VEGETABLE POISONS. 



In the West Indies, the mountain crab is con- 

 sidered one of the greatest luxuries which those 

 islands produce, and it forms a leading article at 

 every gentleman's table. In Jamaica, they have 

 only one species, which is the black crab; the 

 flesh of which is extremely light and easy of 

 digestion. In St. Domingo, twenty leagues only 

 to the eastward of Jamaica, there are two species 

 of mountain crabs; the one black as in Jamaica, 

 and the other white ; terms which are derived from 

 the colour of their shell and flesh. The black 

 crab of St. Domingo, like that of Jamaica, is a very 

 wholesome diet. The white crab, which in the 

 latter island is to be found in profusion, from 

 feeding on the leaves of the inanchioneel ( a highly 

 poisonous tree peculiar to the West Indies,) 

 possesses a very deleterious quality when received 

 into the stomach, and therefore is most carefully 

 avoided. From all these circumstances we are 

 led to conclude, that shell fish of every kind, in 

 consequence of their occasionally feeding upon, 

 or being attached to poisonous substances, may 

 in particular instances disagree with the stomach 

 upon one occasion, while upon another, it proves 

 easier of digestion than any other article of food. 



It may here also be mentioned that there are 

 certain idiosyncrasies, or peculiarities of constitu- 

 tion belonging to individuals, by which particular 

 articles shall uniformly disagree, and sometimes 

 produce very alarming effects, while every other 



