NOTES ON THE NEW ANTI-OPIUM DEUG, 



By L. VrRAY, i.s.o. 



A PAliTY of Chiuese wood-cutters, working iu the jungle near 

 Seremban in Negri Sembilan, ran out of tea, and to supply its 

 place took the leaves of a jungle climber, dried tlieni and made an 

 infusion in the ordinary way. This, however, was not successful, as 

 the beverage made the men ill with sahit i^enit — i.e., bowel comjilaint. 

 The leaves were then roasted and a fair substitute for tea was obtain- 

 ed, which had no ill effects. Then, for some obscure reason, tengJco, 

 opium dross, or the refuse opium after being smoked, was mixed with 

 it, and the men continued drinking the mixture for a week or more in 

 place of tea. After this time it was found that all desire for opium 

 smoking had been lost. Friends of the mtn were told of the dis- 

 covery, and so the news was spread and others were induced to try 

 the remedy. 



The above is the history of the way in which the properties of the 

 plant, which is now quite extensively used as a cure for the opium- 

 smoking habit, Avas discovered. It was told to the writer by two of 

 the men now in chea-ge of the factory of the Selangor Anti-opium 

 Society in Weld Road, Kuala Lumpur, where the drug is being 

 prepared and distributed. 



The plant which was thus used by these wood-cutters is a large 

 climber with a long woody stem, attaining in old specimens a dia- 

 meter of 6 to 7 inches and a lenu'th of a hundred or more feet. It 

 grows in the jungle and climbs up to the tops of the trees, so that 

 iu the forest itself it would be very difficult to collect, as the branches 

 and leaves are far up out of reach. A very fine example of this great 

 climber is to be seen in the town of Kuala Lumpur, near the railway 

 station, growing on the river bank and climbing up a large tree which 

 has escaped the destruction which has befallen its fellows when 

 the jungle was felled. In secondary forest, or hlaha, it only 

 attains small altitudes and is easy of collection. The plant 

 appears to be quite common in and around Kuala Lumpur. It was 

 collected in 1894 on Waterfall Hill, Taiping, and the specimen is in 

 the Herbarium of the Perak Museum. Botanical specimens of the plant 

 in use at Kuala Lumpur were kindly obtained for identification by 



Dec, 1906. 



