300 Mr F. Marcet on the Action of' Poisons 



poison, according to Orfila, exerts on animals a local action 

 by no means violent, but it is absorbed and carried into the 

 circulation, and occasions death, by acting on the nervous 

 system, and principally on the brain. 



ALCOHOL. 



The root of a French bean was introduced into alcohol, di- 

 luted with an equal volume of water. At the end of twelve 

 hours it died, and the bean was withered and flabby. 



When the fluid used was half an ounce of alcohol, having 

 in solution three grains of camphor, the plant died at the 

 end of twelve hours, and in addition to the withering of the 

 leaves, the leaf stalks had the appearance of being broken 

 through the middle, as in the case of the nux vomica. 



OXALIC ACID. 



Ewp. 1. On the 12th April, at 10 h , a branch of a rose 

 tree, having a flower at its extremity, was detached from the 

 tree, and put into a solution of five grains of oxalic acid in 

 an ounce of water. Next day the colour of the external pe- 

 tals had become deeper, and the leaves had begun to fade. On 

 the 14th, the leaves and the stalk of the branch were com- 

 pletely dry, and the petals of the flower quite faded. During 

 the forty-eight hours, only the tenth of a grain of pure oxalic 

 acid had been absorbed. 



This poison, when administered to animals in large quanti- 

 ties, acts like the mineral acids, by destroying the tissue of 

 the stomach. It kills, however, very quickly when it is ad- 

 ministered in small quantities, and it then appears to act 

 powerfully on the nervous system. 



Exp. % The root of a French bean was put into a similar 

 solution of oxalic acid, and at the end of twenty-four hours it 

 was dead. 



HEMLOCK. 



On the 14th May, the root of a French bean plant was put 

 into a solution of five grains of the aqueous extract of hemlock 

 in an ounce of water. At the end of some minutes a crispness 

 was observed in two of the lower leaves. Next day these two 



