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34 BULLETIN 13'7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Mr. Raymond F. Bacon * reports some results of experiments con- 

 ducted on Philippine arrow poisons. He finds that the sap of 

 Antiaris toxicaria Leschenault is identical with the sap of the upas 

 tree. This poisonous sap is used on blowgun arrows by the Tagbanua 

 of San Antonio Bay, near the southern end of the island of Palawan. 

 On the island of Mindoro the native use of this material for the 

 poisoning of arrows has been noted near Bulalacao. The Negritos 

 of Bataan Province on the island of Luzon are reported as employ- 

 ing the bark and sap of two trees, the Diosfyros canomoi and the 

 bicag, in the production of arrow poison. Various other poisons 

 are produced from fermented pineapple leaves and animal poisons, 

 none of them, however rivaling in strength the antiaris poision ex- 

 tracted from the upas, the use of which on the blowgun darts is quite 

 sufficient to bring down and to kill some of the larger animals. 



The crossbow. — Built-up bows are made by the Moro who use 

 them as a crossbow. The bow stock is composed of two or three 

 pieces of springy, close-fibered wooden strips, w^rapped or bound 

 together with wood splints, corded fibers, or hide strips. Such a 

 bow stave is generally connected with a gunstock, which is com- 

 posed of finely finished hardwood and is provided with the proper 

 triggers made of wood or wire or bone for gripping and releasing 

 the bow cord. 



The crossbow may be traced back to the Roman scorpio, which was 

 used to discharge stones and arrows. Although this weapon is 

 usually thought of as belonging to that historical period immediately 

 preceding the introduction of firearms into European warfare, it .is 

 still found in use in certain areas of Africa, Asia, and Malaysia. 

 The crossbow occurs in Africa only among the Fans of the Gaboons 

 in the western part of the continent. It resembles the crossbow 

 found in China in so far as concerns the method of arrow release. 

 In Asia the crossbow occurs both in China and in Japan; also in 

 the hill country of Burma, in north Siam, and in Assam. The Aino 

 of northern Japan make a crossbow set as a spring trap in hunting 

 bears. In the Nicobar Islands the crossbow is used as a gun for 

 shooting birds. It is their only type of bow. A toy crossbow was 

 brought from the island of Simalur off the south coast of Sumatra 

 by Dr. W. L. Abbott, which has an ingenious arrangement of the 

 bolt which is placed in a groove within a hollow joint of bamboo. 

 The crossbow of the Philippine Islands seems to have been widely 

 distributed in the past and to have been much modified in its form 

 and usage through contact with the Chinese and the Spanish. 

 These modifications consist chiefly in the use of the Chinese repeat- 

 ing cross bow with its movable block magazine ; also in the shaping 



* Philippine Joiunal of Science, vol. 3, no. 1, February, 1905. 



