THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 255 



In my humble opinion the " Pharmacopoeia of India" in noway exag- 

 gerates the deleterious properties of the marking-nut. It is safer to 

 emphasize them in the present state of our knowledge as derived 

 from books and from practical experience. Dr. Dymock distinctly 

 says that when the nut is given internally " the juice of the pericarp is 

 mixed with oil or melted butter." This is his last utteranee on the 

 subject ("Pharmacographia lndica," Vol. I, page 390. "In the Ooncan," 

 says he, "a single fruit is heated in the flame of a lamp and the oil 

 allowed to drop in a quarter seer of milk." This drawing of the bare 

 black juice, deprived of its obnoxious, volatile, poisonous element, 

 removes a great deal of the sting of the poison if not the whole of it. 

 The poisonous element lies in the volatile oil, which, like all other 

 volatile substances, is dispersed by means of actual heat, or when 

 exposed to air. 



ADDENDUM.— While the first proofs of the above contribution 

 were being examined by me, with the assistance of Mr. Mahadeo 

 Shankar Sowani, my Civil Hospital Assistant, he told me that Dr. 

 Ganesh Krishna Garde, L.M. & S., of Poona, could supply me with 

 some important notes of cases of poisoning by marking-nut which he 

 had met with in his practice. I have known Dr. Garde by reputation 

 and by personal acquaintance as a medical man of great research and 

 possessing extensive knowledge of Indian drugs. He is well read in 

 ancient Hindu medicine. His experience therefore is worth recording. 

 On application he has promptly supplied me with the following 

 information which I produce in extenso in his own words : — 



u Marking-nut has a special affinity for the skin, and its action on 

 it must be looked upon as specific, as it invariably affects that tissue 

 whether applied externally, taken internally or in whatever way 

 absorbed into the blood. I quote below one or two of several cases 

 that have come under my observation. 



" Case No. 1.— A Parsee gentleman came to me one morning com- 

 plaining of big swellings on the face, forearms, the back of the wrists 

 and chest. There was no tingling or itching, but a slight dull tensive 

 pain on tender parts like cheeks and alee of the nose, &c. Some 

 of the swellings had a reddish discoloration but others were of the 



