114 MALAY POISONS AND CHARM CURES 



fish. Although the degree of virulence varies very much 

 in different species, it is always most pronounced when 

 the adult fish is spawning. While most of the poison 

 occurs m the roe, other parts are known to be harmful. 

 Most globe-fish have a pecuHarly offensive smell and 

 flavour. "V^Tien prepared for food by the very poor the 

 head is cut off at once and the entrails entirely removed, 

 but with the exception of ikan hunial fisang (T. lunaris), 

 which is eaten by Malay fishermen, the other species are 

 seldom eaten. In Kelantan the gall of the local species 

 (T* fluviatilis and T. oblongus) is used as a poison. It 

 is generally combined \sdth the decayed fruit of rengut 

 (referred to in Chapter VIII) and other reputed gastro- 

 intestinal irritants, such as pounded glass ; but, as seen 

 under section Carp,'* it may be used with upas sap. 



In addition to its poisonous properties when taken 

 by the mouth, the globe-fish frequently attacks bathers 

 and others who have occasion to enter the water. They 

 bite by means of a sharp-edged beak, and inflict wounds, 

 generally on the genital organs of the male, that are 

 similar to, and may be as serious as, those caused by the 

 " caribe " (Serrasalmo) of the Guianas and Brazil ; but 

 at evening time bathers in the Kelantan Eiverhave been 

 knoAATi to he bitten on fingers, toes, and thighs. How * 

 the more serious effects of the bite arise, whether from 

 the anatomical position of the wound, from the presence 

 of poisonous mucus in the mouth of the fish, or by the 

 liberation of venom, is not yet knowTi. Severe consti- 

 tutional as well as local symptoms occurred in the 

 case of a Tm-k who was bitten on the genital organs by 

 one of these puffers " or " pillow-fishes " in the 

 Kelantan River in 1910. He was the captain of a 

 Government oil launch and was bathing late in the 

 evening. The fish bite was a very nasty one ; a piece 

 about the size and shape of a sixpence was bitten clean 



