ojV the Living Sijstcm, 19 



■ • - ■ • ■ ^ •'-■ ' \.-n''r 



oh tlie surface of tHc'l^rain. At fii>t thi; anjmal ^ 



appeared lethargic and tottered. After ten 



minutes it was violently convulsed, and m tl)e 



space of one minute and an half more, wai 



dead. When the thorax was opened the lieart ' 



was/bund contracting with considerable forpc. 



The irritability was exhausted in all the 

 muscles subservient to voluntary' motion ; they 

 were repeatedly irritated, but iv\ vain. 



In these experiments, it is clear, tTiat opium 

 has a very powerful ^nd instantaneous action ' 

 upon the brain, that it is diffused oyer the* 

 whole nervons system, evinced both \iy' the 

 general convulsions preceding death, and the^ 

 total consumption of irritability in the volun- 

 tary muscles, and which was equally as com- ' 

 plete as if the opium had been applied imme- 

 diately to the parts themselves. 



It was next exarhined, if when opium is in- 



^ troduce.d into some other organ, its effects are 



extended hy the nervqus system to distant 



parts. 



'(v) Experiment 14. 



All the parts as near as possible to the pelvis 

 of a frog, on both sides, were divided, leaving 

 the ischiatic nerves uninjured. These were" 

 afterwards secluded from the air, by the di- 

 (pj yid.Inaiig. Dissert, p. 59. Exp. 38--39. 

 ' c 2 



