POISONS OF VEGETABLE OBIGIN 213 



Varied Uses of the word ** Tuba." — As the word 

 is used loosely by natives for several plants, it is expe- 

 dient to refer here to some of the plants called tuba. It 

 may be noted that S. F. Blake (Ref. 16) considers that 

 the genus Deguelia of Aublet has botanical priority over 

 the name Derris, Benth., but Derris seems to be 

 generally accepted at the present time. In Kelantan, 

 among Malay names are : tuba jSmu (probably D. 

 elliptica) and tuba katak puru (" toad " t) ; in Pahang, 

 tuba jenerak, tuba kapiir (" lime " <.), and tuba seluang, 

 a kind of reed with less powerful properties. Ridley 

 lists tnha4iiha (Kedah) as Derris Maingayana, Hook, fil., 

 which is probably the same as tuba gajah (" elephant '* 

 t.)f or tuba fanjafig (" long " t), of Sarawak, with thick 

 root. Ridley and Curtis give akar iulang hukit as 

 D, th^Tsiflora, Benth., and D. uliginosa, Benth., as 

 akar ketuil (Ref. 19). In Borneo there are tuba benar, 

 t. rabut (with pomted leaf), t tedau (Dayak, rowie), the 

 bark of the perakol tree, also t China and buah tuba 

 (the fruit o£ a tree). There is also a yam with a white 

 flower called t. ubi, as yet unidentified botaiiically, but 

 apparently closely allied to Dioscorea birmanica, Prain 

 and BurkilL Dayaks use the long root-like stems of 

 D. uliginosa, Benth., or an allied plant, w^hich is common 

 in flooded zones of riverside jungle land in Borneo. 

 D, uliginosa occurs in India and in the Fiji Islands. 



The word tuba also appears among Kelantan Malays 

 in the expression tuba tikus (more commonly pronounced 

 teba tikus) for" white arsenic, which is frequently used to 

 poison rats and is equivalent to the Enghsh word 

 rat's-bane {tikus, a rat). The stick-insect (Phasmidje) 

 is called tuba gajah {gajah, an elephant) on the east 

 coast, because it is believed to poison any elephant that 

 eats one by accident. Mr. W. W. Skeat told me that 

 he was riding on an elephant when he was told about this 



