56 



" The Nirbishi or Nirbikhi is another plant of the same genus, and like the first kind has no deleterious qualities, 

 but is used in medicine. The President of the Asiatic Society, in a note annexed to Dr. Roxburgh's account of the 

 Zcdgary, oives the Nirh'isha or Nirbishi, as a Sanscrita or Hindwi name of that plant, which has not the smallest re- 

 semblance to the Nirbishi of the Indian alps. In fact, the nomenclature of the materia medica among the Hindus, as 

 far as I can learn, is miserably defective, and can scarcely fail to be productive of most dangerous mistakes in the 

 practice of medicine. For instance, the man whom I sent to Thibet for plants brought, as the species producing the 

 poison, that which was first brought to me as the Nirbishi, or kind used in medicine." 



That the roots mentioned above, excepting the Singgiya, which Dr. Hamilton thinks is a species of Smilax, with 

 ternate leaves and poisonous root and berries, the latter of which, when applied externally, are said to be a cure 

 against the Goitre {Account of Nepal, p. 86.), belong to plants of the genus Aconitum, is quite certain. His herbarium, 

 at present under my charge, contains specimens of three plants, labelled Calthaf Bishma, C.f Nirbisia, and C.fCodoa; 

 and although they are in a very young state, they afford evidence enough to prove that two of the three species 

 are identical with my Aconitum ferox , the third being perhaps a different species. His statement of the belief of the 

 Goorka's, that the Bikh would protect them from foreign invasion, and his opinion that such a kind of defence might 

 be easily frustrated, have been fully verified during the late war with Nipal. In the Turraye, or low forest-lands, which 

 skirt the approach to that country, and among the lower range of hills, especially at a place called Hetounra, quan- 

 tities of the bruised root were thrown into wells and reservoirs, for the purpose of poisoning our men and cattle ; the 

 attempt, however, was very soon discovered, and effective precautions taken to prevent the occurrence of any serious 

 mischief I am informed by Henry Colebrooke, Esq. — the best friend and patron I ever possessed in the world, to whom 

 I am under far greater obligations than to any man living, and whose name it is impossible for me ever to mention 

 without emotions of the warmest gratitude and respect, — that the Bikh is employed in the northern parts of Hindustan 

 for destroying tigers. Arrows poisoned with that drug are shot from bows fixed near the tracks leading to their 

 watering-places ; and it generally happens that the animal is found dead at the latter. I am unacquainted with the 

 Bihhma which Dr. Hamilton speaks of as a strong bitter, and which the late Colonel Kirkpatrick alludes to as a kind 

 of Gentian, in his Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul, p. 182, (note at the bottom ;) and I take this opportunity of 

 bearing witness to the accuracy of the observation of the former author concerning the defectiveness of the nomencla- 

 ture of the materia medica of the Hindus, which, I must say, extends in an equally lamentable degree to their botanical 

 nomenclature; and this Is most especially the case with regard to the natives of Nipal. Not one in twenty of the names of 

 plants which were given to my late friend, while he was in that country, is correct, or has any existence, except in the 

 deceitfulness of the native collectors, whom he was obliged to employ. On this subject I can speak with confidence, 

 having myself visited Nipal twenty years after Dr. Hamilton was there, under far more favourable circumstances than 

 existed in his time, and having during the last twelve years enjoyed uninterrupted facilities for instituting inquiries, 

 partly by my own people, partly through the kindness of my friends at the British Residency at Katmandu. 



My friend Mr. Royle has successfully introduced the plant from the Choor mountain, into the botanic garden at 

 Saharunpure, in the north-west of Hindustan, distant about 1100 miles from Calcutta. He informs me that the root 

 is sent down into the plains, and used as a medicine, under the name of Meetha or Tileea ; and that, being previously 

 mixed with other drugs, an oil is distilled from it, which is said to be useful in rheumatism. 



I feel highly indebted to Mr. J. Pereira, of the General Dispensary in Aldersgate Street, London, for the sub- 

 joined detail of several interesting experiments made with the roots of the Aconitum fer ox, which I brought with me 

 from Nipal ten years ago. They fully establish the extreme virulence of the poison. 



" The experiments which I have made to determine the physiological effects of the root of the Aconitum ferox, de- 

 monstrate that this substance is a most virulent poison. These experiments were made in the presence of Dr. Falconer, 

 Assistant Surgeon on the Bengal Establishment, and my brother, on rabbits and dogs, and with the root in the form of 

 powder, spirituous extract, and watery extract. Of these preparations the spirituous extract is by far the most power- 

 ful. The effects were tried by introducing this extract into the jugular vein, by placing it in the cavity of the peri- 

 toneum, by applying it to the cellular tissue of the back, and by introducing it into the stomach. In all these cases, . 

 except the last, the effects were very similar : namely, difficulty of breathing, weakness, and subsequently paralysis, 

 which generally commenced in the posterior extremities, vertigoes, convulsions, dilatation of the pupil, and death, 

 apparently from asphyxia. 



" The bodies of most of the animals were examined immediately after death. In all the cases the right side of the 

 heart was found distended with dark-coloured blood, and the left empty. In one or two cases the auricles were still 

 contracting, but the ventricles had ceased to contract. The galvanic apparatus produced a quivering in a few of the 

 fibres of 'the ventricles, and either produced, or very much increased, the contractions of the ventricles. All the 

 voluntary muscles were susceptible of galvanism. 



" One grain of the alcoholic extract introduced into the cavity of the peritoneum of a rabbit, began to produce its 

 effects in two minutes ; death took place in nine minutes and a half In a second experiment of a similar kind, the 

 effects commenced in two minutes and a half, and death was produced in eleven minutes. Two grains introduced 



