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Scientific Intelligence. 



Wright) gave each rat a quarter of a grain of powdered strychnia, and 

 two hours afterwards a quarter and half a grain more to one of the three. 

 Next morning at four o'clock they were all alive, and had eaten food 

 (bread and milk) in the night, but at seven, or a few minutes after, they 

 were all dead. The longest liver was one of the rats that had had only a 

 quarter of a grain. In about three hours afterwards he applied the usual 

 test, but could not detect the least indication of strychnine in the precip- 

 itate. There was, moreover, a total absence of bitterness in all the liquor. 

 He tried every part of the bodies of the rats with the like results. What, 

 then, became of the strychnine ? Had it been decomposed in the organ- 

 ism, and its nature changed, as Baron Liebig intimated? As to the non- 

 detection of strychnine, he thought it not improbable that the strychnine 

 might have become imbibed into the albumen or other solid matter, and 

 so abstracted from the fluid, forming by coagulation (say, for instance, in 

 the blood) a more or less insoluble albuminate. This idea had occurred 

 to him from noticing the coagulation of the glairy white of egg with 

 strychnine, and the fact of his not recovering the full quantity of the al- 

 kaloid whenever he had introduced it. At any rate, it merited considera- 

 tion. In his second experiment he administered three-quarters of a grain 

 of strychnia to a wild rat, but the animal evinced little of the effects of 

 the poison, and it was purposely killed after five days. His third experi- 

 ment was with two grains of strychnia, administered as a pill wrapped up 

 in blotting-paper, to a dog — a full-sized terrier. It was apparently quite 

 well for five hours, when the operator went to bed, but was found dead 

 next morning, but lying apparently in the most natural position for a dog 

 asleep. When taken up blood flowed freely from its mouth. On open- 

 ing the animal (continued Mr. Horsley) I found the right ventricle of the 

 heart empty of blood, whilst the left was full, some of the blood being 

 liquid and some clotted. The stomach was carefully secured at both its 

 orifices, and detached. On making an incision, I was surprised at not 

 seeing the paper in which I had wrapped the pill, naturally expecting it 

 would have been reduced to a pulp by the fluid of the stomach. I, there- 

 fore, sought for it, and lo ! here it is, in precisely the same condition as when 

 introduced into the gullet of the dog, and containing nearly all the 

 strychnine. I have been afraid to disturb it until I had exhibited it to 

 you, and now I will weigh the contents, and ascertain how much has 

 been absorbed or dissolved. This experiment is important as showing the 

 small quantity of strychnia necessary to destroy life ; and, had I not been 

 thus particular to search for the paper envelope, it might, possibly, have 

 led to a fallacy, as I must have used an acid, and that would have dis- 

 solved out the strychnia, and the inference would have been that it was 

 obtained from the contents of the stomach, whereas it had never been dif- 

 fused. In this case, also, none of the absorbed strychnia was detectable 

 in the blood or any part of the animal, although the greatest care was ob- 

 served in making the experiments. The lecturer, who was listened to 

 throughout with great attention, added that he had made further ex- 

 periments, which he thought proved that it was highly probable a more* 

 or less insoluble compound of organic or animal matter with strychnia 

 is found. 



