46 
of the Hongkong Gardens. It is stated that the leaves are “ charred ’ ' 
and a decoction as of tea made from them. Beside the scraps 
forwarded from Kkala Lumpur above mentioned we have received 
samples from Dr. Lim Boon Keng, Mr. F. Dent, Mr. Dunn and 
Aniff the Gardener at Kuala Lumpur. None bear a trace of flowers 
or fruit, consisting simply of sticks and leaves, and these belong 
to at least three kinds of plants. The one which seems to be the 
correct Kuala Lumpur plant, as leaves of it come in all the collections 
except the one from Hongkong is a scrambling or sarmeritose shrub, 
with half-woody stems with a hollow centre, and no thicker than a 
rather slender penholder. The^ leaves are elliptic narrowed a little 
at the base with a nearly blunt tip, about 6 inches long and three 
inches wide or smaller thinly coriacious quite glabrous and with 
about 8 pairs of main nerves which join in loops some way from 
the edge of the leaf. The petiole is a quarter of an inch long or 
rather more. The leaves are opposite in pairs, exstipulate the 
whole plants glabrous except the petioles and shoots of young leaves 
which are slightly scurfy. This was all I was able to make out of 
the scraps sent, but Mr. CARRUTHERS has identified it as Combretum 
Sundaicum and Dr. Treub of 'Buitenzorg to whom more adequate 
specimens were sent, also affirmed it was a Combretum. 
Combretum Sundaicum Miq. is a climbing shrub, with foliage as 
above described and small round heads about an inch or inch and a 
half through of light greenish yellow flowers, and oblong or orbi- 
cular broad-winged fruit with 4 wings inch long. It is a native 
of the whole Peninsula, and I have specimens from Singapore, Jchor, 
Selangor, Perak and Penang, where it grows scrambling over the 
bushes on the edges of the forests. It is commonly called Akar 
Kait-kait, and Gugamber, being mistaken for one of the wild gam- 
bers which it resembles in appearance. On a native collected speci- 
men I have written by the ^collector “ Pooga Tana, fruits used for 
headache/ ’ An allied species C . trifoliatum is used as authelmintic. 
The method of using these drugs is not stated in a reliable 
manner anywhere nor has any information been received with the 
samples. It is said however that the shrub is charred and a decoc- 
tion like tea made of it. That the drug has an unpleasant taste, 
and produces violent effects on the user at first. It is likewise 
stated that ' opium is added, to the bottle, and as the contents 
diminish fresh decoction without opium is added till the bottle 
practically contains no opium. The same plan of breaking off the 
habit by gradually diminishing doses as was utilized in the well 
known Gold cure for alcoholism many years ago. 
Heavy opium takers seem to suffer from diarrhoea and pains in 
the abdomen on ceasing suddenly from the drug but this it is said 
goes off, and indeed it is stated that it is easier to break off the 
opium habit than the alcoholic one. 
It is piobable that the value of the drug is quite mythical, as several 
very different plants have been used, and a Chinese doctor declares 
he has had equally good effects with ordinary strong tea. 
