OESALPINIA 



THE FEVER-NUT OR BONDUC CORIARIA 



Divi-divi 



; (, ijit))i, kdkachia, sagargota, gdjarghota, kalein, etc. ('. H,,<in< , 



perhaps only a variety of < '. li<>mtn-/tti. The properties of 



; | be two plants arc identical, but the seeds of the former are brown- 



Iolourol (not stfi-1-grey) and, owing to only one being usually in the pods, 

 iLjled. The name bonduo was probably given because of the 

 .ki- scfils. 

 A tcandent thorny bush found in India and Burma, ascending the hills to 

 -.1 of 2,600 feet and often very gregarious. Frequent as a hedge, planted 

 SLUM. IB very common near the seashore in most tropical countries, 

 I ' to aeedd being carried by tho soa without losing their vitality. A littoral 

 * , pecies that often forms impenetrable thickets. [Cf. Prain, Bot. Laccadivts, 38.] 



India the seeds (nuts) are held in high esteem as a MEDICINE used in the Medicine. 

 i -i it of intermittent fever, especially if associated with skin disease. A 

 was made officinal in the Indian Pharmacopoeia of 1868. It is recom- 

 to be administered along with black pepper in doses of from 5 to 60 

 lit mi is a bitter principle that may be separated as a white amorphous 

 <<, through the circumstance that it is soluble in alcohol, chloroform, 

 acetic acid, etc. From its chloroform solution it may be precipitated on 

 poured into petroleum ether, or from the glacial acetic acid solution on 

 thrown into water. A writer in Comptes Rendus (July 1886) says the 

 inul virtue of the cotyledons contained within the seed is due to their bitter 

 tivo principle, the properties of which have not been accurately ascertained, 

 experiments conducted by Isnard at Marseilles, however, would seem 

 >nfirm the Indian reputation of merit as an antiperiodic. Applied externally 

 powder, made into an ointment with castor oil, is held to be beneficial in 

 le, and the burnt seeds reduced to a powder are regarded as a valuable 



<!:, especially in spongy gums. The seeds are also said to afford an Dentrifloe. 

 ich is employed as a COSMETIC. The leaves and the root-bark are regarded Oil. 



ling similar properties to the seed, though weaker. [C7/. Hughes, Nat. 

 Barbados, 1750, 195, t. 18 (drawn by G. D. Ehret) ; Taylor, Topog. Stat. Dacca, 

 ; Irving, Topog. Ajmir, 1841, 192 ; Pharmacog. 2nd., i., 496-9 ; Busby, 

 'to' Bull., 1890, 323-5 ; Banerjei, Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 187, 196 ; Dhar- 

 Notes on Therap. Indig. Veg. Drugs, 1899, 96; Rept. Cent. Indig. Drugs 

 1901, i., 59, 94, 146, 181, 342 ; Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 1902, 267 ; 

 F I. Pres. Bomb., i., 410 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 246 ; Talbot, List. Trees, 

 2nd ed.), 141 ; etc., etc.] 



C. coriaria, H Hid. ; Warburg, Der Tropenpftanzer, 1901. v., 85-8, D.E.P., 

 B, c and D ; Hooper, Agri. Ledg., 1899, No. 10 ; Dunstan, Rept. on " Q ~&' 

 n-grown Pods, 18-9. The divi-divi or America Sumach (the true Divi-divi. 

 ;h or Sumac is 1th us Cot in us). 



small tree, native of South America and the West Indies. Introduced 

 India shortly after the appearance of Dr. W. Hamilton's report (1834) 

 e merits of the pods as a tanning material. It is now fairly extensively 

 ., if not almost acclimatised in the Western Presidency, especially in Dharwar, Acclimatised. 

 a, Bijapur, Bhadgaon (in Khandesh), Belgaum, etc. Also in South 

 especially in North Arcot and South Kanara. In Mysore and Coorg it 

 been tried, and with some success, as a shade-tree for coffee and thus an 

 ary crop. In the United Provinces and in Bengal the tree has hitherto been Pt Failures. 



lentally cultivated only, and with questionable success. Of Chota Nagpur, 

 xample, one report speaks favourably ; a later one explains the want of 

 as owing to the seedlings not having been transplanted ; four years later 

 ilure then recorded is attributed to the seedlings having been transplanted ; 

 atly the plantation is abandoned. This is not the history of all experiments. Climatic 

 >ut imperfect knowledge or want of continuity of knowledge is probably more Requirementa. 

 Mponsible for the results attained than any other explanation as yet adduced. 

 It is probable, however, that insular conditions might be anticipated to afford 

 ltter results than continental. 



Hooper reviews all available information but unfortunately does Properties. 

 I'.ot furnish the results of any special chemical investigations into 

 the varying qualities of the cultivated pods now procurable from the Indian-grown 

 provinces of India, nor into the variations consequent on the seasons of l>ods - 



191 



