THE AINOS OF YEZO, JAPAN. 469 



The arrows are carried in quivers, one of which is shown in the fig- 

 ure. The quiver is slung under the left arm by means of a cord passed 

 over the shoulders on the same side. 



The arrow release is of the simplest kind, the arrow being held be- 

 tween the thumb and forefinger. 



Large animals, like the bear, are always hunted with poisoned arrows ; 

 hence it is not necessary that the bows should be very powerful. If 

 the arrow only penetrates the skin it is sufficient to kill the animal. 

 Wherever bears abound, the woods are made dangerous to travelers by 

 the number of set-bows with poisoned arrows, so arranged that when a 

 bear or other animal treads upon a cord, the arrow is released and the 

 deadly shaft enters its body. A Japanese artist has represented such 

 a device in Plate cvin. 



The preparation ot arrow poisons is generally held by savage people 

 as a secret art, which they do not readily reveal. The method of pre- 

 paring the arrow poisons of the Ainos has only been made known to a 

 single traveler, Dr. B. Scheube, who believes that his information is 

 correct, because the accounts obtained in different localities entirely 

 agree. Dr. Scheube's account is, in brief, as follows : 



The young side roots of Aconitum Japonicum are usually gathered in 

 summer and dried in the shade until fall. The roots which contain 

 active poisou become softer, while the others grow harder; apparently 

 a process of fermentation takes place. The former, after removal of 

 the skin, are rubbed between two stones to a pasty mass. There is no 

 further preparation. This material is either spread directly upon the 

 arrowheads or preserved. The poison preserves its activity for five 

 mouths. Dr. Scheube adds that in every village the poison is prepared 

 only by a few old men, not because the process of preparation is un- 

 known to the others, but because these men have had experience in its 

 production. Prayers, magic formulas, and the like are not recited dur- 

 ing the preparation. 



The activity of the poison is tested by placing a portion on the 

 tongue. To insure its action, each arrow receives portions from three 

 different preparations. According to the Ainos, a wounded bear runs 

 at the farthest not more than 200 metres before falling dead. 



Dr. Stuart Eldridge* has made some chemical and physiological in- 

 vestigations of this poison, which confirm the supposition that aconite 

 is the active ingredient thereof. But this writer declares that the pulp 

 prepared as described "is mixed with other ingredients, which I have 

 been unable to identify, but which are probably inert, and the resulting 

 mass is buried for a time in the earth. On removal from the earth, the 

 poison appears as a stiff, dark, reddish-brown paste, through which 

 fragments of woody fiber are distributed. The poison, when applied to 

 the arrow, is mixed with a certain proportion of animal fat." 



I was able to obtain two specimens of the poison, which are in 



* Trans. Asiatic Soc. Japan, IV, 1875-76, 78 



