XIV 
Able FONTANA on the 
but in half an hour more it tottered ; four minutes after it fell 
down as if it were dead, and in four minutes more it was dead. 
I made two other young rabbits, and two other final! Guinea- 
pigs, drink nine grains of the poifon : the two pigs died in 
twenty minutes, and one of the rabbits died in lefs than forty- 
five minutes. Thefe experiments induced me to believe, that a 
greater dofe of the poifon may prove ftill more certain death ; 
and that the fame quantity of poifon produced different effects 
in the fame animals, according to the ftate their ftomachs hap- 
pened to be in at the time. I had generally obferved, in mak- 
ing the experiments, that after fwallowing the poifon, thofe 
animals which had their ftomachs pretty full of meat either 
did not fuffer any thing, or elfe died with much difficulty. I 
was defirous of making this clearer, by experiments on three 
rabbits and two pigeons, which X therefore firft kept for along 
time without meat. Three grains of poifon only killed each of 
them in lefs than thirty-five minutes. I repeated the experi- 
ment on five other animals with full ftomachs, and only one of 
them died. 
From hence X deduce this certain fa £t, that the American poi- 
fon, when taken in by the mouth, is a poifon ; but that it re- 
quires a pretty large quantity of it to kill even a fmall animal. 
The fadts above related concerning the American poifon, which 
is noxious when taken in large dofes, make me think, that 
the poifon of the viper, although it is innocent when taken 
by the mouth in a fmall quantity, may be mortal when taken 
in a greater quantity. That torpor which it excites on the 
tongue, and which continues fo long, is enough to convince 
us, that it is not quite inactive, and that it may really be fatal 
when taken in a large quantity. I intend to try this experiment 
on fome future occafion, when I propofe to give the collected 
poifon of eighteen or twenty vipers to a fmall animal when its 
ftomach is empty, and I dare venture to prophecy, that it will 
die ; for fince a very fmall dofe can take away motion and fenfa- 
tion from the tongue, or, in other words, deprive that organ of its 
principles of life, a greater quantity ought to deftroy thofe of the 
organs more effential to life itfelf. If we confider that poifon taken 
