October 26,1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
321 
THE MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF THE 
COW TREES OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
BY JOHN It. JACKSON, A.L.S. 
Curator of the Museums, Kew. 
The presence of milky juices in plants is not un¬ 
common ; indeed, it is a character of many natural 
orders. In the numerous plants which yield caout¬ 
chouc, or india-rubber, the juice, as it flows from the 
tree, is milky white, becoming coloured on exposure 
to the air, or in process of solidifying. The juices 
of some of the milk-yielding trees, however, do not 
solidify, and they are used as an article of food. 
Several of these trees, from the fact of their yielding 
wholesome milks are known as Cow-trees. In South 
America, which is the head-quarters of these Cow- 
trees, they are called Palo de vaca, or Arbol de leclie. 
Perhaps the best known of these trees is that re¬ 
ferred to Brosimum galactodendron, Don. It grows in 
large forests on the mountains about Cariaco, and 
in other parts of the sea-coast of Venezuela. It 
forms a tree frequently over 100 feet high, and often 
running to a height of 60 or 70 feet before branch¬ 
ing. The milk, which is obtained by making inci¬ 
sions in the trunk, is said to have a very agreeable 
taste, somewhat resembling that of sweet cream, 
and a slightly balsamic odour; the only unpleasant 
feature about it is that it is somewhat glutinous, but 
it is very nourishing and perfectly wholesome. Hum¬ 
boldt saj’s, “ We drank considerable quantities of it 
in the evening before we went to bed, and very early 
in the morning without feeling the least injurious 
effect. The negroes and the free people who work in 
the plantations drink it, dipping into it their bread 
of maize, or cassava, The majordomo of the farm 
told us that the negroes grow sensibly fatter during 
the season when the Palo de vaca furnishes them 
with most milk. This juice, exposed to the air, pre¬ 
sents at its surface—perhaps in consequence of the 
absorption of the atmospheric oxygen—membranes 
of a strongly-animalized substance, yellowish, stringy, 
and resembling a cheesy substance. For several 
months of the year not a single shower moistens its 
foliage. Its branches appear dead and dried; but 
when the trunk is pierced there flows from it a sweet 
and nourishing milk. It is at the rising of the sun 
that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The 
blacks and natives are then seen hastening from all 
quarters furnished with large bowls to receive the 
milk, which grows yellow, and thickens on its sur¬ 
face. Some empty their bowls under the tree itself; 
others carry the juice home to their children. Like 
animal milk, it turns sour and putrefies after a few 
days’ exposure to the atmosphere. It has been 
found to contain more than 30 per cent, of galactin.” 
Taherncemontana utilis, Arn., known as the Hya- 
Hya, or Cow-tree of British Guiana, likewise yields a 
milky juice, which is perfectly bland and wholesome, 
though the general characters of the order are poi¬ 
sonous and acrid. The tree is tapped to obtain the 
milk. The milk, or Cow-tree of Para, known as the 
Massaranduba, has been referred to Mimusops elata, 
Allem; but its determinations doubtful, though there 
is no question of its belonging to the natural order 
Sapotacese. The milk, which flows slowly from the 
wounded bark, resembles good cream in consistence, 
but it is said to be too viscid to be a safe article of 
food. 
Certainly, the most important in a pharmaceutical 
point of view of all the Cow-trees is the Clusia galac- 
Thibd Series, No. 122. 
todendron of Desvaux. The tree has a thick bark 
covered with rough tubercles, and bears leaves of 
an obovate form and about three inches long. It is 
a native of Venezuela, but is also found in the Cauca 
Valley, north of the State of Antioquia, on the banks 
of the Abraeto river and on the Pacific coast as far 
as Tumaco. 
Many interesting accounts have been given of 
this tree, but the following notes from a letter on 
the subject, written by Mr. R. B. White, of Medellin, 
are the most comprehensive. The tree, it appears, 
has a decided partiality for certain localities, and 
there can be no doubt that while it needs the warm 
damp climate of the Choco, it likes good drainage, 
as it is always found on the low ridges just rising off 
the plains ; mean temperature 27° to 30° Cent., and 
never exceeds 200 metres above the level of the sea. 
The general utility of the milk of this tree is well 
known, but its most valuable property has been quite 
overlooked, that of curing dysentery. It contains’a re¬ 
sinous and an astringent principle, and an aromatic 
and tonic substance. The action of this combina¬ 
tion is mechanical so far as relates to the resin, 
which no doubt coats the intestines with a film and 
allays irrigation; and, secondly, it is astringent, 
tonic and antispasmodic. So far a knowledge of 
the constituents of this milk would lead one thus 
to judge theoretically of its action. With regard 
to practice, no other medicine is used in the 
Choco and on the Pacific coast of New Granada 
for dysentery; and this disease is thought little or 
nothing of as it is so easily cured. The mi 11c is to 
be procured everywhere, and is generally sold at 
from one to two dollars per bottle. Mr. White 
says, “ For upwards of two years I saw it constantly 
used amongst the workmen employed on the Buena 
Ventura Road, Pacific Coast, and in the most un¬ 
healthy climate. We had at times from 500 to 700 
men employed, and out of numberless cases of severe 
dysentery I never knew of a fatal case, and I have 
seen cures effected when the cases had gone sO 
far as to seem hopeless. As a general illustra¬ 
tion of its action, and method adopted of using it, 
I will refer to my own case. I was attacked with 
diarrhoea, which in two days passed into dysentery, 
very severe. In the short space of twelve hours I 
was reduced to a state of utter prostration, suffer¬ 
ing the most excruciating pains imaginable. The 
bloody discharge was so terrible that it seemed easy 
to predict death within a few hours; not a shadow 
of a medicine was to be had, as I was in a hut in 
the woods, and the violent phase of the disease was 
only developed at night-fall, and thus I passed the 
night in a helpless state. At daybreak the wife of 
one of our inspectors was called in as a nurse, and 
by 9 o’clock “ leche de vaca ” was procured. Up to 
this time I had been getting rapidly worse, and was 
then hardly conscious. The milk was given to me 
(a table-spoonful in a glass of water with a little 
sugar) every half-hour till 12 o’clock midday, and 
at tliis hour I was perfectly free from dysentery or 
the slightest symptom of it. Broths and light food 
were then given to me for a few days, and I was 
restored to perfect health without taking any more 
milk or other medicine, and without having the 
least recurrence of symptoms of dysentery. I have 
seen many severe cases successfuly treated in this 
way, but none more severe than my own, and am 
sure that no medicine or known system of treatment 
can be so efficacious as the leche de vaca treatment. 
