thus ascertaining that none of it had been poisoned. 
There were a limited number of poisons which were 
used throughout Africa either as parts of a mixture or 
as accessory instruments when the standard was unavail- 
able. The white flowers of the atropine-containing Da- 
tura species of the family So/anaceae were one of the most 
common poisons. Another was the cassava, Manihot es- 
culenta Crantz, of the Huphorbiaceae. The juice of this 
plant is highly toxic due to the presence of its active prin- 
ciples, hydrocyanic acid and manihotoxine. Several other 
plants of this general type were used occasionally, but the 
above two seem to have been the most common. 
East AFRICA 
There existed a distinct difference between the use of 
the ordeal in East Africa and its employment in the 
rest of Africa and Madagascar. There was usually less 
solemnity and depth associated with the trial. In many 
tribes, the medicine man was either put to death or 
severely punished if one of the participants died. Be- 
cause of this lighter approach, strict adherence to certain 
ceremonies of gathering, preparing and administering 
the poison was relatively rare. Consequently, the mix- 
ture fed to the accused often consisted of many toxic 
substances which varied according to the administrator 
and the individual. Frequently, this mixture contained 
no poisonous ingredients, but was made, instead, from 
numerous and repugnant organic materials. In this type 
of ordeal, guilt was established by a lack of revulsion 
indicated by the participant. 
With this lack of specialization came the rise of dif- 
ferent uses for the poison. It is significant in the follow- 
ing examples that, although unrelated to the detection 
of criminals or witches, the poison still performed a func- 
tion of honor between the world of man and the world 
of good spirits. 
[ 280 ] 
