USE OF VIROLA AS AN ARROW POISON by the Waika Indians is one of the recent discoveries in the study of curare. The red resin from the bark of Virola theiodora is smeared on an arrow or dart, wh ich is then gently heated in the smoke of a flre ( shown in the i l l ustration below) to harden the resin . The killing action of the poison is s low. The chemica l constituent of the resin responsible for this action is sti l l unknown. It is intere sting that although the arrows a re tipped while the hal lucinogen ic snuff is being prepared from resin from the same tree, the two operations are car足 ried out by d ifferent medicine men of the sa me tribe. Many other plants are employed in South America in preparing arrow poisons, most of them members of the families Loganiaceae and Menispermaceae. Wa ik6 I ndian holding poison darts i n smoky fire to congeal Virola resin, appl ied by d ipping or spreading with fingers.
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