Some Notes Regarding South African Pharmacology. 133 



the scene of the outrage, was packed in a small box and forwarded 

 to the Government Laboratory, the sender going so far as to state in 

 all seriousness the name under which this particular species of snake 

 was known to the natives. On opening the box the " snake " was 

 found to be nothing more than a piece of round, plaited, mud- 

 encrusted stay-lace. On another occasion a dead human body was 

 found, and poisoning was suspected. It was thought that, either by 

 vomiting or by decomposition of internal organs, the poison could 

 have got on to the clothing. The waistcoat was forwarded for 

 analysis, but not the coat — which would have been the more likely to 

 have shown traces of vomiting — nor the vest, which would first have 

 been affected by poisons escaping from the internal organs. A bottle 

 found near the spot, which might have contained the poison, was first 

 used to fetch water for the purpose of washing the hands of certain 

 officials present, and then only was it sent in for analysis. 



In conclusion, I must express my deep consciousness of the 

 exceedingly cursory nature of the examinations I have recounted, 

 but as long as such work has to be undertaken under present 

 conditions the results cannot be otherwise than tentative and 

 incomplete. It is one of my greatest regrets that the exigencies and 

 varied nature of the work under my charge constitute a permanent 

 obstacle to detailing any analyst for the special duty of a thorough 

 research into the subject of South African plant-poisons. A former 

 Colonial Secretary, a physician by profession, once expressed to me 

 his view that before anything else provision should be made for 

 systematic research of this nature, and that it ought to be one of the 

 recognised functions of the Government Analytical Laboratory to 

 carry out such research. I cordially endorse the view, and trust that 

 as soon as ever the depressed condition of the Colony's finances 

 admit of the expenditure, the necessary provision for the performance 

 of this important work may be made. 



