A few remarks on the poisonous properties of the Calotropis Gigantea, the Mudar of Bengal, the Yercum of the Tamils, and the Warra of the Sinhalese.-By W. C. ONDAATJE, Esq., Asst. Col. Surgeon.

In the course of my public duties, as Medical Officer, in charge of the Civil Medical Stores, I was called upon to discover, if possible the cause of the death of one John Melder. He died at Chilaw, and the stomach and intestines with their contents were sent to me on 31st March last for examination, 12 days after death. He died shortly after some drugs had been administered to him by a native, who was considered to be a most experienced medical practitioner. It appears that the deceased having required an emetic, the native Doctor gave him a small quantity of powdered Kukuroomang seed, (Randia dumetorum), a well known native emetic, mixed in about 2 dessert spoonfuls of the milk of the plant called Warra (Calotropis Gigantea) with a quantity of cow's milk.

The immediate effects of the dose were incessant vomiting, and excruciating pain in the bowels: the extremities became benumbed and lifeless; and in about 2 hours after the medicine had been given, death supervened. The mudar has not to my knowledge been considered as a poison by Toxicologists either Indian or European. I made some experiments with a view of ascertaining the physiological properties of the fresh milk of the mudar. An ounce of it being given to a pup, in 5 minutes it began to froth at the mouth, and violent vomiting ensued until the stomach was completely emptied of its contents. The animal cried and groaned evidently from pain in the bowels. It lay down on the ground and gradually sank and expired within 24 minutes.

Ten minutes after I examined the animal. The mouth and tongue were of a violet colour. The stomach was quite empty, and the

mucous membrane corrugated, the intestines were contracted presenting a cord-like appearance, and spots of inflammation were visible.

The left ventricle of the heart and the larger vessels contained fluid blood.

A second experiment was made on a little dog. The quantity used was 60 drops diluted with water.

The symptoms already referred to followed each other in regular succession being attended with bloody stools. Death ensued in this case in 18 minutes.

These experiments afford sufficient and satisfactory data to lead us to the conclusion, that the milk of the mudar may be placed on the list of the most deadly vegetable poisons in Ceylon and India.

In the rapidity with which it destroys life, it is equal to the poison of the Upas, the celebrated Java poison, which it is well known is a milky juice drawn from the Antiaris Toxicaria producing the same symptoms on the animal economy that the juice of the warra does.

From the effects which the milk of the Calotropis gigantea has thus been ascertained to produce, it appears to me to belong to the class of Narcotic-Irritant poisons, a class of poisons that act on the Cerebro-spinal system of the nerves paralysing the muscles and finally the heart.

During the trial of the case it was clearly proved that the patient suffered from exactly the same painful and fatal effects that were noticed in my two experiments; and the contracted cord-like appearance of the man's Intestines sent to me for examination at once convinced me that death was caused by the effects of the Mudar Milk, which, though as I believed hitherto unknown as a poison, is positively such, and that of an irritant character.

As this cannot but be of great interest to the Indian Toxicologist, I have in these few remarks brought it to the notice of this Society, as this is the only literary and scientific body in Ceylon through which the fact can be communicated.

The Native doctor who administered the drug was tried for manslaughter in September last at Chilaw, and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment within the gaol. The leniency of the sentence is to be attributed to the circumstance, that the malpraxis in the opinion of the Jury, was the result of carelessness and ignorance.

On the Crocodiles of Ceylon-By the Revd. PRINCIPAL BOAKE.

The favourite haunts of Crocodiles being but seldom visited, in consequence both of the insalubrity of the localities in which they are generally to be found, and of the dangerous character of their inhabitants, the habits of these animals are very imperfectly known. The following account of two nests, which were recently found within a few miles of Colombo, may therefore be interesting to Naturalists.

The first of these nests was discovered by Mr. Symonds of the Survey Department, who found it to contain about 150 eggs, which he removed, not without considerable risk, having been repeatedly charged by the old Crocodile who was guarding them.

My curiosity having been excited by the description which I received of the nest from Mr. Symonds, I went to examine it myself. I found it amongst the bushes on the swampy bank of the Bolgodde lake, at a distance of a few feet from the water.

The nest itself consisted of wet vegetable matter mixed with mud, and was raised to the height of between three and four feet, presenting in shape very much the appearance of a small conical haycock, but in colour and consistency that of a heap of dung. Round the base of the cone, was a circular trench more than three feet broad, and about two feet deep, in which the old Crocodile was wont to wallow while watching her nest. The circle enclosed by this trench, the whole of which was covered by the base of the nest, was between six and seven feet in diameter.

I am not aware that these conical nests have been previously noticed. The Rev. J. G. Wood, who makes no mention of the nests of the Crocodile, says in speaking of the Alligator in his Illustrated Natural History, that the parent deposits her eggs in the sand of the river side, scratching a hole with her paws, and placing them

in a regular layer therein. "She then scrapes some sand, dry leaves, grass, and mud over them, smoothes it, and deposits a second layer upon them. These eggs are then covered in a similar manner and another layer deposited, until the mother has laid from 50 to 60 eggs. Although they are hatched by the heat of the sun and the decaying vegetable matter, the mother does not desert her young, but leads them to the water and takes care of them, until their limbs are sufficiently strong, and their scales sufficiently firm to permit them to roam the water without assistance."

It will be seen that the nest of the Crocodile of Ceylon differs considerably from that of the Alligator as described by Mr. Wood. In the former the eggs are placed at a height of at least two feet above the surface of the water; and, although the nests in Ceylon are principally composed of aquatic weeds in a wet state, which might be expected to give out considerable heat in fermenting, yet I do not believe that any artificial heat is required to hatch the eggs, because several eggs, which were procured from the Bolgodde nests, were hatched in my house, being merely deposited in earth which was kept damp and exposed to the rays of the sun.

While examining the nest that had been discovered by Mr. Symonds, we were told by some natives who accompanied us, that there was another nest, within a mile or two of the spot, which had not yet been disturbed.

On visiting this second nest, we found it in all respects very like the first, except that it was not so large, and that, besides the trench which surrounded it, there were one or two holes in the swamp in which the natives said that the old Crocodile was accustomed to lie.

Warned by the narrow escape which Mr. Symonds had when examining the first nest, we approached very cautiously, expecting an attack every moment, and when we were all assembled on the edge of the trench surrounding the nest, we hesitated to cross it, because it was when he was in the act of stepping across the trench, that Mr. Symonds was first attacked by the other Crocodile, which raised its formidable jaws directly beneath him, and would no doubt have effectually put a stop to his proceedings, had he not

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