235 



The extract is prepared for smoking by mixing it intimately with 

 the finely shredded leaves of the Palas palm {Licuala paludosa), 

 cut in the same way, and with the same implements, as native- 

 grown tobacco. This mixture, which is a stickv, fibrous, brown 

 mass, is called madat. 



"A lamp on a tall foot completes the outfit, A specimen in the 

 Ferak Museum has a wooden base in the form of a conventional- 

 ized f our-lobed flower, of 5^ inches square and H inches thick. The 

 upper part consists of a piece of bamboo 2| inches in diameter, 

 cut so that the upper portion forms a shallow cup, closed beneath 

 by a septum. Below this the greater part of the walls of the 

 bamboo have been cut away, leaving only four equidistant 

 cylindrical-shaped pieces, the lower ends of which are mortised 

 into the wooden base, the whole being 9 inches in height. The cup 

 serves to hold the oil container, which is a valve of a fluvio-marine 

 shell. The wick is of twisted cotton cloth, kept in place by a 

 metal support. Coconut oil is burned in it. 



" The method of smoking is as follows : The smoker sits tailor- 

 wise on the floor, with the lamp in front of him. He then takes a 

 small piece of the madat, rolls it with his fingers into a pellet the 

 size of the bore of the brass tube, into which he inserts it, then 

 putting his mouth to the other end of the bamboo he brings the 

 madat in contact with the flame of the lamp and inhales the 

 smoke of the burning pellet through the pipe. From twenty to 

 thirty pellets are smoked at a time. 



" The effects of the drug, whether taken internally or smoked, 

 are said to resemble those of opium, and in large doses it is 

 poisonous, producing stupor. It is also said that users of it suffer 

 from permanent enlargement of the abdomen. This is attributed, 

 by some, to the indolent life which is induced by indulgence in 

 the biak habit." 



Up to the present time no poisonous alkaloid has been found in 

 the plant, but the matter is still under investigation. 



ndaicum 



Kciv 



Mai 



for the purpose of destroying the desire for opium. The plant 

 has been identified by Mr. Carruthers as Comhrelum sundnicum, 

 Miq., a native of the Malayan peninsula and archipelago. The 

 history of the discovery of* the value of the plant is given by 

 Mr. Wray in the Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, 

 vol. II., No. I., December, 1906, and is as follows : 



" A party of Chinese wood-cutters working in the jungle near 

 Seremban in Negri Sembilan, ran out of tea, and to supply its 

 place took the leaves of a jungle climber, dried them and made an 

 infusion in the ordinary way. This, however, was not successful, 

 as the beverage made the men ill with ' sakit perut ' (i.e., bowel 

 complaint). The leaves were then roasted and a fair substitute 

 for tea was obtained, which had no ill effects. Then, for some 

 obscure reason, ' tengo,' opium dross, or the refuse opium after 

 being smoked, was mixed with it, and the men continued drinking 



