249 



LEGUMINOSAE CAESALPINIAE. 



Caesalpinia, Linn. 



Caesalpinia Bonducella, Roxb. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 262. 



111.— Rheede, Hort. Mai. ii. t. 22 ; Rumpf, Amb. v. t. 49, f. 1 

 {Globuli majores) ; Hughes, Hist. Barbados, 1. 18 ; Velloso, Fl. Flum. 

 iv. t. 91 {Guilandina Bonduc, Ait.) ; Mart. Fl. Bras. xv. pt. 2, t. 21 ; 

 Bentl. & Trimen, Med. PI. t. 85 ; Sinclair, Indig. Fl. Hawaiian Is. 

 t. 31 ; Engl. & Prantl, Pflan. iii. pt. 3, f. 94 (after Bentl. & Trimen) ; 

 Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. ix. t. 51 {Guilandina crista) ; Brandis, Ind. 

 Trees, p. 246 (pod). 



Vernac. names. — Shayo (Lagos, Foster, Dawodu) ; Kakalaira 

 (Hawaii, Sinclair, Saffbrd) ; Calumbibit (Tagalog, Philippines, Bacon) ; 

 [Calambit, Bayag Cambing (Philippines), Anaoso (Samoa), Pacao, 

 Pakeo (Guam), Tataramoa (Raratonga), Guacalote Prieto (Cuba) 



Safford], Graines-tiques (French Guiana, Heckel). Bonduc Nut ; 



Fever Nut ; Nicker Nut ; Molucca Bean ; Guilandina Seeds ; Horse 

 Nicker ; Chick Stone Tree ; Benzor Nut ; Physic Nut. 



Common on the tropical shores of both hemispheres. 



The seeds are very buoyant and drift for long distances ; they are 

 occasionally washed up on the shores of Ireland, Scotland, Norway, 

 &c. They are used largely for ornamental purposes — bracelets, neck- 

 laces, rosaries, &c. (Mus. Kew), and in India, generally mixed with 

 black pepper, they serve as a tonic and febrifuge ; a powder of the 

 seed is administered in cases of malarial fever — dose 10-15 grains. 

 The bitter principle according to Dr. Isnard is as efficient as quinine. 

 (Second Rep. Indig. Drugs Committee, Simla, 1909, p. 51.) The 

 natives in the Philippines regard the seeds as a good medicine for 

 stomach troubles ; an adult will eat from 10 to 12 nuts, and if there 

 is no relief in an hour or two the dose is repeated ; the dosage for 

 youths and infants is in proportion (Bacon, Philippine Journ. Sci. 

 1906, p. 1033). The root bark is used as a tonic and for various 

 medicinal purposes (Moloney, For. W. Afr. p. 328, Bentl. & Trimen, 

 Med. PI. No. 85), and the roots in French Guiana are used for the 

 cure of gonorrhoea (Heckel, Ann. Tnst. Col. Marseille, 1897, p. 116). 

 The seeds may be purchased in the Philippines at 10 cents per lb. and 

 the native boys use them in a game similar to marbles (I.e.). The 

 native boys of Sierra Leone play with them a game called " Warree 

 Warree " (Mus. Kew) and they are sometimes used in " Mancala," 

 the national game of Africa (Culin. Smithsonian Rep. U.S. Nat. Mus. 

 1894, p. 597). 



The plant is grown largelv as a fence for kraals and gardens in 

 Pondoland (Sim, For. Fl. Cape Colony, p. 208). 



Me/. — " Semen Bonducellae " in Pharmacographia, Fliickiger & 



Hanbury, pp. 211-213. " Caesalpinia Bonducella'" in Med. PI. 



Bentley & Trimen, ii. No. 85, 4 pages (J. & A. Churchill, London, 



1880). "Nouvelles recherches sur les Bonducs et leur graines 



febrifuges," Heckel in Journ. "Les New Remedes," .1886. 



Caesalpinia Bonducella in Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, ii. 1889, 



pp. 3-6. " Caesalpinia Bonducella" in Pharmacog. Indica, 



Dymock, Warden & Hooper, i. pp. 496-499 (Kegan Paul, Trench, 



Triibner & Co., Ltd., London, 1890). " Mancala The National Game 



of Africa," Stewart Culin, in Smithsonian Rep. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1894, 



pp. 597-607. " Caesalpinia Bonducella " : " The Physiologically 



active constituents of certain Philippine Medicinal Plants," Bacon, in 



