172 THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 



Ignatius bean, but it is generally obtained from mix vomica 

 seeds on account of the cheapness of the latter. 



It is more energetic than nux vomica and its use in medicine 

 should be condemned, preference, however, being given to the 

 official preparations among which the best known is that com- 

 monly called " Bitter Drops of Beaum6," of which the follow- 

 ing is the composition : 



Grated St. Ignatius' beans 500 grams. 



Potassium carbonate 5 " 



Soot(?) 1 " 



60^ alcohol 1,000 « 



Macerate for 10 days, strain, express and filter. Dose, 1-16 

 drops in a little water or wine before each meal, for dyspepsia, 

 anaemia, convalescence from fevers, and other conditions in 

 which a tonic is indicated. The indications for the use of this 

 drug are the same as those for nux vomica, keeping in mind 

 the difference in dose. 



Botanical Description. — This plant grows in the deep 

 forests of Samar and Masbate. That industrious and distin- 

 guished botanist, D. Regino Garcia, found it growing abun- 

 dantly in Paranas, Island of Samar. It is a robust vine, the 

 trunk sometimes as thick as a man's thigh, climbing to the tops 

 of the highest trees, apparently without preference as to its host, 

 inasmuch as he saw it growing indifferently on Ficus, Diptero- 

 carpus, TJtmca, etc. The seed which most interests us and is 

 very common, is about the size of an olive, round and convex 

 on one side, angulose and flattened on the other by being com- 

 pressed with many others within the fruit which contains 50 of 

 them. Its surface is blackish with a gray-blue tinge. It is 

 hard and corneous. Its taste is extremely bitter. 



Branches opposite, smooth, the ends square. Leaves oppo- 

 site, oval, much pointed at the apex, entire, glabrous, with 3 

 prominent nerves. Petioles very short. Flowers in panicles 



