is produced ly certain vegetable Poisons. 181 



head and extremities. After this, he occasionally rose, and 

 attempted to" walk. In the intervals he continued in a 

 dozing state; but from this he gradually recovered. In 

 less than two hours he apjjeared perfectly well, and he con- 

 tinued well on the folio. ving day. 



The inflating the lungs has been frequently recommended 

 in cases of suflocntion, when' the cause of death is the ces- 

 sation of the functions of the lungs: as far as I know, it 

 has not been before proposed m those cases, in which the 

 cause of death is the cessation of ihe functions of the brain*. 

 It is probable that this method of treatment might be em- 

 ployed with advantage f)r the recovery of persons labourinf^ 

 under the eflects of opium, and many other poisons. 



V. 



The experiments which have been detailed lead to the 

 following conclusions. 



1. Alcohol, the essential oil of almonds, the juice of 

 aconite, the empyreumatic oil of tobacco, and the woorara, 

 act as poisons by simply destroyintr the functions of the 

 brain; universal death taknig place, because respiration is 

 under the influence of the brain, and ceases when its func- 

 tions are destroNcd. 



2. The infusion of tobacco when injected into the intes- 

 tme, and the upas antiar when applied to a wound, have 

 the power of rendering the heart insensible to the stimulus 

 of the blood, thus stoppnig the circulation; in other words, 

 they occasion svncope. 



3. There is reason to believe that the poisons, which in 

 these experiments were applied internally, produce their 

 effects throuifh the medium of the nerves without bcin^T 

 absorbed into the circulation. 



4. When the woorara is applied to a wound, it produces 

 its efTects on the brain, by eiiterinii the circulation throuoh 

 the divided blood-vessels, and, from :uialoij;v, we may con- 

 clude that other poisons, when applied to wounds, operate 

 in a similar manner. 



5. When an animd is apjiarentlv dead from the influence 

 of a poison, which acts by simply destroying the functions ■ 



• Since tliis paper w.Ts read, I have hrcn favoured l^y the Rlq-ht Kon. the 

 President with tlie perusal of a Dis?: ration im the Ert'cctsof tlie Upas I'ie'ite, 

 lately published at Paris l:iy M Delile, by which I find that he had en.ployed 

 artificial respiration for the [)Urposc of recovei iiij; animals, which were umJer 

 the influence of ihis ]5oison, with' success. M. Delile describes the Upas 

 Tieute as cauiiii^j dc.-'.tli, by oecauioning repeated and long-continued con- 

 tractions of tlic uiuKles of respiration, on which it acts through the medium 

 pf the spinal niarrow^ v.-itliotit destroying the functions of the brain. 



M3 of 



