November i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
3i7 
ac'uls, and the final product is a fine, clear, nearly 
colourless oil, almost devoid of odour and taste — 
Pharmaceutical Journal. 
+ 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF 
CATHA LEAVES . 
BY 1'ROFiCSSOIt FLUCKIGEB AND J. B. OEKOCK. 
Catha edulis, For leal, is a glabrous tree or shrub, 
widely distributed in the interior of eastern Africa 
from Afbyssinia to Port Natal * which appears also to be 
largely cultivated throughout those regions as well as 
in tin; southern districts of Arabia. 
The first scientific notice of catha is due to the Swedish 
botanist Peter Forskal who died in Arabia, in July, 
17G8, after having explored the flora of that country 
ami lower Fgypt. The statement referring to Catha 
will be found in the 'Flora Aegyptiaco-arabica, ' Hav- 
niae, 1775, p. 63, edited by Carsten Niebubr. 
The short account of Forskal is as follows : — 
" Catha. Arbor. Kami altorni, axillares ; ramuli 
virides, annui, articulati. Folia bipoll. ovato-Ianceolata, 
serrata, glabra, plana, nitida, pateutia, rigida, opposita; 
in ramis magnis alterna. Petiolus auperne planus, 
brevis .... Pericarpium, capsnla oblongo-eyliud- 
rica, frilocularis, inonospenn;i in ((iiovis loculo. 
"Arab. 'Cat' vol ' Kat.' 
•fin Vernon colitur iisdem hortis cum cairea. Stipit- 
ibus plantatur. 
"Arabes folia avide edunt, multum earum vires 
venditantes, qui copiosias comederit, vol totam vigilet 
noctern ; asseverant quoqne pestem ea loca non in- 
trare, ubi haec colitur arbor : et homiuem rumum 
catb:c iii sinu gestantem, Into posse inter infectos 
peste versari. Gustue tanien foliorum tautam virtutem 
indicaro non videtur." 
Catha edulis is now the prevailing name, although 
we are not aware of Forskal's having bestowed it 
on the plant, which was described by Richard under 
the name of Catha Forskal ii. The specific name of 
" edulis " would appear to bo partly duo to Vahl, 
who termed the plant Celastrus edulis in his 'Sym- 
bols? bolanic;e, ' i. (Havniae, 1700), 21, 
According to Bentliara and Hooker, 'Genera Plant- 
arum,' i. (1802 — 1867) 361, there is but one speoies 
known of the genus Catha; the same is Baillon's 
opinion in his ' Dictionuaire de Botaniquc,' vol ii., 
p. 6S5< So we may i|uote the diagnosis of the 
former work as an excellent diaguosis of the 
plant : — 
" Calyx 5-lobus, parvus. Betala 5, creeto-patentia. 
Stamina 5, niargini disci iuserta, filamenti* subulatis ; 
antherae late didyraae. Discus tenuis, margine undu- 
lato- (Ovarium ovoideum, disco immorsum, liberum, 
3-loculnre ; stylus brevis, crassui, stigmatilus 3 brovibus, 
libens v. basi connatis ; ovula in loculis gemiua, e basi 
crecta. Capsula liucari-oblonga, 3-gonu, loculicide 3-val- 
vis, 1-3-sperma, septis medio incrassatis. Semina imma- 
tura medio septo hilo lato atlixa, compressa, testa minute 
tuberculata, foramiue dilatnto infero. Frutex glaber- 
rimus, ramulia oinereis. Folia opposita, pctiolata, 
lane, olata, coriacen, grosse serrata. Stipulae o ciliis 
paucis . . . ." 
Among modem travellers who became acquainted 
with kat in its native countries we may quote the 
following : — 
I'. K. Botta,f iu 183", found catha much in use, 
and largely and most carefully cultivated in the 
mountains of south-western Yemen, iu the mountainous 
district of Saber, between 111° and 1 I" N. lat. Botta 
was presented by one of the Sheikhs of the country 
with a bundle of branches of kat, according to the 
rules of politeness of that people. He ascertained 
that tin' leaves when chewe 1 ha 1 an agreeable, ex- 
citing action, which imparted the desire to spend the 
night rather in quiet conversation than sleeping. Uotta 
expressly states that he thought extremely pleasant 
that kind of excitation and the lovely dreams pro- 
yoked by the use of kat. Ho gives an account of 
its virtu es roooh rem inding those of ooca leaves; in 
• Oliver, ' Flora of Tropioal Africa,' i., 861 
| ' Relation d'un voyagu dans 1'Yemen, entrepris en 
73.' Pari , L84A,pp, 43, ai, 
Yemen kat affords the same relief, chiefly to messen- 
gers while on hard journeys, as coca does in the Cordi- 
lleras. 
Every visitor being presented, iu good houses, with 
twigs of kat, chews the leaves and throws on tho 
floor of the reception room not only the stalks, 
but also these parts of the leaves which he has not 
swallowed. Botta, nevertheless, speaks iu high terms 
of the green bundles of catha and their agreeable 
smell ; he says that tho leaves are strongly inebri- 
ating when freshly cut, but the intoxication does 
not last for a long time. 
In the ' Flora ' of Regeusburg, xxiv., part 2 
(1841), p. 662, Ch. F. Hochstetter, describing some 
new African genera, suppose kat to belong to an 
undescribed plant, and, therefore, mentioned it 
under the namo of Trigonolheca serrata in the fsllow- 
ing terms ; — 
"Frutex foliis oppositis simplicibus lanceolatis 
in petiolurn brevem attenuatis obtuse serratis glaber- 
rimis luridis discoloribus Colitur ad oppidum 
vel paguin Abba Gorima, prope Adaua et'in provincia 
Schiro nomine abyssinico Tschat, folia crude a Muham- 
niedanis comeduntur et infusioue aqua: ferventis potum 
sapidum Theao iostar praebent." 
In his exploration of Abyssinia and Shoa, Major, 
Harris,* 18-11-1843, repeatedly met with khat (chaat) 
or kath. He stated that the shrub or little tree, 
not exceeding 12 feet in height, was extensively 
cultivated in Shoa and the neighbouring countries 
of Kat and Kaffa (about 5° to 10° N. Iat.), although 
it is indigenous in the western mountains, in a region 
of f rom 5000 to 8000 feet above the level of the soa, 
where the temperature, on an average, varies from 
about 15° to 16° (60 9 F.) The leaves of the kat 
are either chewed by the people or boiled 
with milk or water so as to take the infusion, t 
They also make a drink of it by adding honey ; it 
is bitter and stimulating, and prevents sleeping if 
takon in excess. 
In Abyssinia catha was again met with by the French 
expedition of Lefebvre, Petit et Quartin-Dillon, 1830- 
1843. The botanic results of that expedition being edit- 
ed by A. Richard, this botanist devoted a page to Catha 
Forskal ii, as he termed the tree, in the ' Partie Botan- 
ique,' lome iv. (Paris, 1817), 134. Among synonyms bes- 
towed upon Forskal's catha, I Joe hstetter's name of Trigo- 
notheca, is shown by Richard to be due solely to the 
author's not having been aware of Forskal's de- 
scription. 
AVe need borrow only the following lines from 
Richard : — 
" . . . . fol. opposit. rarius alteruis .... Orescit ad 
pagum Abba-Cerima, prope Adaua, ubi colitur (Quartin- 
Dillon et Schimper), et in provincia Choa (Ant. 
Petit et Rocher d'Horicourt) 
" Nomina vernacula, Tschut, Tohat, Tohai." 
In another French account of Abyssinia, a few 
years later, kat will be found under the name of 
Celastrus Tsaad, Ferret et Galinier ; the tree is in fact 
closely allied to Celastrus as already noticed by Vahl. 
Tlii! following account, in the botanical results of that 
expedition!, is of some interest: — 
"Grand arbrisseau qui est appelu Tchaad, cultive 
a Abbagarina et dans le Ohiro. Les Mahometans, 
corame il Moka, mangent les feuilles crues ce qui 
les enivre legcrement. Les feuilles, pruparues a la 
maniero du the, donnent nue infusion assez agreable 
a boire," 
• 'The Highlands of Ethiopia and Embassy to 
Shoa.' By Major W. Cornwullis Harris, of the Hon. 
E. I. Comp. Engineers. London, 1841. We have 
before us only the excellent German translation by 
K(arl) von K(illinger), 2 vols., Stuttgart, 18-15- 184C. 
The short remarks on knt will be found iu vol. ii., 
p. 300, and iu the Appendix, pp. 34 and 174. 
f In a short notice of the British Yico-Oousul at 
Hodcidab, I'ltnrm. Jmi, ,„ xvii. i K->7 ). i; .n, \\ is .-\. 
premdy stated that the Arabs du not make a dicoctioit 
from kat. 
t Ferret et Galinier, ' Vovago eu Abyssinia.' oi. 
.1817), 109. 
