Dear Kiran Ji, This link will hopefully help you a bit!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croton_oil Regards Tanay
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 10:14 AM, kiran srivastava <[email protected]>wrote: > Whilst reading "Kublai Khan" I came across something interesting that the > author, John Man wrote about the *Croton Tree which grows in Indian and > Indonesia*. He writes that '..the oil of its seeds blisters the skin and, > if swallowed, inflames the stomach and produces instant diarrhoea'. Which > species is he referring to please? > > The above-mentioned oil was only part of the ingredients that the Chinese > used in making, what the author calls, 'shit-and-beetle-bomb'. They mixed 7 > kgs of powdered human excrement + 400gms root of *Aconite *+ 200gms Croton > oil + 40gms white arsenic + 100gms beetles of the genus *Mylabris *(Blister > Beetle) with gunpowder and used this lethal bomb on its enemies. These bombs > were made in/around 1257 so this apparently was a precurser to chemical and > germ warfare used centuries later as we have read: tear gas and chlorine by > the Germans (actually, started by the French) in World War I, and Agent > Orange (A defoliant) used by the Americans in Vietnam. > > The Blister Beetle, as we all know, secretes *Cantharidin,* a poisonous > chemical that causes blistering of the skin. These are very large > black-and-red beetles that we so often photograph on flowers. Incidentally, > they have a penchant for yellow flowers. > > Cheers, > Kiran Srivastava > Mumbai > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "efloraofindia" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<indiantreepix%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix?hl=en. > -- Tanay Bose +91(033) 25550676 (Resi) 9830439691(Mobile) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiantreepix?hl=en.
