Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-05-04
Curare.

Inc Guiana poison, known under the vari-
Gus names OF wOOral, Ourari, urare, or curare,
Is proba bly, the best known arrow poison, and
given by WatertOn in his Wanderings.''
Seh0mburgk identified the plant as a species
OF stryGhnos, which he named s. toxifera.
during his travels in British Guiana, he was
informed that the. ourari plant grew in the
COpc0nen mountains, and made special ex-
petition with the object of seeing it, He
found it, under the guidance of some Indians
who accompanied him, and described it as a
woody Climber, having a very crooked stem
often more than three inches thick, with a
rough dark grayish bark; the branches are
thin and somewhat climbing, often furnished
with curled hooks, and covered with dark
brown hairs, with opposite Ovate dark green
Leaves; the fruits round, smooth, blush green
imbedded in an intensely bitter gummy pulp
Dr. SchOmburgk SayS:-"We observed MANY
heaps OF the cut wood covered with palmtreeS,
which, as the Indians told us. had been left by
the MarOOns. The plant grows only in two or
three places, which are reSOrted to by the In
dams from all directions and often from a
great distance" Although this identification
is generally accepted, it is not universally so ::
Tor 1t is argued that the wOOrali poison acts in
a mode directly opposite to that of Strychna
III destroying life, and that chemists had been
unable to detect that alkalOid in it. 1t has
been aScertained from numerous experiments
that the WOOrali acts by paralyZing the ner-
SoHs cen5ers OF respiration and motion, with
out producing essentially any diScOyerable
alteration in the blood and tissues: so that
its action is, as has been said, directly OppO-
site to that of Strychnia, to which, indeed,
1t IS stated to act as an antidote by inducing
relaxation OF the contracted muscles. 1t has
been suggested that the poison from the fangS
OF certain SerpentS may contribute to the
woOrall poison, if it does not form its most
active ingredient; but recent examinations of
two varieties of the poison (knOWn respective
~ as cOrrOval end vac or baO) by two Ameri-
can physicians, DIS. Hammond and Weir
Mitchell. show cOnclusively the presence O
absence Of al moi
The former contains a peculiar alkalOid
which they propose to call cOrrOvaia
and they consider it to be derived from a
different source from the ordinary WOO
rail-. NatertOn. however, speaks of the
poison fangs of two kinds of snake as form
ing, ingredients in the wOOrali poison, as
well as a certain bitter root, some Indian pep
per, two kinds OF dubious plants which con
tain green and glutinOuS juice, and two ven
omous species of ant. Having got together
the necessary ingredients, the Indian .sScrapes
the woorali vine and the bitter root into the
shavings, and puts them into kind of cOlan-
der made of leaves: this he holds over an
the LIQUOR which comes through has the ap-
pearance of coffee. When sufficient quaint
ty has been procured: the shavings are thrown
aside He then bruises the dubious stocks,
through his hands into the pot. Lastly, the
SNAKES na tsr iangs, ants, and pepper are bruised
ana Slow yhrS ys amt into is then placed
OF the wOorali is added, according as it may
be found necessary and the scum is taken off
with leaf. 1t remains on the fire till reduced
to thick syrup Of deep brown color As
soon as 1t has arrived at this state few ar
rows are poisoned with it to try its strength.
IL 1t answer the expectations, it is poured out
into calabaSh or little pot of Indian manu-
faeture, which, is carefully covered with a cOu-
pie OF leaves, and over them piece of deer's
skin tied with cord" The poison is prepared
with many special precautions. Women are
not allowed to be present, the maker of the
poison must be fasting through the operation,
thinks that a laurel (Nectdndd cynb1runl)
forms one of the ingredients of the woOrali
DOSOn- The EyeJ6