American Poifon called Ticunas. xvii 
its feet, and a little after began to eat, and remained without any 
more figns of being difordered. 
I fcratched the Ikin on the thigh of a hen, and applied the 
poifon to it ; but it continued well, although I repeated the ex- 
periments twice on other parts of the ftrin. 
I flightly fcarified the Ikin of a pigeon’s thigh, and applied to 
it the poifon diffolved in water. After twenty-five minutes it 
was fo weak that it could not ftand, and was convulfed at inter- 
vals. It fell down a little after, as if it were dead, and remained 
in that ftate of apparent death above three hours. By degrees, 
however, it began to recover, and in half an hour more it was 
quite well. 
This experiment on pigeons was repeated five times. Three 
of them died in lefs than twenty minutes ; and the other two 
were feized with convulfions, but afterwards they recovered. 
From other experiments made afterwards, both on birds and 
beafts, it may be concluded, that the American poifon applied 
to the (kin flightly fcratched may be fatal, although it is not fo 
always, nor in all circumftances. The larger animals more eafily 
refill the aftion of the poifon ; and when the more feeble ani- 
mals did not die, in a little time they were as well as ever. 
I was defirous to know what quantity of the poifon was necef- 
fary to kill an animal. I had made a like inquiry concerning 
the poifon of the viper, and had determined the quantity of that 
poifon requifite to kill the different animals. I might, indeed, 
have fafely concluded, that a very fmall quantity of the Ameri- 
can poifon is fufficient to kill a fmall animal, fince one or two 
fmall drops applied to the Ikin juft fcratched, had proved fatal 
to more than one ; but I wifhed for fome thing more pofitive. 
Xfteeped a very fmall bit of cotton into about one-fiftieth of a 
little drop of poifon diffolved, which could fcarcely be the one- 
fiftieth part of the whole drop. This I introduced into a mufcle 
of the thigh of a pigeon, but the animal was not affefted by it. 
Two hours after, I put into another mufcle an atom of the 
dry poifon, fcarcely perceptible to the eyes : this like wife did 
not affedf the pigeon. I repeated the experiment with the dry 
poifon on three other pigeons, but none of them either died or 
Vol. LXX. C was 
