188 MALAY POISONS AND CHAEM CUBES 



and furrowed, ia angular, making the seed appear 

 wedge-shaped. In size the seed is about ^ inch 

 thick, about inch in length, rather less in width ; no 

 marked odour ; taste slightly bitter ; surface some- 

 what shrivelled except on the two compressed sides ; 

 testa rough and tough, being made up of a con- 

 voluted series of thick-w^alled cells, so arranged as 

 to give a pitted appearance w^hen seen with a lens. 

 The plant embryo is embedded in an oily white 

 albumen, and is curved in a manner peculiar to the 

 genus. By cutting parallel to the flattened side of 

 the seed the embryo may be seen by the naked eye to 

 be curved, twisted and recurved, so as to resemble the 

 head of a shepherd's crook. As pointed out by Burton 

 Brown, both ends point in almost the same dkection 

 (Kef, 2). Powdered datura seeds may be recognised by 

 the cavernous appearance of their exosperm when seen 

 under a low power of the microscope, but it is not 

 possible to distinguish them from other fragments of 

 solanaceous seeds by this means alone. 



Kechubong seeds bear a slight resemblance to those 

 of the common red chiUi (Capsicum annuim, Linn.— 

 SolanacejE), and at times have been mistaken for them. 

 The resemblance is most marked in the unripe seeds, 

 but a careful comparison of the two kinds shows many 

 morphological points of difference. In many instances 

 the pale yellow colour and the pungent taste of the red 

 pepper seed would be sufficient to distinguish it from 

 the greenish-brown colour and rather bitter taste of the 

 datura seed when it is fresh, but when either is cooked 

 with food, such as boiled rice, recognition by means of 

 taste alone cannot be relied upon. The seed of capsi- 

 cum is kidney-shaped, rather shorter and wider than 

 that of datura ; pale yellow in colour ; not pitted when 

 seen with a lens, and when sliced as described above, or 



