THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 247 



It will be evident from the foregoing remarks that the genus Seme- 

 carpus is not the only one belonging to the Natural Order Anacardia- 

 cece, which is known to affect some individuals even from a distance. 

 Mr. Thomas Nuttall, F.L.S., an American Botanist, in his "North 

 American Sylva" (Vol. II, pp. 121-123, 1852), mentions several other 

 American species of the genus Rhus which, besides those I have 

 mentioned, are topically poisonous. In speaking of the " Coral 

 Sumach" (Rhus metopium) he makes the following remark : — 

 '■' Like several other native species of the genus (Rhus), this 

 stately species of Sumach, a native of Jamaica, Cuba and Key 

 West, is to some individuals poisonous to the touch. This, and 

 the Mountain Sumach, are called in St. Domingo ' Mountain 

 Manchiniel,' from the poisonous qualities of the juice they exude." 

 Referring to another species, the Rhus vernix, to which I have just 

 referred, he says that it " affords the Japan varnish, which oozes from 

 incisions made in the tree, and grows thick and black when exposed 

 to the air. It is so transparent, that when laid pure upon boxes or 

 furniture every vein of the wood may be clearly seen. With it the 

 Japanese varnish most of their household furniture made of wood. 

 The milky juice of the plant stains linen a dark brown ; the whole 

 shrub like our Poison Ash (R. venenata), to which it is nearly allied, 

 is in a high degree poisonous ; and the poison is communicated by 

 touching or smelling any part of it. Inflammations appear on the 

 skin in large blotches, succeeded by pustules which rise in the inflam- 

 ed parts, and filled with watery matter, attended with burning and 

 itching, which continues for several days, after which the inflammation 

 subsides. The extremities and glandular parts of the body are those 

 which are most affected. Our Rhus radicans and Rhus toxicodendron 

 (Poison Vines) operate nearly in the same way, though in a less 

 degree than the Poison Ash or Rhus vernix. Many persons, however, 

 can approach and handle these deleterious plants with impunity. One 

 of the most dangerous species in America is the Rhus pumila, of 

 Michaux, a native of North Carolina. Mr. Lyons, a well-known and 

 assiduous collector of rare and ornamental plants, suffered extremely 

 from its venom by merely collecting the seeds ; it produced a general 

 fever, and affected the use of his limbs for several years." Lindley 



