124 



r August, 1908. 



DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



COCA LEAVES PROM PERAK. 



The Imperial Institute has examined a 

 sample of coca leaves from Perak, 

 Federated Malay States. They found 

 them to be similar to the Java descrip- 

 tion, but rather browner than a good 

 sample of the latter, while the percent- 

 age of total alkaloids was 0'64 per cent., 

 being quite equal to an average amount 

 found in commercial coca from other 

 sources. Similar leaves, but of good 

 green colour, realise l\d. to 8d. per lb. on 

 the London Market. — Chemist and Drug- 

 gist, No. 1, 475, Vol. LXXII, May, 1908. 



THE MALAYAN ANTI-OPIUM 

 PLANT. 



(Combretum sundaicum, Miq.).— In the 

 Kew Bidletin, 1907, p. 198, reference 

 was made to the discovery of a plant in 

 Malaya, which was reputed to be valu- 

 able for the purpose of destroying che 

 desire for opium. The plant has been 

 identified by Mr. Carruthers as Com- 

 bretum sundaicum, Miq., a native of the 

 Malayan Peninsula and archipelago. 

 The history of the discovery of the value 

 of the plant is given by Mr. Wray in the 

 Journal of the Federated Malay States 

 Museums, Vol. II., No. I., December, 

 1906, and is as follows :— 



" A party of Chinese wood-cutters 

 working in the jungle near Seremban, 

 in Negri Sembilarl, ran out of tea, and, to 

 supply its place, took the leaves of a 

 jungle climber, dried them and made an 

 infusion in the ordinary way. This, 

 however, was not successful, as the 

 beverage made the men ill with ' sakit 

 perut.'Ci.e., bowel complaint). The leaves 

 were then roasted and a fair substitute 

 for tea was obtained, which had no ill- 

 effects. Then, for some obscure reason, 

 ' tengo ' (opium dross), or the refuse opium 

 after being smoked, was mixed with it, 

 and the men continued drinking the 

 mixture for a week or more in place of 

 tea. After this time it was found that 

 all desire for opium smoking had been 

 lost. Friends of the men were told of 

 the discovery, and so the news was 

 spread and others were induced to try 

 the remedy." 



With regard to the further history 

 of the plant and the spread of the 

 knowledge of its properties, Mr. J. G. 

 Alexander has been kind enough to 

 furnish us with the following parti- 

 culars :— 



The young men of the Chinese Y.M. 

 C,A., connected with the church of the 



Rev. W, E. Horley, of the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church, Kuala Lumpur, heard 

 that in the village of Jelebu, in the 

 neighbouring State of Negri Sembilan, a 

 cure for the opium habit had been 

 found, namely, a decoction of the leaves 

 of a forest creeper (Combretum sun- 

 daicum) which grows abundantly in 

 the tropical jungle. They brought the 

 matter before Mr. Horley, as they pur- 

 posed to devote their leisure to the dis- 

 tribution of the medicine if he would 

 afford them the necessary help. He 

 obtained a supply from the Anti-Opium 

 Society of Selangor, who undertook to 

 pay all expenses on condition that the 

 medicine was distributed without charge. 



In a few weeks the news of the cure 

 spread quickly, and after some four 

 weeks 500 applicants daily were supplied. 



An applicant brought with him two 

 bottles, old brandy or whisky bottles 

 which were filled with the decoction, 

 and into one of the two he placed— if 

 beginning the cure — his usual quantity of 

 opium drops ; this is not repeated, and 

 he fills up the bottle containing it from 

 the other bottle which contains none, so 

 that gradually the pioportion of opium 

 is reduced to nil. If he came a second 

 time no opium was used. 



The somewhat crude method of pre- 

 paration of the drug is given in detail 

 by Mr. Wray in the article to which 

 reference has already been made. With 

 regard to its chemical nature nothing 

 has as yet been discovered either in the 

 leaves or stem of the plant or in the 

 decoction of the roasted drug which 

 would account for its physiological 

 value. 



Medical men seem to be strongly in- 

 clined to the view that the plant has no 

 real value, and that it is the effect on the 

 mind of the opium consumer which 

 helps him to overcome the opium habit. 



In favour of this latter view it appears 

 that in Malaya many of those who were, 

 or appeared to be cured, have relaosed 

 into the habit, though on the other 

 hand many are still holding their ground 

 after more than a year. 



In the Agricultural Bulletin of the 

 Straits, Vol. vi., p. 46, Mr. Ridley states 

 that at least three kinds of plants were 

 included in the samples of the anti-opium 

 plant received by him from different 

 people, one of them being the Cumbre- 

 lum, so that until more definite evidence 

 of the value of the anti-opium plant is 

 forthcoming, it seems advisable to pre- 

 serve an open mind on the subject. — 

 Kew Bulletin, No. 5, 1908. 



