174 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol IV, July, 1950 
TABLE 1 ( Continued ) 
FAMILY 
SCIENTIFIC NAME 
OF SPECIES 
COMMON NAMES 
IN HAWAII 
TRADITIONAL USES AS 
MATERIA MEDICA 
Plantaginaceae 
Plantago lanceolata L. 
narrow-’ eaved plantain; 
laukahi 
sores or boils (Handy: 21); 
general debility, constipation, 
boils (K & A: 58); diabetes 
and "to clear the system” 
(Neal: 695) 
Plant a go major L. 
broad-leaved plantain; 
laukahi 
same as above 
Rubiaceae 
Morinda citrifolia L. 
Indian mulberry; noni 
broken bones, deep cuts ( K & 
A: 73); cuts, bruises, sores, 
wounds (Handy: 18) 
Cucurbitaceae 
Momordica Charantia L. 
bitter melon, balsam 
pear 
used in the preparation of a 
Japanese remedy for skin ail- 
ments, headache, constipation 
(Neal: 709) 
Goodeniaceae 
Scaevola jrutescens 
beach naupaka; naupaka 
"used medicinally in Malaya” 
(Mill.) Krause var. 
sericea ( Forst. f. ) 
Merr. 
kahakai 
(Neal: 720); cuts and skin 
diseases (K & A: 72) 
Scaevola Gaudichau- 
diana Cham. 
mountain naupaka; 
naupaka kuahiwi 
same as above 
Compositae 
Bidens pilosa L. 
beggar tick; related to 
the ko’oko’olau of 
the Hawaiians 
"used medicinally” (Neal: 742) 
Erigeron albidus 
related to Canada flea- 
"used medicinally in Java” 
(Willd.) Gray 
bane; iliohe 
(Neal: 733; listed in Handy: 
42) 
plants were identified for us by Dr. Harold 
St. John, professor of botany and chairman 
of the Department of Botany at the Univer- 
sity of Hawaii. We are grateful for their help 
and their encouraging interest in these stud- 
ies. At Dr. St. John’s suggestion, herbarium 
specimens of the plants studied were pre- 
pared by us and are preserved in the Depart- 
ment of Bacteriology at the University of 
Hawaii. 
DATA AND DISCUSSION 
We are well aware of the shortcomings of 
this approach to an appraisal of the medicinal 
plants found in Hawaii, if only because so 
many of these plants were not used primarily 
for their effect against bacteria: they were 
used as cathartics, vermifuges, emollients, 
astringents, analgesics, counterirritants, and 
other salutaries, as well as for their action in 
preventing infection and for treating an in- 
fection once it had begun. We know, too, 
that studying the effects of these plants upon 
bacteria in vitro does not test them under the 
conditions in vivo in which they were in- 
tended to be used: there are so many factors 
involved in the living body which might con- 
tribute important assistance to the medicinal 
agent when it is properly applied by the herb- 
alist. The purists among admirers of the 
kahuna’s lore will also point out that we did 
not use the ancient prescriptions exactly as 
they were applied by the kahuna. To this our 
answer must be that, in this initial stage of 
the investigation, we were concerned with 
studying the effects of the component parts 
of the prescriptions, hoping that later, when 
we had found all of the components, we 
could put them together to see if they are 
any more effective when they are used con- 
currently than when they are used alone. 
The number of kinds of plants available 
