346 



March 3, 1858. 

 S. Durkee, M. D., in the Chair. 



Mr. John Green, Jr., stated that, when he made his remarks 

 at the last meeting, upon the detection of strychnine and other 

 alkaloids in cases of poisoning, he had heen unable to find any 

 record of their det(;ction in the tissues of the body. lie had 

 subsequently, however, found, in the Journal Medicale for De- 

 cember, 1856, an account of toxicological experiments upon the 

 bodies of various animals which had been poisoned with minute 

 doses of strychnine, in the tissues of which that substance had 

 be(;n found. It was recognized after the lapse of months, and 

 even of years, and, in one instance, was found in the bones, and 

 in the inaterial of a wooden box in which an animal had been 

 bui-ied. 



Mr. Green also referred to a process for the detection of alka- 

 loids, in which all organic matters are destroyed by sti'ong sul- 

 phuric acid, and he remarked that strychnine must be a far more 

 stable body than it has heretofore been considered. 



Dr. David F. Wcinland made some remarks upon the 

 method of locomotion in Lophobranchious Fishes. 



It is generally su[)posed that these fishes move with the tail, 

 whilst the fins of the other parts of the body merely preserve the 

 equilibrium. Dr. Weinland, when in liayti, noticed the Syngna- 

 thus advancing continuously in a curved line without any motion 

 of its body. Upon looking for the cause of locomotion, he found 

 the dor'sul lin making short and quick vibrations, resembling 

 those of the screw of a steam-pro|)eller, and the caudal fin like- 

 wise exhibiting the same movement. It is therefore shown that 

 the tail fin is not the sole organ of locomotion in Syngnathus. 



In Syngnathus the eyes are capable of motion through the arc 

 of an angle of ninety degrees. 



Prof. William B. Rogers gave an account of some 

 new experiments on sonorous flames made by him since 



