I 77 3 
Are phyficians acquainted why thofe 
medicines, to which we have improperly- 
given the title of fedatives or antifpafma- 
dies, fometimes operate in fuch a manner 
upon the nervous fyftem, as all at once to 
appeafe the orgafm and convulfions ? and 
why at others, the orgafmand convulfions 
are exafperated by their exhibition ? 
We will now enquire what changes 
nerves experience when effeded by opium. 
For my part, I believe they become bad 
condudors, and that in confequcnce the 
eledricity, whether animal or artificial 
abandons the nerves and difperfes itfelf as 
I A 
we have before remarked, takes place, 
when the ligature happens to touch the 
mufcles. 
Let us now examine the efFeds of opium 
when applied to the mufcles. 
Experiment LXI. 
After having held one leg of a frog in 
an opium bath fox ten minutes, in a 
quarter 
