pnres, a Zambo, descended from an Indian and a 

 Negro, prepared for Mr. Bonpland some of those 

 poisoned arrows, that are placed in sarbacans to 

 kill small monkeys or birds. He was a car- 

 penter of remarkable muscular strength . Hav- 

 ing had the imprudence to rub the curare be- 

 tween his fingers after being slightly wounded, 

 he fell on the ground seized with a vertigo, that 

 lasted nearly half an hour. Happily it was 

 only weakened curare (destemplado) , which is 

 used for very small animals, that is, for those 

 which it is pretended can be recalled to life by 

 putting muriat of soda into the wound. During 

 our voyage in returning from Esmeralda to 

 Atures, I escaped myself an imminent dan- 

 ger. The curare, having imbibed the humidity 

 of the air, had become fluid, and was spilt from 

 an ill-closed vessel upon our linen. They who 

 washed the linen had neglected to examine the 

 inside of a stocking, which was filled with curare ; 

 and it was only on touching this glutinous mat- 

 ter with my hand, that I was warned not to draw 

 on the poisoned stocking. The danger was so 

 much the greater, as my feet at that time 

 bled from the wounds made by chegoes (pulex 

 penetrans), which had been ill extirpated. This 

 incident may remind travellers of the prudence 

 requisite in the conveyance of poisons. 



A fine chemical and physiological investiga- 

 tion remains to be accomplished in Europe on 



