104 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



forests of Ratnagiri and Sawantwady, when the plant is in fruit, must have 

 noticed these as well as other particulars. The pouch-mouthed bonnet monkey, 

 Macacus sinicus, which is tolerably common in the Konkan and on the coast, 

 always avoids the fruit. The Toque monkey, .Macacus pileatus, of Ceylon, has 

 never been known to eat the fruit ; its cousin, the pouch-mouthed Bengal 

 monkey, Macacus rhesus, has been reported to be susceptible to strychnine poison. 

 Blandford says certain vegetable poisons are said to be taken by Semnopithecus 

 entellus with impunity, doses of five and even ten grains of strychnine having 

 been given to one without effect, although the same drug killed Macacus rhesus 

 quickly. Village cattle, which go out every day for grazing purposes, do 

 always avoid the tree instinctively. The remarks in the North Kanara 

 Gazetteer that the pulp is even eaten by cattle cannot be very well understood. 

 Horses, which lead quite a different life, may possibly make a mistake, but it is 

 probable they find it out before it is too late. The leaves of the strychnine tree 

 are so bitter that they are not likely to find favour with cattle or horses, even 

 during the time of scarcity. The tender sprouts, however, are eaten by goats 

 and some bullocks. I know of a bullock just now that is very partial to the 

 pink leaves. The poisonous character of the young twigs, sprouts, leaves and 

 fruit increases as they reach maturity, but even then the amount of the poison 

 they contain is not large enough to cause the death of the insects, birds and 

 mammals which feed upon them. The fruit, if eaten beyond a certain limit, 

 will undoubtedly bring about fatal results ; but Nature has so ordained that 

 the birds and mammals, which live on the fruit, eat only as much of it as is 

 sufficient for their wonderful digestive powers. 



" These are Thy glorious works, Parent of good." 

 The commercial product of the plant is the seed known as nux vomica in the 

 drug market. As a medicine nux vomica does not seem to have been used 

 among the Aryans. In fact, the medicinal uses of the drug were unknown to 

 the ancient Hindoos. The Arabians are said to have been the first to use the 

 drug medicinally ; but, for want of sufficient evidence, it is not universally ac- 

 cepted. It is probable the early Arab traders on the coast may have learnt 

 the uses of the drug from the Nairs and other aboriginal tribes living on the 

 south-western coast of India, among whom the uses of the drug appear to have 

 been known from time immemorial. In Europe, however, the drug was intro- 

 duced in the sixteenth century, and in England, according to Parkinson, about 

 the year 1640. 



The seed contains two alkaloids, Strychnine and Brucine, with a peculiar acid 

 known as acid trychnic or egasuric acid. The bitter taste and highly poisonous 

 character of the drug are due to the presence of these alkaloids. In addition 

 to these, the seed is said to contain also mucilage and sugar. Strychnine is not 

 restricted to the seed, but occurs also in the wood, bark, leaves, twigs and 

 roots. Dr. Edward John Waring, in the Pharmacopoeia of India, says that the 

 leaves of a certain parasitic plant of the order Loranthacece, " growing on Nux- 

 vomica trees (Strychnos Nux-vomica) in the neighbourhood of Cuttack, have 



