3^ QUARTERMASTER CORPS 



Section IT 



REASSURANCE AND WARNING 



Paragraph 



Jungle snakes 3 



Poisonous plants 4 



Jungle pests 5 



B 3. Jungle Snakes. — There is altogether too much fear of 

 the Tropics, particularly on the part of those individuals 

 without previous tropical experience. Thus the widespread 

 fear of "the snake infested jungle" is an entirely imaginary 

 picture. Poisonous snakes are absent from Polynesia. In 

 Malaysia, they are very rare and are seldom seen. The 

 chances of being bitten by a poisonous snake in any part 

 of the Malayan region are very much smaller than in any 

 part of the United States where rattle snakes and water 

 moccasins occur. 



■ 4. Poisonous Plants. — a. General. — ^There is no reason to 

 fear the small number of poisonous plants in any part 

 of Polynesia or Malaysia. The general rule is to avoid the 

 following: 



(1) Those with milky sap (except the numerous species of 



wild flg) . 



(2) All plants the taste of which is disagreeable. 



b. Contact poisons. — In the Malayan and Polynesian re- 

 gion there are few contact poisons corresponding to our 

 poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak. However, they all 

 belong to the same natural family of plants (Anacardiaceae) . 

 The poisonous principle is the same and the treatment is the 

 same as that indicated for persons coming in contact with 

 poison ivy. In the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and 

 Borneo where most of them occur, they are collectively 

 known as rengas and are all small to large trees. A few of 

 the wild or semiwild species of mango, but not the common 

 mango, also have poisonous sap. These are sometimes cul- 

 tivated or sometimes found in the forests. In the Malay 

 Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, rarely outside of this 

 region, they are known as kemang, lanjut, binjai, bachang, 

 kwini and warii. Normally an individual might be poisoned 



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