VEGETABLE POISONS. 335 



Ehus atrum, Forst, an Anacardiaceous plant. The tree, 

 when fully developed, is about sixty feet high, bearing 

 large oblong leaves and a very curious corky fruit, some- 

 what resembling the seed of the walnut. On handling 

 the specimens a drop of the juice fell on the hand of 

 one of our party, and instantly produced a pain equal to 

 that caused by contact with a redhot poker. Mr. E. A. 

 Egerstrom, a Swedish gentleman, residing on the island 

 of Naigani, had been still more unfortunate in his ac- 

 cidental contact with the Kau Karo ; and on visiting 

 his hospitable roof on the 2nd July, 1860, he was just 

 recovering from the effects of the accident. Having de- 

 sired a native carpenter to procure him a spar suitable 

 for a flag-staff, one was brought of Kau Karo, about 

 forty-two feet long, and twenty-two inches in girth at 

 the foot, having a white wood and a green bark, not 

 unlike that of the Van dina (Paritium tiliaceum, Juss.) 

 and light-coloured when peeled off. Ignorant of the 

 poisonous properties of the tree, Mr. Egerstrom himself 

 peeled off the bark, and found the sap beneath it very 

 plentiful. " In the evening," I quote Mr. Egerstrom's 

 own words, in a letter to the British Consul, " I was 

 troubled with considerable itching about my legs, and 

 every part of my body which had come in contact with 

 the spar, especially about the abdomen and lower parts, 

 having sat across the tree when barking it. All the parts 

 affected became red and inflamed, breaking out in innu- 

 merable pustules, which emitted a yellowish matter with 

 a nauseous smell. The itching was exceedingly painful 

 and irritating, and my arms having been bare when ope- 

 rating upon the tree, also became inflamed and broke 



