Fish-Poisoning in the Hawaiian Islands 225 



All the fish, except the eels, were taken home for food by the 

 natives. The men said that they did not treat such fish dififerently 

 in any way from those caught by other means, and that they were 

 personally in no degree aiTected by the hola, neither during the 

 pounding nor after eating the fish. Most, if not all, of the kinds 

 of fish taken are customarily eaten raw without preparation. Some 

 of the Oahu natives say that hola gives a bitter taste to fish en- 

 trails, which on this account are removed before the meal. In dis- 

 cussing the efi^ect of fish poisons the natives have always appeared 

 to think that what would kill fish would also kill human beings if 

 taken internally, and yet they did not hesitate to eat the poisoned 

 fish. It is true that there is a case on record of a woman having 

 been killed by an infusion of anhnhn, akia, and leaves of ipu azva- 

 aica administered in az^ri which she drank.* The native account is 

 that she drank the azca and detecting an unusual bitterness de- 

 clared that she had been poisoned. The story goes that she died 

 shortly afterwards. As the Polynesians, however, were subject to 

 self-hypnosis, it is possible that the woman died of fright. Azva 

 itself is bitter, and one Hawaiian herbalist gave the information 

 that anhuhn and akia were administered as human poison in azva, 

 as the a'K'a disguised the odor of the other ingredients. 



The writer tested the efifect of anhnJin on himself by chewing 

 twigs, leaves, and seeds, but no uncomfortable efifects were ob- 

 ,>erved except a slight parching of the throat for the rest of the 

 (lay. 



In regard to the efl^ect of anJinJiu on animals, inquiries of ranch- 

 men on Hawaii brought out the opinion that it is harmless to horses 

 and cattle, although one ranchman said that some of his stock had 

 been poisoned by eating the weed. The goat drivers when ques- 

 tioned said that neither goats nor cattle were affected by the poison 

 in the plant. It would seem therefore that auJiiihn, at least, has 

 little or no harmful efi^ect on the systems of warm-blooded animals, 

 but the question is still a mooted one. 



* Wilkes, U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. 4, pp. 30, 31, Philadelphia, 

 1844. 



[9] 



