68 



PHYSIOLOGY AND TOXICOLOGY 



luinous urine, and a large amount of blood mixed with feces. The symptoms of 

 general weakness now increased, the hind legs began to drag, the motions were 

 uncertain, and the bloody purging grew woi'se. The i-abbit died on the third day, 

 during my absence. 



P. M. Section. — Rigor well developed. The period of death being uncertain, the 

 irritability of the tissues was not tested. The wound was surrounded by half an 

 ounce or more of dark fluid blood. The vessels in the neighborhood were full of a 

 similar fluid, but there was no vascular redness, like that of acute inflammation. 

 The muscles in the track of the bite, which was a double fang mark, were remark- 

 ably softened and could be torn with the utmost ease. The brain was highly con- 

 gested, and there was a good deal of bloody serum in the cavities of that organ. 

 Similar congestion existed in the spinal canal, and at several points the white 

 nervous tissue was stained with small patches of blood. The lungs were healthy. 

 The pericardium was curiously distended with bloody serum. The heart was con- 

 tracted and contained but little blood, and that dark and diffluent. The intestines 

 were spotted at intervals with ecchymoses four to five lines in diameter and appa- 

 rently just beneath the serous covering, the cavity of which ■ contained a little 

 bloody serum. The intestines from the oesophagus to the rectum were dotted with 

 ecchymoses and filled, especially the large gut, with blood and mucus. The right 

 kidney was large and absolutely soaked with dark fluid blood. The left kidney 

 was more healthy. The bladder and ureters contained a good deal of bloody urine. 

 How the rabbit lived so long with such a singular complication of serious lesions it 

 is difficult to conceive. In most cases of chronic poisoning, some one or two organs 

 may become the seat of local extravasations, but for extent and character of lesion 

 this case stands alone in my experience. 



' In all of the above cases the heart pulse became rapid and feeble. 



