CENTRAL AFRICA 
Strychnos Icaja Baill. 
Strychnos Icaja Baill. of the Loganiaceae is the prin- 
cipal source of ordeal poisons in central Africa. Many 
different names have been applied to this species, but 
they are all synonyms or represent varieties, as in the 
case of S. Dewevrei Gilg. and S. densiflora Baill. There 
also are numerous vernacular names. This plant has been 
known in various areas as bengue, benge, mboundou, 
boundou, casa, caja, icaja, acaja, encaja, kassa, n’casa, 
and n’kassa. Unfortunately, these names also implied 
the ordeal in general. 
This tree grows in Gabon, the Moyenne Congo, the 
Cameroons, and the Belgian Congo. Its active principle, 
the alkaloid strychnine, is located exclusively in the su- 
berous cellules in the bark of both the roots and the 
trunk. This principle is a poison of the central nervous 
system, inactivating first the respiratory centers and then 
the heart. It was thought, at one time, to possess sev- 
eral different alkaloids because of an observed duality of 
effects, the one convulsant, the other paralytic. How- 
ever, experimentation has revealed that this duality re- 
sults from different doses, and analysis of the bodies of 
animals experimentally poisoned has disclosed but one 
alkaloid. An extremely weak dose acts merely as an in- 
toxicant and diuretic. 
The progressive fatal effects of poisoning are as fol- 
lows: Initially there is restlessness, nervousness, abrupt 
movements, and stiffness of the facial muscles. Then 
more pronounced twitchings become evident and soon 
develop into muscular spasms followed by spinal convul- 
sions. In these muscular spasms, which involve all volun- 
tary muscles, the stronger (usually the extensor) of a pair 
predominates. During this stage the mind is clear. 
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