

THE CHAULMOOGEA TEEE AISTD BELATED SPECIES. 3 



The evidence afforded by the many cases treated at the receiving 

 station and released as cured, of which not one has been returned 

 because of a recurrence of the disease, is, to say the least, most signi- 

 ficant. This is especially true when taken in connection with the 

 disintegration of the bacillus, as observed under the microscope, in 

 the tissues of treated as compared with untreated patients. 3 



The purpose of the botanical explorations undertaken by Prof. 

 Hock, of which this is a preliminary report, was to promote the cul- 

 tivation of the chaulmoogra tree and thus insure such a supply of 

 the genuine oil as would meet the demand created by the above-noted 

 therapeutic investigations. 



HISTORY OF CHAULMOOGRA OIL. 



By Joseph F. Rock, Agricultural Explorer, Office of Foreign Seed and Plant 



Introduction. 



Chaulmoogra seeds and chaulmoogra oil have been known for cen- 

 turies to the natives of Burma and southeastern Asia in general as 

 palliatives in leprosy and other skin diseases and were employed by 

 them both externally and internally. The species most used has been 

 Taraktogenos kurzii King (family Flacourtiacese, or Bixinese as it 

 is called in the Bentham and Hooker system), which the Burmese 

 call kalaw, also kalawbin (the tree), while the fruits are known as 

 kalawthee. This same species is known as lemtam in Assam, chaul- 

 moogra or chaulmugra in Hindi and Bengali, and to the Arakanese 

 as toung-pung. The Mikir name is thibong-thar ; the Kachin name, 

 ser-buli-baphang ; and the Miri name, seeri-asing. 



Up to the present clay, seeds of what is now known as Taraktogenos 

 kurzii and of closely related species, such as Hydnocarpus castanea, 

 both of which are called kalaw in Burma, are sold in the native 

 bazaars throughout that country; in fact, seeds of the former are 

 brought across the Burmese Mountains to Siam, where they are of- 

 fered for sale in native drug shops as far north as Chiengmai. The 

 seeds sold in these bazaars are usually old and rancid, with an ex- 

 ceedingly high acid content, and they are probably of inferior value 

 from a medicinal standpoint. 



Before relating the more recent history of the species, Taraktogenos 

 kurzii, which yields the genuine chaulmoogra oil, there may be given 

 a free rendition of certain excerpts from the " Mahawin," the 



* In a communication from Dr. McDonald < ir>) to the Journal of the American Medical 

 Association, be refers to a previous publication on the derivatives of chaulmoogra oil, 

 in which tin- apparent cure of 78 cases <>r leprosy was reported, and remarks further: 

 "As supplementary to thai report I wish to add that during the present month, after an 

 aaounination by u 'onimiit.ee of physicians representing the Territorial board of health, 

 C4 additional patients have been released from KallhJ (Leprosy) Hospital on parole as 

 mger :i menace to the public health, and 142 patients bare been paroled since October 

 l, i:>is, not one of whom thus far has suffered a relap 



