St. Landry democrat., 1883-08-25
A POTENT INDIAN DRUG.
Azure fOrHy drOp no b a i.

that III WoOrara, a drug prepared by !
the Indians of South America, we have
remedy for that disease.
st is a popular impression he con-
tinued, that hydrophobia almost in
: evitably follows the bite Of a mad dog.
This is a mistake. Perhaps not more
than once in a hundred cases Of biting
does the disease ensue.
For many years the practice OF ply
sicians in treating the bite OF a mad
dog has been to cauteriZe the wound as
soon AS possible. IT this operation were
performed early enough, it was believed
d that no serious results wOold ensue.
Youatt, the great writer on the dog, |
was convinced of the efficacy of this
treatment. He allowed himself repeat
eddy to be bitten by mad dogs, and
cauterized the wounds successfully.
But that the remedy is not infallible is
certain. Yonatt permitted himself to
be bitten once too often, and in spite of
his caustic, he soon discovered that he
was in the incipient stages of hydro
phobia. Despairing OF being. able to
! recover, he blew his brains out rather
than suffer the agony he anticipated.
"The treatment employed in cases
where the disease had actually deyel-
oped varies. The object to be gained
is to mitigate the paroxysnls of the pa
tient, for in hydrophobia death results
4 from exhaustion produced by the VIC
lence OF the commissions. Various drugs
have been used, but with little success.
At last, however, we have a drug which
has recentiy been known to cure several
which, when it's nature is properly I'M
derstood, may prove of the greatest
value. mean the Woorara of the Pc
drach Indians. Waterton, writing in
1911, gave an account of a kind of WOO
rara which he found among the natives
of Demerara for curing snake bites. He
said it was made of many curious in
gradients, including the woorali vine,
two kinds. OF hsslbous plants. the names
of which he did not know, two species
of ants, the strongest Indian pepper,
and powdered fangs Of the Laborian
snake. The mixture was boiled and
then placed in small earthen pots to
cool. He suggested that if this was eff
ticaci6us to cure the bite of snake it
might be of use in the treatment Of hy-
drophobia. Nevertheless, it was never
used for that purpose, although occa-
siOnally referred to in scientific
works.
Recently DIR. Gutenberg in Germany
treated successfully hydrophobia pa
tient with a species of woorara obtain
ed from Indians in Brazil. What this
woorara is, or how it is manufactured,
we do not know. 1t is beyond doubt
a vegetable substance. 1t is sold by
the Indians as a cure for snake bites,
and it is brought by them packed in
finds a ready market, as the reptiles
around there are numerous and venom
Gus. It is potent poison, and in its
action, when taken in fatal doses, pro-
duces death by paralysis. 1t relaxes all
the muscles, in which respect it differs
from strychnine and the other poisons
that produce commissions.
II procured some of it, and after re-
ducing it TO a solution, experimental
with it to try its power. Soon after
these tests used it in a pronounced
case of hydrophobia, and it proved en-
tirey successful.
II was called in great haste to visit
Mr.. C.. He was evidently in the incip-
F. lent stage OF bydrophobia, I learned
that some months before a Young New
foundlaD,i dog bit the servant girl, both
of Mr.. C.is children and a nephew.
When Mr.. G.. went to examine the dog
the animal BIT him through the index
finger of the right hand. The dog was
drowned. Mr.. C.'s wound readily heal
ed. The servant girl died Of IN mistak-
able rabies. Mr.. G.. had been low splr-
tied, nervous and irritable for about
ten days before sending for me. / pres
cribed one-twelftll OF a grain of stryc-
MIA every three hours, and sent for DR..
Flint Of New York. We decided to
continue this treatment. On the fifth
day he was seized with such violent
paroxrslns that il repeated three or
four times they would surely have
proved fatal. He believed he was about
to die. gave him simultaneous in
lection OF one-sixteenth of a grain OF
woorara. He had slept very little be-
fore. but twenty minutes after the in |
lection he fell asleep. Three hours later
heawoke, and gave him an injection
of One-ninth of grain of woorara,
which put him to sleep again. In about
three hours / gave him another injec-
ton of one-sixth of a grain which was
followed bv a natural sleep. I've hours
later he was quiet and rational, declar-
ing that he was feeling perfectly well, /
and all his unfav0rable systems had |
vanished. He has never since shown
any symptoms of the diseaae.
s'Now, am satisfied that il we can
obtain genuine fresh woorara of uni
form strength we shall be able to sue
cessfnlly combat this disease, provided |
the remedy be administered early |
enough. But tile trouble with woorar
is that its strength varies SD that it can
not be safely used until it has been
carefully tested. / am now trying to
extract from pure Woorara its alkaloid,
known as curarine. If succeed, the
difficulty arising from the varying |
strength of woorara in given volume
will be overcome, for the alkaloid will
possess uniform strength In equal guam
- -. f1o% rf,S viz i !
tered recently into correspondence with
Saeratary of State Frelin ghYsen. and he |