PIPER BETLE 205 



Uses. — A masticatory, used all over the extreme Orient, is 

 composed of the leaves of this plant, a little slaked oyster-shell 

 lime and a rounded slice of the bonga or areca nut ; the 

 Filipinos call this combination bayo, though the name is 

 not of native origin ; the Tagalos call it hitsu. The use of 

 buyo by careless persons is decidedly repugnant, for the mix- 

 ture of the lime and the pigment of the bonga imparts a blood- 

 red or rather brick-red color to the saliva which they spit in 

 mouthfuls into the streets and other public places with no 

 thought of the feelings of others. Unless the mouth is carefully 

 cleaned the teeth become encrusted with a sort of black enamel 

 and the breath assumes a detestable odor. When used in small 

 quantities and with proper toilet of the mouth, and this is the 

 common practice among the Filipinos, buyo seems to be a very 

 useful preservative of the teeth and a gingival and stomachic 

 tonic. These properties are readily understood when we con- 

 sider that the lime is antacid, the bonga astringent and tonic 

 and the betel aromatic and stimulant. 



The buyo leaf plays a very important part in the therapeutics 

 of the infant of the Philippines : in its indigestions, colics and 

 diarrhoeas the heated leaves are applied to the abdomen pre- 

 viously anointed with hot cocoanut oil. In bronchitis and 

 laryngitis the heated leaves are applied over the chest or neck 

 after rubbing the parts with oil. It undoubtedly produces good 

 eifects and the physicians of India recommend it in the same 

 cases and in the same form as in the Philippines. Applied to 

 the breasts of parturient women it dries up the milk and in the 

 same way tends to reduce any glandular enlargement. 



Dr. Kleinstiick of Java recommends the essence of the leaves 

 in all sorts of catarrhs and as an antiseptic in doses of one drop 

 to 140 of the vehicle. This essence is obtained by distillation ; 

 it is dark in color, has an acrid taste and an odor resembling 

 that of tea. Its density is 1.020. The dried leaves contain 

 one-half per cent, of the essence and it is probable that the 

 fresh ones contain a greater proportion. 



