Vol. XYII. No. 418. 



THE AGKlCULi'i;jlAL NEWS. 



i:9 



AKEE POISON. 



From articles and correspondeace in recent numbers of the 

 -Jamaica Gleaner we gather that there have been so many 

 fatal cases of what was commonly called 'vomiting sickness', 

 ■especially in the parish of Trelawny, that the Government 

 Bicteriologist, Dr. H. H. Scott, was especially commissioned 

 to investigate the matter. He reports most definitely that 

 the cause of the complaint is akee poisoning. In a lecture 

 reported in the Gleaner of March 19, 1918, Dr. Scutt 

 expUined the matter, and we reproduce some of his remarks 

 as of general interest: for although the akee (Blighla sapida) 

 is not a very common tree in the other islands of the West 

 Indies, it is grown here and there, and the fruit is used for 

 food. AVe have never heard, however, in these other islands, 

 .of the evidently dangerous practice of using as soup the 

 water in which the akees have been 'boiled; it is always 

 thrown away It may be mentioned that in Barbados the 

 akee is called 'fig nut', while the well-known 'genip' (J/i'/Z- 

 tocca biji'.i^a) which is a harmless, if rather tasteless fruit, and 

 is eaten raw, is known as 'akee'. 



Blhe^hla sapida is a native of tropical West Africa, 

 whence it was carried by a slave .^hip to Jamaica. The 

 •edible portion of ihe fruit consists of the white, fleshy arils 

 which surround the black .shiny seeds for two-thirds of their 

 length. In appearance this aril is strongly suggestive of 

 the sweetbread of a calf. 



Ur. Scott states that unopened and immature akees as 

 well as over-ripe ones are to be strictly avoided. He insists 

 that the akee, if incautiously gathered when immature, and if 

 improperly prepared, is a deadly poison, killing oftentimes so 

 'rapidly that, unless taken under control at once, it gives no 

 second chance, and may sweep away a family in a day; but 

 that if they are ripened naturally, and properly prepared, 

 they are, as far as he is aware, wholesome at all seasons, 

 and e.'ccellent food. 



Dr. S30tt says that the poi.=on present in akees belongs 

 to a very obscure group of very poisonous substances known 

 as phytalbumoses and toxalbumins. These are soluble in 

 water, and are precipitated by alcohol; they kill rapidly; 

 they probably brexk down readily to form other bodies, and 

 in attempting to extract them for tests they become 

 transformed into other products, and are thus very diffi- 

 cult to identify. Other members of this group of poisons 

 are ricin, which is present in the castor oil bean {Rleinus 

 communis.), and abrin, an extremely toxic substance pres- 

 ent in the seeds of the 'jumbee bead' {Ahriis precatorius). 

 These substances are a very obscure subject in physiological 

 and chemical botany. 



In allusion to the epidemic character of the disease in 

 Janiiici, Dr. Scott says that the period corresponds exactly 

 witli the main akee season, when othgr fruits and fo'odstuft's 

 are relatively scarce. During the present epidemic the 

 number of cases has been highest where the scarcity was 

 most marked. In Trelawny district, as the result of the 

 hurricane, there was practically very little but akees, and 

 the poor people had been almost living on them. 



The symptoms following akee poisoning are vomiting 

 followed by rapid recovery if the dose is small, but if lar^e, 

 and in solution as in the water in which akees are boiled, 

 absorption is too quick, and after the first vomiting there is 

 a quiescent interval, a return of vomiting, with drowsiness, 

 coma, and death. 



Dr. Scott emphasizes as a preciution that the water in 

 which akees have been boiled should be thrown away, and 

 further, that akee^ should h..' boiled separately fr jm other 

 article-i of food. We iniy also state tb.i^fit is nnst unadvisable 

 to ea: akees raw. 



THE EXCHANGE OF USEFUL PLANTS. 



A free interchange of knowledge and material has 

 widely extended the application of the products of the plant 

 world to the needs of mankind. Travellers have not only 

 conveyed from one couatry to another knowledge and 

 experience gained at home, but have also brought back fresh 

 information which can be turned to useful account. An 

 article in the Field, February 16, 1918 points out that the 

 United States has established a system of world exploration 

 with respect to plants which cannot fail eventually to enrich 

 America. A branch of the DepartHient of Agriculture, 

 known as the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, 

 is devoted to obtaining from other countries such plants 

 as have an econoiriic value, and which may be suitable for 

 cultivation in some part or other of the territories of tha 

 United States. Experts are sent out to explore and collect, 

 and their collections are propagated and distributed free of 

 charge to cultivators who are willing to experiment with 

 them. BuMetins giving helpful informati'in respecting the 

 plants thus distributed are published from time to time, and 

 reports on results obtained are invited for the guidance of 

 others. 



The Head of the department, Mr. David Fairchild, ia 

 a paper recently read before the Pan-American Scientific 

 Congress, dealt with this question of the exchange of useful 

 p'ants between one country and another. As instances of 

 the benefits resulting from this exchange, it may be mentioned, 

 that the civilized world is indebted to Peru for the potato,, 

 now the staple food of many countries; and from the sam* 

 country the tomato is a comparatively recent addition to tha 

 food-plants of the world. From Peru also cinchona, from, 

 which quinine is produced, has come. The plant that 

 supplies most of the rubber used in the world is a native of 

 Brazil; cacao is a South .\merican tree; tea comes from China; 

 cofi'ee from Arabia — these are a few of the plants which now 

 largely contribute to the health and welfare of mankind. 

 The largest grain crops of the world, grown wherever suitable, 

 are maize, a native of .\merica, and rice which comes from. 

 China, while the interchange of fruit from one place to 

 another is one of the most striking features of modera 

 horticulture. 



Under the auspices of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, experiments on a very large scale are being 

 conducted with many different kinds of exotic fruit and 

 plants. The persimmon (Dlospyras kaki), which in China 

 and Japan is what the apple is in Europe, is being extensively 

 experimented with in the United States, hundreds of 

 thousands of trees of it having been planted. The long- 

 lived, large-fruited Chinese varieties are expected to prove 

 most serviceable, as their fruit contains no tannin. In the 

 south of France this fruit seems to flourish well. It may be 

 mentioned that eft'orts have been made from time to time to 

 introduce it into some of the West Indian islands, but 

 hitherto these have not met with any success. Another 

 tropical fruit, the introduction of which in quite recent years 

 into California and Florida has proved mr^st successful, is the 

 avocado pear. Other tropical fruit trees like the cherimoy* 

 (Anona clierlmolla) a.ai the jujube {Zizyplius jiijiilia) are 

 being experimented with, in the belief that they may be 

 grown on a largfe scale, and add to the food resources of 

 .\merica. 



Mr. Fairchild believes that every country shiuld have 

 its government institution of plant introduction, gathering 

 together material for cultivators and breeders to work Uj>ua, 

 and that the results should be freely di.striba;ed as gifw 

 from one country to another.' 



