Although a serious refutation of the gross imposition practiced 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 time 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
England and in France, to ascertain the nature and potency of the
poison; yet an authentic account of this poison, as drawn out by Doctor
Horsfield, and given in the seventh volume of the Batavian transactions,
can not fail to be interesting. 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 “Loves
of the Plants,”) has obtained almost equal currency with the wonders of
the Lernian hydra, or any other of the classic fictions of antiquity.
Although, as Doctor Horsfield observes, the account published by
Foersch, 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,
has, as well as the description of the poisonous substance itself, and
its mode of collection, been demonstrated to be an extravagant forgery;
yet the existence of a tree in 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 it is his
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 in Ambonia,
and his description was made from the information he obtained from
Macassar. 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 Macassar, 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
particular preparation. 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_; but
the genus to which it belongs has not yet been discovered or described.
The _anchar_ is one of the largest trees in the forests of Java. The
stem is cylindrical, perpendicular, and rises completely naked to the
hight of sixty, seventy, or eighty feet. 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 color from old trees;
but paler, or nearly white, from young ones; and when exposed to the
air, its surface becomes brown. The consistence very much resembles
milk; but 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 cupful 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 it
insupportable. It appears 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.