THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 627 



trating the tincture, redissolving in a small quantity of boiling water, 

 and adding the subacetate of lead, by which the very characteristic 

 red colour was immediately occasioned. By a modification of this 

 process two grains of the powdered bark may be detected in a pint of 

 a mixture of milk, blood and various articles, of food."* Dr. Lyon 

 classes Plumbago zeylanica among irritants and observes that " power- 

 ful irritants may like purgatives cause abortion, owing to the uterus 

 participating in the irritant action set up in the system."! Mr. 

 Gribble, late of Madras, and now of Hyderabad, D^kkan, in describing 

 the poisons most generally used for criminal purposes in the Madras 

 Presidency, refers to Plumhago zeylanica thus : — " The use of this 

 poison is by no means uncommon ; five cases occurred in 1882 and 

 three in 1883. "t Mr. Gribble classes the plant among irritant vege- 

 table poisons which may be identified by chemical or by physiological 

 tests (p. 225, o}-). cii.). DragendorfF notes that Plumhagin Is coloured 

 cherry-red by small quantities of alkalies. He includes it among the 

 bitter principles soluble in ether (" Plant Analysis," pp. 14-6—149, ed. 

 1884). The table given in the "Pharmacographia Indica" (pp. 335 — 

 339, vol. II.), showing the particulars of plumbago-poisoning in India, 

 is well worth the perusal of those wishing to have more information 

 on the subject. The following observation of Dr. Norman Chevers § 

 may be usefully quoted here : " Dr. Shortt jl remarks upon the use of 

 Plumbago zeylanica or Chittra moolum, that ' it is a universal remedy 

 in dysmenorrhoea, and equally so as a means of producing abortion ; 

 there is perhaps scarcely a village in India, where the use of this drug- 

 as such is not known. Its action is that of a powerful irritant ; it is 

 not only had recourse to as an internal remedy, but is nwre fre- 

 quently applied externally.' " I gather from Dr. Norman Chevers' 

 quoted cases (pp. 739 — 741, op. cit.), that, though plumbago may 

 cause abortion, it does not necessarily cause the death of the mother; 

 " some women escape with life after having aborted." 



* "Bengal Dispensptorj'," p. 510. Calcutta edition, IS-il., 



t Jleclical Jurisprudence for India, p. 379, 1st ed , 1889. (See also P. lOG, Vol. VIIT, 

 of this Sooiety'a Journal, fur Professor Schoiid berg's remarks in this cuuuectiou, quoted 

 by me — K.R.K.) 



J Outlines of Medical Jurisprii deuce for Indian Criminal Courts,. Madriis, 1885, p. 201. 



§ A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence for India, ld70, p. 739. 



II FcsLicide, (Madras Quart. Jour, of Medical Science, July 1861, p. 2.>2"Ji quoted from 

 N. Chevers. 



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