JO ACTION' OP POISONS ON THE ANIMAL SYSTEM. 



tlat? of lury. fine, and moistened with two drops of water, were applied to 



re* applied to two WO unds in the thigh and side of a rabbit. In four minutes 

 a wound in a , .,, , , . « /•• • T , 



rabbit. he was evidently under the influence of the poison, in a short 



time he became giddy : then his hind legs were paralysed ; 

 and he gradually fell into a state of insensibility, with dilated 

 pupils, and lay in general motionless, but with occasional con- 

 vulsions. The pulse beat 150 in a minute, but feeble j and it 

 occasionally intermitted. Ke was apparently dead in twenty 

 minutes from the application of the poison j but on opening 

 the chest, the heart was found still acting, and nearly three 

 minutes elapsed before its action had entirely ceased, 

 ^xp. <5. Solu- Experiment 6. An ounce and a half of saturated solution 

 non of man- f nwr iate of barytes were iuiected into the stomach of a full 



at* ot barytes , J r J . 



injected into grown cat, by means of an elastic gum tube. In a tew minutes 

 the stomach of it operated as an emetic. The animal became giddy, after- 

 ward insensible, and lay with dilated pupils, in general mo- 

 tionless, but with occasional convulsions. At the end of sixty- 

 five minutes, from the beginning of the experiment, he was 

 apparently dead ; but the heart was still felt through the ribs 

 acting one hundred times in a minute. A tube was introduced 

 into the trachea, and the lungs were inflated about thirty-six 

 times in a minute - } but the pulse sunk notwithstanding, and 

 at the end of seven minutes the circulation had entirely ceased. 

 ft appears to From these experiments I was led to aonclude, that the 

 the brain f ° n P rinc, P a l action of the muriate of barytes is on the brain ; 

 but in the first tha pulse was feeble and intermitting j in the 

 second, although the artificial respiration was made with the 

 greatest care, the circulation could not be maintained more 

 but in some than a few minutes. These circumstances led me to suspect, 

 ^egree on t ie ^^ a ] t h 0U gh this poison operates principally on the brain, it; 

 operates, in some degree, on the heart also. Farther experi- 

 ments confirmed this suspicion. In some of them the pulse 

 soon became so feeble, that it could be scarcely felt ; and 

 its intermissions were more frequent ; but in all cases the 

 heart continued to act after respiration had ceased ; and the 

 cessation of the functions of the brain was therefore always 

 the immediate cause of death, When I employed artificial 

 respiration, after death had apparently taken place, I seldom 

 was able to prolong the heart's action beyond a few minutes. 

 In one case only it was maintained for three quarters of an 



hour. 



