180 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IV, July, 1950 
Crotalaria incana (leaves and stems, 5.9; seeds 
and pods, 5.9); Crotalaria mucronata (whole 
plant, 6.4); Dioclea violacea (leaf, 5.7; seed, 
6.2 ) ; Leucaena glauca ( pods, flowers, leaves, 
and stems, ?); Medicago sativa (leaves, stems, 
and flowers, 5.6); Prosopis chilensis (leaves 
and stems, 5.5; pods and leaves, 5.6); Vigna 
marina ( whole plant, 6.0 ) ; Pelea sp. ( leaf, 
5.7) ; Aleurites moluccana (young nuts, raw, 
6.3) ; Euphorbia hirta (whole plant, 5.6); 
Hura crepitans (leaves and stems, 5.2); Ri- 
cinus communis (leaves, 6.0; stems, 5.4; 
seeds, 5.9); Mangifera indica (fruit, ripe, 
4.7 ) ; Schinus terebinthifolius ( leaves, 4.7 ; 
berries, 5.2); Cardiosp ermum Halicacabum 
(leaves and stems, 6.0; fruits, 5.7); Dodonaea 
viscosa (leaves, 5.5); Hibiscus tiliaceus (leaves 
and stems, 6.2); Malvastrum coromandeli- 
anum (whole plant, 5.5); Sida fallax (leaves, 
? ) ; W altheria americana ( leaves and flowers, 
5.5; stems, 5.5; roots, 5.8); Calophyllum 
Inophyllum (leaves, 4.8; flowers, 4.1; fruits, 
5.0) ; Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa (leaves and 
stems, 5.8); Passiflora foetida var. (leaves 
and stems, 5.5); Carica Papaya (leaves, 6.1; 
flowers, 6.2; fruit, 5.8; seeds, 5.9); Opuntia 
megacantha (leaf-pads, 4.3); Wikstroemia 
oahuensis (leaves, 6.0; stems, 6.1); Nerium 
Oleander (leaves and stems, 5.6; flowers and 
pods, 5.3); Thevetia peruviana (flowers, 6.7; 
leaves, 6.0; fruits, 7.1); Ipomoea Batatas 
(leaves, 7.1); Ipomoea congesta (whole plant, 
5.5); Ipomoea pes-caprae (leaves and stems, 
6.1; flowers and buds, 5.9); Messerschmidia 
argentea ( leaves and stems, 6.0; fruits, 6.5 ) ; 
Stachytarpheta cayennensis (leaves, 6.1; stems, 
6.0 ) ; Capsicum frutescens ( leaves and stems, 
5.8; tea from pods, 6.8); Lycopersicon escu- 
lentum ssp. Galeni (leaves and stems, 5.8; 
fruits, 4.5); Plantago lanceolata (whole plant, 
5.5); Morinda citrifolia (leaves and stems, 
5.1) ; Momordica Charantia (leaves, 7.3); 
Scaevola frutescens var. sericea (leaves and 
stems, 6.2; ripe fruit, 5.5); Scaevola Gaudi- 
chaudiana (leaves, 5.9); Erigeron albidus 
(whole plant, 5.7) . 
The text listing on page 179 is significant 
chiefly for its length. In it are included some 
of the species of plants which the Hawaiians 
often employed to treat conditions which we 
now recognize as bacterial infections. Among 
these plants are sugar cane, Saccharum offi- 
cinarum\ buffalo grass, Stenotaphrum secun- 
datum; awapuhi, Zingiber Zerumbet; ala- 
alawainui, Peperomia spp.; alani, Pelea sp.; 
aalii, Dodonaea viscosa; uhaloa, W altheria 
americana; the poisonous akia, Wikstroemia 
oahuensis; the deadly oleanders, Nerium Ole- 
ander and Thevetia peruviana; sweet potato 
and the koali of several kinds, Ipomoea spp.; 
chili pepper, Capsicum frutescens; naupaka, 
Scaevola spp.; and many others, but, it must 
be pointed out, there are also included in the 
list a number of species of plants which 
were applied by the Hawaiians to the treat- 
ment of conditions other than those caused 
by bacteria. It is worthy of note that, in 
general, the pH values of the extracts of 
these plants are significantly higher (that is, 
less acid) than are the pH values of the more 
effective plant extracts listed in Tables 3 
and 4. 
Nevertheless, this list is one of disappoint- 
ments, from the bacteriologists’ point of view, 
and reveals the price of empiricism in medi- 
cine — many failures for every success. 
Table 6 is in the nature of an appendix to 
Tables 3 to 5. It presents the effects of ex- 
tracts from 17 different plants upon the 5 
strains of pathogenic intestinal bacilli used 
in these studies. Four of the plants were very 
effective in their antibacterial action and 
might well be studied further. Only one of 
these, the guava, Psidium Guajava, was used 
by the Hawaiians specifically for its curative 
value in "diarrhoeas and intestinal hemor- 
rhages” (Kaaiakamanu and Akina, 1922: 
55). This illustrates the ability of the Ha- 
waiian to exploit newly introduced plants 
for his medicinal needs, for the guava was 
not brought to Hawaii until early in the 
nineteenth century, when Don Marin im- 
