preface - Philippine Journal of Science

Special Centennial Edition
Philippine Journal of Science
PREFACE
This Special Centennial Edition of the Philippine Journal of Science is a celebration of many things other than
sheer endurance, resilience, and evolution in scientific research publication.
This journal’s very first issue that rolled off the press in January 1906 signaled the daybreak of formal albeit
Western model of scientific research in a sprawling archipelago grappling with nationhood it briefly gained and lost.
This blueprint was drawn by some of the best academic talents of the new colonial power.
To many of the researchers coming from another environment, the swarm of tropical flora and fauna must have
been exhilarating. Right before their eyes was the abundance of untamed, unparalleled biodiversity. What and where
to start a study or experiment was a stirring inspiration. Any day in the field was stuffed with possibilities. But the same
natural wealth and beauty was also fraught with risks—sometimes swift and fatal, other times dawdling and painful.
It was apparently an odd genesis for a scientific journal bristling with self-assurance amidst a social prism pleading
for stability.
This special edition traces the steps of the men and women who laid the groundwork for forward-looking scientific
research in the Philippines that has at once set the standard in the region. The catalogue of pioneering studies printed
in its pages mirrors their peculiar insights, sparkling suppositions, and original vision. Such collective disposition
diligently hewed at previous riddles intertwined in nature, and in the process of discovery truly enriched science and
society.
The wealth of knowledge is self-evident “on the surveys and systematics of the Philippine flora and fauna” that
many of the over 1,300 papers on these topics remain valuable and authoritative references for international researchers
today.
Under the Spanish sword, a 1642 edict forced each Filipino (then called an indio) to plant 200 coconut seedlings
to produce, in time, fiber from coconut husks “for galleon rigs” and charcoal for caulking of hulls. It is no surprise
that the hardy coconut tree and coconut related products became more than objects of scholarly curiosity for the new
colonial power. Coconut’s economic significance was too extensive to ignore.
Meanwhile, previous studies that appeared in the PJS also covered many front-page issues today on energy,
environment, health and wellness, and social realities. These provide compelling insights on the ancestry of a number
of present day inconveniences and innovations.
This special edition also pays tribute to Dr. Fernando Calderon, the first Filipino to get his work published in
this journal, in its July 1908 issue. Calderon was a “leading Filipino obstetrician during the American colonial period
and the first director of the Philippine General Hospital”, among other distinctions. A product of many things Spanish
including education, Calderon’s feat is notable in that he had to shift and be conversant with an entirely new language.
But the bigger implication of this achievement was that it was a reaffirmation of the revolution’s leading lights that the
Filipino--whether painter, poet, novelist, artisan, and scientist or researcher—was not inferior to any race.
This special edition is a collection of the most outstanding works spanning a century in biology, natural products
chemistry, coconut industry, energy, and development of a Filipino scientist. Each selected work represents dozens of
related studies that together comprise a unique knowledge heritage for researchers elsewhere. The collection process
was necessarily a best effort attempt among those involved in the project owing to the many challenges they had to deal
with. We are most grateful to the theme leaders who read through all the issues of this journal and made the selection.
Surely there were bright and dim interludes in the journal’s existence over the last 100 years. We presume that
the truly brilliant and enduring discoveries that made meaningful contributions to science and society far compensate
for whatever disappointments that came to pass. Scientific research, after all, is fundamentally a human enterprise not
invulnerable to many external forces.
But the true value of this special edition is when people start to read, understand, and retrieve its distilled and
substantive contents that could hopefully lead to recreate or develop products and processes that can alleviate human
and social inequities. In this way, we also honor the commitment and memory of those who chose to share themselves
selflessly.
William G. Padolina, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
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CONTENTS
PJS Special Centennial Edition
Volume A
Message of the Secretary
Preface
Selected Article on Development of Filipino Scientist
Introduction to Dr. Fernando Calderon
Obstetrics in the Philippine Islands (Vol. III No. 3, July 1908 )
By Calderon, Fernando
Selected Articles on Biology
Introduction to Biology
The Revegetation of Volcano Island, Luzon, Philippine Islands, Since the Eruption
of Taal Volcano in 1911 (Vol. XII No. 4, July 1917)
By Brown WH, Merrill ED and Yates HS
Carbonic Anhydrase: Its Physiological and Evolutionary Significance in the Marine
Symbiont Prochloron (Vol. 125 No. 3, 1996)
By Dionisio-Sese, Maribel L.
The Relation Between Light Intensity and Carbon Dioxide Assimilation
(Vol. XII, No. 2, March 1917)
By Brown WH and Heise GW
The Role of Savanna Trees in Plant Succession (Vol. 107; 1-2, 1978)
By Tupaz GL and Sajise PE
The Influence of Symbiosis upon the Pathogenecity of Microorganism
(The Evolution of Parasitism) (Vol. 3B No. 2 April 1908)
By Musgrave WE
Selected Articles on Chemistry
Introduction to Chemistry
A Chemical Study of the Essential Oil from the Fruit of Peeling
of Psidium guajava L. (Vol. 115 No. 1, Jan-Mar 1986)
By Belardo-Oliveros L, Smith RM, Robinson JM and Albano V
Identification of Four Iridoids in the Pharmacologically-Active
Fraction of Vitex negundo L. (Vol. 123 No. 4, 1994)
By Dayrit FM and Lagurin LG
The Alkaloids of Anona muricata Linn (Vol. 96 No. 4, 1967)
By Aguilar-Santos G, Librea JR and Santos AC
The Composition of Cashew-nut Oil (Vol. 23 No. 4, 1928)
By West AP and Cruz CC
The Bitter Principle of Makabuhay, Tinospora rumphii
Boerlage (Vol. 33 No. 4, 1927)
By Marañon, Joaquin
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The Preparation of Tiki-Tiki Extract for the Treatment
of Beri-beri (Vol. 19 No. 1, 1921)
By Wells AH
Selected Articles on Coconut
Introduction to Coconut
The Rancidity of Philippine Coconut Oil (Vol. 15 No. 5, 1919)
By Perkins GA
Origin, Development, and Nature of the Stony Layer
of the Coconut (Cocos nucifera Linnaeus) (Vol. 30 No. 2, 1926)
By Juliano, Jose B
Chemical Studies on Coconut Products, IV. Further Data on a New Process
for the Extraction of Coconut Oil (Vol. 75 No. 2, 1941)
By Lava VG, Torres PE and San Victores S
Laboratory Scale Studies on the Preparation of Coconut
Flour from Granulated Coconut (Vol. 97 No. 1, 1968)
By Claudio TR, Capulso SA, Gonzales AL, De La Fuentes FS and Mañalac GC
A Bench Scale Production of Monolaurin from
Coconut C12 Fatty Acid (Vol. 126 No. 4, 1997)
By Viernes CH, Umali JC, De Vera C, Pacis R and Gonzales A
Selected Articles on Energy
Introduction on Energy
High Compression Tractor Engines with Alcohol-Gasoline Blends
(Vol. 7 No. 1, February 1912)
By Gilbert MM, Roth WB and Wiebe R
Chemical and Physical Characteristics of Philippine Coal (Vol. 90 No. 2, 1961)
By Cox Alvin J
Manufacture of Industrial Alcohol and Alcohol Motor Fuel
in the Philippine Islands (Vol. 21 No. 1, 1922)
By Cole, Howard Irving
Philippine Coal Resources and their Exhaustion (Vol. 33 No. 1, May 1927)
By Faustino, Leopoldo A
The Geology and Petroleum Resources of the Southern Part of
Bondoc Peninsula, Tayabas Province, P.I. (Vol. VIII No. 5, October 1913)
By Pratt WE and Smith WD
The Probability of Commercial Oil Pools in the Central Plains of Luzon
(Vol. 74 No. 4, 1941)
By Alvir AD
Editorial Board
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About Dr. Fernando Calderon*
By William G. Padolina, PhD
It was not until the July 1908 issue of the Philippine Journal of Science that an article authored
by a Filipino first appeared.
The distinction of being the author of the very first paper ever authored by a Filipino to appear
in the Philippine Journal of Science belongs to Dr. Fernando Calderon, one of the leading Filipino
obstetricians during the American colonial period and the first director of the Philippine General
Hospital. The paper entitled “Obstetrics in the Philippine Islands,” is an exposition of the status
of the practice of obstetrics in the Philippines as of that time. It highlights the lack of scientific
basis of a number of practices during childbirth especially communities without access to proper
medical care. Indeed, the article is a valuable record of the practices in maternal health care at that
time seen through the lenses of a trained obstetrician.
Dr. Calderon obtained his licentiate in medicine and pharmacy from the University of Santo
Tomas in February 1891 and thereafter served as municipal doctor of Calbayog, Samar for two
years. He had to return to Manila to recuperate from an illness. When he regained his health, he
served as medical officer of Carigara, Leyte and then Ormoc where he stayed for six years. In
1899, he was appointed president of the revolutionary junta of Ormoc for a year. He then left for
Paris in 1900 to join Clinique Tarnier as a resident in maternity, gynecology and puericulture.
After two years in Europe he returned to the Philippines and in July 1907 was appointed professor
of obstetrics at the School of Medicine established by the Philippine Commission, the forerunner
of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. In 1914, Dr. Calderon was appointed
auxiliary director of the Philippine General Hospital. Subsequently, he was elected president of the
Council of Hygiene, became Dean of the College of Medicine, director of the Philippine General
Hospital and member of the UP Board of Regents from 1922-1925. He was acting President of UP
from January to August 31 1934.
Dr. Calderon was instrumental in the creation of Gota de Leche in Manila. He died on 07
February 1948.
Reference: Peji, M. http://www.geocities.com/sinupan/calderonfer.htm
*
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