128 MALAY POISONS AND CHARM CUBES 



water, the latter is highly soluble in both alcohol and 

 water. When injected into a frog " bufotaline " stops 

 the heart in systole, while ** bufotenin " brings about 

 paralysis (Eef, 11). Besides being a cardiac poison, 

 toad venom acts on the respu*atory and nervous systems, 

 causing paralysis, vomiting, and contraction of the 

 pupil. It is an irritant to the skin and mucous mem- 

 branes, and especially to the conjunctival membranes 

 of man. The flesh of the toad, so far from being 

 poisonous, is said to afford, in Em-ope, as wholesome 

 nutriment as that of the frog. In England it used to be 

 considered diuretic and diaphoretic and had a place in 

 old dispensatories. Natives in the Atrato valley in 

 Colombia obtain the skin secretion by heating a live 

 toad over a fire, and use it for poisoning arrows ; so also 

 a similar secretion which is said to kill monkeys, and 

 even a jaguar, in a few minutes after the infliction of a 

 poisoned spear wound is used for poisoning arrows and 

 darts by South American Indians* 



INSECTS 

 MOTHS 



The moth Aloa sanguinolenta, Fab., furnishes a 

 Malay poison in the fine hairs of its larva, which is a 

 black caterpillar called ulat btilu darai, or " hairy cater- 

 pillar of the land," as distinct from idai hulu lautj 

 " hairy caterpillar of the sea '* (Chloia flava). It seems 

 to be the only one among the many hairy caterpillars 

 of Malaya that is chosen by Kelantan criminals for 

 the irritating effect of its fine hau^s. Some ulat bulu 

 darat were reared in Kota Bhani and the imago 

 identified by Dr. Hanitsch, Director of Raffle's Musemu, 

 Singapore, as mentioned above. The urticating hairs 

 are used for internal administration by poisoners, and 



