112 " MERRILL. 
fuisse defluvium capillorum unius lateris, an forsan ex liac arbore ? Hypo 
lao Indi Gamucones, & SamhaleSj Hispanis infensissimi longis excipiunt aruiidi- 
neis pertieis, sagittis intoxicandis deserviturunij irremediabile venenum, omnibus 
aliis alexiphaniiacis superiuSj praeterquam stercore humano propinato. An 
Argensolae arhor comosa, quam Insulae Cclches feruntj eujus umbra oceideutalis 
mortifera, orientalis Antidotum. An Machucae Zev/va ? qui addit: Sagittis 
lacte fructus arboris MansaniUOj illitis vulneratos, non emorij sed intumescere, 
& liebetisaimos reddi. Num Mansanillo idem, ac Mansanan seu Pomum partus 
Acapulco t quod referunt priniuni bene sapere^ sed mox infernali ardore fauces, 
& interiora adurendo excruciare, quod si non perimit, saepius mortales accelerat 
accidentcs: Asportatur in naves, ut mures, & glires co comesto intereant." 
This species has long been known to Europeans, and many of the early travelers 
in the Malayan Archipelago wrote fabulous accounts of the tree and its deadly 
properties. Robert Brovyn^ has given an exhaustive historical account of it. 
The distribution of true Antiaris toxicaria is somewhat doubtful, Hooker f., 
reducing to it Antiaris innoxia Blume and some other species, giving its distribu- 
tion as from the Deccan Peninsula, Pegu to Martaban, Ceylon and the Malay 
Islands, stating that the north Australian A. macrophyUa R. Br. may be the 
same. Engler gives the distribution as from Java to the Sunda Islands. 
^Bennett, Brown and Horsefield: Plantse Javanicse Rariores (1838-52) pp. 
53-63. 
i 
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