416 



THE FALSE AND THE TRUE. 



and this process is eight or nine times repeated ; after which the 

 mixture is complete. It appears that the Upas-antiar, taken in- 

 ternally, acts at first as a purgative, hut afterwards its influence 

 extends to the brain, and produces death with frightful tetanic con- 



1. Xipa fruticans. 2. Sugar Palm (Areca saccharifera}. 3. Ipo-Antiar (Antiaris toxitaria). 



vulsions. Introduced into the blood through a wound, it kills small 

 animals in a few moments, and men in a few hours. 



Marvel-loving writers formerly asserted that this deadly poison 

 was employed in the execution of criminals, who, however, received 

 a pardon if they contrived to reach a tree, and bring back a supply of 

 its venom. Birds, it was said, dropped dead while flying over it as 

 was formerly told of the pestilential watei's of the Dead Sea and 



