130-4 
Gelsemium then lowers the rate of the action of the heart and lungs, thus 
reducing the bodily temperature ; dilates the pupil by paralyzing the motor oculi 
(differing here from Belladonna, which also dilates the pupil, but does so by irri- 
tating terminal filaments from the carotid and cavernous plexuses of the sympa- 
thetic system). Its action on the motor oculi causes also a loss of accommodation, 
and paralysis of the epicylia; this paralysis is gradually followed by a general 
paralytic action until the animal becomes impassive, but remains conscious until 
death. Gelsemium seems to act exactly opposite to Conium, the former destroy- 
ing all reflex action from the centre to the periphery, the latter from the periphery 
to the centre. The natural antidote to this drug seems to be black coffee rather 
than opium ; alcoholic stimulants and heat should also be plied. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE 130. 
1. End of flowering stem, Augusta, Ga.,* May 23d, 1883. 
2. A portion of the stem. 
3- Calyx and bracts (enlarged). 
4. Stamens (enlarged). 
5: Pistil (enlarged). 
6. Section of the ovary (enlarged). 
7. Fruit. 
* From one of a number of living specimens, kindly sent me together with the fruit, by Miss Mary C. Cuthbert 
