ACTION OF VEGKTABLE POISONS. ^gj 



Experiment I. I poured two drachms of -proof siJirits £xiwimeut 1. 

 down the oesophagus of a cat. Instantly he struggled vio- 

 lently; then lay on one side, perfectly motionless and insen- 

 sible; the breathing was labqurt'cl and stertorous, and the 

 pulsations of the heart were very frequent. He continued 

 in this-state for stvcn or eight minutes; tlien began to reco^ 

 ver ; the respirations became easier, and presently he stood 

 up, and was able to walk. 



JExp, 2. 1 injected an ounce and a half of proof spirits Experiment 2, 

 into the stomach of a large full-grown rabbit, by means of 

 an elastic gum tube pf^sed down the oesophagus. The 

 same symptoms took place as in the last experiment; but 

 the animal did not begin to recover from the state of insensi- 

 bility, until forty minutes had elapsed from the time of the 

 injection. 



Exp, 3. Seven drachms of proof spirits vyere injected Experiment 3, 

 into the stomach of a younger rabbit. Two niinutes after- 

 ward, he evidently was affected by the spirits, and in three 

 minutes more he lay on one side motionless and insensible. 

 The pupils of the eyes were perfectly dilated ; there were oc- 

 casional slight convulsive motions of the extremities ; the [ 

 respiration was laborious, it was gradually performed at 

 longer and longer intervals, and at the end of an hour and , 

 fifteen minutes had entirely ceased. Two minutes after the . 

 animal was apparently dead, I opened into the thorax, and 

 found the heart acting with moderate force and frequency, 

 circulating dark coloured blood. I introduced a tube into 

 the trachea, and produced artificial respiration by inflating 

 the lungs, and found that by these means the action of the 

 heart might be kept up to the natural standard, as in an 

 animal from whom the head is removed. 



Exp. 4:. 1 injected into the stomach of a rabbit two Experiment 4. 

 ounces of proof spirits. The injection w.'is scarcely com- 

 pleted, when the asiimal became perfectly insensible. Pre- 

 cisely the same symptoms took place as in the last experi- 

 ment ; and at the end of twenty-seven minutes, from the 

 time of the injection, the rabbit was apparently dead ; but 

 on examining the,thorax the heart was found still acting, as 

 in the last expcMimento 



