246 JOURNAL, BOMBA Y NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



as the black varnish of Sylhet" (Birdwood's Economic Products of 

 the Bombay Presidency, p. 261). When a dried nut is held over the 

 flame of a candle, it burns beautifully, throwing out spirts of lit vola- 

 tile oil which appear in succession like bright stringed beads, dropping 

 clown copious dark thick varnish-like juice. Around the flames 

 there is a bluish halo. As the dried fruit burns, it emits a faint 

 smell not unlike that produced at the time of baking the cashew 

 nut. In referring to the volatile nature of the oil issuing from 

 other parts of the marking-nut-tree, Col. Drury and Surgeon- General 

 Balfour, in their respective works cited in this paper, make the follow- 

 ing common remarks : — " Even the farina of the anthers of the flowers 

 is very narcotic and irritating ; people of a peculiar habit, accidentally 

 sleeping under .the tree when in blossom or even going near the 

 flowers, are stupefied and have their faces and limbs swollen." 

 O'Shaughnessy says that " the vapours arising from the nuts during 

 roasting have been often known to occasion erysipelatous inflamma- 

 tion" (Bengal Dispensatory, p. 280). Instances of the volatile 

 nature of the oil found in the plants of the genus Rhus belonging to 

 the Natural Order Anacardiacece are to be seen in Rhus toxicodendron 

 and R. radicans^ which have an extremely dangerous milky juice. "It 

 is capable of poisoning persons who approach such plants in hot 

 weather" (Lindley). (t It is said," notes Wight, " that merely handling 

 the leaves of Rhus toxicodendron is sufficient to cause a crop of vesicles, 

 and exposure to the volatile emanations from R. toxicodendron and 

 R. venenata has been known to excite in susceptible persons severe 

 indisposition, or they have had their bodies covered with a crop of 

 pustules. The two Indian species of Rhus, he says, are not endowed 

 with these acrid properties (Illustrations of Botany, Vol. I, p. 183, 

 1840.) It may be observed here that Hooker (Br. Flora, Vol. II, p. 9) 

 says the genus Rhus often contains an acrid juice. He does not, 

 however, specify which of the 1 2 species he describes have it. " Dr. 

 Bigelow mentions," says Beck, £ ' that he has known individuals badly 

 poisoned in winter from the wood of Rhus vernix accidentally burnt 

 on the fire" (MedicalJurisprudence, p. 837, 1836.) It will thus be 

 clear that it is the volatile nature of the oil which renders it dangerous 

 even from a distance. 



