MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 105 



been found to possess poisonous properties similar to those of the tree on 

 which it grows." Dr. Waring then quotes from a letter received by him from 

 Sir W. O'Shaugnessy, and adds that O'Shaugnessy says he saw " an athletic 

 European sailor killed in less than an hour by half a drachm of the powdered 

 leaves taken by mistake for cubebs." The action of Strychnine on lower mam- 

 mals and birds has been experimented upon in Ceylon and elsewhere. A 

 series of these interesting experiments have already been put before the public 

 by another correspondent, and I shall not repeat them here. 



Extract of Nux Vomica and tincture, as well as Strychnine, are officinal not 

 only in the British PharmacopEeia, but also in the leading Pharmacopeias of 

 Europe. In India, the wood, bark, leaves and seed are all used in native medi- 

 cine. An empyreumatic oil is prepared from the fresh seeds and is used in 

 native medicine. The medicinal and economic uses of the drug are fully 

 described in medical and other books, and it is needless to reproduce them in 

 this note. In the South Konkan, opium eaters, in the absence of opium, are 

 known to chew the seed, which is said to produce a kind of intoxication similar 

 to that of opium. The seed, on account of its stimulating and aphrodisiac 

 properties, is habitually chewed by Brahmins and others along with paw, 

 Piper Betle, the betel leaf. Owing to the difficulty of reducing the seed to 

 powder, it is seldom used for criminal purposes. The leaves, however, are 

 sometimes eaten by native women with a view to commit suicide. The 

 antidote usually employed is a drastic purgative.— Yours, &c, 



Bombay, April 6, 1894. R. M. DIXON. 



No. X.— THE POISONOUS PLANTS OP BOMBAY. 



The difficulty of knowing whether a plant is poisonous or not, and the some- 

 what divergent opinions of competent authors quoted by Dr. Kirtikar, recall 

 an incident which may have some bearing on this point. Being camped at 

 Mandvi on the Tapti, I was strolling in the cool of the evening with the 

 local Doctor, a Sonar by caste, and a good fellow to boot. There were plants 

 of the " Atrophied Carcass," more classically dubbed Jatropha curcas, scattered 

 about, and among other things I enquired if the seeds were not edible. He 

 replied that he did not think any one ever ate them except children, whereon I 

 ate half a dozen, and liked them. Next rains in Surat, a young Civilian and 

 myself, being great friends, were out for an evening walk, and finding the 

 Jatropha seeds ripe, I tempted him and we both ate, one of us a single seed and 

 the other two. "We soon experienced an acrid burning sensation at the 

 back of the throat, followed by nausea and general malaise, which laid us 

 up all next day. The conclusion I came to was that chemical changes go on 

 in some seeds for long after they are ripe. This would account for many 

 divergencies of authorities. I fear the conclusion my friend came to was that I 

 was neither botanist nor epkui'e, though he was too good to show it, 



Poona, May, 1894. F. GLEADOW* 



14 



