ETHUSA CYNAPIUM. 19 
gave him much relief in his face and eyes. From this time till 
the Monday he continued to get better, but had even then, pain, 
heat, and inflammation of the eyes, with oedematous swelling 
of the cheeks; his remaining symptoms went off gradually. 
(Lowe.) 
Norembergus mentions two boys, whose bodies were much 
swollen after eating this plant. 
Orfila gave seven ounces of the juice obtained from the leaves 
of Zthusa to a strong dog, and tied the esophagus. Twenty 
minutes after giving it the dog became sick; in half an hour it 
did not appear to affect him much, when suddenly he stretched 
out his limbs and laid upon his stomach; in a few minutes he 
tried to rouse himself, but his efforts were vain. The muscles 
of his limbs, particularly of the posterior extremities, refused to 
obey the will, but the organs of sense exercised their functions; 
the pupils were scarcely dilated; the pulsations of the heart 
were slow and strong. This state lasted a quarter of an hour, 
and then the extremities were agitated by convulsive move- 
ments; the animal threw himself from one side to the other ; 
the senses began to be enfeebled; and the esophagus and the 
fauces were spasmodically contracted. This state of stupor 
increased, and the animal died an hour after taking the poison. 
On opening the body, the heart was contracted, and the left 
ventricle contained fluid and black blood. The lungs were 
a little less crepitant than natural. The stomach was found full 
of the poison; but there was no alteration in the digestive 
canal. (Orfila, vol. ii. p. 323.) 
According to Schulze, Athusa acts chiefly on the medulla 
spinalis. 
On examining attentively the symptoms observed by many 
physicians in poisonings of this sort, we can reduce them to 
the following: heat in the throat; thirst; vomiting; sometimes 
diarrhea; short, sighing respiration; small, frequent pulse ; 
headache; vertigo; swellings of the extremities; delirium. 
(Orfila, 1. c.) 
