642 CATECHU 



decoction, used as an enema, brings away worms lodged in 

 the rectum. An infusion made with four ounces black 

 tobacco and a pint of boiling water, strained and cooled, 

 has been used successfully as an antidote in strychnine 

 poisoning. 



Externally, it is used to kill the acari of mange and scab, 

 and also lice, fleas, and ticks, but it does not effectually 

 destroy the ova of these parasites. Strong solutions, liber- 

 ally applied, are apt to cause nausea, trembling, spasms, 

 and sometimes death, but there is no danger in the careful 

 use of decoctions made with thirty or sixty parts of water. 

 For such purposes the leaves are boiled for half an hour with 

 a limited quantity of water, and the decoction diluted as 

 required. For sheep dips and washes two to five per cent, 

 solutions are used, their efficacy being increased by addition 

 of soft soap, potash, tar oils, and occasionally arsenic or 

 corrosive sublimate. Unless, however, the refuse juice of 

 the manufactory can be procured, tobacco is too costly for 

 sheep dips. Law's sheep dip is made with tobacco, 16 Ibs., 

 oil of tar 3 pints, soda ash 20 Ibs., soft soap 4 Ibs., water 50 

 gallons. Macerate the tobacco in three successive portions 

 of water and add the other agents to the fluid. 



CATECHU 



PALE CATECHU. Catechu pallidum. An extract of the 

 leaves and young shoots of Uncaria gambier (B.P.). 

 Nat. Ord. Rubiaceae. 



BLACK OB BROWN CATECHU. Catechu nigrum. The aque- 

 ous extract of the wood of Acacia catechu, of Acacia 

 suma, of other Leguminosse, and of plants of other 

 natural orders. (U.S.P.) Not official in B.P. 



The Uncaria gambier, producing the pale catechu (cate, 

 a tree ; chu, juice), is a stout climbing shrub, inhabiting the 

 islands of the Indian Archipelago, and cultivated for its 

 astringent juice. A decoction made of the leaves and young 

 shoots is evaporated, worked into red-brown, earthy-looking 

 masses or cubes, with surfaces about an inch square. 



The black or brown catechu, chiefly brought from Bengal 



