EFFECT OF POISONING THE FCETUS. 
445 
ceived the strychnia revealed no signs of life, the other two 
were still alive and vigorous. They lived for some time after 
separation from the mother, and one which was suffered to 
escape from its membranes respired, and otherwise displayed 
evident signs of full development, such as crying, that any 
doubt of the near approach of natural labour which could 
have been entertained after a mere inspection of the foetuses, 
were completely set at rest. The parts were found in the 
abdomen as they had been replaced, and the foetus which 
was operated on in the uterus still remained there. 
Now, I am satisfied that in these experiments none of the 
solution escaped from the foetus through the puncture, be- 
cause I ascertained that, if proper precaution had been 
adopted in the injection, none escaped upon pressure. 
Moreover, I had learned, from another set of experiments, 
that when the solution is allowed to come into direct con- 
tact with the maternal tissues, as when injected into the 
uterine or peritoneal cavity, or when allow'ed to escape from 
the foetus, its symptoms are never delayed for a period at all 
approaching the length of time which elapsed between the 
closure of the abdomen, and their manifestation in these 
experiments. The usual period is two minutes, and this is 
rarely extended to five. The animal is in most instances 
dead before that period. 
But that this source of fallacy did not arise, I have more 
that once unintentionally obtained still better evidence in 
another way. Some of my experiments, the earlier ones 
more especially, were attended with a negative result. 
Foetuses were injected and returned into the mother, but no 
visible effects on her of the poison followed. Prolonged 
exposure and rough manipulation when the foetuses were 
small and feeble, had been fatal to their circulation. But I 
now see the importance of the negative results which these 
experiments yielded. The solution could not have escaped 
from them, or in any way have come into contact with the 
maternal tissues. 
More recently I have performed the following experiment : 
Experiment 2. — I removed two foetuses, within a day or 
two of their full term, from the uterus of a cat, immediately 
after its death from chloroform, having previously placed 
ligatures on the foetal portion of the cords. They both were 
lively. I injected ten minims of the solution into the abdo- 
minal cavity of each by perforating the vralls with the point 
of the syringe in the usual manner. When the syringe was 
withdrawn, the punctures remained dry, and the spots were 
scarcely visible. No fluid exuded upon pressure. Then, 
xxxi. 59 
