ACTION OF VEGETABLE POISONS. 329 



that some poisons, which are very powerful when ap- 

 plied to wounds even in small quantities, are either al- 

 together ineflicient when taken internally, or require to be 

 given in very large qiiantitieSj in order to produce their ef- 

 fect ; and vice versa. ^ 

 A poison applied to a wounded surface may be supposed Three possibia 

 to act on the brain in one of three ways, ^^-^*" 



1. By means of the nerves, like poisons taken internally, 



2. By passing into the circulation through the absorbent 

 vessels. 



3. By passing directly into the circulation through the 

 divided veins. 



Exp. 25. In order to ascertain, whether the woorara acts Experiment ?5. 

 through the medium of the nerves, I exposed the 'ixiila of ^-^g^J^^"^ '^* 

 a rabbit, and divided the spinal nerves supplying the upper 

 extremity, just before they unite to form the axillary 

 plexus. The operation was performed with the greatest 

 care. I not only divided every nervous filament, however 

 fmall, which I could detect, but every portion of cellular 

 membrane in the axilla, so that the artery and vein were 

 left entirely insulated. I then made two wounds in the fore 

 arm, and inserted into them some of the woorara form- 

 ed into a paste. Fourteen minutes after the poison was the effects the 

 applied, the hind legs became paralytic, and in ten minutes '^^"^^' 

 more he died, with symptoms precisely similar to those, 

 which took place in the former experiments, arid the heart 

 continued to act after apparent death. On dissection, the 

 nerves of the upper extremity were particularly examined, 

 but not the smallest filament could be found undivided. 



I made the following experiment to ascertain whether the 

 woorara passes into the circulation through the absorbent 

 vessels. 



Exp. 10. I tied a ligature round the thoracic duct of a Experiment 26. 

 dog, just before it perforates the angle of the left s"^- Ju^Vtj'eT''''' 

 clavian and jugular veins. I then made two wounds in the 

 left hind leg, and introduced some of the woorara in 

 powder into them. In less than a quarter of an hour he the effects the 

 became affected with the usual symptoms^ and died in a few ^^'"^• 

 minutes afterward. 



Miep 



