40 
Miscellaneous Notices. 
—This memoir has for its principal object the determination, by positive experi- 
ments, of the power by which the blood is forced and directed from the smallest 
ramifications into which it has been carried, back again to the heart- 
Whilst studying the phenomena of venous circulation, Dr Barry was led to 
observe, that by the act of inspiration, a void was made in the cavity of the chest 
tending to dilate it, and that all liquids in communicition -with the interior of the 
thorax should he drawn towards it, as forced by the atmospheric pressure- It 
must be a knowledged, that all the known facts are explained by this physical effect. 
Of this kind are the swelling of the jugular vein during expiration, and the col - 
lap ion during the opposite movement; the cessation of certain haemorrhages 
by forced inspiration ; the absorption of air by the veins, and the accidents which 
have folliTwed from the opening of any of the great canals near the heart- 
The author does not content himself with quoting facts in support of his opini- 
ons, hut has endeavoured to corroborate it by direct experiments, of which the fol- 
lowing are the principal. 
Having fixed the end of a glass-tube, furnished with a stop -cock, upon one 
of the large veins, as for example, the jugular of a living animal, and hav- 
ing placed the open end in a coloured liquor, he observed, after opening the stop- 
cock, that at each strong inpiration made by the animal, the liquid was rapidly 
absorbed ; that on expiration it remained stationary, or occasionally slightly reced- 
ed. The same effects followed whenever the experimenter introduced the tube, and 
this was done very skilfully, into one of the cavities of the thorax, and even of the 
pericardium. 
In order to render the motion of the liquid absorbed more evident. Dr- Barry 
made use of spiral tubes, in which the space over which the fluid moved being 
larger, the ascent was more distinct, and to make this s ill more evident, he intro- 
duced into the coloured liquids some drops of oil, or bubbles of air, which facilitated 
the observation of their motion. 
These experiments were executed with the greatest skill, and with every satis- 
factory precaution requisite to meet the objections which might be made. In all of 
them the author of this memoir, of which it is our object to relate the results, is 
satisfied that the motion towards the heart in the large vein is coincident with the 
instant at which the animal tends to form a vacuum in the breast ; that the dark 
blood traverses the veins only during the act of inspiration ; and that the venous 
movement is always under the influence of atmospheric pressure. 
Dr. Barry is so convinced of this atmospheric action upon venous absorption, 
that he thinks the absorption of poisonous matter may be prevented by the appli- 
cation of a cupping-glass, or exhausted vessel, upon the recently infected part, 
or into the interior of which any deleterious substance has been introduced.— 
Ann. de Chim. xxx. 192. 
The conclusions at which Dr. Barry has arrived, with respect to the blood, are 
adopted by him with re-pect to all other fluids similarly circumstanced, and he 
has embodied some of his opinions upon this subject in a memoir, read before the 
Academy of Medicine at Paris, on the effects produced by the application of cup- 
ping-glasses to poisoned wounds. 
Of this memoir no particular details have been given to the public, but the fol- 
lowing abstract of the Report presented to the Academy by the committee, to 
which it had been referred for consideration, will give an idea of the estimation 
in which it is held. 
The Report observes, that the principal statements contained in the memoir of 
Dr. Barry may be reduced to the three following : vi' 2 . 1st. That the immediate 
application of a cupping glass to a poisoned wound will prevent the absorption of 
the poison, and avert all untoward accidents. 2d. That the application of a cup- 
ping-glass to a poisoned wound, even after a part of the poison has been absorbed 
and has began to produce its proper effects upon the system, will arrest the pro- 
gress of these events, and prevent their recurrence so long as it is permittei to 
remain on the pan. 3d. That after the cupping, lass has been applied to a 
poisoned wound (or a certain time, the poison maybe removed from the surface 
and all unpleasant consequences averted, by simply washing the part with a little 
water. r 
„ns and dogs. The influence' thetafor^ of 
absorption, may now, it ,s added, be incontestably proved ; and the establishment 
