MINERAL POISONS. 81 



Mr. Home informed me that, in an experiment 

 made by Mr. Hunter and himself, in which 

 arsenic was applied to a wound in a dog, the 

 animal died in twenty- four hours, and the sto- 

 mach was found to be considerably inflamed. 



I repeated this experiment several times, tak- 

 ing the precaution always of applying a bandage 

 to prevent the animal licking the wound. The 

 result was, that the inflammation of the stomach 

 was commonly more violent and more immediate 

 than when the poison was administered inter- 

 nally, and that it preceded any appearance of 

 inflammation of the wound.* Some experiments 

 are already before the public, which led me to 

 conclude that vegetable poisons, when applied to 

 wounded surfaces, affect the system by passing 

 into the circulation through the divided veins. 

 From this analogy, and from all the circum- 

 stances just mentioned, it may be inferred that 

 arsenic, in whatever way it is administered, does 

 not produce its effects even on the stomach until 

 it is carried into the blood. 



But the blood is not necessary to life, except 

 so far as a constant supply of it in its healthy 



* Since the greater part of my experiments on this subject 

 were made, I have seen an account of an inaugural Disserta- 

 tion on the Effects of Arsenic, by Dr. Jaeger of Stutgard. 

 Dr. Jaeger has come to conclusions similar to those above 

 stated, that in an animal killed by arsenic, the inflammation 

 of the stomach is not the cause of death, and that the poison 

 does not produce its fatal effects until it has entered the cir- 

 culation. I have to regret that I have had no opportunity of 

 seeing the original of this dissertation. 



G 



