tract, with no other plant near it for the 

 distance of ten or twelve miles. Criminals 

 condemned to die were offered the chance 

 of life if they would go to the Upas-tree 

 and collect some of the poison. They were 

 furnished with proper directions, and 

 armed with due precaution, but not more 

 than two out of every twenty ever re- 

 turned. The Dutch surgeon, Foersch, states 

 that he had derived his information from 

 some of those who had been lucky enough 

 to escape, albeit the ground around was 

 strewn with the bones of their predeces- 

 sors ; and such was the virulence of the 

 poison, that ' there are no fish in the waters, 

 nor has any rat, mouse, or any other ver- 

 min been seen there ; and when any birds 

 fly so near this tree that the effluvia 

 reaches them, they fall a sacrifice to the 

 effects of the poison.' Out of a population 

 of 1,600 persons, who were compelled, on 



Antiaris innoxia. 



account of civil dissensions, to reside 

 within twelve or fourteen miles of the tree, 

 not more than three hundred remained in 

 less than two months. Foersch states 

 that he conversed with some of the sur- 

 vivors, and proceeds to give an account of 

 some experiments that he witnessed with 

 the gum of this tree, these experiments 

 consisting principally in the execution of 

 several women, by direction of the Em- 

 peror ! Now, as specimens of this tree are 

 cultivated in botanic gardens, the tree 

 cannot have such virulent properties as it 

 was stated to have; moreover, it is now 

 known to grow in woods with other trees, 

 and birds and lizards have been observed 

 on its branches. It occasionally grows in 

 certain low valleys in Java, rendered un- 

 wholesome by an escape of carbonic acid 

 gas from crevices in the ground, and 



which is given off in such abundance as 

 to be fatal to animals that approach too 

 closely. These pestiferous valleys are con- 

 nected with the numerous volcanoes in 

 the island. The craters of some of these 

 emit, according to Reinwardt, sulphureous 

 vapours in such abundance as to cause 

 the death of great numbers of tigers 

 birds, and insects; while the rivers and 

 lakes are in some cases so charged with 

 sulphuric acid, that no fish can live in 

 them. So that doubtless the Upas-tree has 

 had to bear the opprobrium really due to 

 the volcanoes and their products : not that 

 the Upas is by any means innocent, for 

 severe effects have been felt by those who 

 have climbed the tree for the purpose of 

 bringing clown the branches and flowers. 

 The inner bark of the young trees, which 

 is fabricated into a coarse garment, ex- 

 cites the most horrible itching. It clings 

 to the skiii, if exposed to the wet before 

 being properly prepared. The dried juice, 

 mixed with other ingredients, forms a 

 most venomous poison, in which the na- 

 tives dip their arrows. A view of one of 

 these trees in the midst of coffee planta- 

 tions, will be found in Plate 3. 



A species of Antiaris, called also Lepu- 

 randra saccidora, furnishes the natives of 

 Bombay with sacks, which are made by 

 beating the cloth-like bark, and peeling 

 it off from the felled branches, leaving a 

 small portion of wood to form the bottom 

 of the sacks. They are used to hold rice. 

 Specimens of these maybe seen in the Kew 

 Museum. [M. T. M.] 



ANTICAL. Placed in front of a flower, 



the front being regarded as the part most 

 remote from tihe axis. Thus, the lip of an 

 Orchis is antical. 



AJSTIDAPHNE. A genus of Lorantha- 

 cece, containing a single species parasitic on 

 the trees of the primeval forests of Peru, 

 found chiefly on laurels. It has alternate, 

 obovate, and entire leaves. The flowers 

 are monoecious, arranged in small axillary 

 spikes. The male flowers have a simple, 

 three-lobed calyx, three stamens, with 

 petaloid filaments, and bilocular anthers. 

 The calyx of the female flowers is simple, 

 with an entire margin ; the ovary is unilo- 

 cular, and uniovulate, with a subsessile 

 capitate stigma. [W. C] 



ANTIDESMA. A genus of the natural 

 family Stilaginacece. Upwards of thirty 

 species are known, all of them natives of 

 tropical India, Africa, and Australia, and 

 their islands. They are trees or shrubs, with 

 alternate, simple, entire leaves, and spicate 

 inflorescence- The flowers are inconspicu- 

 ous, the males and females on the same 

 plant. The fruit is a one-seeded drupe 

 about the size of a pea. The bark of A. 

 Binims, which is a native of Java and the 

 adjacent isles, affords a fibre from which 

 ropes are made. The fruits are of a bright 

 red colour, ripening into an intense black, 

 with a sub-acid taste. They are used in 

 Java for preserving, principally by Euro- 

 peans, bringing about twopence per quart. 



