On the characters, actions, and therapeutic uses of the ordeal bean of Calabar, (Physostigma Venenosum, Balfour) : a graduation thesis, for which a gold medal was awarded by the Edinburgh University, August 1862 / by Thomas R. Fraser, M.D.

  • Fraser, Thomas R. (Thomas Richard), 1841-1920.
Date:
1863
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the characters, actions, and therapeutic uses of the ordeal bean of Calabar, (Physostigma Venenosum, Balfour) : a graduation thesis, for which a gold medal was awarded by the Edinburgh University, August 1862 / by Thomas R. Fraser, 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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    aware that a death so caused will be investigated by tlie chiefs, and thus they make sure that the administrator will be charged with murder and himself executed. The number of deaths occasioned by this ordeal is very considerable. The population of Calabar is roughly estimated at 100,000, and of these upwards of 120 are reckoned annually to be thus sacrificed. Botany. The bean is the product of a leguminous plant, the Physostigma venenosum (Balfour), found in the neighbourhood and to the west of Calabar Proper, in the territory of a tribe called Eboe (Ibio, Aboi, Abo, or Ibo), who inhabit a region extending westward from the source of the Niger. The plant is described as a runner, climbing on the bushes and trees in its neighbourhood; and this character was well shown in the plants which have been cultivated in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. Its habitat is on the sides and edges of streams, thriving best on swampy river banks. The ripe beans are frequently dropped into the stream, and carried down to Calabar in considerable quantity, so that the natives obtain their supply principally from the banks of the river, irrespective of what is used judicially by the idol-priests. From this source also was derived one of the parcels of the bean for which I am indebted to the Rev. John Baillie. The plant is perennial, probably producing fruit only after some years. The fruit ripens at all seasons of the year, in common with that of many other tropical plants ,• but the most abundant crop is produced in the rainy season from June to Sep- tember inclusive. The following botanical details are extracted from Professor Bal- four's paper in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh:— Natur. order—Leguminosse. Sub-order—Papilionacea. Tribe —Euphaseolte; Genus and Species—Physostigma venenosum.—It has generic characters closely resembling those of Mucua and Phaseolm, but is separated from the former by the characters of the flower and pod, and from the latter by its seed. It has accordingly been placed by Professor Balfour in a separate genus, Physostigma^ and is itself the only known species, venenosum. Generic Charact.—Root, spreading with numerous fibrils, often having small succulent tubers attached. Inflorescence, axillary; on pendulous multifloral racemes ; rachis of each raceme zig-zag and knotty. Calyx, campanulate, four cleft at apex, the upper division being notched and its segments ciliated. Corolla, papilionaceous; veined with a pale pink, having a purplish tinge, and curved in a crescentic manner. Stamens, ten, diadelphous. Pistil, more than one. Stigma, blunt, covered by a remarkable ventricular sac or hood, which extends along the upper part of the convexity of the style, having a resemblance to an admiral's hat set in a jaunty manner. Legume, dark brown and straight, wlien mature, about seven inches