| 释义 |
‖ curare|kjuːˈrɑːriː|
Also curara, -ri.
[A corruption of the native name (wuˈrɑli or wuˈrɑri) also written wourali, woorari, ourali, ourari, wourara, etc., in the lang. of the Macusi Indians of Guiana, a Carib dialect. The consonant of the last syllable varies between l and r. In F. curare. (The initial c is said to represent a click or catch in the native pronunciation.) See ourali, wourali.]
A blackish-brown resinous bitter substance, obtained as an extract from Strychnos toxifera, and other plants of tropical South America; used by the Indians to poison their arrows.
When introduced into the blood it acts as a powerful poison, arresting the action of the motor nerves; used largely in physiological experiments.
1777Robertson Hist. Amer. iv. (1778) I. 328 A poison in which they dip the arrows employed in hunting..the chief ingredient in which is the juice extracted from the root of the curare, a species of withe. 1836Macgillivray tr. Humboldt's Trav. xix. 274 The curare..like the venom of serpents..only acts when introduced directly into the blood. 1875H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 186 Animals quieted by curari. 1883Contemp. Rev. June 793 A moral curare..paralysing will and emotion. |