of Edinburgh , Session 1866 - 67 . 53 
absorption may be obtained, though death has never been caused 
by such application. 
2. The contact of the extract of Calabar bean with the gastric 
juice of a dog for twenty-four hours, at a temperature a little above 
95° F., did not, in the slightest degree, modify its energy. 
3. A large dose, injected into the abdominal cavity of a frog, 
affects nearly simultaneously the heart and spinal cord,* and very 
rapidly destroys the vitality of both organs. With such a dose, the 
motor nerves are unaffected, and retain their conductivity for at 
least thirty hours. Evidence of the activity of the afferent nerves 
may be obtained so long as the retained vitality of the spinal cord 
permits of its diastaltic function being examined. 
4. An average dose, in the first place, impairs the function of the 
spinal cord and diminishes the rate of the cardiac contractions and 
of the respiratory movements, and, soon after, these latter cease. 
In periods varying from one and a-half to four hours afterwards, 
the motor nerves are 'paralysed , this paralysis first implicating the 
endorgans of these nerves, and afterwards the nerve trunks. 
From this it must not be inferred that the nerve is paralysed by a 
centripetal progression of the poison, the only fact which was de- 
monstrated being that a direct ratio existed between subdivision 
of nerve substance and facility of contact of poison, on the one 
hand, and, on the other, rapidity of paralysing effect. Indeed, 
division of the nerve trunk, previous to the administration of 
Calabar bean, delayed the paralysis of its endorgans. The afferent 
nerves retain their activity so long, at least, as the functions of the 
spinal cord are not lost, and this generally happens about the same 
time as the motor paralysis. 
5. When a small but still fatal dose of Calabar bean is ad- 
ministered to a frog, the effects are the same as those in the previous 
conclusion, until they arrive at the stage of paralysis of the motor 
nerves, and, after this, an interval of several hours may elapse 
before the functions of the spinal cord are completely suspended. 
During this interval the tactile sensibility of the afferent nerves is 
increased ; so that, if the ischiadic artery and vein of one limb were 
tied before the exhibition of the poison, an ordinary excitant, such 
* The effects on the spinal cord were determined by frequent measurements 
of the reflex activity by means of the Metronome. 
