on the Living System. 63 



the experiments, which have been brought 

 forwards in support of the opinion,— that 

 opium was sedative. ITie opinion of the cele- 

 brated Whytt, was at all times weighty, and 

 he strengthened his arguments in favour of the 

 sedative influence of opium, by a remarkable 

 quotation drawn from the thesis of Dr. Bard, 

 De Opio. Not being able to procure that 

 Dissertation, we shall quote the passage from 

 Dr. Whytt, as he gives it. 



" At seven A.M. Dr. Bard took one grain 

 ** and a half of opium, his pulse beating 71 in 

 ** a minute. At 8 A. M. his pulse beat 69 ; 

 " at 8|, pulse beat 67 ; at 8r, pulse beat 66 ; 

 " at 8|^, 66 ; at 9, 64 ; at 9]- after breakfast, 

 " it beat 66 ; at 10, 65 ; at 1 1, it beat 61 ; at 

 " 11^, it beat 60; at Hf, 59; at 12, 57; and 

 *' this was the lowest to which his pulse ever 

 ♦' fell. 



Dr. Whytt insists very strongly upon this 

 experiment ; yet, that it is defective in point of 

 proving any thing in favour of his opinion, is 

 very evident by a little attention to it. Dr. 

 Bard took the opium at seven in the morning ; 

 he measured his pulse for the first time at eight, 

 he then concluded that the state of his pulse at 

 that hour was to be attributed to the primary 

 effect of opium upon the body. To point out 



