104' EXPERIMENTS ON THE SPLEEN. 



In making the following experiments, I had the assist- 

 ance of Mr. Sewell, Mr. Brodle, Mr. WilHam Brande, and 

 Mr. Clift. 

 Exp. 1. Experiment 1. An ass, which had been kept twenty-four 



Tincture of hours without hay, to prevent the liquor that was to be 

 rhubarb given ^ ■ . -^ ^ ii- i- ii i -^ 



diluted with poured mto US stomach from being soaked up and retained 



water. there, on the evening of the 3d of December, 1807, ti^id a 



drench given it, consisting of half a pint of the spirituous 

 tincture of rhubarb, diluted in half a pint of water. On 

 the morning of the 4th, this was repeated at eight o'clock, 

 The animal ^^^^ again at twelve. At two o'clock the animal was pithed, 

 pithed. so as to destroy its sensibiliry; and before the circulation 



from thrsple- ^^^ entirely stopped, six ounces of blood were taken from 

 nic vein and the splenic vein into a graduated gla^s measure, and a si mi- 

 left auricle. j^^^. ^^3^1;^^ ^^y. taken from the left auricle of the heart, 

 into a vessel of the same kind : these were allowed to coagu- 

 late and separate their serum. 

 State of the The spleen was large and turgid ; upon making sections 



spleen. of it, the cells were found to be very numerous ; and to- 



wards the great end and near the edge, they were particu- 

 Rhubarb con- cularly distinct to the naked eye. The cut surface had a 

 veyed to it, strong smell of rhubarb, and when it was applied to white 

 liver'^" ° ^^^ paper wetted with the alkaline test, an orange tinge was 

 produced. This was strongly contrasted by a stain made in 

 the same manner with a section of the liver, which had no 

 such tinge, nor did the liver give the slightest smell of rhu-* 

 barb. 

 Khubarbinthe Infusions were made of the spleen and liver under similar 

 urine most: circumstances; these were strained oft' into separate glasses, 

 sion of spleen ^"<i tested by t1ie alkali. The urine was tested in the same 

 then in serum way. The serum, from the different portions of blood, was 

 vei'n and'^l'east ^'^^ poured off into separate glass vessels, to which the test 

 in serum from was added. In nineteen hours after the blood had been 



infu^skln^o/h- *^^^" f''«'" ^^''^ ''^'"'' ^•'^y '^^'■'^ '^^^ compared together. The 

 ver. yrine had so deep a tinge, that it nearly resembled the pure 



tincture of rhubarb in appearance; the others had a tinge, 

 although in very different degrees; the quantity of rhubarb 

 they contained was estimated by adding tincture of rhu- 

 barb to alkaline water so as to produce corresponding tints. 

 The infusion of spleen had a tmt equal to sixty drops of 



tinctur<^ 



