PHYSOSTIGMA 239 



mens of the seed, which he sent to Dr. Christison, at 

 whose suggestion they were planted in the Edinburgh 

 Botanical Garden by Professor Balfour; but although 

 they attained a vigorous growth, they failed to produce 

 flowers, and thus it was impossible properly to classify 

 the plant. It was not until 1859 that the Rev. W. C. 

 Thomson, a good botanical observer of Old Calabar, 

 finally secured flowering specimens of the plant, which 

 were preserved in alcohol and sent to Professor Balfour 

 for the purpose of identification. The first account of 

 the plant under its proper name was then given by 

 Balfour in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh, January, 1860. 



The Calabar bean, however, is not the only native 

 poison that had been used as an ordeal among the 

 blacks in Africa. The custom of subjecting persons 

 accused of witchcraft, murder or other crimes, to the 

 ordeal of swallowing poisonous vegetable infusions has 

 unquestionably prevailed among African tribes from 

 the west to the east coast. In the eastern regions the 

 Cubera tanghin, or tanghin poison-nut, of Madagascar, 

 (Tanghinin venenata) has been employed, while on the 

 western coast there has been in use, besides the Calabar 

 bean, the bark of a certain tree which has been differ- 

 ently named by different observers. This bark has 

 become conspicuous as the "redwater ordeal" in use 

 by the negroes of Sierra Leone. The interesting account 

 of the ordeal trial given by Dr. Winterbottom as early 

 as 1803 was extensively quoted by Professor Wm. 

 Proctor in the American Journal of Pharmacy, 1852, 

 p. 195. 



"Redwater Poison" was obtained from the bark of a 

 leguminous tree, Erythrophlceum guineense, Don, which 



