1144

ELEMENTS OF MATEEIA MEDICA.

Extraction of the juice of Pterocarpus erinaceus. —“ Wh e11 8incision is made” in the trunk and branches of the tree, “ the juice u°out, at first, of an extremely pale-red colour, and in a very liquid sta ’but it soon coagulates, becoming of a deep blood-red hue, and so rein aably brittle, that its collection is attended with some difficulty” W ■ ’Trav. in Western Africa , in Stevenson and Churchill’s Med. Bot.)

Commerce of Kino. —Two substances are met with in English co ^merce under the name of kino,—one called Botany Bay Kino, whic ^the inspissated juice of the Eucalyptus resinifera (see p. 1098)"—other, apparently an extract, imported from Bombay and Telhch^and which may be termed East Indian kino. The latter is presuniebe the substance referred to in the British pharmacopoeias, as it is alv ' 1regarded in commerce as genuine gum kino. It is imported in boxes-

. , t )jav e

In my museum I have several other substances, apparently extracts, wbicnreceived as kino, mostly from Professor Guibourt, who has described several oM A

his Hist, des Drog. ii. 428). One of these is, perhaps, Jamaica kino (see p.

..... ...... ...... ... ... -...o., .3, |....... v.— r J, l a faVy

second I received as Colombian kino. A third I believe to he foreign extract ojI have never met them in English commerce, and therefore think it needlessscribe them.

Description. — East Indian kino (kino indicum seu ostindicum), s0I ^ etimes called Amboyna kino ( kino amboinense ), and usually known 111shops as gum kino {kino, Ph . L. E. D.) occurs in small, angular, ghsing fragments, the larger of which appear almost black, the . slfla ar( jbeing reddish. When entire they are opaque, but in thin lannn*transparent and ruby-red. They are brittle between the fingers, soitethe mouth, stick to the teeth, and colour the saliva red. They are j i() ]odorous, but have a very astringent taste. Both water and alacquire, by digestion on kino, a deep red colour. The aqueous dec 0becomes turbid on cooling. The mineral acids and solutions of g ei ^ c ,emetic tartar, acetate of lead, sesquichloride of iron, nitrate of sil'' er ’produce precipitates with the watery infusion. .

The tree yielding East Indian kino is as yet unascertained. Wbably a native of the Malabar coast, for all the importations ot jIndian kino which I can trace were from Bombay or Tellicherry ^ ^an experienced East India broker assures me it is the produceMalabar coast. As Pterocarpus erinaceus is not known to grow i Q j g qthere is no ground for ascribing East Indian kino to that species- ^the produce of Pterocarpus marsupium, which, Dr. Roxburgh ) -jqqeaiii. 235) says, yields an astringent inspissated juice exceedingly like

S um? . (Ann- de

Composition.— East Indian kino was analyzed by Vauquelm (

Chim. xlvi. 321), who found its constituents to be as follows, JlC rand peculiar extractive 75, red gum 24, insoluble matter 1. A. W- ,,

( Pharm. Central-Blatt.fiir 1833, S. 629 & 652) has subsequently j jaSthat catechuic acid is a constituent of kino. To this acid, . ^ lC ^ ff abeen before (p. 1027) noticed, kino ow r es its power of cominunic a °green colour to the salts of iron. c fjre,

Physiological Effects. —Astringent (see pp. 79-80). Less eand less readily dissolved in the alimentary juices, tlian catechu, to 'in its operation it is .otherwise closely allied. . jn

Uses. —Employed in medicine as an astringent only; prindl■obstinate chronic diarrhoea . In this disease it is usually given lU