There is another of these formidable nettles, called in the East by a name which signifies “Devil’s Leaf,” and which is sufficiently venomous to cause death. There is but little doubt, however, that in the present instance, if a larger portion of the body--say the whole arm--instead of three fingers, had been stung, death would have ensued from the injury. THE BARB. We now come to another improvement, or rather addition, in the various piercing weapons. Sometimes, as in the case of the dagger or the hand-spear, it was necessary that when a blow had been struck the weapon should be easily withdrawn from the wound, so as not to disarm the assailant, and to enable him to repeat the stroke if needful. But in the case of a missile weapon, such as a javelin or an arrow, it was often useful, both in war and hunting, to form the head in such a way that when it had once entered it could scarcely be withdrawn. For this purpose the Barb was invented, taking different forms, according to the object of the weapon and the nationality of the maker. As in this work I prefer to show the gradual development of human inventions, I shall take my examples of barbs entirely from the weapons of uncivilised nations, six examples of which are given in the accompanying illustration, and five of them being drawn from specimens in my collection. [Illustration: BARBED WEAPONS.] The upper left-hand figure is rather a curious one, the position of the barbs being nearly reversed, so that they serve to tear the flesh rather than adhere to it. The opposite figure represents an arrow with a doubly barbed point. It is chiefly used for shooting fish as they lie dozing on or near the surface of the water, but it is an effective weapon for ordinary hunting purposes, and, as the shaft is fully five feet in length, is quite formidable enough for war. The left-hand bottom figure represents a very remarkable instrument, for it can hardly be called a weapon, and is, in fact, the head of a policeman’s staff. It is peculiar to Java, and is called by the name of “Bunday.” As may be seen by reference to the illustration, the head of the Bunday is formed of two diverging slips of wood. To each of these is lashed a row of long and sharp thorns, all pointing inwards, and the whole is attached to a tolerably long shaft. When a prisoner is brought before the chief, a policeman stands behind him, armed with the Bunday, and, if the man should try to escape, he is immediately arrested by thrusting the weapon at him, so as to catch him by the waist, neck, or arm, or a leg. Escape is impossible, especially as in Java the prisoner wears nothing but his waist-cloth.