The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1891-10-27

the person any Inconvenience. but II
once developed. eye glasses follow and
the patient can never lay them aside
nolsoNs For ARROWS.
he Various Queer Ways In Which
They Were Obtained.
The use of poisoned arrows is I'M
ioubtedly Of very ancient origin"
aid DIR. w. j. Hoffman, to a Washing
on Star reporter. They are believ-
ID to have been employed in Europe
n prehistoric times. and later on. &C
.ording to Aristotle. Strabo and Pliny.
he Celts and Gauls envenomed their
shafts with the juice of plant of the
genus hellebore. The Scythians pre-
pared arrow poison by mixing serpent
senom with the serum of putrid blood.
ind other instances are recorded in
literature of people about the Black
sea and in Asia Minor who practiced
similar arts.
The Amos of Japan prepare
poison for spreading upon bamboo or
metal arrow-points to kill game with.
4 small portion of flesh about the
wound being cut out before the ami
nal is cooked and eaten. In Java,
Borneo New Guinea. and other OF the
East India islands the same practice
obtains to a considerable extent Fhe
poisoning of arrows prevails extern
sively in Africa, particularly on the
vest coast, in the Gaboon. among the
Somali and with the Bushmen. BY
The Bushmen the juice Of a plant is
lsed. mixed with the pulp Of venom
BUS worm.
The best known and most active Of
ooisons il the wOorara or urarf OF
South America. 1t is chiefly used for
The tips of darts blown from the blow
gun, and the most important ingredi-
ant is the juice OF the plant from
which strychnine Is obtained, to which
Is added certain other vegetable ele-
ments and serpent venom. In Gen.
tral America poisons are also employ
ID on arrows and blow-gun darts.
The Caribs employ similarly poison
made from the sap of q tree called the
.mancenilles' The antidote was the
application to the wound Of what We
know as ,arrowroot.'
The Serbs of northwestern Mexico
prepared poison by putting into the
ground q cows liver. rattlesnakes,
scorpions centipedes and other un-
pleasant things. and beating them
with q stick. Into the mixtures the
arrow points were dipped. The
Apaches and neighboring tribes were.
until recently, in the habit of smear
ing upon their arrows a composition
said to consist of decomposed deer's
liver and rattlesnake venom. In some
instances crushed red ants are also re-
ported to have been used. A micro
scopic examination Of such a coating
upon arrows obtained from Apaches in
1871 showed the presence of blood and
crystalline substance that was ap-
parenly rattlesnake venom. The
venom Of serpents retains its poisonous
properties when dried indefinitely.
One instance Of poisoning by such an
arrow mentioned to me was that of Q
Wdu WuOo0 WOuuC w8S . uoH0 SSkdeSAA
on the shoulder blade. but previous to
death, which ensued. the flesh of the
mans back foil OF. exposing the ribs
and spine in several places
The Shoshone and Bannack In
dams state that the proper way to
poison arrows, as formerly practiced
by them, is to secure q deer and cause
it to be bitten by a rattlesnake i'm
mediately after which the victim is
killed and the meat removed and
placed in a hole in the ground. When
the mass has become putrid the ar
row points are dipped into 1t. The
Clallams of Puget sound used to make
arrow points of copper. which were
afterward dipped in sea water and
permitted to corrode. / have never
met an Indian who would admit the
use of poisoned arrows in warfare
against man. In nearly all instances
when poisons are prepared by Indians
the operation is performed with more
or less ceremony chanting and in
cantation, for the purpose of invoking
evil spirits or demons. In their belief
the effects of poison are due wholly to
the presence in them Of malevOlten
spirits or demons, which enter the
body of the victim and destroy life.
Ossificntion Of the Eye.
Samuel A. Avila. the Republican
Al