POISONS FROM JUNGLE PLANTS 163 



polish, but its economic value both in making fm-niture 

 and in construction work is seriously impaired owing 

 to the poisonous black resin it contains. It resists the 

 attacks of white ants. According to Ridley, *'bad 

 effects are said to be produced in many persons by use 

 of the furniture made from it even long after the wood 

 has been worked up." Ringas furniture may affect 

 those who are susceptible when it begins to get old, 

 worn out and dusty, by producing irritation of the 

 mouth, nose and thi-oat. The use of ringas as a lachry- 

 matory gas was suggested ; but it was never used 

 during the war. Captain George W. Templer, an 

 ex-army gas instructor who was familiar with rengas 

 poisoning among coolies on his Kelantan rubber estates, 

 told me that the emption produced by rengas sap is 

 similar to the intractable blisters caused by the oily 

 liquid of " mustard gas." 



Poisonous properties remain in rengas trees for a 

 length of time. Burn-Murdoch says the best method of 

 dealing mth them'is to rmg'ihe~Uree and leave it until it 

 is dead before felling, or to fell it and leave it lying in the 

 forest till all the sap has rotted away. Mr. James W. 

 Agar, Manager of the Kuala Nal Rubber Estate in 

 Kelantan, told me, however, that on sawing up some 

 ringas trees that had been lying on the estate for tliree 

 or four years some of his sa^^ers " got covered with a 

 swollen red rash with occasional sores. I stopped them 

 before it got serious. I think the rash and sores were 

 brought about by the saw^dust falling on the sweating 

 bodies." Mr. Ridley has also observed " that those 

 affected seriously by the rSngas are those who sweat 

 most." 



Greshoff, quoting from Upwich (" Gen, Tydscbrift v. 

 Nederl, Lid„" XXXIV., p. 795), describes cases of 

 poisoning by ringas in soldiers after crossing rivers mto 



11—2 



