CATECHU  , or CUTCx (See also:

• MALAY

Malay, kachu), an See also:

• EXTRACT (from Lat. extrahere, to draw out)

extract obtained from several See also:

• PLANTS

plants, its See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

• SOURCES

sources being the See also:

• WOOD, ANTHONY A2 (1632-1695)
• WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827—1889)
• WOOD, MRS HENRY [ELLEN] (1814—1887)
• WOOD, SEARLES VALENTINE (1798—188o)

wood of two See also:

• SPECIES

species of See also:

• ACACIA

acacia (A. catechu and A. suma), both natives of See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India . This extract is known as See also:

• BLACK
• BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874)
• BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810–1883)
• BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898)

black catechu . A similar extract, known in See also:

• PHARMACY

pharmacy as See also:

• PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale catechu (Catechu pallidum), and in See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• COMMERCE
• COMMERCE (Lat. commercium, from, cum, together, and rnerx, merchandise)

commerce as gambir, or terra japonica, is produced from the leaves of Uncaria gambir and U. acida, cinchonaceous plants growing in the See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

East See also:

• INDIAN

Indian See also:

• ARCHIPELAGO

Archipelago . A third product to which the name catechu is also applied, is obtained from the fruits of the areca or betel See also:

• PALM (Lat. palma, Gr. iraX6.jn )
• PALM, JOHANN PHILIPP (1768-1806)

palm, Areca catechu . See also:

• ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

Ordinary black catechu is usually imported in three different forms . The first and best quality, known as See also:

• PEGU

Pegu catechu, is obtained in blocks externally covered with large leaves; the second and Iess pure variety is in masses, which have been moulded in See also:

• SAND
• SAND, GEORGE (1804-1876)

sand; and the third consists of large cubes packed in coarse bags . The wood of the two species of Acacia yielding catechu is taken for the manufacture when the trees have attained a See also:

• DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter of about 1 ft . The bark is stripped off and used for tanning, and the See also:

• TRUNK (Fr. tronc, Lat. truncus, cut off, maimed)

trunk is split up into small fragments, which are covered with See also:

• WATER

water and boiled . When the extract has be-come sufficiently thick it is See also:

• CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast into the forms in which the catechu is found in commerce . Catechu so prepared is a dark See also:

• BROWN
• BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
• BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
• BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
• BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
• BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
• BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
• BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
• BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
• BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
• BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
• BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
• BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
• BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
• BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
• BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
• BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
• BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
• BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
• BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
• BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
• BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
• BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)

brown, or, in See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass, almost black, substance, brittle, and having generally a shining lustre . It is astringent, with a sweetish See also:

• TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste . In See also:

• COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold water it disintegrates, and in boiling water, See also:

• ALCOHOL

alcohol, acetic See also:

• ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid and strong See also:

• CAUSTIC (Gr. rcavvraubs, burning)

caustic See also:

• ALKALI

alkali it is completely dissolved .

Chemically it consists of a mixture of a See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar variety of See also:

• TANNIN, or TANNIC ACID

tannin termed catechu-tannic acid with catechin or catechuic acid, and a brown substance due to the alteration of both these principles . Catechu-tannic acid is an amorphous See also:

• BODY

body soluble in cold water, while catechin occurs in See also:

• MINUTE
• MINUTE (Lat. minutes, small; minuere, to make less)

minute, See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

white, silky, See also:

• NEEDLE (O. Eng. ncedl; the word appears in various forms in Teutonic languages, Ger. Nadel, Dutch naal, the root being ne-, to sew, cf. Ger. nahen, and probably Lat. nere, to spin, Gr. vi)ats, spinning)

needle-shaped crystals, which do not dissolve in cold water . A very minute proportion of quercetin, a principle yielded by See also:

• QUERCITRON

quercitron bark, has been obtained from catechu . Gambir, which is similar in chemical See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition to ordinary catechu, occurs in commerce in the See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of cubes of about an See also:

• INCH (O. Eng. ynce from Lat. uncia, a twelfthpart; cf. " ounce," and see As)

inch in See also:

• SIZE

size, with a pale brown or yellow See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour, and an even earthy fracture . For the preparation of this extract the plants above mentioned are stripped of their leaves and See also:

• YOUNG
• YOUNG, A
• YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
• YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
• YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
• YOUNG, EDWARD (1683–1765)
• YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
• YOUNG, THOMAS (1773-1829)

young twigs, and these are boiled down in shallow pans . The juice is strained off, evaporated, and when sufficiently concentrated is cast into shallow boxes, where, as it hardens and dries, it is cut into small cubes . Gambir and catechu are extensively employed in See also:

• DYEING (0. Eng. dedgian, dealt ; Mid. Eng. deyen)

dyeing and tanning . For dyeing they have been in use in India from the most remote See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period, but it was only during the 19th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century that they were placed on the See also:

• LIST (O.E. lisle, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr. lisle)
• LIST, FRIEDRICH (1789-1846)

list of See also:

• EUROPEAN

European dyeing substances . Catechu is fixed by oxidation of the colouring principle, catechin, on the See also:

• CLOTH

cloth after dyeing or See also:

• PRINTING (from Lat. imprimere, O. Fr. empreindre)

printing; and treated thus it yields a variety of durable tints of drabs, browns and See also:

• OLIVES, MOUNT OF, or MOUNT OLIVET ("Opus 'EXc uwos or riov 'EXauav; mod. Jebel-et-Tur)

olives with different mordants (see DYEING) . The See also:

• PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

• CONSUMPTION (Lat. consumere)

consumption of catechu occurs in the preparation of fibrous substances exposed to water, such as fishing-lines and nets, and for colouring stout See also:

• CANVAS

canvas used for covering boxes and portmanteaus under the name of tanned canvas . Black catechu is See also:

• OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official in most pharmacopoeias except that of See also:

• GREAT

Great See also:

• BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain, in which pale catechu is the official See also:

• DRUG
• DRUG (from Fr. drogue, a word common in Romance languages, cf. Span. and Ital. droga; the origin of the word is obscure, but may possibly be connected with Dutch droog, dry)

drug . The actions and uses of the two are similar, but black catechu is the more powerful .

The dose is from five to twenty grains . The pulvis catechu compositus contains catechu and kino, and may be given in doses twice as large as those named . The drug has the actions and uses of tannic acid, but owing to the relative insolubility of catechu-tannic acid, it is more valuable than ordinary tannic acid in See also:

• DIARRHOEA (from Gr. &Q, through, pfw, flow)

diarrhoea, See also:

• DYSENTERY (from the Gr. prefix Ova-, in the sense of " bad," and Evmpov, the intestine)

dysentery and intestinal See also:

• HAEMORRHAGE (Gr. atµa, blood, and prryvvvac, to burst)

haemorrhage .