THEOBROMA CACAO 55 



Abroma fastuosa, R. Br. (A. angulata, Lam.; A. communis, 

 • Blanco ; A. augusta, L.) 



Nom. Vulg. — Anibog, Tag.; Anabo, Vis.; Perennial Indian 

 Hemp, Eng. 



Uses. — The root bark is used in India as an emmenagogue 

 in the congestive and neuralgic forms of amenorrhea. It seems 

 to act as a uterine tonic. The dose is 2 grams of the juice of 

 the fresh root mixed with pepper which also acts as a carmina- 

 tive and stomachic. 



Botanical Description. — A shrub 3-4 meters high with 

 hairy branches. Leaves opposite, oval, oblong, serrate, tomen- 

 tose. Flowers purple, solitary, terminal. Calyx, 5 sepals. 

 Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 5, united in the form of a tube. 

 Ovary sessile, with 5 many-ovuled compartments. Styles 5, 

 united in the form of a tube which divides into 5 stigma-bearing 

 branches. Capsule membranous, 5-angled, truncate, dehiscent 

 at apex. Seeds albuminous, covered with filaments of cotton. 



Habitat. — San Mateo, La Laguna, Batangas, Iloilo. 



Theobroma Cacao, L. 



Nom. Vulg. — Cacao. 



Uses. — The roasted bean ground with sugar constitutes 

 chocolate, one of the most generally used foods of the Philip- 

 pines. 



It is very nutritious by virtue of the fat and sugar it con- 

 tains, but all stomachs do not bear it well and its use is the 

 unsuspected cause of much dyspepsia. The custom of drink- 

 ing it very hot and following with a large quantity of cold 

 water is a very common cause of dilatation of the stomach 

 in the Philippines. The seed of the cacao contains several 

 substances : cacao butter, albumin, theobromine, starch, glucose, 

 gum, tartaric acid, free or combined, tannin, and mineral sub- 

 stances. Of these the butter and theobromine are the most im- 

 portant. 



