372 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



tion of either the peripheral motor or sensoiy nerves, nor to any 

 direct action on the muscles, was readily proved by tying the 

 abdominal aorta of various animals, and then injecting the drug 

 into the anterior portion of the body, when, notwithstanding the 

 fact that the posterior part of the body was completely cut off 

 from the poison, convulsions occurred uniformly over the whole 

 body. 



Exp. 10. On a small male cat. Tied the left femoral artery, and, 

 at 2.01, injected five drops of the alkaloid into the peritoneum. 

 12.01, repeated clonic convulsions occur over the whole animal, the 

 left leg continuing convulsed after the others are quiet. 



Exp. 11. On a very large male cat. Tied the abdominal aorta, 

 and at 12.54, injected six drops of conia into the peritoneum. 

 12.57, spasms all over the body. 



Exp. 12. On a young female cat. Tied the left femoral vessels, 

 and at 5.52, injected five and a half drops of the alkaloid into the 

 peritoneum. 5.56, convulsions, most marked in the ligatured limb. 



Exp. 13. Tied the abdominal aorta of a very lai'ge mouse. 

 3.47^, injected one drop of conia into the anterior part of the bod} 7 . 

 3.49, convulsions, more marked posteriorly than anteriorly. 



That the convulsions are not due to irritation of the peripheral 

 motor nerves, and that they are not muscular, was also proved by 

 the following experiment : 



Exp. 14. Amputated a leg of a cat, and then injected an ounce 

 of a grain solution of conia into the femoral artery. The sciatic 

 nerve no longer caused contractions if irritated, but no spasms 

 were produced. 



The convulsions must, therefore, be either spinal or cerebral; 

 the following experiments prove that they are not spinal: 



Exp. 15. Cut the spinal cord of a large mouse in the dorsal 

 region. 3.47^, injected one drop of conia into the anterior portion 

 of the body. 3.50, violent convulsions anteriorly, none at all 

 posteriorly. 3.50i, the animal is dead. 



Exp. 1G. Cut the cord of a large mouse, and then injected one 

 drop of conia into the peritoneum. In several minutes clonic 

 convulsions occurred anteriorly, but none occurred posteriorly. 



Exp. 17. On a .young cat, whose cord had been cut in the dorsal 

 region. On injecting conia, spasms had occurred in the anterior 

 limbs, but none occurred posterior to the section. 



The inevitable conclusion from these experiments is, that the 



