xliv Abbt font ana on the 
The unexpected refult of thefe experiments threw me into a 
very great uncertainty concerning the adtion of this poifon : I 
could neither comprehend the mode of its operation, nor even 
upon what parts it afted when taken by the mouth or applied to 
wounds. Here all was confufion : it was found neither to a£t 
on the nerves nor on the blood, and yet it killed, and that in an 
inftant, when in t r od u ced into.. the. ftomach by the mouth. 
Is there then a new way of deftroying the life of animals dif- 
ferent from that of the blood and of the nerves ? The lofs of .mo- 
tion, and that too in a few feconds, in fuch animals as eels, which 
in other cafes continue to move for hours after the head is cut off,, 
and even after they are cut in pieces, would make one believe, that 
the irritability of the mufcular fibres was affedted by this poifon. 
It is true, indeed, that the heart continues to move in thofe ani- 
mals ; but that motion i& very much lefiened, arid 1 aft s but 
for a very fhort time. In the warm-blooded animals, juft killed 
by this poifon, there ftiil exifts fome motion, but it is very little; 
and although their heart continues to beat for fome time, it beats 
much lefs than when they are killed by other r means. The ir- 
ritability is certainly dimiiiifhed very much iii friany animals, and 
-in many others mtirely deftroyed ; by whatever means the poifon 
kills in fo fhort a time, and however obfcure the/mechanifm 
may be by which- the mufcular fibres lofe thehnirritability. We 
muil confefs our ignorance in our researches into nature. When 
we think we have, accomplished every thing, we fuddenly find 
ourfelves juft where we began. Experiment is the only guide 
which we have to conduct us in orir refearches : experiment is 
indeed a fecure way of avoiding error, but experiment does not 
-always leads us to the more remote truths* nor always guide us 
-to the knowledge of the fecret arcana of nature, nor yet always 
conduct us whither we have propofed to go. 
But although we know not how the Laurel water operates, 
or, more properly fpeaking, on what part that poifon exerts, its 
aftion, when it kills animals, we know, however, that it is 
quite innocent when applied immediately to the nerves, and even 
to their medullary fubftance : and it is equally true, that all the 
experiments above related clearly Shew, that the poifon of the 
