354 Jtnmerfton in Fermented Liquors fatal to InfeSli. 



being varied from 'two hours to three or even four days ; but the fame virant of fuccefs 

 attended all thefe trials ; for not one fly which had been rendered torpid by intoxication 

 could be reftored to life. 



Experiment 3. Files which were taken out of the wine two or three minutes after they 

 ceafed to fhew indications of life, recovered, not only when expoi'ed to the fun, but alfo 

 when placed in a temperature kept high by means of the human breath for the fpace of 

 fix or eight minutes. 



' The two firft experiments taken in conjunftion with the lad feem to infinuate, that the 

 doftor was deceived in fuppofing his flies to have been imported from America ; for the 

 cagernefs with which thefe infe£ts repair to veflels containing fpiiituous and fermented 

 liquors, makes it much more probable, that they were attra£led by the fmell of the wine 

 into the funnel, from which they were extricated in a little time, but not before one of the 

 two had been too long immerfed to recover ; and unlefs fome circumftances of importance 

 have been overlooked in the preceding attempts, flies made infenfible by vinous fpirit are 

 fubje£led to the fame law of fufpended animation which determines the fate of animals 

 drowned in water. 



I will even venture to advance a more decifive propofition on this head, in pronouncing 

 alkohol highly pernicious to the living principle in infedts, which it deftroys with certainty, 

 but not with equal expedition in every kind ; for, if the effefts of this fluid on thefe dimi- 

 nutive animals be compared with the injuries they experience in the air-pump, intoxication 

 will appear to kill them in a much fhorter time than the abfence of oxygen. Dr. Derham 

 found, that feveral infefls, which he fpecifies, revived on the re-admifljon of the air, after 

 remaining torpid, in fome inftances, as long as 16 hours in an exhaufted receiver. (See 

 Phyfico-Theology, chap. 1. note F.) But life feems to be extinguifhed in a much fhorter 

 period by fpirituous liquors. 



The foregoing experiments be'ng confined to common flies, or thofe with one pair of 

 wings, I thought it not improper to extend the enquiry to a greater variety of infedls, which 

 was done accordingly in the courfe of the laft fummer. But thefe trials d:fcovered nothing 

 remarkable, except the power of the Nut Weevil (Curculio Nuciimj to refift the deftruftive 

 effects of alkohol *. This conflitutional Angularity has been noticed prior to the prefent 

 cfl^ay ; but unlefs my experiments were made under fome unfavourable circumftances, 

 the property in queftion appears to be exaggerated. 



Experiment 4. I immerfed feveral maggots taken out of hazel-nuts in brandy : thefe 

 were afterwards inclofed in frefh nuts opened for their reception, and placed in a tempe- 

 rature varying from 70° to 80°. The maggots, which had been confined in fpirit for a 

 period not exceeding 17 hours, revived ; but when the time of immerfion was prolonged to 

 three, or even two day?, every atrempt to reftore them proved fruitlefs. 



Having now flated the moft flrikmg fads of my experiments fully, I will clofe the fub- 

 jeft by forming the reft into a table, exprefling the number of infe£ls of each kind that 

 have been killed by immerfion in wine, brandy, and beer. Thofe marked with an afterifk, 

 being fuch as delight in the fliade, were fliut up in perforated chip boxes after immerfion, 

 and placed in a warm temperature. 



* The maggot of the filbert will remain torpid, but not deflroycd. In a phial of brandy, though bottled up 

 'for many week?, {Good on the Difeafes xif Prifons, p. 174-) 



Name. 



