several 

 hundred in fact — throughout 

 the world, and is of some medi- 

 cal interest, is the Acacia. The 

 Acacia Senegal is the type of 

 tree which furnishes gum 

 acacia, or gum arabic. While 

 acacia is not possessed of any 

 marked curative properties of 

 itself, it is a constituent of many 

 important preparations in phar- 

 macy, as, for instance, in the 

 making of emulsions, where its 

 heavy mucilaginous qualities 

 make it a valuable vehicle for 

 oily and resinous substances. 

 It is also widely used in the 

 preparation of pills and troches. 



CINNAMON USED MEDICINALLY 



Natives of Ceylon preparing cinnamon by loosening the bark from twigs and branches. This is used as a medicinal 



agent, but more as a flavor. 



