CURARI OR WOORARA POISON. 369 



from evaporation by superincumbent watch-glasses with greased edges 

 (Fig. 3). 



In most instances the drops were absorbed entirely, leaving no 

 traces of the mineral matter ; in some cases a slight residue was left, 

 which the addition of a minute quantity of water caused to disappear. 

 As in the case of pure water, the -under side of the leaves absorbed 

 much more rapidly than the upper side. Solutions of sulphate and 

 nitrate of potassium gave quite similar results ; the absorption of solu- 

 tions of chloride of sodium and nitrate of ammonium was not so per- 

 fect. These results would tend to show that the foliage of a plant is 

 able to supply it with perhaps no small portion of its saline constituents 

 by means of the ammoniacal salts formed in the air, and the alkaline 

 and earthy salts suspended there which are deposited on the surface of 

 the leaves by rain and dew. — Nature. 



-♦♦♦- 



CUEAKI OE WOOEAEA POISOJ^.' 



Br MAURICE GIRAED. 



IT is almost three centuries since Sir Walter Raleigh, after the dis- 

 covery of Guiana, brought to Europe some arrows poisoned with a 

 substance called by him curari. This poison was then in general use 

 among the tribes inhabiting the Atlantic slope of South America. 

 To-day we must penetrate into the depths of the forests to find the 

 remnants of the ancient populations who possess the recipe for prepar- 

 ing curari. It may safely be affirmed that by next century it will have 

 disappeared, either through the annihilation of these races, who are 

 vanishing before the whites, or blending with them by intermarriage, 

 or, above all, because firearms, obtained by way of barter from Euro- 

 pean traders, are steadily superseding the ancient implements of war 

 and of the chase. 



The arrow-poison is usually prepared from a substance often called 

 veneno by the Spanish-Americans, and which occasionally happens to 

 be brought to Europe under the name of curari. This substance, 

 which the natives carry about in little earthenware pots or in cala- 

 bashes, is a black, solid extract, with glistening fracture, in appearance 

 very much like the black, inspissated juice of licorice. The active 

 principle of curari is soluble in water, alcohol, blood, and all animal 

 fluids ; it is mixed with many impurities, which remain suspended in 

 the solution, and among which the microscope detects vegetable de^ 

 bris, cells, and fibres. Ether and spirits of turpentine precipitate the 

 curari poison, and in this way Messrs. Boussingault and Roulin have 

 been able to isolate the active principle of curari, which they call cu- 



' Translated from La Nature by J. Fitzgerald, A. M. 

 VOL. XIV. — 24 



