12 On the Effects of Ophim 



accurately and at as much length, as the limits 

 of this paper will allow ; let us now see how 

 the case stands when reduced to the test of 

 experiment. 



Does Opium act upon the Irritability of the 

 Muscular Fibre f 



(d) Experiment 1. 



The heart of a frog was immersed into half 

 an ounce of an aqueous solution of opium, in 

 the proportion of half a dram and six grains of 

 opium to one ounce of water, of the tem- 

 perature of 44% whilst contracting 25 times in a 

 minute. Two minutes after immersion, it 

 contracted only 15 times in a minute : after 8 

 minutes the contractions had ceased, and could 

 not be excited again by any mechanical 

 stimulus. 



(e) Experiment 2. 



The heart of a moderate sized rabbit whilst 

 contracting 23 times in a minute, was im- 

 mersed into an ounce of the above solution, of 

 the temperature of the room; four minutes 

 after immersion, it exhibited eighteen con- 



(d) Vid. p. 5, Inaugural. Dissertat. Exp. 1. 

 (O Vid. Inaug. Dissert, p. 7. Exp. 4. 



