Analysis. — “ When the poison has been taken in the form of decoction or infusion, no test can be ap- 
plied. The fact of poisoning can then only be elucidated by the symptoms and by circumstantial evidence. 
If the oil has been taken, it may be separated by distillation, and obtained by agitating the distilled product 
with one-third of its bulk of ether. Perhaps the most common case is that where the powder has been 
taken. It will be remarked from a case reported by Dr. Christison, and from that which occurred to Mr. 
Lord, that in spite of great vomiting the powder remained in the stomach for a period of five days. The 
contents appear like green-pea soup. That the colour is not owing to bile may be proved by diluting a 
portion with water, when the green chlorophylle, from its insolubility, will subside in a dense insoluble 
stratum, whereas if the colour were due to altered bile, the whole of the liquid would remain coloured. By 
washing the green matter in water, and drying it on plates of glass or mica, evidence may be obtained under 
a good microscope, by the rectilinear course of the fibres and the turpentine cells, that the substance belongs 
to the fir tribe. The only other poison of the coniferous order is the yew ( Taxus baccata ), but this differs 
from savin in having a lancet-shaped termination to the top of the leaves, while savin has a sharply accu- 
minated point. A portion of the green powder dried and well rubbed will give the peculiar odour of savin. 
When freed from organic matter, it will yield, by distillation with water, the essential oil of savin.” 
Oil of Savin. — This oil is of a light yellow colour, and it has a powerful terebinthinate odour, suffi- 
ciently peculiar to render this an easy means of identification. A greasy stain made by this oil on paper is 
entirely dissipated by heat, or only a slight trace of resin is left. It is lighter than water, but insoluble in it, 
giving to it, however, its odour and an acid reaction. It forms a milky solution with rectified spirit, but a 
clear transparent solution with ether. It is exceedingly soluble in ether, and by this menstruum it may be 
separated from watery liquids, as the ether floats with it to the top. Nitric acid in the cold, slowly gives to 
the oil a dark red-brown colour. 
Gilpin, in his Forest Scenery, says that, “ there is a tree in the island of Java, called the Upas or Poison 
Tree, which, in the history of curious trees, should not be omitted ; though the accounts of it are so won- 
derful that some have esteemed them fabulous. They are given to the public by a surgeon belonging to the 
Dutch East India Company, of the name of Foersch, who was stationed at Batavia in the year 17 74. Sur- 
prising, however, as these accountsmay be, they are accompanied with so many public facts and names of 
persons and places, that it is somewhat difficult to conceive them fabulous. The abridged narrative of this 
strange production is this : — 
“The Upas grows about twenty-seven leagues from Batavia, in a plain surrounded by rocky mountains, 
the whole of which plain, containing a circle of ten or twelve miles round the tree, is totally barren. No- 
thing that breathes or vegetates can live within its influence. The bird that flies over it drops down dead ; 
the beast that wanders into it expires. The whole dreadful area is covered with sand, over which lie scattered | 
loose flints and whitening bones. This tree may be called the emperor’s great military magazine. In a 
solution of the poisonous gum which exudes from it, his arrows and offensive weapons are dipped. The 
procuring therefore of this poisonous gum is a matter of as much attention as of difficulty. Criminals only 
are employed in this dreadful service. Of these several every year are sent, with a promise of pardon and 
reward if they procure it. Hooded in leathern cases, with glass eyletholes, and secured as much as possible 
from the foul effluvia of the air they are to breathe, they undertake this melancholy journey, travelling 
always with the wind. About one in ten escapes, and brings away a little box of this direful commodity. 
“ Of the dreadful and sudden effect of this poison the author saw many instances. He mentions among 
others, the execution of thirteen young ladies of the emperor’s seraglio, who, having been convicted of infi- 
delity, were condemned to die by the poison of upas, which is considered in Java, like the axe in England, as 
an honourable instrument of death. At eleven o’clock in the forenoon these unhappy victims were led into a 
court in the palace, where a row of thirteen posts had been erected. To these they were bound. As they 
stood trembling, they were oblige to confess the justice of their sentence, which each of them did by laying 
one hand on the koran and the other on her breast. When these confessions were finished, and a few reli- 
gious ceremonies, on a sign given by the judge, an executioner stepped forward, who bared their breasts, 
and, amidst their cries and shrieks, with a poisoned lancet made a slight incision in each. The author says, 
he stood by with his watch in his hand. In five minutes they were seized with convulsive spasms, excru- 
ciating agonies succeeded, and in sixteen minutes they were all dead. A frightful change came on. From 
being objects of beauty, they became spectacles of horror. Livid spots broke out upon them, their faces 
swelled, their cheeks became blue and their eyes yellow.” 
The history of the Upas affords, says Professor Burnett, a melancholy instance of the degree to which a 
love of the marvellous, and a passion for telling mysterious tales, by which a short-lived fame may be enjoyed, 
to be succeeded however by enduring contempt, will mislead even well-educated men ; for in the relation of 
Foersch falsehood was so craftily blended with truth, that his story, although received at first with caution, 
was, from its very circumstantial details, for years esteemed, notwithstanding its wonderful character, as an 
authentic record. But, since his many wilful misrepresentations have been detected, even those parts of the 
narration which are true, or based on truth, have been doubted, and the whole regarded as a cunningly devised 
fable. The researches of modern travellers of credit have, however, established the existence of the Upas-tree ; 
and other very recent investigations have assured us of the reality of the Upas-valley also. The collation of 
these two series of facts will put us in possession of the chief materials whence Foersch composed his tale, 
and expose the temptation by which he was seduced to declare that he had himself seen those things of 
many of which he had only heard, and which, marvellous enough as they are, the ignorance and superstition 
of the narrators had probably in the first place exaggerated, but which he seems to have conjoined for the 
sake of effect, and to have still further estranged from truth. 
