the tutu family 229 



Tutu Wine. . 



Though the green shoots and seeds are intensely poisonous, 

 the Maoris prepared from the juice of the berries a beverage, 

 of which, according to Colenso, they drank large quantities. 

 In the early days of the Colony the settlers also used to 

 make a wine from the fruit, after removing the seeds. 

 However, this wine was not above suspicion. Canon Stack 

 relates how he drank the wine upon one occasion when 

 travelling in company with Bishop Harper. Fortunately, 

 neither of them did more than taste it. Shortly after 

 swallowing it, the Canon lost all feeling in his extremities, and 

 could scarcely retain his seat, but felt that he must fall forward 

 on his face. A mist came over the room, and he perceived 

 that he was being poisoned, and must ask for an emetic. Soon, 

 however, his feet began to tingle, and the strange sensation 

 passed. The good Bishop was similarly affected, so, judging 

 from this case, the beverage can scarcely be recommended for 

 general use. 



The Nature of the Poison. 



The poison apparently affects the medulla oblongata, and 

 basal ganglia of the brain. Various attempts were inade to 

 isolate the poisonous principle, and this was finally accom- 

 plished by Professor Easterfield and Mr. Aston in 1900. 

 The results of their work will be found in the paper already 

 referred to. At the end of their article is also a full biblio- 

 graphy of the subject. These workers find that " all the New 

 Zealand species of Coj'iaria, contain a highly poisonous 

 crystalline glucoside, of the formula Cj^H^qO^." To this they 

 give the name "tutin." The poisonous principle of tutu is, 

 therefore, allied to the bitter substances found in many plants, 

 such as amygdalin, found in bitter almonds ; liquorice-sugar, 

 found in the liquorice root ; salicin, contained in the leaves 

 and young bark of poplars and willows ; and convolvulin, 



