G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY, m 



been fairly introduced into the circulation in sufficient quan- 

 tity. 12 A, September 8, 381. 



MBOUNDOU POISON. 



Mr. Da Chaillu, in the account of his travels, gives some 

 interesting particulars in regard to the use, by the natives, of 

 what he calls the ordeal root of Goumbe, or the mboundou 

 of the natives. A recent report upon this plant to the Paris 

 Academy informs us that it is a new species of the strychnine 

 group, differing somewhat from the true strychnine, as shown 

 by experiments prosecuted upon frogs, in not causing rigidi- 

 ty. When a very weak dose is injected under the skin of a 

 frog, the poison simply produces constraint in the limbs, or a 

 sort of paralysis, which prevents it from leaping easily, and 

 forces it to crawl. With a larger dose similarly introduced, 

 tetanic convulsions are brought on when the animal is touch- 

 ed, or when the table on which it lies is struck by the hand. 

 Unlike the action of woorari, the power of muscular contrac- 

 tion is not impaired when the operator excites the nerves. 

 17 A, September, 131. 



POISON OF THE SCORPION. 



Quite a diversity of opinion has prevailed among observers 

 in regard to the true character of the poison of the scorpion, 

 and the danger from wounds inflicted by it, this, perhaps, de- 

 pendent to a great degree upon the difference in the species 

 examined. By some its bite is thought to be more fatal than 

 that of the venomous serpents ; but, on the other hand, there 

 are not wanting those who ridicule the idea of any dangerous 

 consequences. In a recent paper by Jousset, the subject is 

 critically investigated, and the results of experiments upon 

 three species are presented. One of these, the common scor- 

 pion of Europe, is dismissed by him as being entirely insig- 

 nificant, on account of its small size, which scarcely exceeds 

 an inch in length. A second species, the Scorpio occitcmus, 

 is more than twice the length of the first mentioned, and its 

 bite proved to be in many cases very serious, although not 

 fatal. A third species, however, the African scorpion, which 

 sometimes attains a length-of from four to six inches, our au- 

 thor found not unfrequently to produce a mortal wound. As 

 is well known, the venomous apparatus of the scorpion is sit- 



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