Related Information

Amazon Indians

Curare

Curare (pronounce {"cure-ar-ree") is a poison which Indians extract and process from local plants. It paralyses its victims and eventually stops their heart from beating. The poison is used in warfare and for hunting. The people making curare have to be very careful, because when they are heating the poison over a fire, the fumes can be very toxic and can make people feel sick.

Strangely, if an animal is killed using a blowdart or arrow coated with curare, its meat can still be eaten without causing any ill-effects.

There are stories that sugar or salt applied to a curare wound can counteract the poison.