S93 On the Action of Poisons on the Animal System. 



have been occasioned by the chemical action of the poison 

 on it. When I injected a solution of corrosive sublimatCT 

 into the stomach of a dead cat, and retained it there for a 

 few minutes, a similar alteration of the texture of the in- 

 terna! membrane took place ^ but it assumed a lighter gray 

 colour. The difference of colour may be explained by the 

 vessels in the one case being empty, and in the other case 

 being distended with blood at the time of the injection be- 

 ing made. 



The destruction of the substance of the internal mem- 

 brane of the stomach, precludes the idea of the poison 

 having been absorbed into the circulation. We must con- 

 clude that death was the consequence of the chemical ac- 

 tion of the poison on the stomach. This organ, however, 

 is not directly necessary to life, since its functions, under 

 certain circumstances, are suspended for hours, or even for 

 days, without death being produced. Although the sto- 

 mach was the part primarily afTected, the immediate cause 

 of death must be looked for in the cessation of the functions 

 of one or more of those organs whose constant action is 

 necessary to life. From the scarlet colour of the blood in 

 the left side of the heart, in the experiment on the rabbit, 

 we may conclude that the functions of the lungs were not 

 affected ; but the affection of the heart and brain is proved 

 by the convulsions, the insensibility, the affection of the 

 pulse in both experiments, and the sudden cessation of the 

 heart's action in the lirst ; and we may therefore be justified 

 in concluding, that the immediate cause of death was in 

 both of these organs. As the effects produced appear to 

 have been independent of absorption, we may presume 

 thai the heart, as well as the brain, was acted on through 

 the medium of the nerves. 



That a sudden and violent injury of the stomach should 

 be capable of ihus speedily proving fatal is not surprising, 

 when we consider the powerful sym|)athy between it and 

 the organs on which lite mure immediately depends, and 

 the existence of which many circumstances in disease dally 

 demonstrate to us. 



vir. 



The facts which have been stated, appear to lead to the 

 following conclusions respecting ihe action of the mineral 

 poisons which were employed in the foregoing experi- 

 ments. 



1. Arsenic, the emetic tartar, and the muriate of barytes 

 do not produce their deleterious effects until they have 

 passed into the circulation. 

 ' 2. All 



