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UPAS

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 782 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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UPAS , a Javanese word meaning See also:

POISON

poison, and specially applied to the poison derived from the See also:

GUM (Fr. gomme, Lat. gommi, Gr. Kµµ1, possibly a Coptic word; distinguish " gum," the fleshy covering of the base of a tooth, in O. Eng. gbma, palate, cf. Ger. Gaumen, roof of the mouth; the ultimate origin is probably the root gha, to open wide, seen in

gum of the anchar See also:

tree (Antiaris toxicaria), a member of the fig-See also:

FAMILY

family (See also:

MORACEAE

Moraceae), and a native of the Sunda Islands, which was commonly used to envenom the darts of the natives. The name of the upas tree has become famous from the mendacious See also:

account (professedly by one Foersch, who was a surgeon at Samarang in 1773) published in the See also:

LONDON

London See also:

MAGAZINE

Magazine, See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1783, and popularized by See also:

ERASMUS, DESIDERIUS (1466–1536)

Erasmus See also:

Darwin in " Loves of the See also:

PLANTS

Plants " (Botanic See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

Garden, pt. ii.). The tree was said to destroy all See also:

animal See also:

LIFE

life within a See also:

RADIUS

radius of 15 M. or more. The poison was fetched by condemned malefactors, of whom scarcely two out of twenty returned. All this is pure See also:

FABLE (Fr. fable, Lat. fabula)

fable, and in See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

PART

part not even traditional fable, but See also:

mere invention. The milky juice of the tree contains an active principle named antiarin, which has been recommended as a cardiac stimulant. It is without any properties, however, that entitle it to clinical employment. The tree is described as one of the largest in the forests of See also:

JAVA

Java, the straight cylindrical See also:

STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem rising without a See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch to the height of 6o to 8o ft. It has a whitish bark and on being wounded yields plentifully the milky juice from which the poison is prepared. For a full account of the tree, see See also:

Bennett and See also:

Brown, Plantae Javanicae rariores, p. 52 (1838).

End of Article: UPAS

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