50 On the different Modes in which Death 



but the exact nature of which I cannot describe, because I 

 know nothincr preci^elv similar to it. At the san-.e time 

 there was a sense of weakness in my limbs, as if 1 had not 

 the command of my muscles, and I ihmiglit that I was 

 about to fall. Ho.vever, these sensations were momentary, 

 and I cxpcrienc':>d no inconvenience whatever atterwards. 



I afterwards applied a more minute quantity of the es- 

 sential oil to mv tan;z:ne several limes, wuhont experiencing 

 from it any dis'-igreeable effects; but on applymg a larger 

 quantity, I was"affected with the same momentary sensa- 

 tions as in the forn)er instance, and there vas a recurrence 

 of them in three or four seconds after the first attack had 

 suhsiiled. 



From the instanOneonsncss with which the effects are 

 produced; and from its acting more speedily when applied 

 to the tongue than when injected into the intestine, though 

 the latter presents a better absorbing surface, we may con- 

 clude thai this poison acts on the brain through the medium 

 of the nerves, without being absorbed into the circulation. 



Experiment with the Juice of the Leaves of Aconite. 



Ex/?. 7. An ounce of this juice was injected into the 

 reccum of a cat. Three minutes afterwards he voided what 

 appeared to be nearly the whole of the injection ; he then 

 stood for some minutes perfectly motionless, with his legs 

 drawn together; at the end of nine minutes, from the time 

 of the injection, he retched and vomited; then attempted 

 to walk, but faltered and fell at every step, as if from gid- 

 diness. At the end of thirteen minutes, he lay on one side 

 insensible, motionless, except some slight convulsive mo- 

 tions of ttie limbs. The respiration became slow and la- 

 boured; and at forty -seven minutes from the time of the 

 injection, he was apparently dead. One minute and a half 

 afterwards, the heait was found contracting regularly one 

 hundred times in a minute. 



It appears from this experiment, that the juice of aconite, 

 when injected into the intestine, occasions death by de- 

 strovincT tlie functions of the brain. From the analogy of 

 other poisons, it i^- rendered probable that it acts on the 

 brain throuLih the niodmm of the nerves, without being 

 absorbed into the circulation. This opinion is confirmed 

 by the following circumstance : if a small quantity of the 

 leaf of aconite is chewed, it occasions a remarkable sense of 

 numbness of tlie lips and gums, which does not subside for 

 two (»r three hours. 



E-rpcri^ 



