‘220 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
ous balsam or gum resin, which—^as in other species of AmyridaceM, —is yielded 
much more plentifully on the highlands than on the flat alluvial coast. Dr. H. 
believes that the species of the natural family Amyridacem have been multiplied 
and confounded, and that some extraordinary errors are entertained respecting 
their balsamic products—the W ourali* poison and that of the Ticunas having 
been attributed to one of the species, A. toxifera. The gum-resin of the Haiowa 
exudes from the trunk and branches, either naturally or from incisions made in 
the tree, and may be obtained in considerable quantities in the dry season, about 
the full moon, when its exhalations load the air with a grateful odour. The fruit 
is also replete with the balsam, and it is of a bitterish, subacrid flavour; its 
properties being similar to those of the famed carpo-balsamum formerly known 
in the shops. Dr. H. described some other trees belonging to the same family ; 
and so abundant are these exudations in dilferent parts of Guiana, that ship loads 
might be brought here, and it would be far superior to pitch and tar in imparting 
durability to cordage. The Indians mix it with anoto paint, and oil of carapa, 
for anointing their bodies. The author considers that it possesses virtues equal or 
superior to those of the balm of Gilead, the manner of preparing it being by drawing 
it into bottles, and keeping it closely corked, for it hardens and becomes brittle by 
long exposure to the air. The Haiowa is regarded by the natives as one of their most 
sovereign remedies. Its fumes are inhaled in coughs, and the balsam forms an 
excellent plaister for wounds, as well as a restorative in atrophy and hectic. The 
bark, in decoction, is employed in fevers and dysentery, and is considered very 
efficacious against spasms and convulsions. The remainder of the paper consisted 
of details of cases showing its effects in coughs and consumptions ; and concluded 
with'some observations on the utility of balsamic remedies in general, and on the 
erroneous impressions prevalent against their use; but these, of course, would not 
be suited to the pages of The Naturalist. 
At the conclusion of the above paper Dr. H. exhibited some specimens of the 
Wourali plant, employed by the native Indians to poison arrows. The specimen of 
the plant was gathered in 1810, from the mountain Courantine, in the Kio Parime. 
It is considered to be a species of Strychnos^ although its flowers have never been 
described by any botanist. The poison is enclosed in the fruit capsules of the 
plant, and the arrows are prepared by blowing them through a rod formed of a 
slender spike of Palm. The poison is prepared in the shape of an extract of the 
bark of the plant. Its mode of action is remarkable. When introduced into 
the blood of one of the lower animals it quickly proved fatal, but when taken 
into the stomach it produced no sensible effect; in this respect differing from 
every pther species of Strychnos. It is necessary, however, to observe that in 
* A popular weekly journal, ip a recent report of this Society, terms the poia<^n the “ far-famed 
Wormy poison” !—Ed. 
