POISONED ARROWS OF THE ABORS AND MISHMIS OP NORTH-EAST INDIA. 899 



The larger number of the experiments was made, in the first instance, with the 

 poison of the arrows obtained from Captain Macdonald and the Government of India, 

 and it early became apparent that the same poison is not present in all the Abor 

 arrows. 



B. Arrows Poisoned with Aconite. 



(a) Poison of Captain Macdonald's Arrows. 



The two poisoned arrow-heads sent to me had been obtained from some Abors 

 at Balek Stockade, near Pasighat in the Brahmaputra valley. They were admittedly 

 old, and it was stated that their " activity had probably deteriorated." In all out- 

 ward respects they closely resemble the other arrow-heads afterwards received by 

 me both from the Abor and Mishmi countries, and the description in p. 911 is 

 applicable to all of them. 



When the poison is reduced to a fine powder it is of an earthy-brown colour and 

 only partly soluble in water, the solution being slightly bitter and producing on the 

 tongue, lips, and fauces the well-known sensory effects of aconite. 



With this poison, experiments were made on rats, rabbits, and frogs, which are 

 summarised in Tables II, III, and IV. 



Table II. — Poison of Arrow-heads from Captain Macdonald, I.M.S.* 

 Bats. — Injection under the skin of a flank. 



Date. 



Weight 



of 

 Animal. 



Dose 



per 



Kilo. 



Actual 

 Dose. 



Result. 



Notes. 



1912. 













April 8 



198 



0-05 



o-oi 



Recovery. 



Cardio-respiratory dislocation. Salivation. 



Nov. 2 



230 



0-087 



002 



Recovery. 



Motor weakness. Respiratory difficulty. 



„ 15 



200 



o-i 



0-02 



Death in about 

 19 hours. 





Mar. 15 



210 



o-i 



0-02 



Death in 1 hour 

 50 mins. 



Cardio-respiratory dislocation. Temporary in- 

 creased rate and strength of heart's impacts. 

 Motor weakness. Asphyxial convulsions. 



„ 15 



210 



0-15 



0-315 



Death in 1 hour 

 37 mins. 



Do. do. After death, only fibrillary twitches 

 of auricles and larger blood-vessels (45 per 15 

 seconds). 



1911. 













Nov. 6 



220 



0-18 



0-04 



Death in 3 



Do. do. After death, heart beating feebly, 











hours. 



auricles much distended. 



* In all the experiments of this investigation the rats were white rats, fed on a mixed animal and vegetable diet, 

 and the frogs were Rana temporaria excepting a few indicated in the tables. Mammals were deprived of food for 

 about twelve hours before any substance was administered, in order to lessen errors of dosage due to variations in 

 the quantity of food in the alimentary canal. 



The arrow-poisons and all other substances were dried in vacuo over sulphuric acid before they were administered. 

 Usually, the poisons were injected under the skin of a flank in warm-blooded animals, and into the posterior 

 part of the dorsal lymph-space in cold-blooded animals. Each dose of the arrow-poisons and of the aconite 



