August, 1908.] 



125 



Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF 

 BRUCEA SUMATRANA. 



We have received from Messrs. Bur- 

 roughs and Welcome's Laboratories two 

 pamphlets by Drs. P. B. Power and A. 

 W. Sal way, and Mr. W. Thomas, giving 

 the results of chemical examination of 

 the barks of Brucea sumatnana and 

 bark and fruits of B. antidysenterica, 

 the latter plant being a native of Af rica, 



The bark of B. sumatrana was analy- 

 sed by Dr. Thomas, who writes:— "A 

 quantity of the bark of this species of 

 Brucea was obtained through the kind- 

 ness of Mr. H. N. Ridley, Director of the 

 Botanic Gardens of the Straits Settle- 

 ments, Singapore.^ Its collection was 

 attended with considerable difficulty, for, 

 as stated in a communication from Mr. 

 Ridley to Messrs, Burroughs, Welcome & 

 Co., of London, the plant is a tender 

 shrub, the stems of which are barely an 

 inch in diameter and the bark not 

 easily removed. It was also noted that 

 although the bark is distinctly less 

 bitter, it is much less so than the fruit, 

 and therefore probably contains less of 

 the bitter principle. The bark was in 

 their strips of a light brown colour ex- 

 ternally and paler on the inner surface. 

 In the analysis there was found buty- 

 ric and formic acid and behenic acid." 



The author concludes that, in view of the 

 difficulty of obtaining any quantity of the 

 bark of Brucea sumatrana, and the fact 

 that it contains a much smaller propor- 

 tion of bitter principles than the fruit, 

 it would appear that the latter is to be 

 preferred for medicinal use. This would 

 certainly be so, as the bark of the shrub 

 is very thin and adheres so closely to the 

 wood that it is very troublesome to 

 scrape it off. 



In examining the fruit of the Abyssi- 

 nian Brucea antidysenterica, Dr. Power 



and Dr. Salway find that the constitu- 

 ents of this species are very simillar to 

 that of Brucea sumatrana, and it may 

 consequently be assumed that the two 

 species possess similar medical proper- 

 ties. The bitter principles appear, how- 

 ever, to be contained in relatively larger 

 amount in the fruit of Brucea sumatrana 

 than in that of the Abyssinian species, 

 and in view of the difficulty experienced 

 in collecting the fruit of the latter it is 

 not probable that it will acquire a very 

 extended use. 



It may finally be noted that the Phar- 

 macopaia Nederlandiea (Editio quarta 

 1905) has given official recognition to the 

 fruit of Brucea sumatrana, Roxb., which 

 is described under the title of Fructus 

 Brucese, and it is there stated that in 

 the Dutch East Indies this is known 

 among other names as " biji makasar " 

 and " tambara maridgi." 



It seems therefore from these two 

 papers that the seed of our local species 

 is better either than its bark or the 

 fruits of the American one, and fortu- 

 nately it is very easy to grow from seed, 

 and fruits heavily in a short time. If a 

 sufficient demand for the fruits could be 

 found, Brucea sumatrana would be an 

 excellent catch crop for rubber. The 

 seeds need only be planted two or three 

 feet apart in situs, and no manuring or 

 other cultivation is necessary. When 

 the fruit commences to ripen it is 

 gathered and simply dried. Each plant 

 will produce about a pound of dried 

 fruit per year. 



H. N. R. 



— Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits 

 and Federated Malay States, No. 5, Vol. 

 VI., May, 1908. 



[This plant is not uncommon as a weed 

 about Kandy, and the seeds are used as 

 a remedy in dysentery. — Ed.] 



