Curare ( or ; or ) is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South America for hunting and for therapeutic purposes, curare only becomes active when it contaminates a wound. These poisons cause weakness of the skeletal muscles and, when administered in a sufficient dose, eventual death by asphyxiation due to paralysis of the diaphragm. Curare is prepared by boiling the bark of one of the dozens of plant sources, leaving a dark, heavy paste that can be applied to arrow or dart heads. In medicine, curare has been used as a treatment for tetanus and strychnine poisoning and as a paralyzing agent for surgical procedures.
History
The word 'curare' is derived from wurari, from the Carib language of the Macusi of Guyana. It has its origins in the Carib phrase "mawa cure" meaning of the Mawa vine, scientifically known as Strychnos toxifera. Curare is also known among indigenous peoples as Ampi, Woorari, Woorara, Woorali, Wourali, Wouralia, Ourare, Ourari, Urare, Urari, and Uirary. The noun 'curare' is not to be confused with the Latin verb 'curare' ('to heal, cure, take care of').
Classification
In 1895 pharmacologist Rudolf Boehm sought to classify the various alkaloid poisons based on the containers used for their preparation. He believed curare could be categorized into three main types as seen below. However useful it appeared, it became rapidly outmoded. Richard Gill, a plant collector, found that the indigenous peoples began to use a variety of containers for their curare preparations, henceforth invalidating Boehm's basis of classification.
Tube or bamboo curare: Mainly composed of the toxin D-tubocurarine, this poison is found packed into hollow bamboo tubes derived from Chondrodendron and other genera in the Menispermaceae. According to their LD50 values, tube curare is thought to be the most toxic. Pot curare: Mainly composed of alkaloid components protocurarine (the active ingredient), protocurine (a weak toxicity), and protocuridine (non-toxic) from both Menispermaceae and Loganiaceae/Strychnaceae. This subtype is found originally packed in terra cotta pots. Calabash or gourd curare: Mainly composed of C toxiferine I, this poison was originally packed into hollow gourds from Loganiaceae/Strychnaceae alone.
Manske also observed in his 1955 The Alkaloids:The results of the early [pre-1900] work were very inaccurate because of the complexity and variation of the composition of the mixtures of alkaloids involved ... these were impure, non-crystalline alkaloids ... Almost all curare preparations were and are complex mixtures, and many of the physiological actions attributed to the early curarizing preparations were undoubtedly due to impurities, particularly to other alkaloids present. The curare preparations are now considered to be of two main types, those from Chondrodendron or other members of the Menispermaceae family and those from Strychnos, a genus of the Loganiaceae [ now Strychnaceae ] family. Some preparations may contain alkaloids from both ... and the majority have other secondary ingredients.
Hunting uses
Curare was used as a paralyzing poison by many South American indigenous people. Since it was too expensive to be used in warfare, curare was mainly used for hunting. The prey was shot by arrows or blowgun darts dipped in curare, leading to asphyxiation owing to the inability of the victim's respiratory muscles to contract. In particular, the poison was used by the Kalinago, indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, on the tips of their arrows. In addition, the Yagua people, indigenous to Colombia and northeastern Peru, commonly used these toxins via blowpipes to target prey 30 to 40 paces distant.
Due to its popularity among the indigenous people as means of paralyzing prey, certain tribes would create monopolies from curare production. Thus, curare became a symbol of wealth among the indigenous populations.