580 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



ever, highly interesting, ns it 

 gives an iiccount of the etfects of 

 the poisoned darts, formerly em- 

 ployed in the wars of the Easton 

 islands, on the Imman system, 

 and of the remedies by which 

 their effect was counteracted and 

 cured. 



The simple sap of the Arbor 

 Toxicaria (according to Rum- 

 phius) is liarmless, and requires 

 the addition of ginger and several 

 substances analogous to it, such 

 as Ledoory and Lampoegang, to 

 render it active and mortal. In 

 so far it agrees with the Anlshar, 

 which in its simple state is sup- 

 posed to be inert, and before 

 being \ised as a poison, is sidi- 

 jected to a preparation which will 

 be described after the history of 

 the tree. The same eH'ervcscence 

 and boiling which occurs on the 

 mixtiue of the substances added 

 to the luilky juice by the Javanese 

 in Blambangan, has been ob- 

 served in the preparation of tiie 

 poison of Macassar, and in pio- 

 j)ortion to the violence of these 

 ell'ects the poison i:3 supposed to 

 be active. 



A dissertation has been pub- 

 lished by Crisj). ^yjmlfeus at 

 Upsal, which contains the sub- 

 stance of the account of Rum- 

 phius ; an extract from it is given 

 in Dr. D\mcan's INIedic. Com- 

 ment, for the year 1790. "2(1 vol. 

 Vth Decad. 



Ft appears from the account of 

 Rimiphius that this tree is also 

 foimd in Borneo, vSumatra and 

 Bali. 



Besides tlie tiaie poison-tree, 

 the Oopas of the Eartern Islands, 

 and the Antsliar of the Javanese, 

 this island produces a shrub, 

 which, as far as observations have 

 hitherto been made, is peculiar 



to the same, and, by a different 

 mode of preparation, furnishes a 

 poison far exceeding the Oopas 

 in violence. Its name isTshettik, 

 and its si)ecific description will 

 succeed to that of the Antshar. 

 The genus has not before been 

 discovered or described. 



Description of the Anlshar. 



The Antshar belongs to the 

 twenty-first class of Liunieus, 

 the Monoecia. The male and 

 female flowers are produced in 

 catkins (amenta) en the same 

 branch, at no great distance from 

 each other, the female flowers are 

 in general above the male. 



'Ihe characters of the genus 

 are : 



Male, flower — C'a/ia' consist- 

 ing of several scales, which are 

 imbricate. 



Carol. None — Skonines. Fila- 

 ments many, very short, covered 

 by the scales of the recept-acle 

 anthers. 



The receptacle on which the 

 filaments are placed, has a co- 

 nical form, abrupt, somewhat 

 rounded above. 



Female. flower — Catkins 

 ovate. Coi/.r consisting of a num- 

 ber of ind^ricate scales (generally 

 more than in the male) contain- 

 ing one flower. 



Carol. None. 



Flstil — Germ single, ovate, 

 erect ; styles two, long, slender, 

 spreading ; stigmas simple, acute. 



Seed-vessel, an oblong drupe, 

 covered with the calix. 



Seed, an ovate nut, with one 

 cell. 



Specific Desaipfion. 



The Antshar is one of the largest 

 trees in the forests of Java. The 

 stem ii cylindrical, perpendicular, 



and 



