218 
K he l ar M POi , SOn by - *, he f akai ?’ and it is also used in the same wav 
by the Mentawei islanders (Lewin Pfeilgift, iai) Occasiomllv 
14 15 US K? " i ‘Ti nally ' A g° od account of ih e 3 plant and hs u e 
waspubhshed by L Wary, in the Pharmaceutical Journal (1892, 
p. 61). He extracted the poisonous resin to which he gave the 
bv Crelhlff*w n ,’ T j hlS £ a * alrea dy been experimented with 
' . 10 lad called it Derrid. A similar-poisonous 
resins occuis m many other Leguminous plants used for fish 
poisons and has been named timboine, nicouline and pachyrhi- 
f‘ n ’ al ! of which Greshoff appears to consider the same principle 
seeds n°f U p CO i d / 0nSOf P ? rity - Pacl >yrhi2in is obtained from the 
seeds of Pachynhizus tuberosus, the Yambean (Bengkunang or 
Sengkuang) commonly cultivated here for its edible tuberous 
root. There was recently a case of accidental poisoning, in Sin- 
gapore, by the seeds of this plant. S 
One part of derrid in 350,000 parts of water according to Wray 
*J v< :, miI1 ; on P arts of wafer according to Greshoff will 
kill fish m half an hour. The poison is according to Wray inso- 
luble and he states he has seen a fish eat a quantity without ill 
effects. However the decoction made by pounding the roots 
m water is not only rapidly fatal to fish when it comes in con- 
tact with the gills, but is speedily fatal to man when swallowed. 
e extract has long been used by the Chinese and other garden- 
ers here as an insecticide, but of course it is unsafe to use it on 
vegetables eaten uncooked. 
Datura fastuosa ( Solanacece ), Kechubong.— A tall herb with 
large dentate leaves, and shown tubular flowers, white or more 
or less violet attaining a length of as much as seven inches but 
often smaller. The fruit is a globose thorny capsule about an 
inch through, dehiscing irregularly and containing a large num- 
ber of flat seeds. 
There are three varieties met with here ; one with dark purple 
stems and single violet flowers the “Black Datura”; one with 
single white flowers and green stems, var alba, and one with 
double violet flowers. The plant is often cultivated and occurs 
as a common weed in many places, being indeed very difficult to 
eradicate. It grows rapidly and perishes after flowering. The 
used by natives as an anodyne for sprains, rheumatism 
and boils, the leaves being applied to the injured part. In India 
ft is smoked for asthma, and is a native remedy for hydrophobia. 
The native name here, Kechubong, is evidently a variant of Ke- 
chubu, an Arabic word given by Ainslie as a name for the plant. 
Its action as a violent narcotic poison is well enough known, 
and it is stated that the black variety is the most poisonous. 
This variety is much the commonest here. Almost any part of 
the plant, flowers, leaves or seeds is used for poisoning. 
D. Metel, L. An allied species with pubescent leaves and 
stems and ten not five lobes to the corolla does not occur here, 
nor does D. stt amonium, L. a smaller plant with white flowers. 
* Nuttige Indische Planten, part iii, 100. 
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