1874.] On the Lymphatic System of the Lungs, 133 



pill and other preparations of arsenic ; the hypodermic injection of liquor 

 potassae ; quinine, ipecacuanha, Aristolochia indica, and a variety of other 

 drugs, generally of a vegetable nature, and enjoying a large amount of 

 popular confidence : all, when brought to the test of carefully conducted 

 experiment, failed, as might have been expected, to give any favourable 

 result. 



It seems almost unnecessary to allude to the so called snake-stones ; they 

 are powerless for good or evil. They have also enjoyed much confidence ; 

 but when submitted to the test of impartial experiment and observation, 

 their virtues prove as unreal as those of the antidotes above mentioned. 



With reference to the mechanical methods of preventing the entry of 

 the poison into the circulation after a bite, we think that the speedy 

 application of an elastic cord (such as is used in bloodless operations) 

 round the limb, combined with the application of cups attached to an 

 exhausting-syringe or pump*, might be of advantage, and that it might 

 be made of general application in India. 



January 29, 1874. 

 JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, C.B., President, in the Chair. 



The Presents received were laid on the Table, and thanks ordered for 

 them. 



The following Papers were read : 



I. " Contributions to the Normal and Pathological Anatomy of 

 the Lymphatic System of the Lungs." By E. KLEIN, M.D., 

 Assistant Professor at the Laboratory of the Brown Institu- 

 tion, London. Communicated by Professor J. B. SANDERSON, 

 F.R.S. Received November 13, 1873. 



I propose to give in the following pages a summary of an investigation 

 of the lymphatic system of the lungs, in the normal condition as well as 

 in chronic secondary inflammation, undertaken in connexion with the 

 pathological inquiries of Dr. Burdon Sanderson, for the Medical Depart- 

 ment of the Privy Council. The research will be published at length 

 during the course of the next year, in continuation of my work ' On the 

 Anatomy of the Lymphatic System,' of which the first part, " Serous 

 Membranes," has recently appeared. The present communication is made 

 with the approval of the medical officer of the Privy Council, Mr. Simon. 



A. Normal conditions, 

 (a) The endothelium of the surface of the lungs consists, in the normal 



(animal, vegetable, and mineral) that have been administered as antidotes. Parti- 

 culars may be found in the 'Thanatophidia,' where the details of experiments con- 

 ducted for the investigation of their actions are recorded. 

 * Such an apparatus has now been constructed. 



L2 



