liminary to the work in pharmacology. My students begin their work 

 with me at the conclusion of the first third of their second year, at 

 a time, therefore, when they have had no clinical work and but little 

 pathology. The course requires eight weeks, and there are two after- 

 noon sessions and a Saturday morning recitation or conference. The 

 points aimed at in the course are: First, the acquisition and compre- 

 hension of the physiological phenomena of intoxications; second, 

 certain important phases of the subject regarded as a part of forensic 

 medicine; third, the more important chronic intoxications which are 

 met with in the arts and industries; and fourth, the general principles 

 of toxicological analysis as illustrated by actual practice at the labora- 

 tory desk. 



Nothing in the way of vivisection is done by the student himself 

 in this course. 



The afternoon's work begins with a brief lecture and with demon- 

 strations of a physiological character. In these a number of circum- 

 stances bearing on the action of a given substance, whether used as a 

 poison or as a drug, are clearly set forth. These demonstrations con- 

 stitute the best introduction to pharmacology. Some of the points 

 illustrated are the varied symptoms of poisoning, such, for example, 

 as the paralysis of the respiratory center by hydrocyanic acid or 

 morphin; the influence of the place of application, as illustrated by 

 the fact that not all mucous surfaces absorb poisons with equal ra- 

 pidity; the rapidity of dispersion of poisons throughout the body; 

 the paths of elimination for drugs and poisons, and the storage of 

 drugs in various tissues and organs, and the great differences that 

 obtain in these two fields; changes in the blood; the anatomical lesions 

 produced by powerful poisons, such as arsenic, phosphorus, nitric 

 acid, carbolic acid, alkalies, etc. A wide range of demonstrations, in 

 which organisms ranging from paramecia to dogs and rabbits may 

 be employed, is at the disposal of the instructor, who has access to 

 original literature. In this way the beginner receives ocular proof of 

 the fact that an intoxication, whether acute or chronic, is as complex 

 a matter as any of the clinical conditions that he will later study in 

 the hospital; that drugs can produce fever, convulsions, paralysis, and 

 other symptoms; lesions of the various organs, alterations of the secre- 

 tions and of the blood— in short, an interest in the manifold problems 

 of medicine can here be aroused. It is, of course, understood that the 

 rules of the physiological laboratory in regard to anesthesia are to be 

 observed in work of the above character. During the first week of this 

 course the demonstrations extend so far into the afternoon that the 



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