86 



TANGHINIA VENENIFLUA. 



at length reflexed. Anthers 2-celled ; dehiscing laterally, with a dark-brown connectivum 

 terminated at the apex by an acute membranous appendage. Ovarium 2-lobed ; lobes 1 -celled, 

 1 -seeded. Style 1, didymous, twisted towards the apex. 



This plant, which is a native of Madagascar, must be viewed with more than 

 common interest, on account of the horrid purposes t» which the fruit is 

 frequently applied by the natives. It is customary in that island to use it as a 

 kind of ordeal for the detection of theft or any other crime, where proof is 

 wanting ; a practice which is greatly encouraged by the credulity and superstition 

 of that benighted people. The kernel is said to be bruised on a stone, and 

 infused in some liquid which the accused person is compelled to drink. If he 

 persist in his innocence, and has no witnesses, then three bits of chicken-skin are 

 added to the dose, and he is obliged to swallow rice water till the poison is 

 rejected by the stomach ; when, if the three pieces of skin are not also vomited, 

 he is considered guilty of the crime in question *. 



The plant was first introduced to this country through the medium of Charles 

 Telfair, Esq., who sent seeds to Bury Hill, where the original plant was raised. 

 Several plants were afterwards struck from cuttings, one of which is in the 

 collection of the Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society, and for which 

 the Institution is indebted to Charles Barclay, Esq., M.P., who presented it 

 with many other valuable plants, upon the formation of the Society's Gardens in 

 1831, where it has recently flowered in great perfection, and probably for the 

 first time in this kingdom. 



It should be potted in peat, loam, and sand, with plenty of drainers in the 

 bottom of the pot. It may be propagated (though with difficulty) by cuttings of 

 the old wood taken off with a heel, otherwise they will rot, as the pith is of con- 

 siderable diameter, which with the milky juice, soon causes them to decay. 

 The cuttings should be put into sand, and covered with a bell-glass. 



Fig. 1, corolla with its tube laid open to show the insertion of the stamens, 

 the glandular tubercles immediately beneath, and the woolly scales of the throat 

 magnified ; 2, anther magnified ; 3, the style and capitate stigma magnified, 

 with a small portion of the corolla, to show the manner in which the anthers 

 cover the stigma ; 4, the fruit, copied from the plate in Sir W. J. Hookers 

 Bot. Misc. 



* For further particulars respecting the administration of the Tanghin as an ordeal, we refer our readers to a 

 future page. 



