i?a MEMOIR on the 



"J 



Laftly, The experiments {d & e) tend, in fome mea- 

 fure to prove, that an atmofphere highly impregnated 

 with the odouf of black vomit recently obtained, would 

 not produce fever, apparently under the moft favourable 

 circum fiancee. 



0/ the opinions of authors concerning the bhck vomit. 



The opinions of authors concerning the properties of 

 the black vomit, trom the days of Hippocrates, until the 

 prefent period, may be reduced to four heads. Firft, that 

 it conlifted ot putrid bile. Secondly, that it was putrid 

 blood, or, according to fome writers, a mixture of blood 

 and bile. Thirdly, that it was the villous coat of the llo- 

 mach in a ftate of dilfolution, produced by inflammation, 

 terminating in mortification. Fourthly, it is conjedturcd to 

 be bile changed to a black colour, in confequcnce of meet- 

 ing with the feptic acid, which is fuppoled, by profeflbr 

 Mitchell, of New- York, to be generated in the ftomach and 

 intertinal canal. The firft of thefe opinions, viz. that the 

 black vomit is putrid bile, I believe has been adopted mere- 

 ly from its being found, on difledlion, in the gall-bladder; 

 for their properties are very dilTimilar. The black flaky 

 fubftance, which is the only part of the vomit bearing the 

 Icaft analogy to bile, is generally of a darker colour, of a 

 thicker confiftence, and is compofed of a number of flaky 

 particles. This fluid gives a black or brown tinge to linen ; 

 whereas, bile, even after becoming highly putrid, and 

 after being retained in veflels for months, and even years, 

 imparts a yellow colour to water and linen, and has an 

 intenfely bitter tafte. This property and colour of bile is 

 not deftroyed by a high degree of putrefaction. The ex- 

 periments made on thefe fecreted matters, render the dif- 

 fimilarity of properties ftill more obvious. The black 

 flaky fubftance, by digeftion with fulphuric acid, may be 



entirely 



