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stalks i inch long. Each flower is £ inch across pale purple in 
colour with few rather broad lobes and a very short tube. 
The fruit is large and oval in out line with a strong keel on one 
side. It is three inches long and as much through, brown and 
rough with very small warts. When cut through it is seen to have 
a thick rind \ inch through white and pithy, and containing as does 
the rest of the plant a quantity of latex. This rind which when 
fresh is quite tasteless is the eatable part of the plant. The seeds 
are ovate flat thin discs an inch long and three quarters of an inch 
across and form a large mass overlapping each other. They are 
brown and possess a broad thin wing all round the seed itself. 
The plant belongs to the order Asclepiadacece, and inhabits the 
shores of tidal rivers creeping over the bushes along the banks. It 
is called Akar Peler Kambing, or Kambing-kambing, It occurs in 
Singapore, Malacca, Pahang and as far north as the. Merqui Archi- 
pelago and in the Sunderbunds in India. 
Mrs. Bland informs me that this fruit is used to make a conserve 
in Malacca, which is very palatable and I find it is also so used here. 
The following is the recipe, as used in Singapore. 
The rind is taken and cut into pieces and dipped in salt and water 
for three days/then removed to fresh water for 2 days and then put 
into boiling syrup. 
It is also used as a ‘ 4 sambal ” for curry. For this the rind is put 
into salt and water for 3 or 4 hours, and then boiled. 
The seeds are said to be poisonous killing a dog in about twenty 
four hours. 
H. N. RIDLEY. 
DATURA- POISONING. 
Dr. J. D. GlMLETTE publishes in the British Medical Journal 
(May 1 6, 1903) an article on Datura poisoning in the Federated 
Malay States. These poisonous plants ( Datura gastuosa , and 
D. alba), commonly to be found in gardens and waste grounds are 
known to the Malays as Kechubong, the black datura a dark co- 
loured usually purplish flowered form or species being known as 
Kechubong Hitam, Kechubong Ulong, and in Kedah Trong Pungah, 
the white form is called Kechubong Putili. For criminal purposes 
the seeds are used in the Native States, but I have known of a 
decoction of the leaves being used in Singapore, ancl also dried 
flowers. Four cases of criminal use of the drug in Pahang and 
Selangor are described, the seeds bejng administered in tea or 
curry; but Dr. GlMLETTE also mentions cases of mixture of the 
seeds with opium and Indian hemp, and also burnt with incense 
so as to produce lethargy in the victims. The results of taking the 
seeds internally are, dryness of the throat, uncertainty of vision 
and delirium. It does not seem to be ordinarily fatal except in the 
case of young children and aged persons. In cases of datura- 
poisoning, emetics are usually the hrst remedies applied, but Dr. 
GlMLETTE states that too much reliance must not be put in these 
and the early administration of a purgative is often advisable. 
