PRELIMINARY 



i8i 



growing in the decomposing larva. But animal poisons are not 

 nearly so common as vegetal poisons. 



The most important natural orders containing vegetal arrow- 

 poisons are, firstly, the Apocynacese, which contains the genera 

 Acocanthera, Strophanthus, and Adenium, all of which are common 

 African poisons; secondly, the Loganiacese, with the genus Strych- 

 nos, which is of great importance in Asian poisons; thirdly, the 

 Urticaceae, with the important ipoh poison of Sumatra, Borneo, 

 and Indo-China; and fourthly, the less important orders of the 

 Ranunculacese, containing Aconitum fevox (Wall), used in India, 

 the Leguminosse, and the Euphorbiaceae, containing some African 

 poisons. 



The actions of arrow-poisons are very varied, and may be classified 

 •nto — 



1. An acti®n on the heart and muscles like that of digitalis. 



2. An action on the peripheral nerve-endings like that of curari. 



3. An action on the nervous system and heart like that of aconite. 



4. An action on the nervous system like that of strychnine. 



5. An action resembling snake-venoms. 



The general treatment of a poisoned arrow wound is as follows: 



1. Tie a tight hand on the heart side of the wound, if on a limb, 

 to prevent absorption of the poison. 



2. Remove the arrow as quickly as possible. 



The difficulty in withdrawing the arrow-head is the presence of 

 barbs, which can be prevented from doing mischief by thrusting 

 the head through the skin on the far side of the limb— there is no 

 necessity to fear about the bloodvessels, for they will slip away 

 from the arrow — then cutting the shaft off, and drawing the head 

 through on the far side, and the shaft on the near. If it is in the 

 body, a good plan is to enlarge the wound and pass down some 

 sort of a cannula— ^.g., a hollow bamboo — ^over the head, and then 

 withdraw the whole arrow. 



3. Wash the wound with -permanganate of potash. 



Having withdrawn the arrow, wash the wound out thoroughly 

 with a 3 per cent, solution of permanganate of potash (if this 

 cannot be done, cup the wound or suck it), in order to neutralize 

 any snake- venom, and, indeed, any other poison capable of being 

 oxidized. 



4. Keep the heart working. 



Give stimulants — -e.g., hypodermics of strychnine — after the 

 arrow is removed and the wound washed. 



5. After-treatment. 



Treat the hurt as a poisoned wound. A dose of antitetanic serum 

 would be good, if available. 



Some of the principal arrow-poisons require to be described in 

 more detail. 



Africa. — ^The natural order Apocynaceae contains, as already 

 stated, several genera of plants which provide celebrated arrow- 

 poisons much used by native peoples in Africa. 



