444, LEGUMINOSZ. . 
soon as a “sutari’ is thoroughly dry and hard, the point is — 
‘edged’ on a brick, after which it is soaked in some animal . 
fat for a night, and the instrument is ready. Occasionally the 
point of the .‘sutari’ is slightly curved. -Suis weigh ot an _ 
average 14 to 2 grains, and vary in colour from dirty white to — 
dark brown or nearly black. A handle of wood is then made, i 
about 3 to 34 inches long, and like the handle of a bradawl, _ 
At the end of the handle, which is about an inch in diameter, 3 
two holes are drilled, about + to { of an inch in depth, and - 
about # of an inch apart, and into each hole the thick end of a = 
‘sutari’ is pressed, a piece of cloth being first spread over the — 
holes in order to afford a firmer hold.. Bamboo wood is fre- 4 
quently used for a handle, a small'cane being selected, and a % 
portion cut off so as to include two joints:.one joint has the ; 
holes drilled for receipt of the ‘spikes,’ while the other. ie’ — 
sometimes removed, exposing the cavity of the bamboo, im<4 
which the-spare ‘sutaris’ are kept wrapped in a rag. The _ 
blow given with the instrument is delivered with great force, “4 
so that the whole of the sutari protruding from the end of the — 
handle is driven into the flesh; any attempt to withdraw the~ _ 
‘sutari” by pulling at the piece sticking out, invariably — 
breaks it, a portion being left in the wound.” a 
~ Tn some cases suis are made with the .milky juice of the 4 
Calotropis gigantea instead of with water, and the effect is then _ 
supposed to be more rapid. Metallic mercury, dhatura, — 
-aconite and arsenic are also occasionally added. When the 
subject of swt poisoning first engaged attention there was a — 
_ suspicion that snake venom might possibly be the active agent, — 
but this was shown to be incorrect.” sa 
« A few cases have been recorded in which‘ sui’ wounds” 
' have proved fatal in the human subject. In the Bengal Police 
_ Report for December 1880, the following note occurs: . ‘In — 
187] a man was murdered by a sutari being driven into his 
side’; lately another man was wounded by a sutari while 
asleep, and died from lock-jaw ; a third man was wounded with — 
"a sutari, but escaped death by the affected part being excised. 
_ This man’s cousia, however, died from the effects of a sut 
