THE ACTIONS OF PHYSOSTIGMA AND ATROPIA. 555 



the animal. With these exceptions, the rabbit appeared to be in a normal 

 state, until eighteen minutes after the commencement of the injections, when 

 symptoms of loss of power occurred in the thoracic extremities ; but these 

 symptoms did not become severe until twenty-five minutes, when stumbling 

 movements were made, and soon after the rabbit subsided on to the abdomen 

 and chest. It remained quietly in this attitude, with the head normally raised, 

 for about eight minutes, and then rose up and stood or went about somewhat 

 unsteadily. A large additional quantity of faeces having a normal character 

 was passed, and some urine voided. Soon afterwards the partial paralysis 

 was recovered from, and at forty-five minutes there were no marked general 

 symptoms present, except a dilated state of the pupils and fibrillary twitches. 

 A perfect recovery ultimately occurred. 



Thirteen days afterwards the following experiment was performed on this 

 rabbit, which then weighed two pounds and nine ounces. 



Experiment 45-b. — One grain of extract of physostigma, mixed with 15 

 minims of distilled water, was injected under the skin at the right flank, and im- 

 mediately afterwards the syringe was washed out with a few drops of distilled 

 water, and this too was injected under the skin. 



The phenomena usually produced by such a dose occurred in their ordinary 

 sequence : fibrillary twitches, stiff extension of the limbs succeeded by their 

 partial paralysis, slight tremors, unimportant and transient dilatation followed 

 by marked contraction of the pupils, defalcation, excessive flow of saliva, and 

 then a state of general flaccidity, interrupted now and then by laboured and 

 gasping respirations. In eighteen minutes after the injection of the extract 

 the rabbit was dead.* 



Physostigma administered before Atropia. — It is evident, therefore, that 

 atropia is able to prevent the occurrence of death after lethal doses of physo- 

 stigma, if the two substances be simultaneously administered. The influence 

 that it exerts on the lethal action of physostigma when administered after the 

 dose of this substance is shown by the following experiments. In the first of 

 these, the extract of physostigma was employed. 



Experiment 46-a. — Having ascertained, in a rabbit weighing three pounds 

 and two ounces, that the average rate of the cardiac contractions was 40, and 



* As has been frequently noticed in similar experiments, the bladder of this rabbit contained a 

 large quantity of urine. I endeavoured to ascertain whether physostigma is excreted by the kidneys, 

 by the following process : — About two ounces of this urine was evaporated at a low temperature on a 

 water bath, and the residue carefully mixed with a little rectified spirit, and the mixture was then 

 filtered, and in its turn evaporated to dryness at a low temperature. Then the extract thus obtained 

 was triturated with a very little distilled water, and a drop of the resulting fluid was applied to the 

 right eyeball of a rabbit, it having been previously ascertained that both pupils measured -g-fths x 

 l^ths of an inch. The pupils were carefully measured at frequent intervals during the following hour, 

 and twenty minutes, and it was found that no change occurred in the size of either. It is therefore 

 highly improbable that the physostigma is excreted by the kidneys. 



