VEGETABLE POISONS. 39 



death. In order to ascertain how far this conclu- 

 sion is just, I made the following experiments. * 



EXPERIMENT I. 



I poured two drachms of proof spirits down 

 the oesophagus of a cat. Instantly he struggled 

 violently ; then lay on one side, perfectly motion- 

 less and insensible ; the breathing was laboured 

 and stertorous, and the pulsations of the heart 

 were very frequent. He continued in this state 

 for seven or eight minutes ; then began to re- 

 cover; the respirations became easier, and pre- 

 sently he stood up, and was able to walk. 



EXPERIMENT II. 



I injected an ounce and a half of proof spirits 

 into the stomach of a large full-grown rabbit, by 

 means of an elastic gum tube passed down the 

 oesophagus. The same symptoms took place as 

 in the last experiment ; but the animal did not 

 begin to recover from the state of insensibility 

 until 40 minutes had elapsed from the time of 

 the injection. 



EXPERIMENT III. 



Seven drachms of proof spirits were injected 

 into the stomach of a younger rabbit. Two 



* I am indebted to Dr. E. N. Bancroft for his assistance 

 in many of the experiments which I am about to detail. 

 Mr. W. Brande lent me his assistance in the greater part of 

 those which were made. I have been further assisted on 

 these, as well as on former occasions, by Mr. Broughton, and 

 by some of my own pupils. 



D 4 



