American Poifon called Ticunas. xxix 
be here and there tranfparent, efpecially towards the edges. 
The pulmonary air was very viflble through the external mem- 
brane : I have examined it with a microfcope, and have been 
able to diftinguifli very well the fmail pulmonary bladders, 
ftreaked with veffels for the moft part without blood. 
Great as this alteration is in fo important a vifcus, I could not 
perfuade myfelf, that it could alone produce fo great and inftan- 
taneous a diforder, and that the whole force of the poifon exerted 
itfelf only upon the blood and lungs. There was, indeed, the 
infrance of the poifon of the viper, 'which produces fomething 
fimilar ; but then this poifon produces a kind of general coagu- 
lum in the blood itfelf, which certainly is not obfervable from the 
American poifon. 
In an inquiry fo important, and at the fame time fa ohfcure, I 
thought I ought to have recourfe to experiment itfelf, and to exa- 
mine the effebls of the American poifon when introduced imme- 
diately into the blood. For this purpofel made ufeof the fame 
method which I had before employed for introducing the poifon 
of the viper into the blood of the jugular. I ufed a turn-cock of 
glafs, bent at the point, inftead of a fmail fyringe. With this 
cock I took up the American poifon diflblved in water, and 
then opening the jugular vein thruft the point into it. As the 
method of making this fort of experiments has been before de- 
fcribed in my treatife on the poifon of the viper, I think it unne- - 
ceflary to give a particular defcription of it here. The experi- 
ment is fo conduced, that the poifon enters the blood by the 
jugular without touching any cut part of the veffels, not even . 
thofe of the jugular itfelf. 
For the firft experiment I put into the glafs fyringe four drops 
of the poifon diflblved in water ; the quantity of poifon in the 
four drops could hardly amount to half a grain. 3 introduced 
the crooked end of the fyringe into the jugular of a large rabbit ; 
but in the act of pufhing in the pifton, which was not dole 
enough fitted to the bore of the fyringe, the poifon returned 
backward, which made me fay to the perfons who were prefent, 
that the experiment had failed \ but I was iurprized when they 
anfwered me,, that the animal was already dead. I believe there 
were 
