"Although the account published by Foersch, in 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, as well as the description of the poisonous substance itself, and its mode of collection, has been demonstrated to be an extravagant forgery,--the existence of a tree on 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 is at present my 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 on Amboyna, and his description was made from the information he obtained from Makasar. 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 Makasar, 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 preparation which will be described after the history of the tree. 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, and its specific description will succeed to that of the anchar: the genus has not yet been discovered or described.
"DESCRIPTION OF THE ANCHAR.--The anchar belongs to the twenty-first class of Linnæus, the monoecia. The male and female flowers are produced in catkins (amenta) on the same branch, at no great distance from each other: the female flowers are in general above the male. The characters of the genus are:--MALE flower; calix, consisting of several scales, which are imbricate. Corol; none. Stamens; filaments many, very short, covered with scales at the receptacle. The receptacle, on which the filaments are placed, has a conical form, abrupt, somewhat rounded above.--FEMALE flower; catkins, ovate. Calix; consisting of a number of scales (generally more than in the male), containing one flower. Corol; none. Pistil; germ single, ovate. Styles; two, long, slender, and spreading. Stigmas; single and acute. Seed-vessel; an oblong drupe, covered with the calix. Seed; an ovate nut, with one cell.