Combretaceae, Piptadenia africana Hook.f. of the Legu- 
minosae, mushrooms from the genus Dictyophallus of the 
family Phallaceae, and Manihot esculenta Crantz of the 
Euphorbiaceae. This last plant, as previously mentioned, 
was used to acertain extent all over Africa, but its great- 
est popularity was in the Congo. 
Its seeds contain the alkaloid manihotoxine (structure 
and composition unknown), which causes violent vomit- 
ing, burning of the throat, and acute diarrhea. In large 
doses it is fatal. he juice of its roots was also employed 
as an ordeal poison. The active principle therein is hy- 
drocyanic acid, which acts by forming a stable complex 
with hemoglobin and by inhibiting the action of cyto- 
chrome oxidase. 
Two additional poisons of the Congo were not taken 
internally. These ordeals were called epomi and mokungu. 
The plants employed were numerous members of the 
genus Acacia of the family Leguminosae. 
In these ordeals, the sap pressed from the bark was 
put under an eyelid of the accused person, or under the 
eyelids of both disputants in a civil case. If the eye were 
destroyed, the charge against that person had been valid. 
This type of ordeal was usually reserved for women, es- 
pecially among the Ngombe of the Northern Congo. 
Westr AFRICA 
The ordeal poisons of West Africa were generally em- 
ployed in the same fashion as those of the central region. 
They differed only in that there was a greater geographi- 
cal distribution both of the plants involved and of the 
employment of their poisons. 
Since most of the poisons that were used in the ex- 
treme west were also known and employed in the north- 
ern areas of French Equatorial Africa and the Cameroons, 
these countries will be considered with the West. 
[ 297 | 
