396 Life of Sir Stamford Raffles. 



have obtained for this romantic story a celebrity in modern times 

 almost equal to that of the Lernaean Hydra, the Chimaera, or any 

 other fiction of Classical Antiquity. A statement of facts amount^ 

 ing to a refutation of it had been published in one of the early 

 volumes of the Batavian Transactions, and the Historian of Sumatra, 

 Mr. Marsden, had also given a virtual refutation of the fable ; but 

 the scientific world had so long remained under the influence of 

 the imposition, and the popular opinion in Europe still favoured 

 the delusion so strongly, that it was very desirable to obtain from 

 a naturalist residing on the spot, the real history of this remark- 

 able tree, and the poisonous agency of its sap. In compliance with 

 Mr. Raflles's request to this eifect. Dr. Horsfield communicated 

 to the Society a paper detailing the literary history of the Upas 

 antshar^ the tree on the properties of which the romance of Foersch 

 had been founded, with its botanical characters, the mode of col- 

 lecting the poison, and a series of experiments upon it instituted 

 by himself. In this paper is also described the Tshetlik^ a creep- 

 ing shrub of Java, which yields a gummy substance still more vio- 

 lent than the Antshar or any other vegetable or perhaps even 

 mineral poison, especially when applied to wounds ; and a series 

 of experiments upon it are related, which prove it to be quite 

 peculiar in its mode of action on the system, and shew the erro- 

 neous character of M. Delile's inferences from his previous experi-f 

 ments on the Taheitik.* 



* Dr. Horsfield's paper, entitled '« An Essay on the Oopas, or Poison-tree of 

 Java," has been reprinted in the Asiatic Journal, vols. i. and ii. ; and an 

 abstract of it will be found in the " Journal of Science and the Arts," vol. ii., 

 in which Mr. Brodie's experiments on the poison of the Antshar are also no- 

 ticed ; but as no comparison appears ever to have been instituted between 

 Mr. Brodie's investigation and that of Dr. Horsfield, it becomes interesting to 

 shew that the results obtained by the latter with the antshar fully confirm the 

 physiological inductions of the former, as to the mode of action of vegetable 

 poisons in general. 



Mr. Brodie relates four experiments on the poisonous effects of the AntshaVy 

 or Upas antiar, as he denominates it. One of them was performed on a dog, 

 another on a cat, and two on rabbits. The appearances on dissection are 

 described in every instance. A portion of the dried poison, supplied by Mr. 

 Marsden, was made into a thin paste with water, and inserted into a wound 

 previously made in each animal After describing the results, Mr. Brodie 



