680 
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
in Western India it was called cirifole {siphal) by tlie vulgar, and heli 
by the physicians. 
Then follow some remarks on the durian and mangosteen, on 
marjim or ivory, on the ananas or pine apple, the patecas or Indian 
melons, and the pao da China {Smilax china) which as Dimas points 
out, is a creeper growing like ivy. 
The virtues of the stone obtained from the porcupine in Pam, a 
country adjoining Malacca, as an antidote to poison are then discussed. 
It was said to be of a bright red colour, bitter to the taste, and feeling 
like Erench chalk to the touch. In a case of poison it was steeped in 
water, and the water, which thereby acquired a bitter taste, was given 
to patients to drink, with good results. Garcia welcomes it as an ad- 
ditional antidote in a land where poisoning is so prevalent. 
[Captain Hamilton,^ says the place which produced the porcupine 
bezoar was the Island, of Lingen, 20 leagues from Jambu, and as far 
from the river of Johore : it formed a portion of the Johore Dominions. 
Castanheda^ mentions an animal called hulffoldorf as producing a stone 
in its head which was an infallible and highly esteemed antidote 
against poison.] 
JS'oTE. — In a short Appendix some additional information is given 
with reference to several of the above subjects and some others, but 
it is not important. 
' 'New account, vol. ii., p. 123. 
- See Kerr's " Voyages and Travels," vol. ii., p. 439. 
