194 MALAY POISONS AND CHAEM CURES 



the Temerloh district in Pahang in which these two 

 resins were used. 



In Bombay fumes from datura seeds are used to 

 increase the intoxicating power of Uquor. Dymock 

 says " hqnor is made more intoxicating by placing some 

 of the seeds upon red hot charcoal, and inverting an 

 earthen vessel over them ; when this is full of the smoke, 

 it is removed, filled with hquor and tied do^vn " (Eef. 6). 

 In 1916 it was alleged that toddy adulterated with 

 datura, and causing death, was being sold in the coast 

 districts of Selangor. Toddy is extracted by Malays 

 from various palms, chiefly the coco-nut, by tapping and 

 bruising the flower w^hile it is still in its bud sheath. 

 The sweet juice soon becomes tm-bid and alcoholic 

 owing to fermentation by yeasts. The allegations were 

 serious, because the sale of toddy in the Federated 

 Malay States is under Government control, and large 

 numbers of Tamils buy it, their customary alcohoHc 

 drink, on the various rubber estates. Analysis carried 

 out in the Institute for Medical Kesearch, F.M.S., failed 

 to reveal the presence of datura. 



In Kelantan, when collecting datura seeds for 

 nefarious purposes, sometimes a candle is lit in mid-day 

 underneath the plant, and the seeds are separated from 

 their capsules with a spht stick which has become 

 scorched and charred by roasting fish over a fire 

 (^irangan). 



Administration by the Mouth. — The favourite 

 mode of administration by Malays is by the mouth, and 

 raw seeds of the ** black datura " (D. fastuosa) are 

 preferred, as in India. About fifty seeds (8 grains) are 

 crushed and put into tea or cofTee or mixed in cm-ry 

 and rice, whereby the bitter taste is masked. The 

 professional Malay thief, like his Indian colleague, seems 

 to know the exact dose necessary to procure insensibihty 



