1813.] 



On VoiiutlnS' 



431 



works^ almost effaced the very recollection of the true notions of 

 vomiting which had been occasionally perceived ; and during 50 

 years it has been uniformly taught and believed that vomiting is 

 produced by the stomach alone, till M. Magendie turned his 

 attention to the subject, and resolved to subject it to experiments 

 so rigid, and so often repeated, as to put the question beyond 

 dispute, and render the conclusions classical, both in books 

 and the schools.* 



We think proper to mention here that M. Richerand, an 

 esteemed professor and author, convinced by facts exhibited 

 before him, as well as before us, has introduced them into his 

 treatise of Physiology, and has employed them to explain tlie 

 notion of vomiting v*'iiich he has embraced. 



It is principally by the faithful accounts of these facts that M. 

 Magendie so greatly interested the Class, already accustomed to 

 esteem his talents and appreciate his discoveries. It is by re^ 

 calling them to our colleagues ^that we hope to interest them in 

 our turn. 



We have not to notice simple conjectures, or slight and trifling 

 attempts, from which systems have been too often built, and 

 opinions formed respecting the most difficult points. Never, 

 perhaps, were experiments mors multiplied on the same object, 

 or more scrupulously conducted, or with more exactness. They 

 have been repeatedly made before us. We carried to them a 

 considerable portion of doubt, perhaps even of incredulity, with- 

 out, however, suspecting the well-known veracity of their author. 

 We have seen, examined, handled, and we declare that our 

 conviction is full and complete. 



All the experiments which we w'itnessed were made upon 

 dogs, because they are the animals most subject to vomiting, 

 Tartar emetic was almost always employed to produce vomiting, 

 not by way of injection or deglutition, but by introducing it 

 into the jugular vein, as is done by the veterinary schools of 

 Denmark. And it is worthy of remark, that tartar emetic, when 

 swallowed by the animal, often does not occasion vomiting in 

 half an hour ; but when introduced directly into the circulation^, 

 it produces vomiting in one or two minutes. We have reason to 

 be astoniished at this constant and irresistible tendency of tartar 

 emetic to produce vomiting, so that wheresoever it is applied it 

 . always produces this effect. 



* Note by the Editor. — The preceding historicml detail is not so accurate 

 as the French author conceived; nor is the claim of M. Magendie quite so 

 incontestible as he imagined. The same opinions were taught by Mr. John 

 Hunter more than 20 years ago. In his Observations on Digestion he says, that 

 vomiting is performed entirely by the diaphragm and abdominal musclci-j that 

 it is not necessary for the stomach to act at all, and that vomiting is to the 

 stomach what coughing is to the lui!2;s. See his Observations on certain Parts 

 of the Animal CEconomy, p. 199. 2d Edition j London, 1762. 



