142 MALAY POISONS AND CHARM CUBES 



coriaceous, deeply trilobed. It ripens in January ; seeds 

 glabrous, smooth (Ret 1). It occurs in India, where it is 

 kncttm as the " blinding tree of Ceylon," and is recog- 

 nised as a native poison under the name of uguru in the 

 Deccan. The milky mangrove," or " river poison " 

 tree of Australia, seems to be similar to hSbuta from the 

 description given by Bailey and Gordon ; it is reputed 

 to be injurious to stock. 



The milky latex obtained from the bark when it is 

 green is used by Malays as an irritant poison ; it is so 

 acrid when fresh that it blisters the skin. In Kelantan 

 it is given internally as a poison by mixing the sap 

 obtained from the tiTuik and the branches of the tree 

 with the blood of the flying fox {kMuang ; Pteropus 

 ^edulis, Chiroptera), and is said to cause strangury, with 

 hsematuria and violent inflammation of the intestines. 

 It is sometimes used to prevent the theft of toddy by 

 adding a few" drops of the sap to the bamboo collecting 

 cylinders, when the toddy thief suffers the agonies of a 

 choleraic seizm-e. 



A contributor to Smithes " Economic Dictionary " 

 refers to the very singular use of Excoecaria agallocha 

 in the treatment of leprosy in Fiji : " The body of the 

 patient is fii-st rubbed with green leaves ; he is then 

 placed in a small room and bound hand and foot, when 

 a small fire is made of pieces of wood of this tree from 

 which rises a thick smoke ; the patient is suspended 

 over this fire, and remains for some hours in the midst 

 of the poisonous smoke and under the most agonising 

 torture, often fainting. When thoroughly smoked, he 

 is removed, and the slime- is scraped from his body ; he 

 ia then scarified and left to await the result. The 

 patient frequently dies under the ordeal." 



It was well known years ago that crews of vessels 

 suffered from the intensely acrid juice of buia-huia getting 



