252 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
and having placed them in a glass-tube, left them to dry and ha 
them pulverized ; twenty-five grains of this powder administered to !l 
very young dog produced no deleterious effects. Twice this quantity 
administered to a young cat produced no more, nor has this surpw 3 ® 
me, for, if the fresh animal has no poisonous properties, how can it 1 
supposed that drying the zoophyte can have increased its poisonO 11 
properties, if it really possesses them ? On the contrary, it is nio^® 
reasonable to suppose that, by desiccation, the deleterious princif 1 
from any animal, whether Physalia or Holotliurict , should lose 111 ^ 
finitely in its principle by evaporation, and other changes that he * 1 
and air produce in the process of drying. 
“VI. I have had a ‘galley’ cut into pieces, and got a fat yo u& h 
chicken to swallow them. It caused no inconvenience. Three bom 3 
after, I had the chicken killed and roasted; then I ate it, and 
my servant eat it too. Neither of us experienced any inconvenient ‘ 
from it, a certain proof that it is not from eating Physalia that 
fish becomes poisonous. . 
“ VII. I put twenty-five grains of powdered Physalia in a W ^ 
‘ bouillon I swallowed the dose without the least fear, and I fel * 11 
inconvenience from it.” j 
After these experiments, which are' certainly quite conclusive, 1 ’ 
are we to think of the story related of a certain M. Tebe, 
managing partner of a house in Guadaloupe, who fell a victim to 
cook, who is said, after having sought in vain to poison him with * 
Mmln» nf liia nails which he had snread carefullv over the rO&^J 
rasping of his nails, which he had spread carefully over the r~- j 
fish daily served up for dinner, determined, seeing that he h , 
signally failed by other means, to put into his soup a pulvevi^ 
Physalia. An hour after his repast, this gentleman appeared in 
burgh of Lamantin, at a little distance from his habitation, and, vV ^' 
entering the city with some friends, he was seized with violent ] hU ^ 
in the stomach and intestines, racking him as if by the most corr 03 ^, 
poison. His illness increased until the next day, when he died, n® 
the most excruciating pains. On examination, the stomach and un ^ 
ha 11 
been poisoned with arsenic, and I have no doubt that it was with ^ 
tines were found to be violently inflamed and corroded, as if he 
poison. 
or some other corrosive substance, that M. Tebe really 
poisoned. The negroes never make known the substance with w 
they commit a poisoning ; they confess all but the truth, which 1 
■hick 
the/ 
