Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 14.djvu/384

370. Its chemical constitution is not yet made out; it is not crystallizable, has the look of horn, is very hygroscopic, and easily soluble in water and in alcohol. The watery solution is not affected by boiling, and appears to preserve its toxic property for an indefinite time, precisely like the dried curari on the tips of arrows, a circumstance which renders these weapons very dangerous objects to handle.

Curari is prepared at long intervals by the natives of South America, whenever the supply, which is divided between the hunters and the warriors, has become exhausted. The mode of preparation differs according to locality, but these differences are not essential. The ingredients are everywhere either the same or at least analogous, for the curaris manufactured in different regions amid the almost unexplored forests of Guiana and Brazil always present the same toxic properties. Sometimes curari is prepared openly and without mystery on some high festival of the tribe, with the usual accompaniment of copious libations of strong drink. And, by-the-way, it has been remarked by Humboldt that during a festival it is a rare thing to find a native that is not intoxicated, drunkenness being unfortunately, in all latitudes, the habitual expression of gladness among the ruder classes of mankind.

At other times the arrow-poison is prepared only by the medicine men, who hedge its preparation around with superstitious practices and mystic ceremonies, designed to enhance their own prestige and influence. The exaggerated reports of travelers have still further complicated the matter, as when we are assured that in the preparation of the curari some old hag of the tribe shuts herself up in a hut with the kettle in which the poisonous ingredients are boiled, and that, if the process is successful, she herself dies by inhaling their noxious emanations. This is a fable, for curari is not volatile.

It has also been stated that, when the curari begins to thicken, the natives throw into the pot ants with venomous stings, and the fangs and poison-glands of the most deadly serpents, such as the rattlesnake. Possibly these accessories may have sometimes been employed, but we now know that they are not essential, and that excellent curaris are prepared solely from vegetal substances. According to Goudot, the tribes living on the New Granada frontier cut down in the woods certain climbing plants of the genus Strychnos, from which exudes at the cuts a quantity of acrid sap. The wood is crushed and macerated in water for forty-eight hours; it is then pressed, and the liquid is carefully filtered. After filtration it is slowly evaporated, till it reaches the required degree of concentration. It is now distributed among a number of little earthenware pots, which are placed on hot embers, and the process of evaporation is carried on with still greater care, till the poison acquires the consistence of a soft paste and is perfectly free from water.

Dr. Jobert is now engaged in studying in their native habitat the properties of the various plants which are known to have been