238 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



bean is sufficient to destroy life if retained on the stom- 

 ach, while, on the other hand, numbers of them may 

 (exceptionally), be eaten without fatal effects, if they 

 quickly produce vomiting and purging (Pharm. Jour., 

 1864-5, p. 99). In the native ordeal test, if the culprit 

 vomit the nut, he is pronounced innocent and liberated; 

 if it has a purging effect without killing him, he is con- 

 sidered guilty and sold into slavery. If he dies, which 

 as a rule occurs, this is taken as being in consequence of 

 his guilt. On the authority of Rev. Mr. Waddell, a 

 missionary at Old Calabar, Dr. Christison states that 

 the general confidence of the African in the infallibility 

 of the Calabar ordeal test is so great, that innocent per- 

 sons accused of a crime often demand to be subjected 

 to it, and thus pay the penalty of their blind super- 

 stition. (Pharm. Journ., 1855, p. 470.) It is intimated 

 (Pharm. Journ., 1877, p. 641), that the officials charged 

 with administering the poison know how to select the 

 less potent seeds when they desire to show favoritism. 

 It is also stated that the test is often resorted to as a 

 means of gratifying private revenge, and its use, in the 

 opinion of the African missionaries, is a great moral 

 evil on that account alone. 



Prior to 1860 attempts to classify the ordeal seed 

 botanically had been of no avail, because it was almost 

 impossible for any European to obtain possession of 

 specimens. According to Mr. Waddell, the plant at 

 that time was everywhere destroyed by order of the 

 native king, who exercised a complete monopoly over 

 the few that were preserved to conserve the demands 

 of justice. (Hanbury, D, Science Papers, 1876, p. 312. 

 See also Amer. Journ. Pharm., 1863, p. 316). 



However, in 1855, Mr. Waddell secured a few speci- 



