THE 
AGRKJULTURAL mAGAZinG, 
COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to the " TBOPIGAL AGRICULTURIST:' 
The following pages include the Contents of the Agricultural Marjazint for 
F ebruary : — 
Vol. XIV.] JANUARY— FEBRUARY, 1903. [Nos. 7 & 8, 
A USEFUL CEYLON DRUG. 
IHAT is known as extracb of Jambul 
is sold by chemists ns a specific 
for diabetes, but few people ore 
aware how familiar a tree yields 
this drug. 
"Jambul" is an Indian name for Eugenia 
(Syzygium) Jambolana, the black plum commonly 
known as " Ma-dan." 
Tlie following information (taken from Dr. 
"Watt's Dictionary) regarding the medicinal virtues 
of tbe tree are of interest : — 
"The bark is astringent and used in cases of 
dysentery and the decoction as a tooth-gargle. A 
Tinegar, prepared from the juice of the unripe fruit' 
is an agreeable stomachic and carminative ; it is 
also used as a diuretic The fresh juice of the 
bark is given with goal's milk in diarrhcea in 
children. T'-e expressed juice of the leaves is 
used alone or in combination with other astringents 
in dysentery. The powdered seeds have had the 
reputation in recent years of being useful in 
the treatment of diabetes." 
It is in this last connection that the tree 
appears to have received recognition in medicine 
as the source of a useful drug, and we read 
'n the report of a Surgeon of the Indian Medical 
Department that the powder of the dried stone 
certainly does diminish the quantity of sugar 
in the urine very quickly, and, in some cases, 
even permanently. 
We thus see that a familiar tree, commonly 
found on the ?andy soils about Colombo and in 
the Negombo district, and the seeds of which 
are a favourite wild berry among children, 
yields a valuable drug. As a fruit the " black 
plum" is by no means of a high order, and 
beyond being consumed in situ by children who 
go a-blackberrying, it is seldom seen within 
doors except, occasionally prepared, as a sort of 
sweet salad with lemon juice and sugar, 
in which form its bright red dye 
makes it a more attractive looking than it 
really is. There is an idea that this preparation 
is wholesome and tends to purify the blood. 
Apart from this use of this berry, which is 
the chief food of the pompadour pigeon (bata- 
goyiya) and the use of the bark as a tanning 
agent, the plant is not considerei as a par« 
ticularly useful member of the myrtle order, 
to which it belongs together with such fruit- 
producing trees as the rose-apple, Malay apple, 
guava, &c. 
Mr. W. A. de Silva, who has an extensive 
knowledge of the uses of our indigenous plants, 
says of this tree : — " I heard some years ago that 
the seed of Ma-dan was exported to Europe, 
and that the fruit was a specific in diabetes.'' 
This was no doubt the time that products of 
the tree began to be examined as medicinal agents. 
We are aware that there is a local European 
firm greatly interested in the commercial develop, 
ment of our neglected vegetable products) 
particularly those of a medicinal character, and 
we have no doubt that we shall hear of mora 
of such products appearing under new names and 
in new and commercial forms among marketable 
commodities. 
The pity is that some of the members of 
the local medical department, which counts men 
of acknowledged scientific skill among its numbers, 
