MANCHINEEL 



world. In 1859, in a war with the Dyaks of Borneo, the 

 English army lost thirty men by poisoned arrows. They are 

 deadly weapons, for the dart is a very thin piece of reed or 

 cane, which has been dipped in the Upas poison (Antiaris 

 toxicaria). It is propelled from a blow pipe, which in 

 practised hands is able to carry 250 feet. One or two of these 

 darts may cause death in two hours' time. The Spaniards, 

 in their conquest of the West Indian islands, were often de- 

 feated by the poisoned arrows of the Caribs. The wounded 

 died in agonies of suffering and delirium, sometimes pro- 

 tracted for twenty-four hours after receiving the wound. 



The poison in this case is supposed to have been the 

 Manchineel (Hippomane). 



It is a handsome tree, but a very dangerous one, for 

 the slightest cut on the surface produces a flow of a 

 very fine white milk which is acrid and poisonous. This 

 juice produces temporary or total blindness if the slight- 

 est speck enters the eyes, or even if one sits over a fire 

 made of its wood. It is probably not true that people are 

 killed if they merely sleep below it, and grass will probably 

 grow quite well under its shade, although there are stories 

 which deny this. Blowpipes and poisoned darts are used 

 by many savages in Asia and South America. Perhaps the 

 Curare or Woorali poison is the most wonderful of the South 

 American kinds. The tree, Strychnos sp., grows along the 

 Amazon and in the Guianas. The poison is obtained from 

 the wood and bark, and several other vegetable substances 

 are mixed with it. (This is a very common feature of native 

 drugs and increases the chances of doing something,) It is a 

 blood poison, and a very deadly one. Large animals like the 

 tapir stagger about, collapse, and die after a very few steps, 

 if they have been wounded by a dart. Humboldt declares 



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