S30 ACTION OF VEGETABLE POISON'S. 



After death, I dissected the thoracic duct with great 

 care. I found it to hare been perfectly secured by the li- 

 gature. It was very much distended with chyle, and about 

 two inches below its termination its coats had given way, 

 and chyle was extravasated into the cellular nfenibianfe. 

 The lymphatic vessels in the left axilla were distended in a 

 Tery remarkable degree, and on dividing them, not less 

 than a drachm of lymph issued from^the divided ends. 

 Tlie poison Since neither the division of the nerves, nor the obstruc- 



probably there- ^j^jj ^f ^^g thoracic duct interfere in the slightest degree 

 lore passes '^ ^ 



ihroughthe with the effects of the woorara, there is presumptive evi~ 

 vwis. dence, that it acts on the brain by entering the circulation 



through the divided veins. I endeavoured to ascertain, by 

 experiment, whether this is really the case. 



To apply ligatures to the large vessels of a limb only 



would evidently lead to no satisfactory conclusion, since 



the anastomosing vessels might still carry on the circulation. 



The only way, which I could devise, of performing the 



experiment, was to include all the vessels, small as well as 



large, in a ligature. 



Experiments?. Exp. 27. In order to make the experiment the more sa. 



1 he blood ves- tisfactorily, I exposed the sciatic nerve of a rabbit in the 



skIs Hicludcd in "^ /.,.., j j • 



»ii«sature, upper and posterior part of the thigh, and passed under it 



a tape half an inch wide. I then made a wound in the 



leg, and having introduced into it some of the woorara 



mixed with water, I tied the tape moderately tight on the 



fore part of the thigh. Thus I interrupted the communi. 



cation between the wound and the other parts of the 



body by means of the vessels, while that by means 



of the nerve still remained. After the ligature was 



tightened, I applied the woorara a second time, in another 



the animal not part of the leg. The rabbit was not at all affected, and at 



»fFected, till the jj^g g^^ ^f ^^^ hour I removed the ligature. Being engaged 



ligature was ° . . , , 



removed. in some other pursuit, I did not watch the animal so closely 



as I should otherwise have done; but twenty minutes after 

 the ligature was removed, I found him lying on one side, 

 motionless and insensible, evidently under the influence of 

 the poison ; but the symptoms were less violent than in 

 most instances, and after lying in this state he recovered, 

 and the limb became perfectly warmj and he regained the 

 power of using it. 



Experiment 



