AFRICA. 149 
ing to fwallow the whole, if I had not pre- 
vented him. 
He was, however, not In the leaft Injured 
by this experiment : but it muft be confeiTed 
the dofe was trifling, for I was unwilling to 
rifk the life of an animal fo ufefal to me. Per- 
haps, too, milk is an antidote to euphorbia, 
and Kees fwallowed the remedy with the 
poifon. If this fa<ft was eftablifhed, it would 
be an important difcovery. I would gladly 
have confirmed it, by giving an animal a fuf- 
ficient quanthy firft of the juice of euphorbia, 
and afterwards of milk : but in thofe deferts, 
and purpofmg to take fo long a journey, I 
had not a fmgle beaft with me that I could 
fpare. I was obliged, therefore, to defer my 
trial to a future period ; and with this view I 
filled a bottle with euphorbia juice, to preferve 
it for a more favourable opportunity. 
The general opinion of the planters as to 
this juice is, that it occafions death by coagu- 
lating the blood, and that confequently it is a 
poifon of the ftupefafliive and narcotic kind. 
This I greatly doubt, from the violent con- 
vulfions which my dogs began to experience 
^fter having drank of the water of the bafin. 
L 3 Befides, 
