[33] Although a serious refutation of the gross imposition practised on the people of Europe, by the romance of Foersch on the subject of the upas, or celebrated poison-tree of Java, may at this day be in a great measure superfluous, as the world has long ceased to be the dupe of his story, and as regular series of experiments have been instituted, both in France and in England, to ascertain the nature and potency of the poison; yet it may not be altogether displeasing to the reader to see in this place an authentic account of the poison, as drawn out by Dr. Horsfield at my request, and published in the seventh volume of the Batavian Transactions. Almost every one has heard of its fabulous history, which, from its extravagant nature, its susceptibility of poetical ornament, its alliance with the cruelties of a despotic government, and the sparkling genius of Darwin, whose purpose it answered to adopt and personify it as a malignant spirit (in his Lives of the Plants), has obtained almost equal currency with the wonders of the Lerna Hydra, the Chimera, or any other of the classic fictions of antiquity.
"Although the account published by Foersch, in so far as relates to the situation of the poison-tree, to its effects on the surrounding country, and to the application said to have been made of the upas on criminals in different parts of the island, as well as the description of the poisonous substance itself, and its mode of collection, has been demonstrated to be an extravagant forgery,—the existence of a tree on Java, from the sap of which a poison is prepared, equal in fatality, when thrown into the circulation, to the strongest animal poisons hitherto known, is a fact which is at present my object to establish and illustrate. The tree which produces this poison is the anchar, and grows in the eastern extremity of the island. The work of Rhumphius contains a long account of the upas, under the denomination of arbor toxicaria. The tree does not grow on Amboyna, and his description was made from the information he obtained from Makasar. His figure was drawn from a branch of what is called the male-tree, sent to him from the same place, and establishes the identity of the poison-tree of Makasar, and the other Eastern Islands, with the anchar of Java. The simple sap of the arbor toxicaria (according to Rhumphius) is harmless, and requires the addition of several substances, of the affinity of ginger, to render it active and mortal. In so far it agrees with the anchar, which, in its simple state, is supposed to be inert, and before being employed as a poison, is subjected to a preparation which will be described after the history of the tree. Besides the true poison-tree, the upas of the Eastern Islands, and the anchar of the Javans, this island produces a shrub, which, as far as observations have hitherto been made, is peculiar to the same, and, by a different mode of preparation, furnishes a poison far exceeding the upas in violence. Its name is chetik, and its specific description will succeed to that of the anchar: the genus has not yet been discovered or described.
"Description of the Anchar.—The anchar belongs to the twenty-first class of Linnæus, the monoecia. The male and female flowers are produced in catkins (amenta) on the same branch, at no great distance from each other: the female flowers are in general above the male. The characters of the genus are:—Male flower; calix, consisting of several scales, which are imbricate. Corol; none. Stamens; filaments many, very short, covered with scales at the receptacle. The receptacle, on which the filaments are placed, has a conical form, abrupt, somewhat rounded above.—Female flower; catkins, ovate. Calix; consisting of a number of scales (generally more than in the male), containing one flower. Corol; none. Pistil; germ single, ovate. Styles; two, long, slender, and spreading. Stigmas; single and acute. Seed-vessel; an oblong drupe, covered with the calix. Seed; an ovate nut, with one cell.
"Specific Description.—The anchar is one of the largest trees in the forests of Java. The stem is cylindrical, perpendicular, and rises completely naked to the height of sixty, seventy, or eighty feet. Near the surface of the ground it spreads obliquely, dividing into numerous broad appendages or wings, much like the canarium commune (the canary-tree), and several other of our large forest trees. It is covered with a whitish bark, slightly bursting in longitudinal furrows. Near the ground this bark is, in old trees, more than half an inch thick, and upon being wounded yields plentifully the milky juice from which the celebrated poison is prepared. A puncture or incision being made into the tree, the juice or sap appears oozing out of a yellowish colour (somewhat frothy) from old, paler or nearly white from young trees; exposed to the air, its surface becomes brown. The consistence very much resembles milk: it is more thick and viscid. This sap is contained in the true bark (or cortex), which, when punctured, yields a considerable quantity, so that in a short time a cup-full may be collected from a large tree. The inner bark (or liber) is of a close fibrous texture, like that of the morus papyrifera, and when separated from the other bark, and cleansed from the adhering particles, resembles a coarse piece of linen. It has been worked into ropes, which are very strong; and the poorer class of people employ the inner bark of the younger trees, which is more easily prepared, for the purpose of making a coarse stuff which they wear in working in the fields. But it requires much bruising, washing, and a long immersion, before it can be used, and when it appears completely purified, persons wearing this dress being exposed to rain, are affected with an intolerable itching, which renders their flimsy covering insupportable. It will appear from the account of the manner in which the poison is prepared, that the deleterious quality exists in the gum; a small portion of which still adhering, produces, when exposed to wet, this irritating effect: and it is singular, that this property of the prepared bark is known to the Javans in all places where the tree grows, while the preparation of a poison from its juice, which produces a mortal effect when introduced into the body by pointed weapons, is an exclusive art of the inhabitants of the eastern extremity of the island. The stem of the anchar having arrived at the above-mentioned height, sends off a few stout branches, which spreading nearly horizontally with several irregular curves, divide into smaller branches, and form a hemispherical, not very regular, crown. Previous to the season of flowering, about the beginning of June, the tree sheds its leaves, which reappear when the male flowers have completed the office of fecundation. It delights in a fertile, not very elevated, soil, and is only found in the largest forests. One of the experiments to be related below was made with the upas prepared by myself. In the collection of the juice I had some difficulty in inducing the inhabitants to assist me; they feared a cutaneous eruption and inflammation, resembling (according to the account they gave of it) that produced by the ingas of this island, the rhus vernix of Japan, and the rhus radicans of North America. The anchar, like the trees in its neighbourhood, is on all sides surrounded by shrubs and plants: in no instance have I observed the ground naked or barren in its immediate circumference. The largest tree I met with in Balambangan, was so closely environed by the common trees and shrubs of the forest in which it grew, that it was with difficulty I could approach it. Several vines and climbing shrubs, in complete health and vigour, adhered to it, and ascended to nearly half its height; and, at the time I visited the tree and collected the juice, I was forcibly struck with the egregious misrepresentation of Foersch. Several young trees spontaneously sprung from seeds that had fallen from the parent, put me in mind of a line in Darwin's Botanic Garden:—
'Chain'd at his root two scion-demons dwell;'
while in recalling his beautiful description of the upas, my vicinity to the tree gave me reason to rejoice that it was founded in fiction.
"Description of the Chetik.—The fructification of the chetik is still unknown: after all possible research in the district where it grows, I have not been able to find it in a flowering state. It is a large winding shrub. The root extends creeping a considerable distance parallel to the surface, sending off small fibres at different curves, while the main root strikes perpendicularly into the ground. The stem, which in general is shrubby, sometimes acquires the size of a small tree. The poison is prepared from the bark of the root. The chetik grows only in close, shady, almost inaccessible forests, in a deep, black, fertile vegetable mould. It is very rarely met with even in the wildernesses of Balambangan.
"Preparation of the Poison from the Anchar.—This process was performed for me by an old Javan, who was celebrated for his superior skill in preparing the poison: about eight ounces of the juice of the anchar, which had been collected the preceding evening in the usual manner, and been preserved in the joint of a bambu, was carefully strained into a bowl. The sap of the following substances, which had been finely grated and bruised, was carefully expressed and poured into it, viz. arum (nampu), kempferia galanga (kenchur), anomum (bengli) a variety of zerumbed, common onion and garlic, of each about half a drachm. The same quantity of finely powdered black pepper was then added, and the mixture stirred. The preparer now took an entire fruit of capsicum fruticosum or Guinea pepper, and having opened it, he carefully separated a single seed, and placed it on the fluid in the middle of the bowl. It immediately began to reel round rapidly, now forming a regular circle, then darting towards the margin of the vessel, with a perceptible commotion on the surface of the liquor, which continued about one minute. Being completely at rest, the same quantity of pepper was again added, and another seed of the capsicum laid on as before. A similar commotion took place in the fluid, but in a less degree, and the seed was carried round with diminished rapidity. The addition of the same quantity of pepper was repeated a third time, when a seed of the capsicum being carefully placed in the centre of the fluid, remained quiet, forming a regular circle about itself in the fluid, resembling the halo of the moon. This is considered as a sign that the preparation of the poison is complete.
"Preparation of the Poison from the Chetik.—The bark of the root is carefully separated and cleared of all the adherent earth, a proportionate quantity of water is poured on, and it is boiled about an hour, when the fluid is carefully filtered through a white cloth; it is then exposed to the fire again, and boiled down to nearly the consistence of an extract; in this state it much resembles a thick syrup. The following spices, having been prepared as above described, are added in the same proportion as to the anchar, viz. kempferia galanga (kenchur), (súnti), anomum zingéber (shai), common onion, garlic, and black pepper. The expressed juice of these is poured into the vessel, which is once more exposed to the fire for a few minutes, when the preparation is complete. The upas of both kinds must be preserved in very close vessels."
Dr. H. then details the particulars of twenty experiments made on different animals with these poisons, as well in their simple state as procured from the bark, powerfully prepared in the manner as above stated, in which the violence of the poison was manifested; and concludes with some general observations, from which the following are extracted: