Strychnos toxifera/ Curare

SubstanCe	Abbreviation	Systematics
Strychnos toxifera/ Curare Arrow Poison	Cur	Loganiaceae
Woorari, Curara, Woorara, Woorali, Hoorali, Oorali, Gift-Brechnuss
Curare is produced from many different plants of the genera Strychnos and Chondodendron in different ways. The early records of the homeopathic use don´t seem to give indications for what they really used for the provings. The poisons of the Loganiaceae family are mainly based on two different structures, monomeric alkaloids of the Strychnine type and dimeric alkaloids of the Curarine type. Those of the Strychnine type occur in South-Asia and cause generalized cramps, whereas those of the Curarine type occur in South America (and some in Africa) and cause a relaxation. This means: Loganiaceae can also contain relaxing poisons - different ones on different continents, so we have to include this as a possible sensation/reaction in our family picture. Another difference of the two poison types lies in the fact, that the monomeric types are absorbed by our intestines, whereas the dimeric ones are not. This means, you can only use the dimeric ones (the Curarine type) to poison animals that you want to eat safely afterwards (whereas a dog that eats a rat killed with Strychnine dies as well). So Curarine poison can only be applied directly into the blood system (arrows), whereas the Strychnine type is also deadly when swallowed. Strychnos species (mainly Str.toxifera) are used for what is called calebas curare. The Menispermaceae species (mainly Chondrodendron) are used for tubocurare (a type of Curare that is prepared and stored differently) and base on isocholinalkaloids, with a chemism different from the indolalkaloids of the Strychnos. They only have in common, that both of them cause deep relaxation. Literature: Teuscher, E. / Lindequist, U. - Biogene Gifte, Biologie, Chemie, Pharmakologie, Stuttgart u.New York, 1994.
Resources  (underlined names are direct links)
Remedia Homöopathie, Gudjons, Helios, Ainsworths, Arcana, Zinsser

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