The physiological actions of dajaksch, an arrow poison used in Borneo / by Peter M. Braidwood, M.D.

  • Braidwood, Peter Murray.
Date:
1864
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiological actions of dajaksch, an arrow poison used in Borneo / by Peter M. Braidwood, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIONS OF DAJAKSCH/ Experimental researches as to the action of poisons on the animal organism present to the physiologist by no means an uninteresting lield of inquiry, inasmuch as they either provide him with the only means of ascertaining certain physiological facts, or enable him to confirm results reached at by less refined methods of investigation. A good example of the latter is the working of the poison which forms the subject of the following paper. Characters of the Extract.—The di-ied extract has a dark iron- gray colom*; is fragile. It is dissolved by water, but not so readily as is wooi-ara ; and, Avhen finely pulverized, it is to a slight extent soluble in both alcohol and ether. It is not more soluble in hot than in cold water. Water dissolves it more readily in the presence of acids, whereas alkalies do not increase its solubility in water. It is insoluble in chloroform. The foregoing solutions give an alkaline reaction with test paper. The watery solution used for experiment had a bitter taste, was of a brown colom*, and its odour resembled organic matter decaying in a moist place.^ General Symptoms produced by the Poison.—Tlie first noticeable evidence of the working of this poison, when administered subcu- taneously, is restlessness, and signs of irritation. These reflex movements are not those resulting from excessive pain, but resemble such as are produced by a mild local irritant. This is followed by a state of languor—the animal lying perfectly still, and the respiration being slow, but not laboured. Its posture, however, does not allow of the supposition of want of motor power, but only of'indisposition to move. This condition is interrupted by several fits of convulsions, » While ■working in liis laboratory in Berlin, Professor Du Bois-Reymond kindly gave me this poison, dajakschhe had received from a doctor who had been in Borneo. It was in the form of an extract, wound round a small piece of stick, and dried thereon. It was wrapped up then in paper, and sealed in a piece of bamboo about three inches long, which bore the inscription, Dajaksch : Pfeil-gift von ]]orneo. * From this simile it is not to be thought that the extract used was already too old and had begun to decompose. All those who smelt the watery solution considered its odour to be quite characteristic; and though the comparison is not perfectly accurate, it is as nearly so as pos.sible. The odour, moreover, does not increase as the solution is kept longer, and is not very strong, though marked.