fHE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 43 



pinch only caused a slight movement of the limb, without any expres- 

 sion of pain. The respiration was laboured ; she continued to froth at 

 the mouthj and the pupils remained very widely dilated. Consciousness 

 began to return at two o'clock; she then got up, sat staring wildly and 

 commenced to perform a series of grotesque actions, uttering a slow 

 moan from time to time. When pinched, she felt pain, but not yet 

 very acutely. She appeared very irritable, almost wild, but was 

 neither vicious nor bad-tempere'l. At 3 p. m., the pupils were dilated 

 extremely, the iris being a mere thread. By 4 p. m., she had recovered 

 so fur as to come when called, and to feel acute pain when pinched, 

 the pupils continuing as large as ever. " ( P. Vdi). Chev. oj), clt. ). 

 Fortunate kitten ! She did not die I! From this experiment, and 

 from a similar one, confined only to the eye of another kitten, it was 

 evident that the sub-inspector of police referred to above had died in 

 the lock-up, not from self- ad ministered opium as was suspected, but 

 from Dt.tura poisoning. Herein is the triumph of Western learning 

 and scientific chemistry and chemical anal3^sis over Eastern ways of 

 crime and misadventure ! 



The motives for administeringDatura seeds or leaves — seeds especially 

 — are various. They do not necessarily mean a desire to kill the victim 

 to whom they are administered in various forms, — in drink, in common 

 bread, or sweetmeats. They are given for instance, says Chevers, to a 

 shopkeeper, to rob him, when intoxicated, of his articles of merchandize ; 

 to a Fakir, to make him yield up the contributions of the pious ; tli^* 

 drug again is given frequently through jealousy to secure revenge ; it is 

 likewise given out of pure fun. Dr. Ralph Moore, says Chevers, was 

 once sent for suddenly to the jail Dr. Moore was in charge of, ( some- 

 where in Bengal ), where he found the entire jail-guard scattered 

 about on the floor, under the influence of Datura. As there was no 

 attempt on the part of the prisoners to escape, it would appear that 

 this wholesale intoxication of the jail-guard was probably a mere 

 practical joke, without any the slightest intention of committing, a 

 crime. In one case mentioned by Chevers, the intention of administer- 

 ing Datura poison was not crime, but the mere desire on the part of a 

 widow to stupify three persons from whose company she wanted to 

 escape ! One of the three victims was a man who admired her for 

 her good looks, but he did not know that she had sense enough to 



