Oil of Anda.
Oil of Anda.—A fixed oil procured by expression from the seeds of Johannesia princeps Veil. (Fam. Euphorbiaceae.) The bark of J. princeps, growing in the maritime provinces of Brazil, yields on being wounded a milky juice, which is said to be poisonous, and to be used for stupefying fish. The fruit, which is about as large as an apple, ash-colored, with two larger and two smaller ridges, encloses a two-celled nut, containing two seeds, about the size of a chestnut. Like the seeds of other euphorbiaceous plants, these are actively purgative, one seed, according to Martius, being the dose for a man. By expression these seeds yield a pale yellow, transparent oil, with little odor or taste, which is said to be used in Brazil for burning and painting. It has a sp. gr. 0.927, and in properties belongs to the class of semi-drying oils. (P. J., 1905, 910.) Mello Olliveria has found in it an alkaloid, johannesine, which Couty affirms to be inert. (N. R., 1881, 260.) Norris, who tried the oil at the Pennsylvania Hospital, found it to operate on the bowels moderately in the dose of fifty drops (2.5 mils), and copiously when more largely given. Manoel de Castro and other Brazilian physicians assert that in doses of from one to two teaspoonfuls (3.75-7.5 mils) it acts in a manner very similar to castor oil, over which it has the great advantage of not being nauseous to the taste.
