6 Letter from C. UumloLli 



which is not at all prejudicial, but exceedingly nourifhing. 

 By the help of the nitric acid I have made caoutchouc, 

 and 1 mixed Ibda with that deftined for you, according to 

 the principles which you yourfelf fixed. 



In the month of January latt we fent, by the corvette Phi- 

 lippina, a collection of feeds for the J.rdins des Plantcs at 

 Paris, We know thev have arrived, and muft have been 

 delivered to citizen? .When and Thouin by the ambafTaclor of 

 the republic at Madrid. By the flag of truce, which we ex- 

 pect here fr.om Guadaloupe, the mufamm will receive other 

 articles; for at prefent we muft be fatisfied with prefenting 

 you a few objects for your chemical analyiis. 



I have procured for you the curare, or celebrated poifon of 

 the Indians on the Rio-Nigro. I undertook a journey to 

 Enneralda on pifrpofe to fee the liane, which produces this 

 juice, but .unfortunately we found it without flowers; and 

 to fee the method praciifed by the Catarapeni and Maquiri- 

 tares Indians for making this poifon. I lhall give you, feme 

 other time, a more ample defcription of it. I (hall only add, 

 that I fend you the curare in a box of tin plate*, and the 

 branches of the plant maracury r which produces the poifon. 

 This liane grows, but not in great abundance, among the 

 granitic mountains of Guandia and Yumariquin, under the 

 fliade of the theobromacacao and the earyocar. The Indians 

 take off the epidermis and make an infufion of it cold, having 

 firit expreikd the juice; they then leave the water over the 

 epidermis half expreiYed, and afterwards filter the infufion. The 

 filtered liquor ii> vellowilh : it is then baked, and concentrated 

 by evaporation and infpilYation to the confidence of molafles. 

 This matter contains already the poifon, but not being fuffi- 

 eicntly thick to daub over the points of their arrows, they 

 mix it with the glutinous juice of another tree, which they 

 call kiracaguero. This mixture is again baked till the whole 

 is reduced to a brownifh mafs. You know that the curare 

 is taken internally as a ftomachic : it is not noxious but 

 when it comes into contact with the blood, which it deoxydates- 

 It is only a few davs ago that I began to make experiments 

 upon it, and I have found that it decompofes atmofphcric 

 air. I beg you will try to de-oxydate with it the metallic 

 oxyds, and that you will examine whether the experiments 

 of Fon'.aiu. were properly made. 



lad<i to the curare and the maracury, tne dapifche, the 

 he}. (are, and the earth of the Otomaquas. The da- 



p'Ucle is a ftate of the elaiiic gum, which, is, no doubt, un- 



• I i.icr articles announced here, have not yes reached 



known 



