Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-10-05

8OIuG VI ~ sfUOAiioNS 3ktAtuECS OSGu
by the E~arbnrians Retain Their
Life Destroying Properties For mn
Indefinite Time.
From the age Of stone mp to the time
when the art ca killing one's neighbor
led to the discorery OF powder and fire.
arms primitive peoples, owing to the
insufficicacv cf their weapons to cause
prompt death, have invented means OF
giving them poisonous qualities Poi
soned weaposs, whether they arc AZ.
rows, knives larcas o. what not. may
get their fatal properties from either
vegetable or animal pcisons.
The South American Indians use
curare; the natives of INDIA, Indo-
China, Borneo and the Moluccas em-
ploy, or rather did employ, the upas TO
poison their weapons; the negroes Of
the Sudan and the Koago stin make
use of a poison extracted from different
varieties Of ~strpphanthus called m'bou-
mou or inc, according to the regions
whore it is employed; the people Of
South Africa. the HoItentots. the Bush
men, the Kaairs and the Akkas, poison
their arrows with the venom Of divers
serpents, the cobra de capello among
others; certain tribes of equatorial
Africa. the N'Dris and the Banjiris,
use their arrows after long burial in
decompOsing coTpses, to communicate
blood poisoning, which results in
speedy death; in Oceanica the natives
OF New Caledonia, the EeU1ides and
the Solomon group give their enemies
lociyiaw By soaking their arrows in
marshes containing ge quantities Of
the bacillus OF teta 4.8.
The first three ir.s If poison are
practically c-;ria. though
the local j ~.c,le l4sl " their
preparation r4 8aS3, gaGaa venom,
toais' eyes exc. They as tae charac-
t~eristic alkAl.ds IL lanis, 1.hica serve
as the basis of a deadly poisonous mix
ture. Curare, upf aMa m'boumou have
MS their prin Cteraents plants
whose species VI vi Tie tribe, and
which all belong to the stry chnine fam
lily. The three last named poisons, ex-
cept that of the South African negroes,
are or mlcroblaI origin.
What are the value, duration and
activity of these poisonsl Curare keeps
indefinitely. In 1857 in the course Of
experiments in physiology made in
France with curarized arrows brought
in 1852 from equatorial America by La
Condamine, a fowl scratched with one
Of these arrows died in seven minutes.
Among the Ouiteto Indians, Jumps Of
ourare handed down from father to SON
have preserved all their poisonous &C.
tivity, although covered with mold.
The same may be said for the upas,
which. kept In little sections Of bamboo
for seven or eight years. retains tho
same active qualities as when freshly
prepared. Malay weapons, even those
Of steel. always keep their poisonous
properties
The black races thas use inc claim
that IL will keep only a short time be-
fore it spoils. Now. inc. which is al
aqueous maceration of strophanthus
seeds. to which is added the juice of q
6g or Of a euphorbi. and generally also
vipers' venom. becomes covered with
mold at the end of a few weeks, but
Notwithstanding it has preserved all its
toxic properties. Guinea pigs have been
killed in a few minutes by being
scratched with arrows whose points
had nodded. In fact. the vegetable
poisons used by primitive peoples for
their arrows keep indefinitely and al
ways make effective weapons.
NJ H. .ll
animal or microbian origin. As we
have seen above, the Bushmen, the
Kaftirs and the Akkas poison the points
of their arrows with serpent venom,
especially that of the cobra. AT the end
of two Oh three weeks their arms have
lost all harmful quality. This is due to
a single cause. The venom OF snakes,
which is preserved indefinitely in alco-
hol. becomes covered in air with a pc
ruliar mold. which has not been studied
hitherto and which removes all poison
OBS effect from the venom.
The poison used on the arrows of the
N'Dris Of the Upper Ubanghi is moth
ing else than the septic vibrio (microbe
of blood p~oisoning), which dies in the
air if it is not in the presence of de-
composition. Thus those arrows are
harmful only during a very short time.
As for the arrows Of the New Gale
domains. which infect their victim with
tetanus, authorities do not agree about
the duration Of their harmful action,
although it is proved that the bacillus
Of. Nicolaier cannot live except in a very
uniat modium and tn0athar with other
bacilli. harmless or otherwise. such as
the septic bacillus. which. es we have
,een. dies in a short time.
Thus in all cases the poisoned arrows
Of the races hat make use of vegetable
alkaloids are much more to be feared
than those VI the tribes that employ
Yoisons Of animal or microbian origin.
A Musical snake.