and Inorganic Substances on Gas Metabolism. 425 
Action of morphine sulphate. 
Boeck and Bauer* have already made a careful study of the action 
of morphine on the elimination of carbonic acid and the absorption 
of oxygen. By experiments on a cat and ona dog they found that 
the action of morphine on metabolism was mainly an indirect one, 
affecting especially the consumption of non-nitrogenous matter. 
Further, that its action hinged mainly on its power of affecting mus- 
cular activity ; thus in the case of a cat the first action of morphine 
was to increase the elimination of carbonic acid and the consumption 
of oxygen, due to the increased muscular activity induced by the 
poison, while in the case of a dog, where narcosis was half induced, 
there was a diminution in the amount of carbonic acid eliminated 
amounting in one case to 27 per cent. This diminished excretion 
was due almost wholly to the quieting action of the morphine and 
was followed by an after period in which there was increased produc- 
tion of carbonic acid, due to the increased activity of the muscle 
tissue. ; 
In these experiments the dose of morphine was 0°05 gram, in the 
form of chloride, and was introduced by subcutaneous injection. The 
injection of the poison was followed soon after by convulsions, ete., 
indicating vigorous toxic action. In our first series of experiments 
we endeavored to have the toxic action less pronounced, and for this 
reason the morphine was introduced by way of the mouth in repeated 
doses, the experiment extending through three days and into the 
fourth. The rabbit was deprived of food through the entire period 
and had also been kept without food for three days prior to the 
experiment. The data are to be found in the accompanying tables. 
The results do not show any very marked action, either on the 
excretion of carbonic acid or on the body temperature. At no time 
was there any noticeable indication of increased muscular activity, 
the rabbit remaining fairly quiet in the chamber and showing no 
symptoms of tetanic convulsions. On the other hand there was no 
very profound narcotism. A study of the individual results, how- 
ever, shows that directly after each dose of morphine, the excretion 
of carbonic acid fell quite noticeably for one or two periods. Such 
action as was produced, therefore, in this experiment, is to be consid- 
ered simply as incidental to the semi-somnolent condition of the 
animal. 
In a second shorter series of experiments with a rabbit, one single 
* Zeitschrift fiir Biologie, Band x, p. 339. 
Trans. Conn. AcaD., Vou. VII. 54 Marou, 1887. 
