408 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1731. 



laurel water ; but no mucus as in the puppy : some of the villi seemed slightly 

 inflamed, the blood vessels being very turgid ; there was a great deal of mucus 

 in the oesophagus, which did not seem inflamed. The lungs appeared exceed- 

 ingly contracted, and very red and inflamed. In this dog it was very evident, 

 that the pericardium did not adhere to to diaphragm, as in erect animals, here 

 being a distance of above 1 inches, which was filled up by an appendix to the 

 right lung ; on removing which, the vena cava ran from the diaphragm about 

 3 inches to the pericardium quite free, not adhering to the back by any fibres 

 or membranes, and was entirely enveloped by this appendix of the lung. The 

 vena cava and all the veins were vastly distended, and the blood in them coagu- 

 lated, though the body was yet hot : there was little or no blood in the aorta : 

 only on pressing it, a small quantity of a transparent fluid, like serum, 

 flowed out of it. The blood was strongly coagulated in the right auricle 

 and ventricle of the heart, being of a very dark colour, and filled them quite ; 

 but the left auricle and ventricle contained only a small clot of congealed 

 blood, which looked more red and florid : they kept some clots of the blood 

 out of the vein, and also out of the left ventricle, 24 hours, but neither of 

 them liquified or ran into serum. The head was cut off, but not opened till 24 

 hours after ; a great deal of blood drained from it ; and on opening it, the 

 vessels did not then appear distended, but the dura mater looked livid : there 

 was no blood at all in the sinus falciformis ; the brain looked very well ; the 

 vessels of the plexus choroides in each ventricle were not distended, but livid ; 

 nor were they burst, there being no extravasation in the ventricles, only a very 

 small quantity of lymph ; which was the case likewise of the pericardium, which 

 had not above a tea- spoonful of water in it. 



In both these instances, this poison seems to act by coagulating the blood ; 

 so that it cannot pass the lungs or brain : and probably the puppy lived longer 

 than the great dog, because in the puppy the foran)en ovale was open, by 

 which the thickened blood could pass^ and perform a few circulations more than 

 it could have done, had it had the lungs to pass through ; and that in the 

 puppy the brain was the part the most affected, as was evident from the con- 

 vulsions it had : whereas the dog was little convulsed, but seemed to die of a 

 difficulty of breathing ; and the greatest accumulation was found at the right 

 ventricle of the heart. 



Dr. M. procured a middling-sized spaniel, and poured some l.iurel water 

 down his throat : he struggled pretty much at first, and whined ; but when 

 about I Loz. was down, he ceased struggling : that he might not be too long in 

 dying, as much more was given him ; he spilt about one third of the whole 

 quantity : he was then laid down on the ground, but never offered to get up. 



