223 



extremely various. It is remarkable that although administered 

 under many different circumstances, and with varied motives, it 

 should so seldom prove fatal here ; that not a single case in which 

 the effects of Datura could be distinctly traced has terminated fatally; 

 and of fifty-one cases that were treated in the Bombay Hospital 

 during the past year, only four presented alarming symptoms. Not- 

 withstanding the recent pi'evalence of Datura-poisoning, it has been 

 only on the presumptive evidence of its characteristic symptoms that 

 its action has been inferred. The poison is administered so steal- 

 thily, and the natives are so backward in aiding the cause of justice, 

 that it is next to impossible to obtain positive evidence of the admi- 

 nistration of the poison, or to trace it to the culprit ; although, from 

 their familiarity with its nature, and with the modes of its administra- 

 tion, it is evident that many of the lower orders of the people are 

 acquainted with the adepts who employ it. These remarks, however, 

 apply, with equal truth, to cases of poisoning by such substances as 

 arsenic and corrosive sublimate, the presence of which may be deter- 

 mined by the surer methods of chemical analysis. From the informa- 

 tion Dr. Giraud has been able to collect from natives, it would 

 appear that the seeds are the parts of the plant usually administered. 

 They are powdered and thrown into rice, bajree, and other grains, or 

 mixed up with cakes and sweetmeats. Sometimes, however, an infu- 

 sion or decoction of the leaves is prepared and introduced into the 

 vessels in which food is being cooked ; but of the usual quantities of 

 the seeds employed, or of the strength of the infusion and decoction, 

 Dr. Giraud has had no means of judging. Of the cause that has pro- 

 duced so sudden and remarkable an increase in the use of this poison, 

 it is difficult to form any conjecture. Viewing the most prevalent 

 motive to Datura-poisoning, it would seem as if some regularly-orga- 

 nized band of thieves had, within the last year, invaded our island. 

 From 1837 and 1838, when a few cases of poisoning, supposed to be 

 from Datura, were noticed by Drs. Bell and M'Lennan, in the annual 

 reports of the Native General Hospital, up to 1848, only from six to 

 ten such cases have been annually recorded ; but during the past year 

 fifty-one cases have come under hospital treatment. 



In' a note received by Dr. Cleghorn fi-om the Superintendent of 

 Thuggee, in Mysore, it was stated that the seeds of Datura alba were 

 employed by thieves and other rogues to narcotise their victims, and 

 deprive them of the power of resistance. 



5. ' Report on the State of Vegetation in the Edinburgh Botanic 

 Garden. By Mr. M'Nab.' Mr. M'Nab's previous observations on 



