84 
It was proposed by W. R. Wilde, Esq., and seconded by Geo. Petrie, 
LL. D., and passed unanimously,— 
That the Report of the Commission be received by the Academy; 
and that the thanks of the Academy be given to the members of the 
Commission. 
Sir W. R. Hamilton, LL. D., read a paper on a ‘‘ New Method of 
Transformation of certain Diverging Series, with an Application to a 
Series connected with a celebrated definite Integral, which has impor- 
tant Physical Significations.”’ 
The Rey. Prorussorn Haventon made the following communication 
respecting— 
NICOTINE CONSIDERED AS AN ANTIDOTE TO STRYCHNIA. 
Havine recalled to the recollection of the Academy the experiments he 
had communicated 29th November, 1856, on the poisoning of frogs by 
nicotine and strychnia, and the mutual counteraction of those poisons : 
Professor Haughton said he believed the subject to be an important one, 
as the action of the antidote depended on its physiological, and not on 
its chemical properties. After reading that paper, he had, in conjunc- 
tion with Dr. H. Head, performed some experiments on dogs with those 
poisons, in January, 1857, but as they had not succeeded im recovering 
the animals from strychnia poisoning—in consequence of the nicotine 
acting as a powerful emetic, thus saving the animal’s life, merely by 
emptying its stomach, as any other less dangerous emetic would have 
done—he had not published the results. 
Quite recently, however, Mr. Haughton’s experiments had proved 
to be the means of saving a human life, as was shown by the following 
case, published in the ‘‘ Medical Times and Gazette” of the 12th inst. 
‘¢ Attempted Suicide with Strychnia; Treatment with Nicotine ; Re- 
covery.—By THomas O’ Reitty, M.D., M. R.C.S., Exe.—On Thursday, 
September 10, 1857, at 1 o’clock p.m., I was urgently requested by 
Dr. Byrne to accompany him to see a Mr. Johnson in this city (St. Louis, 
Missouri, U.S.), who, he was informed, had taken poison. On arrival 
at his residence we learned the following history to account for his con- 
dition :— 
‘‘After a three years’ cruise as a musician on board an United States 
frigate, he was paid off in New York, and for the amount purchased 
drafts on St. Louis, which on his arrival here were found to be worth- 
less. This, together with recent domestic sorrows, so overwhelmed him, 
that he determined on self-destruction. To accomplish this end, he 
called on a respectable druggist, and demanded a large dose of poison 
fora dog. The druggist gave him six grains of strychnia, which he 
carried into an adjoming beer-house, and, playfully remarking to the 
bar-tender that he was going on his last spree, mixed the strychnia 
with beer, and drank it off. Soon repenting this rash act, he mentioned 
to those present that he had taken poison, and wished they would give 
