Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-05-23
rur POISONED AReow.
General Use Of the Venom among yariou
SaVageS

general Use OF the Venom among NariNu
Savagcs
The use of poisoned arrows il undouht-
eddy of very ancient origin, said DR.. w.
j. Hoffman to q writer for the Washing
tom Star They are believed 90 have
been employed IN Europe Ina prehistoric
times and later ON according 90 Aristotle,
Strlbo and Pliny, the Cclts and Gauls ems
veuomed their shafts with The juice of q
plant of the genus helleborf The Scyib-
Hus prepared arrow poison by mixing
serpent venom with the serum of putria
blood and other instances are recorded ia
classic htprsuued a people ahaut tha
Black Sea and I'm Asia Minor who prae-
tiocd similar arts
The Amos OF Japan prepare "a poison
for spreading upou bamboo ur metal arrow
points TO XIII game with small portion VI
flesh about the wound being cut out before
the animal Il cooked and eaten In Java,
Boweo, New Guinea and other parts OF
the East India Islands the same practice
obtains 10 a considerable extent The
poisoning Of arrows prevails extensively
in Africa, particularly on the west coast,
~ the Gabuou, emonV the Smuoli aud
with the Bushmen. liy the Bushmen the
juice OF a plant is used. mixed with the
pulp of yenomous worm.
The hest known and mos active of ar
row poison is the woorara or nrai of
South America. II Is chiefly used for tho
tips Of darts blown from the blowgun,
and the most important ingredient is the
juice If the plant from which trychuiue
is obtained. TO which il added certain
other vegetables elements and serpent va
nom Ina Central America poisons arc
also employed on arrows and blowgun
darts The Caribs employed, similarly a
| poison made from the sap of "a tree called
the mancenillcs The autidotc was the
application to the wound of what we
/ know as auowoot
I "The Scris Of Northwestern Mexico pre-
pared poison by putting into the ground
q cows liver, rattcsuakcs, scorpions,
sentipedes aud other unpleasant things
and beating them with stictt Into the
mixture the arrow points were dipped
/ 1 he Apaches and neighboriuV tribes were
until recently ~ the habit Of smearinG
! upon their arrows composition said 10
consist of decomp0sed dccr'a liver and
rattlcsnake y,nom la some instances
crushed red ants are 'also reported to
be used A microscopic examination of
such a coatng upon arrows obtained from
The ApaChes in 1871, showed the presence
of blood and crystalline substance that was
apparently ratt esnake venom The venom
of serpents retains it's poisonous proper
ties when dried indefinitely Oue instance
OF poisoning by such an arrow mentioned
TO me- was that of an old man whose wound
was mere scratch ON the shoulder blade,
but previous TO bis death, which ensued,
the flesh Of the man. back fell of expos
ing the ribs and spine ID several places.
The Shoshame and Blnn0ck Indians
state that the proper way to. poison ar
rows, as formally practiced by them, is 10
secure a deer and cause lt to be bitten by
rationale Immediately after the victim
is killed and the meat removed and placed
In a hole in the ground When the mass
haa become putrid 'hs arrow heads are
dipped into IT, The Chalams Of Puget
Sound used to make arrow heads Of copper,
which were afterwards dipped in sea
water and permitted 10 corr0dc. ! have
never met an Indian who would ADMIT the
use Of poisoned arrows in warfare against
man In nearly all instances whore
poiscns are prepared by Indians the opera
ton Is prefor ed with more or less core
monv thanting and incarnation for the
purpose Of invoking evil spirits or demons.
IN their belief the effect Of poison are due
wholly 10 the presence in them OF male
VIOLENT spirits or demons which enter the
body Of the victim and destroy life