224 



Vernac. names. — Isho (Lagos, Dawodu) ; Esere (Old Calabar, 

 Moloney, Hutchinson, Holland). — Calabar Bean, Ordeal Bean. 



The bean is very poisonous ; the active principle is " Eserine " and 

 Stigmasterin {see Pharm. Journ. [4] xxiv. 1907, p. 331) ; used 

 medicinally for ophthalmia, &c. In Old Calabar it was formerly used 

 as an ordeal with a view to the detection of crime — innocent by 



recovery, guilty by fatality from a dose, but its use in this 



respect is now prohibited by law. 



The commercial demand is somewhat limited, and uncertain. 

 The price originally was 4s. to 5s. per lb. (Wardle worth, Pharm. 

 Journ. [3] xxii. 1891, p. 439), and at the present time the beans are 

 sold at from about 2d. per lb. (Chemist and Druggist, June 11th, 1910, 

 p. 62). 



The shipments are sometimes mixed with the seed of Mucuna 

 urens, which is easily distinguished by the circular form and the 

 broad flat hilum running almost half way round the seed. 



Kef. — " Description of the Plant which produces the Ordeal Bean 

 of Calabar," Balfour, in Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, xxii. pt. 2, 1860, 



pp. 305-312. " Note on Calabar Beans," Holmes, in Pharm. Journ. 



[3] ix. 1879, pp. 913-914. -"The Preparation and Characters of 



Extract of Calabar Bean," Gibson, in Pharm. Journ. [3] xv. 1885, 



pp. 593-594. " Note on Commercial Extract of Calabar Bean," 



MacEwan, in Pharm. Journ. I.e. pp. 594-595, and pp. 606-607 ; "The 

 Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Calabar Beans," MacEwan, I.e. 



xvii. 1887, pp. 641-643. " Physostigma venenosum" in Med. Pflan. 



Kohler, iii. 3-| pages. " Physostigmatis Semina," Pharm. Journ. [4] 



xi. 1900, p. 461. " Calabar Bean," I.e. xviii. 1904, pp. 699-700. 



" Assay of Calabar Beans," I.e. xxi. 1905, p. 583. 



Phaseolus, Linn. 



Phaseolus aconitifolius, Jacq.; Obs. Bot. iii. p. 2. 



Perennial or annual. Stems slender, suberect or diffuse, slightly 

 hairy. Stipules lanceolate, leaflets deeply 3-lobed, with the central 

 division Jigulate. Racemes capitate. Bracteoles linear. Flowers 

 minute. Pod rather stouter than in P. trilobus, and seed3 larger 

 (1-2 in. long, 6-12 seeded). 



III.— Jacq. Obs. Bot. iii. t. 52 ; Duthie, Field Crops, i. 1. 11 ; Church, 

 Food Grains, India, t. 29. 



Aconite-leaved Kidney Bean ; Moth Bean. 



Botanic Station, Lagos : Found throughout India, Ceylon, &c. 



Useful for food, fodder and green manuring. The green pods are 

 used in India as a vegetable. The principal requirements under culti- 

 vation, are a deep sandy loam or alluvium, though it will grow on 

 soil comparatively poor ; moderate rainfall (about 30 or 40 inches), 

 and a warm climate. 



The seed may be sown broadcast, at the rate of about 8 lbs. per 

 acre ; a high yield is an average of about eight maunds (656 lbs.) per 

 acre, and a fair yield in an average season may be 120 lbs. of pulse 

 per acre (Watt, Comm. Prod. India, p. 879). 



Ref. — " Phaseolus aconitifolius " in Field and Garden Crops, 



Duthie & Fuller, i. p. 41. " The Moth-Bean " in Food Grains of 



India, Church, p. 152, with analysis. " Phaseolus aconitifolius" in 



Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, vi. 1, 1892, pp. 182-186. Ibid, 



in Comm. Prod. India Watt, pp. 879-880 (John Murray, London, 

 1908). 



