Bonduc. Caesalpinia bonducella.

A new substitute for quinine is brought forward by Keshav Lal J. Dholakia, Delhi, India, in Practical Medicine. He recommends the powdered kernels from roasted bonduc nuts. These are derived from a legume-bearing climbing plant, Caesalpinia bonducella, found almost throughout India.

The drug is antiperiodic, febrifuge, tonic and anthelmintic. It is given in doses of from ten to fifteen grains every four hours. It is described as closely resembling quinine in action, as harmless to pregnant women, as not being contraindicated during fever, and as well borne by patients with quinine idiosyncrasy.

As an anthelmintic the action is weak. The drug is comparatively harmless in large doses.

The American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy, 1919, was written by Finley Ellingwood, M.D.
It was scanned by Michael Moore for the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.