974 DR THOMAS R. FRASER ON STROPHANTHUS HISPIDUS. 



been subjected to some process, by which, probably, a watery extract had been obtained, 

 almost perfectly free from vegetable structures in the case of the poison contained in the 

 packet J, but less perfectly free from those structures in the case of the poison of arrow D. 

 This, in itself, is sufficient to render it doubtful that these poisons have been derived from 

 Strophanthus ; for the preparation of an extract of its seeds for application to arrows 

 would seem a superfluous labour, and it is actually proved to be superfluous in the case of 

 the arrows undoubtedly poisoned with Strophanthus, where the only preparation has been 

 to grind the seeds with water and mix the paste with some adhesive substance. This 

 circumstance, along with the differences in microscopic appearance and in chemical 

 reaction that have been described, renders it possible, if not probable, that the poison of 

 arrow* D and the poison contained in the packet J have been obtained from a stem or 

 root, Sir John Kirk informs me that at Nyassa an active poison is prepared from a 

 wood ; and it is also known that the Somali tribe, inhabiting an extensive district on 

 the East Coast north from the Wanyika country, employ for their arrows a poison derived 

 from the wood and root of an unknown Apocynaceous plant, apparently belonging to the 

 genus Carissa. Further, both Sir John Kirk and Dr Felkin state that the Strophanthus 

 plant has not been seen in the Wanyika country. These considerations render it advisable 

 to restrict the definition of the poison of arrow D and of packet J to that of a substance 

 acting like, but not demonstrated to be, Strophanthus. 



It is, however, a remarkable circumstance that, out of eight arrows of different 

 forms, six arrows, derived from districts so widely separated from each other as the 

 River Gambia, the Tanganyika Lake, and the Zambesi River, should be poisoned with 

 Strophanthus. 



Nor do these represent all the known variations in the form of arrows poisoned with 

 this substance, and all the localities in which such arrows are used. Three other forms, 

 derived from the Gaboon district of West Africa, have been described ; two made entirely 

 of wood,* and the third, provided with an iron head ;t but all three having the shaft 

 feathering replaced by a leaf, and, judging from the absence of a bowstring notch, being 

 adapted for use in crossbows or blow-tubes only. 



The wide distribution of the Strophanthus plant over Africa, the great activity of 

 its seeds, and the readiness with which they can be converted into a form suitable for 

 application to arrows, are probable reasons for this extensive use of Strophanthus as an 

 arrow-poison. 



While thus widely used, both in the chase and in warfare, as an arrow-poison, it is 

 worthy of remark that no evidence can be found of Strophanthus being used by the natives 

 of Africa as a medicinal substance. On the contrary, Mr Buchanan informs me that they 

 have too great a dread of it to use it in the treatment of disease, and that when they 

 were told that the seeds were being used as a medicine in this country they expressed the 

 opinion that the English must be mad to employ so poisonous a substance for medicinal 

 purposes. 



* Polaillon et Carvillk, Archives de Physiologie, tome iv., 1871-72, p. 708. 

 t R. Blondkl, Bulletin Gdn&ral de Thirapeutique, tome cxiv., 1888, p. 78. 



