45° Sino-Iranica 



Services of Cochin-China, and also a sample of the seeds obtained from 

 a Chinese exporter. The tree exists in the Eastern provinces of Cochin- 

 China, principally in the forests of Baria. The seeds are bought by 

 Chinese from the savage tribes known as Mois, who collect them in the 

 forest; the Chinese then export them to China or sell them again to 

 firms exporting to Europe. The time of fruiting is in November and 

 December. M. Morange considers that the tree is certainly indigenous 

 in Cochin-China, and was not introduced by early traders." If the 

 tree is indigenous there, it was certainly discovered there, as far as the 

 Chinese are concerned, only after the Mongol period. H. Maitre 1 deals 

 with the poisons used by the Moi for their arrows, and arrives at the 

 conclusion that they are derived from the upas tree (Antiaris). He does 

 not mention Strychnos. 



1 Les regions Moi du sud indo-chinois, pp. 119-121 (Paris, 1909). 



