362 
OX KOKUM BUTTER. 
the cardiac and pyloric orifices. The inflammation extended 
throughout the whole course of the small intestines, and there was 
great venous congestion of the brain. 
It is remarkable, that in cases of poisoning from Fungi, violent 
diarrhoea is present along with vomiting, whereas, in the present 
case, obstinate constipation prevailed. 
Most probably, all plants, belonging to this genus partake of 
this poisonous property, which, in the case mentioned above, was 
not dissipated by boiling. — Lon. Phar. Jour. $ Trans. Julyl, from 
Flora Capensis Medicce Prodromus , by L. Pappe, M. D. 
ON KOKUM BUTTER, OR THE CONCRETE OIL OF MANGOSTEEX. 
By Jonathan Pereira, M. D., F. R, S. 
I have recently received from my friend Dr. Frampton, a speci- 
men of Kokum Butter, or the Concrete Oil of Mangosteen, accom- 
panied with the following extract from a note written by Colonel 
Le Messurier, by whom the oil was brought from India : — 
"The Indian name of mangosteen is kfihum. You will, I think, find 
tins oil of much use in all cases of chapped skin, hands, face, &c. Either 
use it scraping a little on to hot water, or by taking the powder and rub- 
bing it on the hands or face. 
" The preparation is made from the cold fruit, which is found abundant- 
ly on the slopes of the mountains on the western side of India, from 100 
miles of Bombay to. I believe, Cape Cormofm." 
As very few notices of this oil (or rather vegetable butter) are 
to be found in any works, a few observations concerning it may 
not, perhaps, be uninteresting to the readers of thePharmaceutical 
Journal. 
The mangosteen referred to by Colonel Messurier as yielding 
this oil, is the Garcinia purpurea of Roxburgh, who does not, how- 
ever, notice the oil. He observes that, " Of this evidently very 
distinct species, I have only specimens with leaves, and the ripe 
fruit sent by Dr. Beiry under the name of mate mangostan, which 
is found in gardens only, and supposed to have been originally 
brought from the Eastern Archipelago. It differs from every other 
species in the whole fruit, which is about the size of a small orange, 
