VEGETABLE POISONS. 49 



heart extremely distended, and without any 

 evident contraction, except of the appendix of 

 the right auricle, which every now and then 

 contracted in a slight degree. I divided the 

 pericardium on the right side. In consequence 

 of the extreme distension of the heart, this could 

 not be done without irritating the fibres with 

 the 'point of the scalpel. Immediately both 

 auricles and ventricles began to contract with con- 

 siderable force, so as to restore the circulation. 

 Artificial respiration was produced, and the cir- 

 culation was kept up for more than half an 

 hour, beyond which time the experiment was 

 not continued. 



We may conclude from these experiments, 

 that the effect of the infusion of tobacco, when 

 injected into the intestine of a living animal, is 

 to destroy the action of the heart, stopping the 

 circulation and producing syncope.* It ap- 

 peared to me that the action of the heart ceased 

 even before the animal had ceased to respire ; 

 and this was confirmed by another experiment, 

 in which, in a dog killed by the infusion of 

 tobacco, I found the cavities of the left side of 

 the heart to contain scarlet blood, while in those 

 of the right side the blood was dark-coloured. 

 This poison, therefore, differs materially from 

 alcohol, the essential oil of almonds, and the 

 luice of aconite, which have no direct influence 

 on the action of the heart. The infusion of 



* See Additional Note D. 

 E 



