218 
ON NATURAL HISTORY. 
wounds. A Malay, in whom I had full confidence, and 
who enjoyed a certain reputation among his countrymen, 
showed me the process generally made use of, to render 
their arms poisonous. They first scour the blade of the 
instrument with quick-lime, then sprinkle upon one of its 
sides arsenious acid in impalpable powder, and upon this 
part pour lemon juice. After this first operation they 
allow it to remain for a length of time until they 
suppose all reaction has ceased. When they perceive 
that the lemon juice is almost wholly absorbed, they deli- 
cately wipe the surface upon which they have been ope- 
rating, and coat it with the concentrated juice of a root 
which I believe to be the menispermum cocculus. They 
then operate in the same manner upon the other sid#of 
the krei's, and lastly cover the instrument with a small quan- 
tity of oil of cocoa. These arms do not preserve for a long 
time their poisonous properties; I have seen a small sized 
dog, stabbed with one of these newly prepared instruments, 
die in the space of an hour, exhibiting all the signs of death 
by a narcotic poison ; whilst persons to whom I have been 
called to attend, wounded with instruments that had been 
poisoned several years previous, experienced no other in- 
convenience than usually attends slight wounds from a 
sharp instrument. In cases of sickness, the Malays of 
Singapore never have recourse to European physicians. 
There exists among them certain professors of the healing 
art who possess their confidence, and who in their eyes have 
traditional secrets upon the knowledge and treatment of 
diseases, in vain to be sought elsewhere. One of these men 
affirmed to me that he had in his possession medical works 
that had been transmitted by his forefathers the Malays; 
but these pretended works on medicine are mere collections 
of receipts, more or less whimsical and extravagant, which 
have been bequeathed to them by the Arabs, from whom 
they hold all that constitutes social individuality, viz.: re- 
ligion, customs, and industrial arts. I convinced myself that 
