xii. a. 4 Brill and Wells: Medicinal Plants, II Igl 



Thus rebelaisine, of Plugge, should be therefore called lophope- 

 taline, a substance utterly different from lunasin, which was 

 obtained by Lewin and later identified with that obtained by 

 Boorsma from Lunasia costulata Miq. (=L. amara Blanco). 

 This author, in his commentary on the results of his research, 

 says that he obtained an amorphous alkaloid, hygroscopic, of 

 bitter taste and nonvolatile, from the bark of Lunasia costulata. 

 Lunasin was dark grayish and was very soluble in water. Eight 

 milligrams in a hypodermic injection acted as a cardiac poison 

 and killed a frog of 78 grams' weight; the heart stopped in 

 systole. A dose of 20 milligrams injected into a guinea pig 

 produced a severe intoxication with complete paralysis for some 

 time, though without occasioning death. Lunasin has been also 

 found in the hard wood of the tree. 



Father Juan J. Delgado 32 mentions three species of paetan — 

 the first and second identified by Fernandez- Villar as Lunasia 

 amara Blanco. There are several distinct species of Lunasia 

 found in the Philippines, so that perhaps Delgado's statements 

 really refer to more than one form. 



Following is a translation of a part of what Delgado writes 

 concerning lunas or paetan. 



Paetan is a name common to three species, all of them very bitter, from 

 which it derives its name, which we might translate as "bitterness itself." 

 This is true of the one that is larger than the rest, whose branches grow 

 to be of the size of the wrist. I wished to make experiments on this one, 

 and for that purpose had some brought from Panamao Island. It is very 

 bitter and acts as a poison. By merely chewing a very small bit of its 

 bark, I was hardly able that day to remove the bitterness from the tongue, 

 experiencing some sort of convulsions for three days. I was obliged to take 

 some antidotes and cold water baths, but after the three days were over, 

 I felt exceedingly robust and well. 



All this leads me to believe that if this plant were carefully studied, 

 its value as a medicine would be learned. A lad who tasted it at the same 

 time I did immediately felt the same effects, but having in his case pro- 

 voked nausea, was soon well. Some of the natives use an infusion of the 

 iMrk of paetan to cure eye trouble; the solution is so strong that the 

 bitter taste becomes evident in the throat and mouth. 



The second paetan is a smaller tree, which is found in the smaller 

 islands of the Archipelago, and is very well known and much valued for 

 its medicinal fruits. It is an antidote for all poisons whether they be from 

 witch-craft or from snakes, or poisonous animals or fish. Half a real in 

 powdered form will cure a severe stomach ache due to any cause ; it is 

 admirable for infected wounds, for it will clean and cure them in a short 

 time. Finally it is one the antidotes used to make the "oleo de japlas." 



32 Delgado, J. J., Historia general sacro-profana, politica y natural de las 

 islas del Poniente llamadas Filipinas (1892), 611. 



