Kamala

Kamala (Kamala, s. glandulae Rottle-гае), a powder collected from the surface of the fruits of the evergreen tree Mallotus philippinensis Mull., s. Rottlera tinctoria Roxb., family Euphorbiaceae (southern Asia and Australia). The powder consists of glandular hairs and fluffy hairs, brick-red in color, odorless and tasteless, and floats on water; when shaken with alcohol, ether, or alkalis, it gives a red solution; when rubbed between fingers on paper, it colors it yellow-red. It is used in the East as a dye for fabrics, and in medicine as a remedy against tapeworms. K. contains up to 80% resin and about 10% of the crystalline substance rottlerin C₃₂H₂₈O₄,COOH (identical with kamalin and isorottlerin); ash content up to 5.4-8.8%. When acted upon by alkali, rottlerin breaks down into trimethylphloroglucinol and a residue of butyric acid, thus being a substance chemically very close to the active principles of male fern and kousso. The anthelmintic action of K. is associated with its paralyzing effect on the worm; along with this, it has a laxative effect, making it unnecessary to prescribe laxatives as is mandatory with other anthelmintics. Nausea, vomiting, and other phenomena that often complicate anthelmintic treatment with preparations of male fern rhizome are usually absent when K. is prescribed. These advantages of K. lead to its preference in a number of cases over other anthelmintics, especially in weak subjects (also in children and the elderly). It is prescribed in doses of 6.0-10.0 for adults (in one or two doses) and 1.5-5.0 for children in the form of powder, boluses, pap, mixtura agitanda, almost exclusively as taeniafugum and less often (as a less reliable remedy) as vermifugum.