164 MALAY POISONS AND CHARM CUBES 



which the fruit had fallen ; also a case at Banjarmassin^ 

 in Borneo, where in 1862 two whole companies of a 

 military expedition were affected with a painful and 

 even dangerous eruption on the feet. The men had 

 waded tlnrough rivers where the trees w^ere growing; 

 the fruits falling into the water had exuded their latex 

 and so produced poisoning : for the same reason it is 

 midesirable to shelter under a rSngas tree during a 

 tropical rain storm. 



As a Malay poison the sap of the fruit is sometimes 

 thrown into wells ; its use by Malay criminals as an 

 external application with toad- venom " has already 

 been referred to (see p. 127). The chemistry of r^gas 

 has not yet been investigated ; but it is stated to be 

 highly dangerous on internal administration, acting as a 

 violent irritarit and causing vomiting and purging 

 (Ref. 2), The hijijcd tree (Mangifera ccEsia — ^Anacar- 

 diaceee), discovered in Sumatra by Jack in 1830, is said 

 to have similar poisoning properties to rSngas, and it is 

 worthv of note that the Kelantan homor uses an infusion 

 of the root of the binjai tree as an antidote to poisoning 

 by rmgaSf and similarly that of rengas for poisoning by 

 binjai. Evil spirits are supposed to lurk in these trees, 

 and the jamfi, jampi incantations of the bomor are 

 frequently requisitioned by Malay wood-cutters before 

 they will consent to fell a rengas tree or cut its branches. 



RENGUT 



The rengut (Raphidophora giganteum, Schott, 

 Araceaa) is a huge climbing jungle shrub ; the botany 

 is described by Ridley : " Stem 40 to 60 feet long and 

 over an inch through, green. Leaves 12 to 36 inches 

 long, 6 to 8 vdde, entire, oblong, very coriaceous, dark 

 green, nerves very numerous, fine and close, apex 

 blunt, base rounded, petiole 8 to 15 inches long, sheath- 



