THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 105 



not always free from danger. Where the nut is being roasted, its 

 acrid, irritating fumes are unmistakably noticeable. Popular belief 

 goes still further. Some think that the penetrating odour has the 

 power to kill even horses. This, however, must be considered an 

 exaggerated idea of the acridity of the vapour emanating from nuts 

 undergoing the process of roasting. The oleo-resin has the reputation 

 of being a vermicide, as well as an insecticide, which latter property 

 has ah'eady been referred to. 



Dr. W. Hamilton* says that the oleo-resin is of such a causticity 

 as to blister the lips of those who incautiously suffer it to approach 

 them ; on this account these nuts are never eaten till after they have 

 been well-roasted to dissipate the oil from the pericarp. After this, 

 they may be used with impunity. 



To test the action of the oleo-resin, Mrs. Brigham says, Professor 

 Staedler " spread it over about one square inch of the surface of the 

 breast, and covered it with a piece of blotting paper, also moistened 

 with it. In the course of fifteen minutes a slight burning was 

 perceptible, which rapidly increased, and attained its greatest energy 

 in half an hour. The skin beneath the paper had become whitish 

 surrounded by a red circle. The paper was allowed to remain in 

 contact with the skin for three hours, which was then covered with 

 thin vesicles that increased in size during the night, without, however, 

 attaining the size of those usually produced by cantharides " ; and jQt 

 we have the testimony of Madame Nooten, as already noted, that the 

 oleo-resin (which she wrongly says is obtained from the kernel) 

 furnishes "a more efficacious vesicatory than the Spanish % or 

 cantharides." The affected part in Professor Staedler's experiment 

 was not only very slow in healing, but the after-effects continued for a 

 long timec " A second experiment made with the liquid, which had 

 been treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, afforded the same result.'' 



Mrs. Brigham adds that " Henry W. Worthington states that he 

 could fully corroborate- the statement of writers concerning the 

 irritant properties of the oleo-resin of the Cashew-nut, having himself 

 seriously suffered from its effects while extracting it from bruised 

 nuts by ether and subsequent evaporation. The United States 

 Dispensiatory notes a case of a lady who was exposed to the 

 * Pharm. Journal, vol. V, p. 269, 1845-46. 

 14 



