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Pterocarpus Marsupium

Botanical Source.—For a long time the origin of kino was unknown. It has been ascertained to be the product of a lofty tree, growing upon the mountains of the Malabar coast of Hindustan, named Pterocarpus Marsupium, belonging to the Nat. Ord. Leguminosae. It has an erect, very high trunk, rarely straight. The outer layer of the bark is brown and spongy, falling off in flakes; the inner red, fibrous, and astringent; branches spreading, horizontal, numerous, and far-extending. The leaves are sub-farious, alternate, pinnate with all odd one, 8 or 9 inches long; leaflets 5, 6, or 7, alternate, elliptic, emarginate, firm, deep-green, and shining above, less so below, from 3 to 5 inches long, and 2 or 3 broad. The petioles are round, smooth, waved from leaflet to leaflet, 5 or 6 inches long, stipules none. Panicles terminal, very large; ramifications bifarious, like the leaves. Peduncles and pedicels round, a little downy. Bracts small, caducous, solitary below each division and subdivision of the panicle. The flowers are very numerous, white, with a small tinge of yellow. Vexillum with a long, slender claw, very broad; sides reflexed, waved, curled, and veined; keel 2-petaled, adhering slightly for a little way near the middle, waved, etc., same as the vexillum. Stamens 10, united near the base, but soon dividing into 2 parcels of 5 each; anthers globose, 2-lobed. Ovary oblong, pedicelled, hairy, generally 2-celled; cells transverse, 1-seeded. Style ascending. The legume, which is borne on a long petiole, is three-fourths orbicular, the upper remainder, which extends from the pedicel to the remainder of the style, is straight, the whole surrounded with a waved, veiny, downy, membranous wing, swelled, rugose, woody in the center, where the seed is lodged, not opening; generally 1, but sometimes 2-celled. Seeds single and reniform (L.).

History and Description.—Kino is the juice of the tree obtained by making longitudinal incisions in the bark; it flows abundantly, has a red color, and by drying in the sun, cracks into irregular, angular masses, which are then placed into wooden boxes for exportation. It usually reaches this country by way of England, being originally imported from Bombay or Tellicherry. East India (or Malabar) kino is that recognized by the U. S. P., which describes it as follows:

"Small, angular, dark, brownish-red, shining pieces, brittle, in thin layers ruby-red and transparent, inodorous, very astringent and sweetish, tinging the saliva deep-red. Soluble in alcohol, nearly insoluble in ether, and only slightly soluble in cold water"—(U. S. P). Kino burns without fusion or softening, with but little flame and frothing, leaving a scanty gray ash. Boiling water dissolves a large proportion of it, forming, when cold, a permanent, intense, blood-red solution, which yields with ferric chloride a dark-green, coarsely flocculent precipitate, which is so abundant as to render the whole liquid gelatinous. Acetate of lead produces a gray precipitate, and tartar emetic gradually a lake-red, muddy jelly. Cold water, which partly dissolves it, forms with it a clear, cherry-red solution, leaving a crumbly, grayish residuum. Alcohol dissolves about two-thirds of it, and forms a deep, brownish-red tincture, which is not disturbed by water. By long standing the tincture gelatinizes, and becomes less astringent. Proof-spirit is a less complete solvent, but the tincture is less apt to gelatinize. Its solubility in water is facilitated by alkalies, but its astringency is thereby lost, and its general characters changed.

Chemical Composition.—The chief constituent of kino is kino-tannic (coccotannic) acid, which is present in the amount of from 45 to 55 per cent (F. E. Mafat, Pharm. Jour. Trans., 1892, Vol. XXIII, p. 146). It is closely related to the tannin from catechu; its non-glucosidal nature was established by Bergholz (Dissert. Dorpat, 1884). Unlike catechu, however, kino yields to ether no catechin (catechuic acid). This solvent, according to Eissfeldt (1854), abstracts from kino only traces of pyrocatechin (C6H4[OH]2). On continued boiling of an aqueous solution of kino or kino-tannic acid, an insoluble, red phlobaphene, kino-red, is precipitated. This substance is also formed gradually by prolonged exposure of solutions of kino at ordinary temperature (Gerding, 1851). By fusion with caustic potash, Hlasiwetz (1865) obtained from kino 9 per cent of phloroglucin (C6H3[OH]3); protocatechuic acid (C6H3[OH]2.COOH) has also been observed in this reaction (Stenhouse). Kinoïn (C14H12O6) is a crystallizable substance obtained by Etti (1878) from Malabar kino, by boiling this with diluted hydrochloric acid, decanting from the kino-red formed, and abstracting the aqueous solution with ether (see Jahresb. der Pharm., 1878, p. 190).

The yield of kinoïn is 1.5 per cent. Etti found this substance to be decomposable by hydrochloric acid into gallic acid (C6H2[OH]3.COOH), pyrocatechin, and methyl chloride. Heated to 130° C. (266° F.), it loses water and is converted into kino-red (C28H22O11). Kinoïn is soluble in alcohol and boiling water, little soluble in ether; its solutions produce with ferric chloride a red coloration. and are not precipitated by gelatin. Kino-red is hardly soluble in water, soluble in alcohol and alkalies; its solutions are precipitated by gelatin, and colored green by ferric chloride. A. Kremel was unable to obtain kinoïn by Etti's method; in its place he invariably found protocatechuic acid (see Jahresb. der Pharm., 1884, p. 281). Good kino leaves about 1.5 per cent of ash.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Kino is a pure and energetic astringent, and may be used to fulfil all the indications for which catechu is employed. It is not considered so efficient in chronic dysentery as catechu, but is preferred internally in menorrhagia, and as a topical application in leucorrhoea, relaxed sore throat, and aphthae of the mouth or fauces. An infusion thrown into the nostril has suppressed hemorrhage from the Schneiderian membrane; and the powder on lint has suppressed a hemorrhage from a wound in the palate. Dose of the powder, from 10 to 30 grains; of the tincture, from 1/2 to 2 fluid drachms.

Related Drugs.—There are many other exudations known in commerce as Kino, partly derived from plants belonging to entirely different natural orders, e. g., many species of Eucalyptus, Myristica, etc. Among the most important are the African kino, Dhak-tree kino, Botany Bay kino, Jamaica kino, and South American kino.

AFRICAN KINO, Gambia kino, until within recent years was very rarely seen in commerce; from specimens received from Mungo Park, when on his last journey, it was decided to be an exudation from the Pterocarpus erinaceus, Poiret (more), a tree growing in many districts of the Senegal, Nunez, and along the banks of the Gambia and other streams of West Africa. Its behavior is similar to that of ordinary kino. According to Th. Christy, of London, this tree yields the genuine kino that was first introduced into medicine by Dr. Fothergill. An authentic commercial specimen left 1.75 per cent of ash, and contained 52 per cent of tannin, while other commercial species yielded from 2.6 to 7 per cent ash, and from 14 to 39 per cent tannin.

DHAK-TREE KINO, Butea kino, Bengal kino, Butea gum, Palas kino, Pilas kino, Gum of the Palas (Dhak-tree), is the product of the Butea frondosa, Roxburgh (more), a magnificent leguminous tree of the East Indies. Butea superba, Roxburgh (more), and Butea parviflora, Roxburgh (more), exude a similar product. The juice naturally exudes from fissures in the branches of the tree, and concretes into red tears which become black under the action of the sun. The are irregularly angular, seldom so large as a grain of barley, apparently black and opaque, but really of an intense garnet-red color, transparent in thin pieces, an frequently have fibers of bark adhering to one of their faces. Their taste is very astringent, brittle when chewed, without adhering to the teeth, and they tinge the saliva lake-red. Their chemical reactions and solubilities are similar to those of the East India variety. They contain from 73 to 90 per cent of tannic acid, and might be safely substituted for ordinary kino. It rarely reaches England, and has not been imported to America. It is termed Gum butea.

BOTANY BAY KINO, Australian kino, or Eucalyptus kino, first described by White and Smith, in 1790, was believed to be the astringent inspissated juice of the brown gum tree of New Holland (the Eucalyptus resinifera (more)), a fine tall tree belonging to the Nat. Ord.—Myrtaceae, and was state to yield a red juice so profusely from incisions that 60 gallons might be collected from one tree. According to J. H. Maiden (Pharm. Jour. Trans., Vol. XX, 1889, pp. 221 and 321), these statements are considerably overdrawn, and the peculiar Eucalyptus resinifera botanically described by Smith, can not now be identified, as the majority of Australian eucalyptus species are resin-bearing plants. Only one species, however, is of commercial value (although Maiden recommends several others), viz., Eucalyptus rostrata, Schlecht. (more), growing in enormous quantities along the Murray River, in Australia; it yields the Murray red-gum, or Red-gum kino. The product obtained from all other species is sparingly soluble in water and alcohol and therefore commercially unsuitable, but this is probably due to prolonged exposure of the resin to the air before it is gathered. This inferior grade has been used as an adulterant of the better grades of kino. Mr. Joseph Bosisto (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1897, p. 533), states that the red-gum of E. rostrata lodges itself in the ducts between the bark and the wood, and when tapped it can be obtained in rather large quantities. J. H. Maiden (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1897, p. 1) gives the highest yield at 4 gallons, the average being 1 quart from one tree. On evaporating the juice in a vacuum pan a ruby-red gum is obtained, entirely soluble in water and alcohol. Commercial specimens yielded about 47 per cent of tannic acid. The turbidity observed with some of the kinos from Australian eucalyptus (including E. rostrata), when dissolved in alcohol or water, is due to the presence of two crystallizable substances, eudesmin and aromadendrin. (For details regarding the chemistry of these substances, see Henry G. Smith, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1896, p. 679).

JAMAICA, or WEST INDIAN KINO, is obtained from the Sea-side grape (Coccoloba uvifera, Linné (more)), a tree belonging to the Nat. Ord.—Polygonaceae. The tree inhabits the seacoast of the West India Islands and the adjoining coast of America. A decoction is prepared from the leaves, wood, and bark, which are excessively astringent, then evaporated, and the thick fluid poured into vessels, in which it solidifies upon cooling. Upon extracting it from the vessels containing it, it is readily reduced to pieces varying in size, generally about as large as a small cherry, and with a disposition to the orthogonal form. They are lighter colored, and less shining than the ordinary kino, are impervious to light in bulk, but garnet-red and semi-transparent in thin fragments; are brittle and pulverable, forming a paler-colored powder than the commercial drug. They are inodorous, amarous, and excessively astringent, impart a red hue to the saliva when masticated, and contain about 41 per cent of tannic acid. Cold water, and alcohol, dissolve nearly the whole of West Indian kino, about 6 to 11 per cent remaining undissolved.

SOUTH AMERICAN, COLUMBIA, or CARACAS KINO, is probably furnished by the same tree as the West Indian, and is likewise probably derived from the Coccoloba uvifera, Linné. It is imported in heavy masses, and closely resembles the Jamaica kino in its several properties, excepting that it is equally soluble in cold water and alcohol, is more free from any tenacious substance interfering with the filtration of its watery solution, and contains no resinous body. It is rarely seen in America.

MYRISTICA KINO (Kât jadikai) is an extract resembling official kino, obtained as an exudation upon making incisions into the bark of Myristica malabarica, Lamarck (more), a tree growing in southern India. The product was studied in recent years by Prof. Ed. Schaer (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1896, p. 546), who found that the myristica kino agrees in all characteristics with true kino, except that no pyrocatechin could be abstracted with ether. A characteristic constituent of Myristica kino, however, was found both in a dry specimen obtained from the Kew Gardens, and a semi-liquid extract prepared for the author in the Buitenzorg (Java) Botanical Garden, namely, crystals of calcium tartrate, the presence of which, therefore, seems to indicate Myristica kino, and to distinguish it from the official kino. Myristica succedanea seems to yield most of these crystals.

Pterocarpus indicus, Willdenow .—Philippine Islands and South India. This species yields a red kino of a fetid character, known as Sang dragon.

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