220 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



ous balsam or gum resin, which — as in other species of Amyridacece — is yielded 

 much more plentifully on the highlands than on the flat alluvial coast. Dr. H. 

 believes that the species of the natural family Amyridacece have been multiplied 

 and confounded, and that some extraordinary errors are entertained respecting 

 their balsamic products — the Wourali* poison and that of the Ticunas having 

 been attributed to one of the species, A. toxifera. The gum-resin of the Haiowa 

 exudes from the trunk and branches, either naturally or from incisions made in 

 the tree, and may be obtained in considerable quantities in the dry season, about 

 the full moon, when its exhalations load the air with a grateful odour. The fruit 

 is also replete with the balsam, and it is of a bitterish, subacrid flavour ; its 

 properties being similar to those of the famed carpo-balsamum formerly known 

 in the shops. Dr. H. described some other trees belonging to the same family ; 

 and so abundant are these exudations in different parts of Guiana, that ship loads 

 might be brought here, and it would be far superior to pitch and tar in imparting 

 durability to cordage. The Indians mix it with anoto paint, and oil of carapa, 

 for anointing their bodies. The author considers that it possesses virtues equal or 

 superior to those of the balm of Gilead, the manner of preparing it being by drawing 

 it into bottles, and keeping it closely corked, for it hardens and becomes brittle by 

 long exposure to the air. The Haiowa is regarded by the natives as one of their most 

 sovereign remedies. Its fumes are inhaled in coughs, and the balsam forms an 

 excellent plaister for wounds, as well as a restorative in atrophy and hectic. The 

 bark, in decoction, is employed in fevers and dysentery, and is considered very 

 efficacious against spasms and convulsions. The remainder of the paper consisted 

 of details of cases showing its effects in coughs and consumptions ; and concluded 

 with some observations on the utility of balsamic remedies in general, and on the 

 erroneous impressions prevalent against their use ; but these, of course, would not 

 be suited to the pages of The Naturalist. 



At the conclusion of the above paper Dr. H. exhibited some specimens of the 

 Wourali plant, employed by the native Indians to poison arrows. The specimen of 

 the plant was gathered in 1810, from the mountain Courantine, in the Rio Parime. 

 It is considered to be a species of Strychnos, although its flowers have never been 

 described by any botanist. The poison is enclosed in the fruit capsules of the 

 plant, and the arrows are prepared by blowing them through a rod formed of a 

 slender spike of Palm. The poison is prepared in the shape of an extract of the 

 bark of the plant. Its mode of action is remarkable. When introduced into 

 the blood of one of the lower animals it quickly proved fatal, but when taken 

 into the stomach it produced no sensible effect ; in this respect differing from 

 every other species of Strychnos. It is necessary, however, to observe that in 



* A popular weekly journal, in a recent report of this Society, terms the poison the " far-famed 

 Worary poison" ! — Ed. 



