ORGANIC BASES. 201 



of tbe vines and evaporating it down. Different travelers agree that 

 they also add poisonons ants and fangs of snakes. It would seem 

 therefore that citrarin, the active principle of the arrow-poison or 

 curare, was a constituent of the juice of vines; but there is no certainty 

 on this subject, since travelers do not agree in their accounts of the 

 preparation of this interesting substance. Curare can be taken into the 

 alimentary canal without the slightest danger, and even the meat of 

 animals poisoned by it is innocuous, while it is certainly and often sud- 

 denly fatal when injected into the blood even in small quantity. When 

 introduced into a wound, this poison occasions no pain whatever. The 

 symptoms preceding death are very remarkable, as can be seen when a 

 very small quantity is introduced into the blood of a large animal. There 

 is an immediate relaxation of the muscles, all voluntary motion ceases, 

 the animal sinks down powerless, but with its consciousness unimpaired, 

 and finally the respiration ceases and death ensues, without the presence 

 of any symptoms which would indicate excitement or a death-struggle. 

 It is a progressive palsy, ending in the brain. 



A whole series of organic bases is esteemed on account of the pleasant 

 stimulating effect they exert on the body when in small quantities and 

 diluted with other substances. They belong to the category of luxuries. 

 Among them, nicotine, the active principle of tobacco, takes the fore- 

 most rank. 



Pure nicotine is a liquid, which becomes brown in the light, has a to- 

 bacco-like smell and possesses very poisonous properties. The amount of 

 nicotine contained in different kinds of tobacco varies. Although it is 

 not exactly in the inverse, it is b^' no means in direct proportion to the 

 excellence of the tobacco. Fine brands, such as Havana and Mary- 

 land tobaccos, contain but very little ; the former not quite two and the 

 latter from two to four j)er cent. Kentucky and Virginia brands con- 

 tain as much as from six to seven per cent., and some of the domestic 

 brands of Germany contain considerable quantities. 



Besides nicotine, there are some other bitter principles contained in 

 tobacco, which are the chief cause of nausea in young smokers. These 

 are kept back by smoking pipes with long stems, which only allow the 

 gaseous bodies to reach the mouth. Besides carbonic acid and carbonic 

 oxide, tobacco smoke often contains as much as 3 per cent, of carbonate 

 of ammonia, (which causes the increased secretion of saliva,) and also 

 butyric acid, empyreumatic oils and resins, traces of sulphuretted hy- 

 drogen and even prussic acid, but no creosote. 



Pepper owes its pungent taste to piperine, a crystallizable alkaloid. 

 Tea and coffee both contain the same organic base, theine or caffeine, 

 ■which are easily obtained from them in silky needles. A solution of 

 this alkaloid neither has the taste nor the pleasant stimulating effect of 

 an infusion of tea or coffee. In these beverages, as in tobacco, the value 

 of the article used depends on other substances, which accompany the 

 alkaloid. 



