LAMAS AND TICUNAS. 27 I 



mais, none but quadrupeds and birds were killed by this poison, as 

 will more particularly appear by the journal of his experiments : 

 the others, viz. the fishes *, the insects f, and the reptiles}, were 

 not killed, though several of them seemed to be disordered by it. 



M. H. had verified what M. de la Condamine says, in the account 

 of his voyage, relating to the use that may be made of animais 

 killed by this poison, without apprehending any ill consequences to 

 those who eat of them. Tn effect lie had eaten rabbits, which he 

 had killed with this poison, and afterwards made several other per- 

 sons eat of them ; and no one perceived the least indisposition. 



On the 6th of June, 1748, M. H. made a small wound, of about 

 fhree lines long, in the left hinder leg of a rabbit six months old : 

 into this wound he put a bit of cotton soaked in the poison of ticu- 

 nas : the creature died suddenly in his hands, without giving the 

 least indication of having felt pain, and even before he could apply 

 a bandage to the wound. The same day he repeated this experi. 

 ment on eight other rabbits, and on four dogs : they all died in 

 about a minute. 



The 7th of June of the same year he dipped the point of a lancet 

 into the poison ; and with this instrument he pricked four cats and 

 two rabbits, some in the head and the others in the paw, dipping 

 the lancet each time that he pricked an animal. The rabbits died 

 in as short a time as the preceding day; but the cats held out about 

 three minutes. 



The same day he made a small wound, about two lines long, io 

 the right hinder leg of a rabbit, and put into it a small pledget of 

 cotton soaked in the extract of opium diluted in a little spirit of 

 wine ; but this did not cause any disorder in the creature; nor did 

 arsenic, which he applied to another in the same manner. In fine, 

 to a third he made use of the extract of white hellebore, and he 

 perceived that this animal became restless, nearly as he had ob- 

 served in the animals that died by the effect of the poison of ticunas. 

 However, this rabbit did not die, but fell into a sudden fit of fury, 

 which went off in about eight minutes. He had likewise made 

 trial of this extract on other rabbits, dogs, and cats ; and the effect 

 * Those which M. H. employed, were the carp, the eel, the pike, the gud- 

 geon, the barbel, and the tench. Orig. 



t As caterpillars, bees, different flies of two and four wings, the grilla- 

 ialpa, butterflies, May-flies. Orig. 



1 For example, earthworms, vipers, snakes Orig. 



