THE URARI, Oil ARROW -POISON OE THE INDIANS. 529 
those of Virchow and Miinter, who expressly state that after 
empoisonment with urari, the coagulation of the blood occurs 
just in the same manner as in animals killed by mechanical 
means. On dissecting a rabbit killed with urari, at the 
moment that the beating of the heart was no longer sensible, 
it showed nowhere any accumulation of blood, neither in 
the smaller nor in the larger veins. 
The blood procured from the heart itself was quite fluid, 
without change in its colour, coagulating in a few minutes, 
just like the blood from slaughtered animals. 
These appearances are perfectly in accordance with the 
investigations which were carried on, as stated in the 
c Annals of Natural History/ (loc. cit., p. 423), by Dr. Franz, 
Mr. Sewell, the well-known veterinary surgeon of London, 
and M. Desenis, of Berlin. The healthy appearance of the 
vital organs and of the blood after the empoisonment, in- 
duced me to observe, that with regard to medical juris- 
prudence this poison proved to be the more dangerous, as, 
should it be employed for sinister purposes by man against 
his fellow r -creature, it would be difficult to state at a post- 
mortem examination the real cause of death. In some of 
the rabbits on which I tried experiments w hile in London, 
Dr. Franz found rather a larger quantity of blood in the 
brain and the spinal cord than usual. 
MM. Bernard and Pelouze make the very important ob- 
servation, that having applied the poison to the pulmonary 
mucous membrane, it had the same effect by absorption as if 
it had been brought in contact by incision with the cellular 
tissue. 
Does this not agree with the observation made by Virchow 
and Miinter, that death occurs not so much as a direct result 
of the empoisonment, but as the consequence of the inter- 
rupted respiratory movement? 
The ‘Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie^ for August last, 
contains a report by M. Reveil, to the Societe de Pharmacie 
of Paris, of the Pharmaceutical Substances at the Universal 
Exhibition. M. Reveil makes some further interesting ob- 
servations on the arrow-poison ; nevertheless, they are mixed 
with the old superstitious accounts of its preparation and 
effect. M. Reveil quotes the statement of M. Boussingault, 
made before the Academie des Sciences, that the curare 
which he brought with him from the Amazon did not con- 
tain any snake-poison. 
He repeats former observations, that the action of the 
curare had great analogy w ith the venom of snakes ; for 
example, it might be taken innocuously into the stomach, 
xxx. 70 
