A NEW N.Z. INDUSTRY POSSIBLE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 31, 20 February 1937, Page 6

A NEW N.Z. INDUSTRY POSSIBLE

Extraction of Drugs From Native Flora WIDE RESEARCH FIELD A tribute to ti© Maori in his knowledge of the properties of cectain herbs and other . organic matter as pertaining to the curing of disease and other complaints - of the body was paid by Dr. L. ,H. Briggs at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Hastings Rotary Olub yesterday when he spoke ,on the relations existing between chemistry and. medical science Dr. . Briggs mentioned, when tracing the division of the various branches of science as we know them to-day, that it was about 100 years ago that organic chemistry was introduced. Knowledge in this direction at that time was very negative, but there was being developed a very definite interest in plant products for medical purposes. Herbs, of courtse, had been in use for centnries, but there was little positive knowledge of the actual properties of tho herbs in use. "The Maoris knew of a number of herbs and made extensive use of them and I take this opportunity of complimenting the Maoris on their knowledge," said Dr. Briggs. "The Maori made a great use of his knowledge of plants and there was almost no use to which he could not put His plants. This was not' so with all the' herbs used in England, for there were a great 'many found to have no '.bearing upon the particular complaint for which' they were used. There were, in fact, dozens of useless old herbial remedies. "With the Maori, however, it is abundantly clear now -that he invariably used the right- plant," he said. "Subsequent analysis and investiga-1 tion has proved that he was alwavs. correct in his knowledge of the healihg properties of the plants he used,' in that the substance of -the plant does brine about the cure 'it was claimed by the if aori. " - '

Organic Chemistry The speaker saidv that wonderful strides had been made in organic chemistry during the past 100 years. It was a seajch for, and investigation of drugs. The chemist, he said, takes the plants and drugs,. subjects- them to a thorough and' careful chemical investigation, and after' laborious purification he is enabled to obtain the : pure oubject matter. - . A well-known instance; of this work' was quinine, which was found to be of wonderful help in' combating malaria fever. The chemist was able to deflne quinine and extract it from the' bark of the particiilar tree. He Was' enabled to produce it in the pure state, and thus he gave to the medical man the opportunity to dispense' the product in proportions more accurately • than was possible by the old ' concoction made from the bark ' ' The chemist went further than ■ this, though, for he 'set out to find the constitution of the drug which he succeeded in obtaining ' in the pure stage. "The chemist is always looking for something new, and - by finding the constitution of the drug he 1 is enabled to proceed further with his investigqtion(s," he said. Again quoting quinine, Dr. Briggs mentioned that it had been found that by altering the chemical atom of quinine it had been possible to obtain a eure for a totally different disease to malaria fever, and a disease that quinine in 'itself would not cure. , . . . . Though there was - a tendeney in certain circles in New: Zealand to. be a little slow in the .matter of organic chemistry, Dr. Briggs : said. that in Dunedin,- Auckland and Wellington laboratories quite a lot of . investigation was being conducted - into ; New ' Zealand herbs and plants. A good deal of . very -valuable work, in fact, had already been done,- and he mentioned that it had . been discovered of one particular plant, grown- on the east coast, that it cqntains thr.ee. drugs, one of which was-similar in .its effCctS as morphia. . "It is.'possibly .even hetter than morphia, " for it' does not ' have the .same after-effects,." he said, "and it is quite possible that this may open up an avenue for a.new industry. " Referring to the - fact that . certain plants were poisonous to stoek, the speaker pojnted • out that. -this meant rually that if the particular poison i'n question was used in the right amount, it would be beneficial to mankind. Quite a number of poisons.were in ' use as cures^ for certain diseases, and the chemist was continually on the look out for further ways of using the drugs. New Zealand Unique in Flora "There is a very largo field for research work in New Zealand flora," said Dr. Briggs. "There ia so much flora in New Zealand that it is unique, and one learned botanist when asked to classify ihe flora of the world, said that it was quit9 an easy matter, for all that had to be done was to place New Zealand first- and the rest of the world next. ..Certain flora is found in New Zealand and . nowhere • else • in the world," "And a further point is that though hybridisation occurs to a small' extent in some other places in tho world, it is to be noted to a very high degree in New Zealand flora," said Dr. Briggs. He added that it was only in very rev, cent years that this fact « was being given credence by certain authorities, and even now it was by n# means fully realised. Another field in which the chemist has and is playing a big part, especially during the past 30 years or so, eont.inued Dr. Briggs, is that of vitamius. The fact that certain diseases havo been caused by the lack of .vitamius has been -known for centuries. In the middle ages for example, it was found that fresh vegetables put an end to the dreaded scurvy that took such heavy toll of sea-faring people. In other ways it was known that the lack of certain snbstances in the food brought about particular diseases. Study of Vitamius Vitaniin chemistry was made possible by niodern methods of food production, he Baid. In Asia, for' instance, where rice was the principal foodstu'ff for centuries, there was no disease until the modern method of preparation was introduced. It was about 1914 that tha

full significance of the deficiency of -certain substances in the food was realised, and there has been a terrifio amount of work, he said. There was literature in abundance on vitamin chemistry and great advances had been made. It is now known that there are at least 13 difierent vitamins, the principal ones being Vitamin A, as found in fats and oils; Vitamin B, a complex vitamin of six substances used for various diseases; Vitamin C, the lack of which caused scurvy; Vitamin .D, the lack of which brought on what was known as the "English disease," caused through lack of sunlight and lack of oils and fat; and Vitamin E, which doos not eoncern human beings. The chemist served a usef ul part in still a further direction, pointed out Dr. Briggs, in that he delved into the di--seases of cattle and' soils. ' Diseases of this type were frequently not caused so much by lack of certain vitamins, but by' lack of certain minerals. ; In this direction . already much had been done and there was still. more to do. There was another direction that the chemist, , together with * the medical' man', was now working alo'ng f and' thatwas' in the matfer of the glands. He said that investigators were on the eve of very wonderful discoveries ' in this sphere. It was known that from" one particular gland five-. • different substances went to' other glands and they in turn . manufactured . substances tbat were neeessary for our wellbeing. The chemist had already been • ablo to produce some of. those substances . synthetically and enabled the medical scientist to introduce tho'se substances . to the body by injection. "In this and many other ways the chemist . has been able to -.assist the medical man," said Dr. Briggs. "The chemist is ever striving to; convert the' useless thing into sometliing useful, and the harmf ul into harmless, or beneficial. He works hand in hand with the r/edical man and all are doing their part to further the work in the interest of mankind."