And quite recently has it not been narrated by Parson Evans, of Wales, how he had been badly treated by a spirit because he had forgotten a fumigation during one of his enchantments?
If there has been so much imposture or hallucination amongst advanced peoples (or supposed to be such) we cannot reproach the poor Sakai for his ignorance if in all good faith he thinks that a pinch of pounded bees and serpents' teeth increases the virulence of the legop poison. Does he not also believe that the mysterious words muttered by the Alà give greater force to his murderous preparations?
As to the effects of the legop strange and contradictory versions are given.
Some affirm that the smallest possible quantity brought into contact with the blood, causes instantaneous death; others declare that it is not sufficiently powerful to kill a man or a beast if the quantity inoculated is not in proportion to the size or if they are strong enough to resist it.
It is my opinion that both these assertions are exaggerated.
One day I asked a Sakai if he thought it possible to kill a man with legop.
He replied that nearly every day animals of double the bulk and strength of a man were killed in the forest, and that the poison supplied by this creeper speedily fulfils its mission. As a proof of this he related that once he was standing near a Javanese who had been guilty of violating a woman. This man was hit by a poisoned dart and died almost immediately.
Without appearing in the least to doubt the fact I begged him to show me the exact spot where the dart entered the poor fellow, and where it came out, and from his indications I could convince myself that the dart having penetrated under the shoulder blade had passed through the heart from part to part and had been arrested in its course by the muscles of the thorax.
It was therefore clear to me that death was due to the passage of the dart through the victim's body and had nothing to do with the poison in which the missile had been previously steeped. To my knowledge no recognized studies have ever been made to ascertain the true force of legop, so one is free to calculate it at its maximum or minimum, especially when its susceptibility to atmospheric changes is considered.