A contribution to the biology of the sociable weaver Philetairus socius (Latham)
- Authors: Maclean, Gordon L
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Weaverbirds
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5863 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012791
- Description: Anyone who has travelled the dusty road in the bed of the Kuruman River from Kuruman in the Northern Cape to the South West African border at Rietfontein cannot fail to have been impressed by the large communal nests of the sociable weaver Philetairus socius which adorn many of the camelthorn trees along the way. One of the earliest reports of the bird and its nest is that of Sir Andrew Smith (1849) who passed that way through what was then Latakoo (the present day Kuruman), collecting birds which he described for the first time. To him we are indebted for the first published illustrations of the sociable weaver, its nest and egg, and a brief account, not entirely accurate to be sure, of the building and occupation of the nest. This account has since been quoted at length by Shelley (1905) and by Friedmann (1930a) who accepted Smith's statements as they stood. Some years after Smith's travels, Anderson wrote (1872) that the flocks of sociable weavers " ... incubate their eggs under the same roof, which is composed by these birds of whole cartloads of grass piled on a branch of some kamel-thorn tree in one enormous mass of an irregular umbrella-shape, looking like a miniature haystack, and almost solid, but with the under surface, which is nearly flat, honeycombed all over with little cavities, which serve not only as places for incubation but also as a refuge against rain and wind". This account gives some idea of the spectacular nests built by these birds which are hardly larger than a sparrow. But, living in the dry and thinly-populated western regions of southern Africa, the sociable weaver remained a remote curiosity, the subject of casual reports and some strange ideas. Since Friedmann (1930a) studied the sociable weaver briefly in the western Transvaal, the only thorough field observations (mainly on nests and nest sites) up to the present have been those of Rudebeck (1953, 1956). Collias & Collias (1964) returned to the western Transvaal some 20 years after Friedmann's visit, but unfortunately had time for only a cursory study; their main interest was once again in the nest and its architecture. Thus, in 1964 when I joined Dr. T.J. Cade, then of Syracuse University and now of Cornell University, on his desert biology programme, he suggested that the sociable weaver be the subject of special study in the Kalahari. Here was a bird, resident in a harsh environment, living throughout the year in an extraordinary nest, and almost completely unknown biologically. Among the questions to be answered were: How is the nest started and how is it constructed? Which birds build, and how is the labour organized? What is the purpose of the elaborate nest: does it provide a micro-climate which enables the birds to survive better under arid conditions? How could such a communal nest have evolved? What is the social organization of the colony in and out of the breeding season? When do the birds breed and what factors induce breeding? What happens to the young birds after they become independent of their parents? Naturally many other questions arose as the work proceeded, but these were the main ones on which the project was initiated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: Maclean, Gordon L
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Weaverbirds
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5863 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012791
- Description: Anyone who has travelled the dusty road in the bed of the Kuruman River from Kuruman in the Northern Cape to the South West African border at Rietfontein cannot fail to have been impressed by the large communal nests of the sociable weaver Philetairus socius which adorn many of the camelthorn trees along the way. One of the earliest reports of the bird and its nest is that of Sir Andrew Smith (1849) who passed that way through what was then Latakoo (the present day Kuruman), collecting birds which he described for the first time. To him we are indebted for the first published illustrations of the sociable weaver, its nest and egg, and a brief account, not entirely accurate to be sure, of the building and occupation of the nest. This account has since been quoted at length by Shelley (1905) and by Friedmann (1930a) who accepted Smith's statements as they stood. Some years after Smith's travels, Anderson wrote (1872) that the flocks of sociable weavers " ... incubate their eggs under the same roof, which is composed by these birds of whole cartloads of grass piled on a branch of some kamel-thorn tree in one enormous mass of an irregular umbrella-shape, looking like a miniature haystack, and almost solid, but with the under surface, which is nearly flat, honeycombed all over with little cavities, which serve not only as places for incubation but also as a refuge against rain and wind". This account gives some idea of the spectacular nests built by these birds which are hardly larger than a sparrow. But, living in the dry and thinly-populated western regions of southern Africa, the sociable weaver remained a remote curiosity, the subject of casual reports and some strange ideas. Since Friedmann (1930a) studied the sociable weaver briefly in the western Transvaal, the only thorough field observations (mainly on nests and nest sites) up to the present have been those of Rudebeck (1953, 1956). Collias & Collias (1964) returned to the western Transvaal some 20 years after Friedmann's visit, but unfortunately had time for only a cursory study; their main interest was once again in the nest and its architecture. Thus, in 1964 when I joined Dr. T.J. Cade, then of Syracuse University and now of Cornell University, on his desert biology programme, he suggested that the sociable weaver be the subject of special study in the Kalahari. Here was a bird, resident in a harsh environment, living throughout the year in an extraordinary nest, and almost completely unknown biologically. Among the questions to be answered were: How is the nest started and how is it constructed? Which birds build, and how is the labour organized? What is the purpose of the elaborate nest: does it provide a micro-climate which enables the birds to survive better under arid conditions? How could such a communal nest have evolved? What is the social organization of the colony in and out of the breeding season? When do the birds breed and what factors induce breeding? What happens to the young birds after they become independent of their parents? Naturally many other questions arose as the work proceeded, but these were the main ones on which the project was initiated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
An investigation into the decametric radio emission by the planet Jupiter
- Authors: Gruber, Georg M
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Jupiter (Planet) , Radio astronomy , Radio sources (Astronomy)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013410
- Description: From introduction: Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Its distance from the Sun is five times that of the Earth and its mass is nearly two and a half times that of all the other planets added together. Jupiter turns about its own axis rather rapidly, once in just under ten hours, and it completes one revolution about the Sun in just under twelve years. Thus Earth has to pass almost directly between the Sun and Jupiter once every thirteen months. When this happens Jupiter is said to be in "opposition", as its position is then opposite to that of the Sun, when viewed from Earth. Around this time the planet will be most favourably placed for observations, as it is at its closest to Earth and up in the sky for a large part of the night. During the day observations on radio frequencies are more difficult, as the Sun is a source of great interference. Besides being an emitter of thermal electromagnetic radiation, as one would expect, Jupiter also emits two kinds of non-thermal radiation, one in the decimetre wavelength range and the other in the decametre wavelength range. A large number of scientists have worked on the problems of decimetre and decametre radiation. This thesis deals with some aspects of decametre radiation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: Gruber, Georg M
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Jupiter (Planet) , Radio astronomy , Radio sources (Astronomy)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013410
- Description: From introduction: Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Its distance from the Sun is five times that of the Earth and its mass is nearly two and a half times that of all the other planets added together. Jupiter turns about its own axis rather rapidly, once in just under ten hours, and it completes one revolution about the Sun in just under twelve years. Thus Earth has to pass almost directly between the Sun and Jupiter once every thirteen months. When this happens Jupiter is said to be in "opposition", as its position is then opposite to that of the Sun, when viewed from Earth. Around this time the planet will be most favourably placed for observations, as it is at its closest to Earth and up in the sky for a large part of the night. During the day observations on radio frequencies are more difficult, as the Sun is a source of great interference. Besides being an emitter of thermal electromagnetic radiation, as one would expect, Jupiter also emits two kinds of non-thermal radiation, one in the decimetre wavelength range and the other in the decametre wavelength range. A large number of scientists have worked on the problems of decimetre and decametre radiation. This thesis deals with some aspects of decametre radiation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
Contributions to the ecology of the anomuran mud prawn Upogebia africana (Ortmann)
- Authors: Hill, Burke J
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Decapoda , Shrimps
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5888 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013341
- Description: Estuarine ecology in South Africa has progressed in two distinct stages. The first of these was a necessary descriptive phase which documented the general distribution of estuarine animals and recorded the physical conditions within estuaries . This phase has been carried out by the Zoology Department of the University of Cape Town which has made a series of ecological surveys of southern African estuaries. These surveys have provided a vast amount of valuable information which was utilised by Day (1964.) to state some general conclusions about estuarine faunas. The most important of these conclusions is that most of the estuarine fauna is really a quiet water fauna which also occurs in sheltered non-estuarine water. The information gained in this first stage is necessarily general and it can only indicate overall trends or reveal major features of distribution. Further estuary surveys are not justified unless they deal with unique conditions. It is at this point that the second phase of estuarine ecology becomes necessary. This phase involves a detailed investigation of individual species or particular problems. The present investigation falls into this second stage of estuarine ecology and was designed to extend our knowledge of the anomuran mud prawn Upogebia africana (Ortmann). The general estuarine surveys have shown that U. africana is a common inhabitant of many estuaries and sheltered bays along the southern African coast from Langebaan on the West coast to Inhambane on the East coast. However these surveys only revealed and could not explain anomalies in its distribution such as its apparent absence from closed estuaries and from estuaries in the tropics. In addition it was not even certain whether this abundant and widespread animal should really be considered a valid species distinct from a common West Coast prawn Upogebia capensis (Krauss). It was felt that a study of an estuarine species should be based upon a sound knowledge of its distribution, population structure and habitat. Knowledge of the habitat must be gained by studies in the field to establish which facets of the environment are of importance to the species. It was decided on the basis of field observations that temperature and salinity are of prime importance: in limiting the distribution of U. africana and a detailed laboratory study was therefore made of the tolerance of U. africana to these two physical factors. The results of laboratory experiments together with field observations were finally used to interpret the ecology of the species. Most of present day knowledge of crustacean ecology has been gained from a study of European and North American animals and information about southern hemisphere species has lagged behind. It is hoped that the present study will contribute to a wider understanding of Crustacea and that it will lead to further more advanced research on South African marine and estuarine animals
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: Hill, Burke J
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Decapoda , Shrimps
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5888 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013341
- Description: Estuarine ecology in South Africa has progressed in two distinct stages. The first of these was a necessary descriptive phase which documented the general distribution of estuarine animals and recorded the physical conditions within estuaries . This phase has been carried out by the Zoology Department of the University of Cape Town which has made a series of ecological surveys of southern African estuaries. These surveys have provided a vast amount of valuable information which was utilised by Day (1964.) to state some general conclusions about estuarine faunas. The most important of these conclusions is that most of the estuarine fauna is really a quiet water fauna which also occurs in sheltered non-estuarine water. The information gained in this first stage is necessarily general and it can only indicate overall trends or reveal major features of distribution. Further estuary surveys are not justified unless they deal with unique conditions. It is at this point that the second phase of estuarine ecology becomes necessary. This phase involves a detailed investigation of individual species or particular problems. The present investigation falls into this second stage of estuarine ecology and was designed to extend our knowledge of the anomuran mud prawn Upogebia africana (Ortmann). The general estuarine surveys have shown that U. africana is a common inhabitant of many estuaries and sheltered bays along the southern African coast from Langebaan on the West coast to Inhambane on the East coast. However these surveys only revealed and could not explain anomalies in its distribution such as its apparent absence from closed estuaries and from estuaries in the tropics. In addition it was not even certain whether this abundant and widespread animal should really be considered a valid species distinct from a common West Coast prawn Upogebia capensis (Krauss). It was felt that a study of an estuarine species should be based upon a sound knowledge of its distribution, population structure and habitat. Knowledge of the habitat must be gained by studies in the field to establish which facets of the environment are of importance to the species. It was decided on the basis of field observations that temperature and salinity are of prime importance: in limiting the distribution of U. africana and a detailed laboratory study was therefore made of the tolerance of U. africana to these two physical factors. The results of laboratory experiments together with field observations were finally used to interpret the ecology of the species. Most of present day knowledge of crustacean ecology has been gained from a study of European and North American animals and information about southern hemisphere species has lagged behind. It is hoped that the present study will contribute to a wider understanding of Crustacea and that it will lead to further more advanced research on South African marine and estuarine animals
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
Hydrobiological studies on the Vaal River and some of its tributaries, including an introduction to the ecology of Simulium in its lower reaches
- Authors: Chutter, F M
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Freshwater biology Freshwater animals Freshwater ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010499
- Description: The studies on the Vaal River and its tributaries presented here, were carried out for a variety of reasons. Prominent among them were several of immediate practical importance, such as the need to know the pollution status of waters which ultimately form the major supply for the Witwatersrand urban and industrial complex, and the need for background data on a stretch of the river which was to be insecticided to control a Simulium pest. However the results of such work can often be used for wider purposes. In this thesis they are used to examine the major factors thought to govern the distribution and abundance of the invertebrate Metazoa in the river. Introduction, p. 2-3.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: Chutter, F M
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Freshwater biology Freshwater animals Freshwater ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010499
- Description: The studies on the Vaal River and its tributaries presented here, were carried out for a variety of reasons. Prominent among them were several of immediate practical importance, such as the need to know the pollution status of waters which ultimately form the major supply for the Witwatersrand urban and industrial complex, and the need for background data on a stretch of the river which was to be insecticided to control a Simulium pest. However the results of such work can often be used for wider purposes. In this thesis they are used to examine the major factors thought to govern the distribution and abundance of the invertebrate Metazoa in the river. Introduction, p. 2-3.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
Synthesis of flavan-3, 4-diols, stereochemistry of novel biflavanols and new non-tannins from Acacia Mearnsii
- Authors: Saayman, Henry Martin
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Tannins Acacia mearnsii Stereochemistry Wattles (Plants) Chemistry, Analytic
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4444 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007704
- Description: From Summary: The structural elucidation of condensed tannins, which are considered to consist of C₁₅-flavan units, presents certain difficulties. These tannins occur in extremely complex mixtures, and their isolation is complicated by their susceptibility to oxidative denaturation. Limitations in the formation of significant degradation products add to these problems. Since condensed tannins of black wattle bark yield anthocyanidins on treatment with mineral acids, they are considered to be proanthocyanidin in character. For this reason the initial approach to the investigation of the structures of condensed tannins was by way of the synthesis of novel 7-hydroxyflavan-3,4-diols having a low degree of hydroxyl substitution. Submission of these to modern physical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) spectroscopy would yield valuable data regarding the chemical shifts and coupling constants of heterocyclic and benzenoid protons which may be used for subsequent work on more highly hydroxylated diols, biflavanols and finally the condensed tannins themselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: Saayman, Henry Martin
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Tannins Acacia mearnsii Stereochemistry Wattles (Plants) Chemistry, Analytic
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4444 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007704
- Description: From Summary: The structural elucidation of condensed tannins, which are considered to consist of C₁₅-flavan units, presents certain difficulties. These tannins occur in extremely complex mixtures, and their isolation is complicated by their susceptibility to oxidative denaturation. Limitations in the formation of significant degradation products add to these problems. Since condensed tannins of black wattle bark yield anthocyanidins on treatment with mineral acids, they are considered to be proanthocyanidin in character. For this reason the initial approach to the investigation of the structures of condensed tannins was by way of the synthesis of novel 7-hydroxyflavan-3,4-diols having a low degree of hydroxyl substitution. Submission of these to modern physical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) spectroscopy would yield valuable data regarding the chemical shifts and coupling constants of heterocyclic and benzenoid protons which may be used for subsequent work on more highly hydroxylated diols, biflavanols and finally the condensed tannins themselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
The effect of ultraviolet and gamma irradation on soluble calf-skin collagen
- Authors: Davidson, Raymond John
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Collagen -- Hide powder Irradiation Solids -- Effect of radiation on Gamma rays -- Dose-response relationship
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003718
- Description: Initially the present study was confined to the effects of ultraviolet irradiation on acid-soluble collagen. Such a study was undertaken in order to demonstrate the critical role played by tyrosine and phenylalanine in the intermolecular interaction of the telopeptides protruding from the rigid parent collagen molecule. Since both tyrosine and phenylalanine are photosensitive, and because the collagen telopeptides are relatively rich in these aromatic amino acids, carefully controlled degradation studies involving telopeptide liberation could be made. It became increasingly apparent during the course of investigation, that a better understanding of the subunit composition of thermally denatured acid-soluble collagen was necessary if a satisfactory interpretation of the irradiation studies was to be made. A subsequent study of the subunit composition of thermally denatured acid-soluble collagen resulted in the isolation and characterisation of two major and two minor dimeric components as well as the α- and β - subunits. Three acidic telopeptides and three basic telopeptides were also isolated from acid-soluble collagen during the course of the present study. The presence of the dimeric components while related directly to the method of preparation, suggested that acid-soluble collagen was largely dimeric in nature. Such a conclusion suggested an intermolecular rather than an intraolecular relationship between neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen. While it is currently accepted that an intramolecular relationship exists between neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen, such a relationship does not satisfactorily explain the very different solubility characteristics displayed by these soluble collagen extracts. With this in mind, and using the study on the subunit composition of thermally denatured acid-soluble collagen as a basis for comparison, the intra and intermolecular relationship between neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen was investigated using ultraviolet and gamma irradiation. The effects of ultraviolet and gamma irradiation on soluble collagen preparations proved very similar. Although collagen samples were irradiated in solution from an ultraviolet source; and under anhydrous conditions from a gamma source, much the same degradation mechanism resulted. The initial depolymerisation of dimeric material followed by peptide fission, yielding irradiation-resistant crystalline portions of the parent triple helix, took place in both instances. At the same time, both studies indicated no significant differences in the intra or intermolecular structures of the neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble preparations investigated. The dimer content of neutral-salt-soluble collagen preparations was, however, noted to be smaller. To current methods for the preparation of soluble collagens, it may be concluded that such preparations are peptideless to some degree. While the native tropocollagen monomer with its full complement of telopeptide side chains may actively undergo linear polymerisation resulting in fibre formation, the soluble collagen preparations referred to above may only aggregate in a rather random fashion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: Davidson, Raymond John
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Collagen -- Hide powder Irradiation Solids -- Effect of radiation on Gamma rays -- Dose-response relationship
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003718
- Description: Initially the present study was confined to the effects of ultraviolet irradiation on acid-soluble collagen. Such a study was undertaken in order to demonstrate the critical role played by tyrosine and phenylalanine in the intermolecular interaction of the telopeptides protruding from the rigid parent collagen molecule. Since both tyrosine and phenylalanine are photosensitive, and because the collagen telopeptides are relatively rich in these aromatic amino acids, carefully controlled degradation studies involving telopeptide liberation could be made. It became increasingly apparent during the course of investigation, that a better understanding of the subunit composition of thermally denatured acid-soluble collagen was necessary if a satisfactory interpretation of the irradiation studies was to be made. A subsequent study of the subunit composition of thermally denatured acid-soluble collagen resulted in the isolation and characterisation of two major and two minor dimeric components as well as the α- and β - subunits. Three acidic telopeptides and three basic telopeptides were also isolated from acid-soluble collagen during the course of the present study. The presence of the dimeric components while related directly to the method of preparation, suggested that acid-soluble collagen was largely dimeric in nature. Such a conclusion suggested an intermolecular rather than an intraolecular relationship between neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen. While it is currently accepted that an intramolecular relationship exists between neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen, such a relationship does not satisfactorily explain the very different solubility characteristics displayed by these soluble collagen extracts. With this in mind, and using the study on the subunit composition of thermally denatured acid-soluble collagen as a basis for comparison, the intra and intermolecular relationship between neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble collagen was investigated using ultraviolet and gamma irradiation. The effects of ultraviolet and gamma irradiation on soluble collagen preparations proved very similar. Although collagen samples were irradiated in solution from an ultraviolet source; and under anhydrous conditions from a gamma source, much the same degradation mechanism resulted. The initial depolymerisation of dimeric material followed by peptide fission, yielding irradiation-resistant crystalline portions of the parent triple helix, took place in both instances. At the same time, both studies indicated no significant differences in the intra or intermolecular structures of the neutral-salt-soluble and acid-soluble preparations investigated. The dimer content of neutral-salt-soluble collagen preparations was, however, noted to be smaller. To current methods for the preparation of soluble collagens, it may be concluded that such preparations are peptideless to some degree. While the native tropocollagen monomer with its full complement of telopeptide side chains may actively undergo linear polymerisation resulting in fibre formation, the soluble collagen preparations referred to above may only aggregate in a rather random fashion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
The phytochemistry of several South African aloe species
- Authors: McCarthy, Terence John
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Botanical chemistry Aloe -- Research -- South Africa Aloe -- Analysis Medicinal plants -- Research -- South Africa Drugs -- Research Chromatographic analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3836 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007621
- Description: Introduction: Despite the tremendous advances made with regard to synthetic organic medicinals within the last two decades, heavy reliance is still placed on plant products. This is especially true of the anthracene derivatives used medicinally as purgatives, and which are derived principally from senna, cascara, rhubarb, frangula and aloes. While particular attention has been paid to the chemistry of the former group in recent years, aloes has been largely neglected, possibly due to the fact that the Aloe species are confined largely to areas where extensive research facilities are lacking, such as Africa , India and the West Indies. Thus research in Europe has been confined largely to the lump aloes of commerce, derived from relatively few species. In 1953 a comprehensive report by Hodge (103) appeared on "The Drug Aloes of Commerce, with Special Reference to the Cape Species". Hodge observed that South Africa abounds in species just as abundant as A.ferox, (which is the prime source of Cape aloes), and advised that a systematic chemical survey might show certain of these to be not only higher yielders of bitter aloetic juice but also sources of a superior drug product. Consequently an investigation along these lines is presented here, and it is observed that several species apart from A.ferox not only contain aloin, but also yield a large volume of aloetic juice. Only pharmacologic studies can reveal if the juice of these species is as safe as that of A.ferox, but without doubt they could be used for the extraction of crystalline aloin. Concurrently, the distribution of the Aloe resins, said by some to be purgative themselves, has been studied. The investigation has revealed that the structurally similar compound homonataloin enjoys an equally wide distribution as aloin. However, almost invariably it is confined to small species yielding little aloetic juice, apart from which nothing is known regarding its pharmacologic properties. It is interesting to note that the resin distribution in the homonataloin-containing species is very similar to that of the aloin-containing species, but differs widely from. that of the species containing neither of these principles. Apart from aloin and homonataloin, aloinoside and chrysophanol also occur in Aloe species, and together with the resins, these indicate that when all the South African Aloe species have been investigated, they may well be of chemotaxonomic value. Within the comparatively short space of the last decade some work has been performed on aspects of the metabolism of such anthracene-containing species as Rheum, Rhamnus and Rumex. These investigations have shown that the anthracene derivatives are not merely waste products, but perform definite metabolic functions. The latter portion of this work has been devoted to this relatively neglected aspect of the Aloe species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
- Authors: McCarthy, Terence John
- Date: 1967
- Subjects: Botanical chemistry Aloe -- Research -- South Africa Aloe -- Analysis Medicinal plants -- Research -- South Africa Drugs -- Research Chromatographic analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3836 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007621
- Description: Introduction: Despite the tremendous advances made with regard to synthetic organic medicinals within the last two decades, heavy reliance is still placed on plant products. This is especially true of the anthracene derivatives used medicinally as purgatives, and which are derived principally from senna, cascara, rhubarb, frangula and aloes. While particular attention has been paid to the chemistry of the former group in recent years, aloes has been largely neglected, possibly due to the fact that the Aloe species are confined largely to areas where extensive research facilities are lacking, such as Africa , India and the West Indies. Thus research in Europe has been confined largely to the lump aloes of commerce, derived from relatively few species. In 1953 a comprehensive report by Hodge (103) appeared on "The Drug Aloes of Commerce, with Special Reference to the Cape Species". Hodge observed that South Africa abounds in species just as abundant as A.ferox, (which is the prime source of Cape aloes), and advised that a systematic chemical survey might show certain of these to be not only higher yielders of bitter aloetic juice but also sources of a superior drug product. Consequently an investigation along these lines is presented here, and it is observed that several species apart from A.ferox not only contain aloin, but also yield a large volume of aloetic juice. Only pharmacologic studies can reveal if the juice of these species is as safe as that of A.ferox, but without doubt they could be used for the extraction of crystalline aloin. Concurrently, the distribution of the Aloe resins, said by some to be purgative themselves, has been studied. The investigation has revealed that the structurally similar compound homonataloin enjoys an equally wide distribution as aloin. However, almost invariably it is confined to small species yielding little aloetic juice, apart from which nothing is known regarding its pharmacologic properties. It is interesting to note that the resin distribution in the homonataloin-containing species is very similar to that of the aloin-containing species, but differs widely from. that of the species containing neither of these principles. Apart from aloin and homonataloin, aloinoside and chrysophanol also occur in Aloe species, and together with the resins, these indicate that when all the South African Aloe species have been investigated, they may well be of chemotaxonomic value. Within the comparatively short space of the last decade some work has been performed on aspects of the metabolism of such anthracene-containing species as Rheum, Rhamnus and Rumex. These investigations have shown that the anthracene derivatives are not merely waste products, but perform definite metabolic functions. The latter portion of this work has been devoted to this relatively neglected aspect of the Aloe species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1967
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