^oViss^'"^'}  Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica.  561 
Guachamaca  was  first  mentioned  in  1841  by  A.  Codazzi,  in  a  geo- 
graphical work,  and  erroneously  referred  to  Ryania  coccinea.  In  his 
"Scenes  of  South  American  Life"  (1862),  Ramon  Paez,  who  had  not 
seen  the  plant,  gave  an  account  of  its  poisonous  properties.  R-.  de 
Grosourdy  (1864),  in  his  '^Medico  criollo  botanico,  described  the  plant 
under  the  name  of  Guachamaca  toxifera,  and  having  seen  only  bad 
specimens  of  flowers  and  no  fruit,  correctly  referred  it  to  the  Apocy- 
nacese.  In  1869  Ernst,  of  Caracas,  procured  a  leafy  branch  and  two 
small  roots,  which  were  experimented  with  by  A.  Frydensberg  with 
the  result  that  the  branch  was  found  to  contain  a  potent  poison,  and 
the  root  to  be  not  poisonous.  Joseph  Hooker  then  supposed  the  plant 
to  be  a  'species  of  Prestonia.  The  wood,  leaves,  flowers  and  fruit, 
which  were  exhibited  at  the  Exposicion  de  Centenario  por  la  Sociedad 
Patriotica  de  San  Fernando  de  Apure  (1883),  furnished  the  material 
from  which  Ernst  (1884)  determined  the  plant  to  be  a  Malouetia,  and 
Hooker  recognized  it  as  Malouetia  nitida,  Spruce.  Frydensberg  (1882) 
ascertained  that  the  aqueous  extract  of  the  bark  used  on  animals,  pro- 
duces paralysis  without  apparently  disturbing  the  sensibility.  Carl 
Sachs,  who  had  collected  (1876)  a  quantity  of  the  plant  in  Venezuela^ 
subsequently  determined  that  the  action  of  the  poison  resembles  that  of 
curare,  and  after  his  death  an  alkaloid,  guachamacine,  was  isolated  by 
J.  SchifFer  (1883)  which  possesses  the  action  of  curare  and  closely 
resembles  curarine,  though  probably  not  identical  with  it. 
Kobert  now  directs  attention  to  the  difference  in  origin  of  the  various 
kinds  of  curare  as  had  been  ascertained  by  Planchon,  and  that  the  best 
curare  comes  from  the  Orinoco  and  Rio  Negro  where  the  guachamaca 
plant  appears  to  be  not  scarce;  also  that  the  properties  of  the  guacha- 
macine indicate  its  identity  with  curarine,  and  he  urges  that  the  former 
be  carefully  studied,  both  chemically  and  physiologically. 
The  history  as  given  above  is  contained  in  a  pamphlet  by  A.  Ernst 
entitled  El  Guachauiaca  and  published  in  Caracas  1885;  from  this  we 
condense  the  following  botanical  description  : 
A  shrub  4  or  5  meters  high ;  bark  rather  thin,  either  ash-gray 
(guachamaca  bianco)  or  dark  colored  (g.  negro),  longitudinally  striate ; 
wood  yellowish  white,  branches  opposite,  the  bark  with  numerous 
small  white  lenticels.  Leaves,  simple,  entire,  short-petiolate,  elliptic- 
lanceolate,  narrowed  below,  sharp  pointed,  apple-green  and  glossy  above, 
paler  beneath,  10  or  12  cm.  long,  3  or  4  cm.  broad,  the  nerves  forming 
near  the  margin  a  curved  line,  the  bases  of  the  opposite  petioles  almost 
36 
