Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 306, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1910 — Curari a Queer Poison [ARTICLE]

Curari a Queer Poison

Curari, the vegetable poison with which the Indians of the upper Amazon tip their hunting arrows, remains a mystery in its composition after a hundred years of investigation by scientists. The Indians will sell it for its weight in silver, but will not reveal the plants from which it is derived Not long ago a professor in a German university was sent to the Amazon wilderness for the express purpose of discovering the secret, for curari, or urarl, as it is otherwise called, is now thought to be of' great value in medicine. The professor lived two years in Indian villages, and while he was permitted to witness the boiling of the witches’ broth,” which lasted several days, he could not tell what plants went into the brew. Returning from his baffled quest down the Amazon with a' quantity of the poison, the professor was met by another traveler, Dewey Austin Cobb, who had got possession of a native blowgun. The latter tells in the National Geographic Magazine how he put some of the professor’s curari on some of his blowgun arrows, which are like toothpicks feathered with cotton, and tried it on a buck deer in the forest. “After a deliberate aim our hunter fired,” says Mr. Cobb, “if I may U se such a word for the little puff, scarcely heard by us, and entirely inaudible above the rustling corn leaves at the distance of the deer. The animal gave a slight start as ft felt the prick of the arrow on its flank and turned partly around, sniffing the air for a scent and looking About as if searching for the insect that had bitten or stung It Detecting nothing, it stood still and unalarmed. At the end of a minute or a minute and a half at most its head dropped a little, as if it was sleepy. "When the hunter saw this he arose and stepped out in plain sight. The deer turned his head and looked at him, and moved forward, not away from him, a few steps, and stopped. It showed no fear, but simply curiosity. After another minute the professor and I arose, and all three walked quietly to within reach of it. It made no movement to run away, but watched us Intently, and shifted its position a little. Its movements seemed perfectly easy and natural. Absence of fear was the only observable change, until at the end of three minutes more; then it lay down, not falling but as naturally as a cow or sheep when ready for sleep. "We all approached its side, and the hunter laid a hand on its shoulder It looked up at him, but showed no resentment or fear. Even its breathing easy and natural, which surprised me, as I had heard that death resulted from paralysis of the lungs when caused by urari."