[app. of W. African origin: cf. Mandingo cano = Gambia kino, the first kind used, called by Fothergill in 1757 (Med. Obs. I.) gummi rubrum astringens Gambiense, in Edinb. Pharmacop. 1774 Gummi Kino, and in London Pharmacop. 1787 Resina Kino.]
1. A substance resembling catechu, usually of a brittle consistence and dark reddish-brown color, consisting of the inspissated gum or juice of various trees and shrubs of tropical and sub-tropical regions; used in medicine and tanning as an astringent, and also (in India) for dyeing cotton. Sometimes called Gum Kino.
African or Gambia Kino (the kind first known in Europe, but now out of use) is the produce of Pterocarpus erinaceus (N.O. Leguminosæ); Bengal K., of Butea frondosa and B. superba (N.O. Leguminosæ); Botany Bay K. or Australian K., of Eucalyptus resinifera (N.O. Myrtaceæ) and other species; East Indian K., Malabar K., or Amboyna K. (the kind most used), of Pterocarpus Marsupium; West Indian K. or Jamaica K., of Coccoloba uvifera (N.O. Polygonaceæ).
[1738. Stibbs, Voy. Gambia, 267. I shall now describe the Pau de Sangue, or Blood-wood, so called from a red gum which issues from it; it grows abundantly all up the river … and by the Mandingoes called Cano.]
1788. Lond. Pharmac. (ed. 2), 21. Kino, Kino, Gummi Gambiense.
1811. A. T. Thomson, Lond. Disp. (1818), 216. Botany Bay kino is inodorous; tastes bitterish and more austere than the African.
1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 91. Gum Kino is the produce of Pterocarpus crinacea.
1852. Morfit, Tanning & Currying (1853), 69. African Kino,… Asiatic Kino,… American Kino, from a decoction of the fibrous wood of Coccoloba uvifera. The African, which is the most common kind, differs from the rest in coming in small, angular, glittering, black granules.
1879. St. George’s Hosp. Rep., IX. 200. Ceased after five days’ treatment by kino with opium and ipecacuanha.
b. attrib.
1881. Watts, Dict. Chem., VIII. 1158. Kino-red yields by dry distillation a small quantity of watery and oily distillate.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., II. 743. Compound kino powder in 10 grain doses is also very useful.
2. Any of the trees or plants that yield this substance: see above.
1876. Harley, Mat. Med. (ed. 6), 644. Kino is a lofty tree … native of Ceylon, and the adjacent part of India.
1887. Moloney, Forestry W. Afr., 324. African or Gambia Kino…. Tree often 40 to 70 feet high, with a very hard, fine-grained red wood suitable for naval construction, planking, &c.
Hence Kinofluous a. [after mellifluous], ‘exuding kino’ (Cent. Dict.); Kinoic a., of or pertaining to kino; Kinoin, Chem., a crystalline substance (C14 H12 O6) obtained from East Indian kino; Kino-tannic acid, Kino-tannin, the varieties of tannic acid and tannin occurring in kino.
1853. Pharm. Jrnl., XIII. 79. Hennig calls this substance kinoic acid.
1881. Watts, Dict. Chem., VIII. 1158. By repeatedly crystallising … pure colourless crystals of kinoīn are obtained…. Kinoīn is anhydrous; it dissolves sparingly in cold water, easily in hot water and in alcohol.
1888. Syd. Soc. Lex., Kinotannic acid, a reddish-brown translucent substance forming some 95 per cent. of kino.
1852. Morfit, Tanning & Currying (1853), 69. Kino-tannin forms a red mass, and yields no pyrogallic acid in dry distillation.
Kino2, variant of KENO, game of chance.
