CHAPTER VIII 



FISH AND ARROW POISONS, HYDROCYANIC POISONING TOXALBUMINS — BLACK LOCUST, 



CASTOR OIL, AND JEQUIRITY. 



Fish and arrow poisons have played an important part 

 Fish and Ar- with the aborigines of all countries and they are still used 

 row Poisons, to a considerable extent by primitive people. Thus Merrill ^ 

 mentions the use of the Antiaria toxicaria in the Philippines 

 and other plants used in the same way which are being worked up by Dr. 

 R. F. Bacon. 



Radlkofer ^ some years ago published a long list of plants which are used to 

 poison fish, and added a history of the earlier literature. He lists some 154 species 

 which have been used in various parts of the world for this purpose and these 

 plants belong to the following orders and genera. The species are listed under 

 the poisonous species in another part of this work. 



Dilleniaceae {Tetracera), Menispermaceae (Anamirta, Ahuta, Pachygone) ; 

 Cruciferae {Lepidium), Capparideae {Cleome), Bixaceae {Pangium, Hydno- 

 carpus), Ternstroemiaceae (Caryocar), Tiliaceae {Grewia), Meliaceae (Wal- 

 sura) ; Chailletiaceae {Chailletia Tapura) ; Rhamneae {Gouania) ; Sapindaceae 

 (Serjania, Paullinia, Sapindus, Dodonaea, Harpullia, Magonia) ; Hippocastaneae 

 {Pavia) ; L,eguminosae {Tephrosia, Milletia, Orobus, Abrus, Centrosema, Cli- 

 toria, Camptosenia, Phaseolus, Lonchocarpus, Derris, Piscidia, Bowdichia, Cas- 

 sia, Bauhinia, Lcucaena, Albizsia) ; Myrtaceae {Barringtonia, Gustavia) ; Com- 

 positae (Clibadium, Ichthyothere) ; Campanulaceae {Tupa) ; Ericaceae {Rhodo- 

 dendron) ; Primulaceae (Cyclamen) ; Myrsineae (Aegiceras, Jacquinia) ; 

 Sapotaceae (Bajsia) ; Ebenaceae (Diospyros) ; Apocyneae (Melodinus, Thevetia, 

 Cerbera, Aspidosperma) ; Loganiaceae (Buddleia, Strychnos) ; Solanaceae (,Hy- 

 oscyanius, Nicotiana) ; Scrophularineae (Verbascum, Digitalis); Bigiioniaceae 

 {Bignofiia, Tecoma, lacaranda) ; Labiatae (Ercmostachys) ; Chenopodiaceae 

 (Chenopodium) ; Polygoneae (Polygonum) ; Aristolochiaceae (Aristolochia) ; 

 Piperaceae (Piper) ; Thymelaeaceae (Daphne, Wilkstroemia) ; Euphorbiaceae 

 (Euphorbia, Phyllanthus, Securinega, Piranhea, Croton, Joannesia, Manihot, 

 Jatropha, Excoecaria, Hura) ; Coniferae (Taxus) ; Liliaceae (Veratrum). 



Ernst 3 lists only sixty species that are used as fish poison. There must, 

 however, be considerably more as indicated by Radlkofer. 



W. M. I. Brost Fauwels ' in his contribution on the Surinamic fish poison- 

 ing ^ contributes an interesting article on the subject. 



Pauwels who made an investigation of Nekoe (Lonchocarpus viola- 

 ceus) states that it is a powerfully toxic substance. He found that Nekoeid 

 will poison fish in proportion of 1,5,000,000, and that a second substance B. 



1 Philip. Journ. of Sci. 2:111, Sect. C. 



2 Sitz., Math-Phys. ClasBe k. b. Akad. d. Wiss. Miinclien., 1886, 379. 



3 Memorio Bot. el Embarbascar a sea la Pesca por media de Plantis venenosas. 



i Bijdrage tot de Kennis der Surinaamsche Vischvergiften. M. Greshoff has likewise 

 published a number of works on fish poisoning plants. 



5 Hart and Swatters found in the Piscidia Brythrina piscidin CibHjjOi, and Greshoff 

 found in Pachyrhizus angulaius, pachyrhizid C28Hi80e (OCH3)2. 



