The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-15

the Congo still make use of a poison ex-
tracted from different varieties of stroph-
anthus called m obOumou or inc, according
10 the regions where it is employed; the
people OF South Africa. the Hottentots the
Bushmen, the Kaffirs and the Akkas pois-
on their arrows with the venom of divers
serpents, the cobra de capello among 9th
ers; certain tribes Of equatorial Africa, the
N'Dris and the Baniirs, use their arrows,
after long burial in decomposing corpses,
to communicate blood poisoning, which re-
suits in speedy death; in Oceanica the ma
tives of New Caledonia, the Hebrides and
the Solomon group give their enemies
Iockjaw by soaking their arrows IN
marshes containing large quantities OF the
bacillus of the tetanus.
The first three kinds of poison are prac-
tically of vegetable origin. though the
local medicine men mix with their prepa-
rations red ants snakes venom, toads'
eyes etc; they are the characteristic al
kaloids of plants which serve the ba-
sis of a deadly poisonous mixture. cur
are, upas and m boumou have as their
principal elements plants whose species
vary with the tribe, and which all belong
to the strychnine family. The three last
named poisons, except that of the South
African negroes. are of microbial origin.
What are the value, duration and ac-
tivity of these poisons? Curare keeps In
definitely; 1757 i'm the course of expert
ALGlito HI PHYSIOLOGY iuettt III II IduCt VIII
cuyarlzed arrows brought in 1852 from
equatorial America by La Condamine,
fowl scratched with one of these arrows
died in seven minutes, among the Ouiteto
Indians humps of curare handed down from
father to son have preserved all their poi
sonous activity, 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 the same
active qualities as when freshly prepared.
Malay weapons, even those of steel, al
ways keep their poisonous properties The
black races that use iue claim that ID will
keep only a short time before it spoils.
Now inc, which is an aqueous maceration
of strophanthus seeds, to which is added
the juice of a fig or of a euphorbia, and
generally also Vipers' venom, becomes COW
cred with mold at the end of few weeks
Notwithstanding it has preserved all
its toxic properties; guinea pigs have been
killed in few minutes by being scratched
with arrows whose points had nodded. In
fact, the vegetable poisons used by prim-
tive peoples for their arrows keep in
definitely and always make effective wea-
pons.
This is not the case with poisons of ami
mai or microbial origin. AS we have seen
above, the Bushmen, the Kaffirs and the
Akkas poison the points of their arrows
with serpent venom, especially that of the
cobra; at the end of two or three weeks
their arms have lost an harmful quality
This is due to single cause. The venom
of snakes, which is preserved indefinitely
in alcohol, becomes covered in air with a
peculiar mold which has not been stud
led hitherto, and which removes all poi
sonous effects from the venom. The poison
used on the arrows of the NDris of the
upper Ubanghi is nothing else than the
septic Vlbrio (micrObe of blood poisoning)
which dies I'm the air; il is not in the pres
ence of decomposition. Thus these arrows
are harmful only during a very short time
As for the arrows of the New Caledonians
which infect their victim with tetanus
authorities do not agree about the duration
of their harmful action, although il is
proved that the bacillus of Nicolaier can
not live except in very moist medium
and, together with other bacili, harmless
| or otherwise, such as the septic bacillus,
which, as we have seen, dies in a short
| time.
Thus in all cases the poisoned arrows of
| the races that make use of vegetable aka
loids are much more to be feared than
those of the tribes that employ poisons of
| animal or microbial origin.