VOL. LXX.] PHILOSOPHICAL, TRANSACTIONS. (Jo 1 



poison of the viper led me to make an observation of the same sort on the 

 American poison. I had determined from them the time which the poison of 

 the viper employs in diffusing itself into the body of the animals; and when it 

 might be useful to cut away the poisoned part, or to make a ligature about it, 

 to hinder the poison from communicating itself to the animal by the blood. I 

 introduced into the muscle of a pigeon's leg an American arrow steeped in warm 

 water, and left it there; and 4 minutes after I made a ligature moderately tight, 

 immediately above the wound. In 26 hours the animal seemed to suffer no incon- 

 venience but from the ligature. I then withdrew the arrow, and loosed the ligature. 

 The part was a little swelled and livid; but the animal did not die c( it, though it 

 could make no use of its leg for many days, and afterwards used it with some diffi- 

 culty. I pierced the muscles of another pigeon with a fresh arrow, as above, and 

 applied the ligature 6 minutes afterwards, leaving the arrow in the wound. In 4 mi- 

 nutes the pigeon had not strength to hold up its head, or scarcely to stand; presently 

 after it fell down to all appearance dead, and was quite dead in 6 minutes more. 



1 repeated the experiment on another pigeon, leaving the arrow in the muscles 

 again, and 8 minutes after I tied the bandage about the leg. Three minutes 

 after it was visibly sick, but recovered again a little afterwards. It was still 

 living 26 hours after, though the muscles were livid. I then loosed the bandage, 

 and it died in 2 hours. I subjected a 4th pigeon to the same experiments, 

 leaving the arrow in the muscles, and applying the bandage 5 minutes after: it 

 died in 2 hours. 



I performed the same experiments on 4 other pigeons, to all of which I 

 applied the bandage in 2 minutes. Ten hours after they were all living; I then 

 took off the bandage, after which 3 of them died, and the 4th recovered per- 

 fectly. I again repeated the same experiments in like manner on other 4 pigeons, 

 but left the bandage on 30 hours: only one of them died, and that was not till 



2 days after, and certainly from the effect of the bandage being too tight, which 

 had produced a gangrene in the muscles. These same experiments I have also 

 repeated on much younger pigeons, whose legs may be cut off below their 

 tliighs without their dying. None of those died whose legs were cut off 2 

 minutes after they were poisoned; and only 2 out of 10 died of those whose legs 

 were cut off after 3 minutes. Fewer pigeons died by this method than by the 

 bandage, when they were both applied after equal times. The reason of this is, 

 that the amputation is not attended with death or any remarkable disorder in the 

 animals, whereas the bandage often produces gangrene in the parts wounded by 

 the arrows, and the pigeons frequently die of the gangrene. I made also the 

 same experiments, on some small Guinea-pigs, and on many young rabbits, 

 sometimes cutting off the part, and sometimes applying the bandage. The 

 results were in general similar to those observed in the pigeons, though not quite 

 so regular or certain. 



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