62 
CHINESE  POISONS. 
being  able  to  devote  to  that  interesting  subject.  In  default  of 
presenting  anything  of  value  to  the  scientific  inquirer,  we  sub- 
mit for  the  perusal  of  the  general  reader  the  limited  information 
we  possess  on  Chinese  poisons.  From  the  period  of  the  Han 
dynasty  to  the  present  day  poisoned  arrows  have  been  employed 
both  in  the  chase  and  in  warfare  ;  less,  however,  by  the  Chinese 
proper  than  by  the  so-called  Aborigines,  or  Miautsz.  In  the 
hands  of  the  latter  they  are  formidable  weapons.  Instant  death 
is  inevitable  from  the  slightest  abrasion.  The  Chinese  possess 
no  agents  for  counteracting  the  poisons  of  the  hill  tribes ;  the 
Pun  Tsau  states  that  these  Inner  Barbarians  apply  borax  some- 
times with  success  to  poisoned  wounds  ;  and  it  is  commonly  re- 
ported that  for  their  various  virulent  poisons  they  possess  per- 
fect antidotes. 
We  are  acquainted  with  only  one  of  the  inoculating  poisons  of 
the  Chinese — a  watery  extract  of  the  root  of  tsau-wu—a,  peren- 
nial creeper  found  on  the  hills  of  the  central  provinces.  Its 
botanical  character,  as  well  as  its  precise  physiological  action, 
we  have  yet  to  ascertain.    Its  active  principle  appears  to  be 
highly  volatilizable,  and  great  exactness  is  needed  in  preparing 
it.    iSmall  animals  are  kept  in  readiness  for  testing  the  strength 
of  the  extract ;  they  are  punctured  with  a  point  charged  with 
the  poison;  and  when  its  virulence  is  sufficient  to  occasion  in- 
stant death,  it  is  boiled  no  longer.    A  native  physician  who  saw 
it  prepared  by  the  hunters  of  the  adjacent  district  of  Funghwa, 
states  that  sometimes  they  prick  their  arms  to  let  blood  flow  to 
the  wrist,  and,  after  carefully  wiping  the  part  near  the  wound, 
apply  some  of  the  pasty  extract  to  the  lower  end  of  the  line  of 
blood,  which  it  rapidly  blackens  through  its  whole  length  ;  and# 
it  is  affirmed,  that  were  the  continuity  with  the  incision  unbroken, 
the  morbific  action  of  the  subtile  agent  would  penetrate  the 
wound  and  prove  quickly  fatal.    It  is  sometimes  applied  to  the 
tongues  of  the  unwary  as  a  practical  joke — when  it  occasions  a 
keen  sensation  of  formication.    The  dried  root  is  administered 
where  the  nerves  of  motion  are  impaired.  The  Funghwa  hunters 
traverse  in  winter  the  mountainous  regions  of  Chihkiang  in  pur- 
suit of  tigers,  that  are  sometimes  taken  by  being  pierced  with 
arrows,  the  necks  of  which  are  bound  with  filaments  of  cotton 
saturated  with  the  poison ;  at  other  times,  springs,  charged  with 
