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CHAPTER XIII. 



THE UPAS TREE. 



FABULOUS ACCOUNT OF THE UPAS. REAL HISTORY OF THE TWO 



POISONS KNOWN UNDER THAT NAME. BARK DRESSES. SPATHES 



OF PALMS. ARISTOLOCHIA. WOURALI AND CURARE POISONS OF 



SOUTH AMERICA. WOLF POISON OF THE CAPE. FISH POISON OF 



IRELAND. PARYSATIS AND STATIRA.- MITHRIDATES. CORNELIA. 



MARQUISE DE BRINY ILLIERS. IRON MASK. MAGNETIC MASK. 



PELISSE. 



The air no more was vital now, 



But did a mortal poison grow. SPRAT. 



HENRIETTA. 



AUNT, would you give us a true account of the Upas tree, 

 for Esther tells us, that a great part of the stories related 

 about it are false. 



MRS. F. 



With pleasure. The reports of the Dutchman Foersch, 

 who first brought the story to Europe, have been almost all 

 proved to be incorrect by subsequent travellers; but, suppose, 

 Henrietta, you first give us the original history of the Upas, 

 although it is doubtless familiar to you all, and then we shall 

 the better see how far it is borne out by facts. 



HENRIETTA. 



It was said that it grew near the Emperor's seat, some 

 miles from Batavia; that all the country, for twelve miles 

 round the tree, was perfectly barren, in consequence of the 

 noxious effluvia which it emitted. The poison was said to 



