94 OBSERVATIONS oM 



and univerfal paralyfis coming on. If it is 

 taken in a fmaller quantity, the convulfion« 

 are more or lefsftrong : the hind feet firft lofe 

 their motion, and afterward the fore feet be- 

 come paralytic. Upon diffeftion, no uncom- 

 mon appearances are obfervable in the fto- 

 mach, nor any inflammation upon the inter- 

 nal membranes. The arterial fyftem is found 

 empty, and the veins very turgid w^ith blood. 

 The finufcs of the brain, and the veins of the 

 pia mater, have been fecn very much diftend- 

 cd } but thefe appearances may be better ex- 

 plained from the violence of the convulfions, 

 than from any fpccifie properties of the 

 poifon. 



In many refpefts the poifon of lauro-cera- 

 fus, and the An^erican poifon called ticunas, 

 agree in the fimilarity of their adtion *. 

 They both, when received into the ftomach, 

 occafion fudden agonies, and violent convul- 

 five motions of the mufcles. Injefted into 

 the redtum, the refult is the fame. When 

 they are applied to the large trunks of the 

 nerves, they produce no effeds at all. If 



* Abbe Fontana, on the American poifon call ticu- 

 nas. Phil. Tranfadl. vol. Ixx. part i. 



they 



