SBo TRAVELS IN 
black variiifh. When in this ftate, the poifon 
has acquired its utmoft adivitj, and the Ni^ 
tniquas dip the points of their arrows in it. 
Probably this fermentation is neceffary to 
give the poifon all the virulence of which it is 
fufceptible, At leaft fads have convinced me, 
that the humour which compofes the fubftance 
of the infed is not fo dangerous during itsHfe, 
as after it has been diffolved and decompofed 
in the fack. 
There are fubftances of which the naturalift, 
as well as the chemift, allows himfelf to exa- 
mine the tafte. In Europe I had feveral times 
ventured to touch the tip of my tongue with 
fome drops of the liquor of caterpillars. I 
tried the fame experiment with that of thefe 
poifonous caterpillars; and I found it to poflefs 
only a moderately acrid tafte, differing little 
from what I had experienced in others. 
The infed itfeif, taken inwardly, appears 
not to be poifonous. One day I faw a fhiike 
on one of the fhrubs, eating thefe caterpillars. 
If the bird be poifoned, faid I to myfelf, I fli^ll 
fgon fee him die. I even thought that the ef- 
fed of the poifon muft become more quickly 
fenfible on a gizzard, which bruifes what it 
receives 
