POISONED ARROWS OF THE ABORS AND MTSHMTS OF NORTH-EAST INDIA. 909 



the aconite roots that accompanied the arrows, for, as is seen in the following table, 

 the lethal power of these roots is much greater than that of the arrow-poison. 



Table XII. — Aconite Roots in Surgeon-General Sloggett's Consignment. 

 Rats and Frogs. — Subcidajieous injection. 







Weight 



Dose 



Actual 

 Dose. 







Date. 



Animal. 



of 



per 



Result. 



Notes. 







Animal. 



Kilo. 







1914. 















Nov. 3 



Rat. 



200 



0-005 



o-ooi 



Recovery. 



Only very slight effect. Some cardio- 

 respiratory dislocation. 



>. 6. 



)> 



164 



0-0075 



0-0013 



Recovery. 



Much cardio-respiratory dislocation. 

 Abrupt and irregular respiratory 

 movements. Temporary increase in 

 cardiac rate and strength Motor 

 weakness. 



„ 2 



)> 



195 



o-oi 



0-002 



Death in 25 to 

 40 mins. 



Do. do. Slight salivation. 



2 



Frog. 



315 



002 



0-00063 



Recovery. 



Moderate cardio-respiratory dislocation 

 and diaphoretic frothing. 



„ 3 



>> 



27 



003 



0-0008 



Recovery. 



Do. do. Some motor weakness. 



„ 6 



)3 



25 



005 



0-00125 



Recovery. 



Much cardio-respiratory dislocation, 

 with temporary increase of cardiac 

 rate and much irregularity of respira- 

 tion. Diaphoretic frothing. 



„ 10 



!) 



25 



0-1 



00025 



Death in ahout 

 1 hour 20 

 mins. 



Do. do. Early motor weakness. 

 Reflex contractions absent shortly 

 before apparent death, motor nerves 

 and muscles being- still active. 



The disparity in lethal power in warm-blooded animals as contrasted with frogs 

 is nevertheless decidedly apparent both with the arrow-poison and with the aconite 

 roots that accompanied the poisoned arrows. In the case of the former, the 

 minimum lethal dose for rats is 0'075 and for frogs 0'4 grm. per kilo, and in the 

 case of the aconite roots O'Ol for rats and O'l grm. per kilo for frogs. 



Several years ago I pointed out that while aconitine and pseudo-aconitine, the 

 two chief alkaloids found in aconite roots, act both on the heart and on respirations, 

 pseudo-aconitine acts much more powerfully on the respirations than upon the heart, 

 and is, therefore, more lethal to warm-blooded animals than to frogs, because the 

 latter respire largely through the skin, and for that reason continue to live after 

 the movements required for pulmonary respiration have been paralysed.* It is 

 believed that pseudo-aconitine preponderates in Aconitum ferox,\ and that this 

 species is found in Thibet, a country which adjoins the Mishmi territory. 



As I have not yet succeeded in obtaining the flowers and fruits of the plants 



* Report of the British Association of Science, 1873 ; Reports, p. 128. 



t Groves, Pharmaceutic Journal and Transactions, 1870, p. 433 ; ibid., 1873, p. 293 ; ibid., 1877, p. 444. 



