234 THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 



Uses. — The garlic and the onion are used to excess as con- 

 diments in Philippine as well as Spanish cooking. Both are 

 difficult of digestion and communicate a very disagreeable odor 

 to the breath, intolerable to those who are unaccustomed to it. 

 Garlic possesses the singular property, familiar to many stu- 

 dents and soldiers, of inducing a transient fever if introduced 

 within the anus. When bruised and applied to the skin it has 

 a counter-irritant action which makes it useful in the treatment 

 of rheumatism, but the odor is so disagreeable that it is not 

 worth while to use it for that purpose when we have so many 

 other medicines which produce the same effect without being 

 objectionable. It is also used locally for the bites of venomous 

 animals. 



The onion is used cooked as a poultice over the bladder and 

 internally for various catarrhs. It is better to abstain from 

 the therapeutic and culinary use of products so indigestible 

 and so malodorous. 



Botanical Description. — These plants are so well known 

 in all parts of the world that a description of them would be 

 superfluous. 



PALMES. 



Palm Family. 

 Areca Catechu, L. 



Nom. Vulcl — Boga, Tag.; Betel-nut Palm y Areca, Eng. 



Uses. — The seeds form part of a masticatory very common 

 throughout the extreme Orient, known as Buyo and composed 

 of a betel leaf, a little slaked lime, and a slice of the fruit of 

 the bonga, known asSiri in Indo-Chinaand among the Malays. 

 It is so common that it is hard to find a man or woman who 

 does not use it. The saliva of those who use it is red and of 

 a strong odor, and its careless use in time blackens the teeth 

 and makes the breath extremely disagreeable. Habitual 

 chewers consider it a tonic of the mouth and stomach and a 





