Kino. Kino. The juice (hardened in the sun) flowing from the incised bark of Pterocarpus marsupium, or Indian Kino Tree; Lin. Syst., Diadelphia decandria: growing near the Malabar Coast. Other varieties of Kino are met with, as African Kino, from Pterocarpus erinaceus; Botany Bay Kino, from Eucalyptus resinifera, etc.

Description. In small angular pieces, broken reddish-black tears, translucent, and ruby-red at the edges, shining, and brittle. The powder of kino is dark red, it has no odour, the taste is astringent, and when chewed it tinges the saliva blood-red.

Prop. & Comp. Kino contains a species of tannin called mi-motannic acid, and another astringent principle, found also in catechu, called Catechin (HO, C20 H9 O8), together with red gummy matter, etc. (See Catechu.)

Off. Prep. Pulvis Kino cum Opio. Powder of Kino and Opium. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] Synonym. Pulvis Kino Compositus. Lond. (Kino in powder, three ounces and three quarters; opium in powder, a quarter of an ounce; cinnamon in powder, one ounce.)

One grain of opium is contained in twenty grains of the powder.

Tinctura Kino. Tincture of Kino. (Powdered kino, two ounces; rectified spirit, one pint; prepared by maceration. [Kino, in fine powder, three hundred and sixty grains. Half a pint of tincture is obtained by percolation with two measures of alcohol and one of water. U. S.] If made with proof spirit, it is apt to gelatinize after a time. Kino is also contained in pulvis catechu compositus, one grain in five of the powder.

Therapeutics. A powerful astringent, may be given where tannin is indicated: it is less soluble than catechu; often employed in pyrosis and diarrhoea, and as a gargle in relaxed throat. Sometimes it is chewed, and the soluble portion is thus brought into contact with the relaxed parts.

Dose. Of powdered kino, 10 gr. to 30 gr. or more; of pulvis kino cum opio, 5 gr. upwards, the dose depending more on the opium than the kino. Of tinctura kino, 1/2 fl. drm. to 2 fl. drm.

Balsamum Peruvianum. Peru Balsam. The balsam flowing from the incised trunk of Myrospermum Pereirae [The prepared juice of Myrospermum Peruiferum. U. S.]; obtained from Salvador in Guatemala.

Description. A thick, viscid, almost opaque, substance, like treacle, but when in thin layers, dark red in colour, and translucent; of a fragrant peculiar odour, with an acrid but aromatic taste.

Prop. & Comp. Peru Balsam is of sp. gr. 1.15; is soluble in five parts of rectified spirit, and undergoes no diminution in volume when mixed with water. It contains styracine or meta-cinnamene (C36 H16 04), a crystallizable solid, which is decomposed by alkali into cinnamic acid (HO, C18 H7 O9), and Styrone or Peru-vine (HO, C18 H9 O4). Balsam of Peru also contains two resins, hydrates of styracine, their formulas being (HO, C36 H16 O6) and (4 HO, C36 H16 O6). The decomposition of the styracine by the action of potash may be thus represented: -

Styracine. Potash. Cinnamate of Potash. Styrone.

(C36 H16 O4) + (HO, KO) = (KO, C18 H7 O3)+ (HO, C18 H9 O.)

Styrone being a species of alcohol termed cinnamic alcohol. The amount of resin increases with age, and about six or seven per cent. of cinnamic acid is always present; this was formerly thought to be benzoic acid.

Therapeutics. A stimulant and expectorant, chiefly used in chronic bronchitis and rheumatism. It acts also on the mucous membranes, and may be used to restrain excessive discharges, as gleets, leucorrhoea, etc. Externally, it also acts as a stimulant; useful in bed sores and unhealthy ulcers.

Dose. 10 min. to f fl. drm., and upwards, made into an emulsion with mucilage, or yolk of egg.

Balsamum Tolutanum. Tolu Balsam. The balsam (indurated) flowing from the incised trunk of Myrospermum toluiferum, or Balsam of Tolu Tree; Lin. Syst., Decandria monogynia: growing in Central America, Carthagena, mountains of Tolu, etc.

Description. A reddish-yellow substance, not unlike resin; soft when first imported, becoming hard by age; more or less transparent. Odour and taste the same as balsam of Peru, but less powerful.

Prop. & Comp. Softens by heat, becomes brittle in the cold; is soluble in alcohol, ether, and in rectified spirit; yields cinnamic acid to water; it is similar in preparation to balsam of Peru, containing styracine or meta-cinnamene, cinnamic acid and resin.

Of. Prep. Syrupus Tolutanus. Syrup of Tolu. (Balsam of Tolu, one ounce and a quarter; distilled water, one pint, or a sufficiency; sugar, two pounds. Boil the balsam in the water for half an hour in a covered vessel, frequently stirring, remove from the fire and add distilled water, so that the liquid shall measure sixteen ounces, and strain the liquor when cold; then add the sugar, and dissolve it). The product should weigh three pounds, and should have the specific gravity of 1.33. [Tincture of Tolu, two fluid ounces; carbonate of magnesia, one hundred and twenty grains; sugar, in coarse powder, twenty-six troy ounces; water, a pint. Rub the tincture of Tolu first with the carbonate of magnesia and two troy ounces of the sugar, then with the water, gradually added, and filter. To the filtered liquid, add the remainder of the sugar, and having dissolved it with the aid of a gentle heat, strain while hot. U. S.]

Tinctura Tolutana. Tincture of Tolu. (Balsam of Tolu, two ounces and a half; rectified spirit, one pint. Prepared by maceration.) [Balsam of Tolu, three troy ounces; alcohol, two pints. U.S.]

Balsam of Tolu is contained also in tinct. benzoini comp.

Therapeutics. Exactly the same as the balsam of Peru.

Dose. Of the balsam, 10 gr. to 30 gr.; of the syrup, 1 fl. drm. to 3 fl. drm.; of the tincture, 1/2 fl. drm. to 1 fl. drm.

Calabar Bean. (Not officinal.) The seed or bean of Physostigma venenosum.

Description. The beans have a shining integument of a brown coffee colour, about an inch in length, and half an inch in thickness, reniform in shape, with a shorter or concave and a longer or convex margin, and on the convex edge is a furrow with elevated ridges, pierced by a foramen at one extremity. The kernel consists of two large concavo-convex cotyledons of a white colour.

Prop. & Comp. The active principle is contained to the greatest extent in the kernel, and may be extracted by alcohol. Recently it has been stated to have been separated, but not in a crystalline form.

Therapeutics. Administered internally, it has a sedative action upon the spinal cord, producing paralysis of the lower extremities and death by asphyxia, or if in large doses death by paralysis of the heart, consciousness being retained throughout. It is almost entirely used as a topical application to the eye, to induce contraction of the pupil and diminish presbyopia. It produces at first myopia in the healthy eye, and afterwards contraction of the pupil.

Dose. Internally, from 1 gr. of the powder may be given, gradually increased; a drop or so of the solution of an alcoholic extract dissolved in water or glycerine may be applied to the eye to cause contraction of the pupil.