476 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNN0 173I. 



are produced, because there is no free passage for the blood into the veins. 

 But if once this passage become free (as in this case it surely is, for we find all 

 the veins distended with blood beyond their natural dimensions) the inflamma- 

 tion is then at an end, the cause which produced it being taken off. 



Also, the fact laid down, that the veins are preternaturally distended with 

 blood, necessarily concludes, that the arteries are not distended with it, and 

 consequently that there cannot be any inflammation ; for if the quantity of 

 blood be increased in the veins, it must be proportionably diminished in the 

 arteries. 



To what has been said, may be added the following observation ; viz. that if 

 there was any inflammation produced by this poison, it ought to appear most 

 remarkably on the inside of the stomach and intestines, because of the im- 

 mediate contact it has with those parts. All other poisons which occasion in- 

 flammations in the stomach and guts, first act on the blood-vessels, and corrode 

 the parts inflamed. They occasion vomitings and fluxes of blood, which at 

 length terminate in convulsions. 



One may very easily be deceived upon opening the stomach of a dog, and 

 may mistake the redness of the tunica villosa for an inflammation. The inner 

 coat of a dog's stomach is naturally of a ruddy flesh-colour ; and therefore, of 

 all domestic animals, a dog has the quickest and strongest digestion. Accord- 

 ingly we see that they swallow bones, and digest them perfectly well ; and 

 though they are but half chewed when taken into the stomach, yet they are at 

 last reduced to as soft a consistence as any other part of their aliment. It is for 

 this reason therefore, that the stomachs of dogs are more plentifully supplied 

 with blood than those of other animals; by which means, not only the muscu- 

 lar force of the stomach, but its warmth also, which is the principal instrument 

 of digestion, is very much increased. 



Dr. John Rutty of Dublin, informed the Editor, that whereas there were 

 several other experiments made at the same time by other gentlemen, as Dr. 

 Madden mentions, which agreed with these. Some persons who were present at 

 them proposed several things to be tried as antidotes to this poison; accordingly 

 bole, vinegar, and milk were given to a dog which had swallowed some of the 

 laurel-water: the bole and vinegar were not observed to do much good, but the 

 dog which drank the milk recovered without any bad symptoms ; but at that dis- 

 tance of time the Doctor could not recollect the proportions that were given : 

 he thinks a pint of milk. The editor tried several experiments in Essex and in 

 London, which correspond with, and confirm the above-related. Of these 

 experiments, an account will be found in the present volume of this Trans. 



