Definition for Curare
From Biology Forums Dictionary
Curare is a substance obtained from the resin of some plants from tropical South America, chiefly species of Chondodendron and Strychnos. It is a poisonous member of a group of chemicals called alkaloids. Hunters from some tribes of native South Americans have used it for hundreds of years to tip their arrows.
It disrupts signals from the motor nerves to voluntary and involuntary muscles, sot he victim becomes paralyzed and then eventually is unable to breathe.
In small doses, it is used in some operations on the stomach that need the digestive process to be stopped completely and can be used to relax the throat muscles to make some medical examinations easier.
Using poison-tipped arrows is a useful means of ensuring that prey does not escape in dense jungles. Other South American tribes learned to use the poison from the back of certain frogs (known as poison-arrow frogs). The poison from the back of one frog is enough to kill 40 people.