CRIMINAL POISONING 



169 



Urechite suberecta (Apocynaceae) is the Savannah flower of 

 Jamaica and other West Indian Islands, which was so celebrated in 

 the days of the ' Obeah Man,' and about which so many tales were 

 told. The truth is that there are two glucosides, urechitin and 

 , urechitoson, of which the former is like digitalis, and hence it has 

 an accumulative action in small doses, which, if given to a person 

 for a long time, will not cause any deterioration of health, but will 

 cause, eventually, sudden death owing to the action on the heart. 

 A full lethal dose, on the other hand, will kill in a few hours or a day 

 or so. 



2. Suicide. 



Of all the poisons used for suicidal purposes, opium is by far the 

 most usual, though Nerium odorum, Cerhera odollam, and Gloriosa 

 superba are also at times employed, the former especially by women 

 in India. Rarer poisons are Calotropis procera, Cerbera thevetia, 

 aconite, prussic acid, and veratrine (meeta bish). The action of all 

 these poisons is described either in ordinary works on toxicology or 

 has already been mentioned. 



3. Infanticide. 



Infanticide exists in the tropics in two forms — the first irrespec- 

 tive of sex, and said to be due in India (Waddell) to the high-caste 

 Hindu prohibiting remarriage of widows; and, secondly, female 

 infanticides, to prevent too man\^ daughters growing up. A few 

 of the more commonly used drugs may be briefly mentioned. 



Opium is used in India by smearing the mother's nipples with the 

 drug. There is little necessity here to describe the action of opium. 

 All that need be said is to warn the practitioner that ayahs (native 

 nurses) are apt to soothe a baby to sleep by dipping the finger in 

 laudanum, and giving it to the baby to suck. Such treatment is 

 highly deleterious to the child, and the intensely contracted pupils 

 should make the practitioner suspect its use in an obscure case of 

 illness. 



Calotropis gigantea Robert Brown and C. procera Robert Brown 

 (Asclepiadacese), called ' mador ' in Hindustani and ' erukam ' in 

 Tamil, have been used in India for infanticide and abortion, rarely 

 for suicide, and more rarely for homicide. The symptoms are 

 vomiting, profuse salivation, severe tetanic spasms, extremely slow 

 and stertorous breathing, and dilatation of the pupils. The active 

 principle is a yellow bitter resin, but there is no alkaloid. The 

 treatment is the same as for irritant poisoning. 



Tobacco is also used as an infant poison. 



4. Abortion. 



Criminal abortion is very common in the tropics. In India it ia 

 sa^d to be common among Hindu widows, because they are not 

 allowed to remarry. 



