THE CHAULMOOGRA TREE AND RELATED SPECIES. 3 
The evidence afforded by the many cases treated at the receiving 
station and released as cured, of which not one has been returned 
because of a recurrence of the disease, is, to say the least, most signi- 
ficant. This is especially true when taken in connection with the 
disintegration of the bacillus, as observed under the microscope, in 
the tissues of treated as compared with untreated patients; 3 
The purpose of the botanical explorations undertaken by Prof. 
"Rock, of which this is a preliminary report, was to promote the cul- 
tivation of the chaulmoogra tree and thus insure such a supply of 
the genuine oil as would meet the demand created by the above-noted 
therapeutic investigations. 
HISTORY OF CHAULMOOGRA OIL. 
By Joseph F. Rock, Agricultural Explorer, Office of Foreign Seed and Plant 
Introduction. 
Chaulmoogra seeds and chaulmoogra oil have been known for cen- 
turies to the natives of Burma and southeastern Asia in general as 
palliatives in leprosy and other skin diseases and were employed by 
them both externally and internally. The species most used has been 
Taraktogenos kurzii King (family Flacourtiacese, or Bixinese as it 
is called in the Bentham and Hooker system), which the Burmese 
call kalaw, also kalawbin (the tree), while the fruits are known as 
kalawthee. This same species is known as lemtam in Assam, chaul- 
moogra or chaulmugra in Hindi and Bengali, and to the Arakanese 
as toung-pung. The Mikir name is thibong-thar ; the Kachin name, 
.ser-buTi-baphang ; and the Miri name, seeri-asing. . 
Up to the present day, seeds of what is now known as Taraktogenos 
kurzii and of closely related species, such as Hydnocarpus castanea, 
both of which are called kalaw in Burma, are sold in the native 
bazaars throughout that country; in fact, seeds of the former are 
brought across the Burmese Mountains to Siam, where they are of- 
fered for sale in native drug shops as far north as Chiengmai. The 
seeds sold in these bazaars are usually old and rancid, with an ex- 
ceedingly high acid content, and they are probably of inferior value 
from a medicinal standpoint. 
Before relating the more recent history of the species, Taraktogenos 
kurzii, which yields the genuine chaulmoogra oil, there may be given 
a free rendition of certain excerpts from the " Mahawin," the 
3 In a communication from Dr. McDonald (15) to the Journal of the American Medical 
Association, he refers to a previous publication on the derivatives of chaulmoogra oil, 
in which the apparent cure of 78 cases of leprosy was reported, and remarks further: 
" As supplementary to that report I wish to add that during the present month, after an 
•examination by a committee of physicians representing the Territorial hoard of health, 
64 additional patients have been released from Kalihi (Leprosy) Hospital on parole as 
no longer a menace to the public health, and 142 patients have been paroled since October 
1, 1918, not one of whom thus far has suffered a relapse." 
