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XVII. On the Physiological Action of the Baric of Erythrophleum Guinense, generally 
called Casca, Cassa, or Sassy Bark. By T. Lauder Brunton, M.B., F.B.S., 
and Walter Pye, Bsg. 
Received and read June 15, 1876. 
Several months ago we received from Mr. Monteiro a piece of Casca bark, which he 
had obtained with great difficulty from a native at Bembe during his residence in Angola. 
This bark is used by the natives as an ordeal, persons suspected of theft, witchcraft, or 
other crimes being made to drink an infusion of it. If it causes vomiting only, the 
person is acquitted ; but if it causes purging, he is considered to be guilty, and is either 
allowed to die of the poison or at once killed. Among some tribes a practice prevails 
of making the accused, after drinking the infusion, walk in a stooping posture under 
half a dozen low arches made by bending switches and sticking both ends into the 
ground. Should he fall down in passing under any of the arches, he is at once con- 
sidered guilty, and, without waiting for a purgative effect to be produced, he is at once 
put to death. 
All the natives agree in their description of the effect produced on a person poisoned 
by this bark. His limbs are first affected, and he loses all power over them, falls to the 
ground, and dies quickly, without much apparent suffering. 
The same bark, or one having precisely similar effects, is used as an ordeal in Sierra 
Leone, under the name of “red-water bark,” and in Ashantee, under the name of “doom.” 
In both these places the test of vomiting or purging only seems to be employed, and not 
that of stumbling, as described by Mr. Monteiro ; but, according to C. A. Santos, the 
missionaries describe the bark as causing vomiting, glazing of the eyes, and loss of the 
power of contracting the muscles throughout the body ; so that, when the poison has 
fairly commenced its action, the sufferer is incapable of standing or walking, and the 
head rolls heavily about the breast and shoulders. 
Appearance of the Bark. — The pieces given to us by Mr. Monteiro were from 
8-12 inches long, about 4 inches broad, and § of an inch thick, dark brownish red in 
colour, and deeply grooved externally. Their appearance agreed exactly with the 
description given by C. A. Santos, in the ‘American Journal of Pharmacy,’ April 1849, 
p. 96, of the bark which he terms Saucy bark, or. Gidu. 
Chemical Beactions. — When treated with alcohol it yields a dark brownish-red 
tincture, and boiling water gives an infusion of a similar colour, which deposits a pale 
brownish-red precipitate on cooling ; but at the same time the supernatant fluid remains 
turbid from suspended particles, which do not subside, and which are not removed by 
filtration. It becomes clear when heated, but the turbidity returns on cooling. The 
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MDCCCLXXVII. 
