VEGETABLE POISONS. 73 



ment might be employed with advantage for the 

 recovery of persons labouring under the effects 

 of opium, and many other poisons. 



Y. 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 de- 

 stroying the functions of the brain; universal 

 death taking place, because respiration is under 

 the influence of the brain, and ceases when its 

 functions are suspended. 



2. The infusion of tobacco when injected into 

 the intestine, and the upas antiar when applied 

 to a wound, have the power of rendering the 

 heart insensible to the stimulus of the blood, thus 

 stopping the circulation ; in other words, they 

 occasion death by syncope. 



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

 which in these experiments were applied inter- 

 nally, produce their effects through the medium 

 of the nerves, independently of their being ab- 

 sorbed into the circulation. 



4. When the woorara is applied to a wound, 

 it produces its effects on the brain, by entering 

 the circulation through the divided blood-vessels ; 

 and from analogy it appears probable that other 

 poisons, when applied to wounds, operate in a 

 similar manner. 



5. When an animal is apparently dead from 

 the influence of a poison which acts merely by 



