Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons secreted from the skin of the poison dart frog, and curare, a general term for a range of plant-derived arrow poisons used by the indigenous peoples of South America. Poisoned arrows have featured in mythology, notably the Greek story of Heracles slaying the centaurNessus using arrows poisoned with the blood of the Lernaean Hydra. The Greek heroOdysseus poisons his arrows with hellebore in Homer's Odyssey. Poisoned arrows also figure in Homer's epic about the Trojan War, the Iliad, in which both Achaeans and Trojans used toxic arrows and spears. Poisoned arrows is referred to in the Book of Job in the Bible. The modern terms "toxic" and "toxin" derive from the ancient Greek word for "bow", toxon, from Old Persian *taxa-, "an arrow". Poison arrows were used by real people in the ancient world, including the Gauls, ancient Romans, and the nomadicScythians and Soanes. Ancient Greek and Roman historians describe recipes for poisoning projectiles and historical battles in which poison arrows were used. Alexander the Great encountered poisoned projectiles during his conquest of India and the army of the Roman general Lucullus suffered grievous poison wounds from arrows shot by nomads during the Third Mithridatic War. The use of poisoned arrows in hunting and warfare by some Native Americans has also been documented. Over the ages, Chinese warfare has included projectiles poisoned with various toxic substances.
Poisoned arrows are used widely in the jungle areas of Assam, Burma and Malaysia. The main plant sources for the poisons are members of the genera Antiaris, Strychnos and Strophanthus. Antiaris toxicaria for example, a tree of the mulberry and breadfruit family, is commonly used on Java and its neighbouring islands. The sap or juice of the seeds is smeared on the arrowhead on its own or mixed with other plant extracts. The fast-acting active ingredient attacks the central nervous system causing paralysis, convulsions and cardiac arrest.
Several species of Aconitum or "aconite," belonging to the buttercup family, have been used as arrow poisons. The Minaro in Ladakh use A. napellus on their arrows to hunt Siberian ibex; they were in use recently near lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. The Ainus in Japan used a species of Aconitum to hunt brown bear. It was also used by the Butias and Lepchas in Sikkim and Assam. The Chinese used Aconitum poisons both for hunting and warfare.
In South America, tribes such as the Noanamá Chocó and Emberá Chocó of western Colombia dip the tips of their blowgun darts in the poison found on the skin of three species of Phyllobates, a genus of poison dart frog. In northern Chocó Department, Phyllobates aurotaenia is used, while P. bicolor is used in Risaralda Department and southern Chocó. In Cauca Department, only P. terribilis is used for dart making. The poison is generally collected by roasting the frogs over a fire, but the batrachotoxins in P. terribilis are powerful enough that it is sufficient to dip the dart in the back of the frog without killing it.
In the northern Kalahari Desert, the most commonly used arrow poison is derived from the larva and pupae of beetles of the genusDiamphidia. It is applied to the arrow either by squeezing the contents of the larva directly onto the arrow head, mixing it with plant sap to act as an adhesive, or by mixing a powder made from the dried larva with plant juices and applying that to the arrow tip. The toxin is slow attacking and large animals can survive 4–5 days before succumbing to the effects.
There is evidence of Pacific Island cultures using poison arrow and spear tips. An account from Hector Holthouse's book "Cannibal Cargoes" P.141 describes a canoe, resting on forks in the sand; within the canoe the body of a man rotting in the sun. The unsealed canoe allowing the putrefaction to collect in a knotched shallow bowl in which arrow heads and spear tips are soaked. Wounds with these weapons caused tetanus infection.
Preparation
The following 17th-century account describes how arrow poisons were prepared in China: Native American tribes would agitate the snake or lizard until it repeatedly struck into the spoiled meat or liver of an animal, impregnating it with its toxin. The tips of arrows or the blowgun darts were then dipped into the poisoned meat.
