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Chaulmoogra
Botanical: Taraktogenos kurzii (KING)
Family: N.O. Bixaceae
---Synonyms---Chaulmugra. Chaulmogra.
---Part Used---The oil from the seeds.
---Description---Seeds are ovoid, irregular and angular, 1 to 1 1/4 inches long, 1 inch wide, skin smooth, grey, brittle; kernel oily and dark brown. A fatty oil is obtained by expression, known officially as Gynocardia oil in Britain, as Oleum Chaulmoograe in the U.S.A.
---Constituents---The oil contains chaulmoogric acid and palmitic acid, and the fatty oil has been found to yield glycerol, a very small quantity of phytosterol and a mixture of fatty acids.
---Medicinal Action and Uses---Employed internally and externally in the treatment of skin diseases, scrofula, rheumatism, eczema, also in leprosy, as a counterirritant for bruises, sprains, etc., and sometimes applied to open wounds and sores. Also used in veterinary practice. Dose of oil, 5 or 10 to 60 minims. Gynocardia Ointment, I.C.A.
---Other Species---The seeds of Gynocardia odorata have been erroneously given as the source of the oil.
Some of the commercial oil on the market probably comes from the allied species Hydnocarpus.
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