Selected Articles: 
It is- known that the slaves in the West Indies often attempt? 
to commit suicide. The following says Dr. Sureau, was com-* 
municated to me by a magistrate of Cavaillon,- St. Domingo, 
the son of a physician, and a well informed man- 
"Before the revolution, said he, I was one of the inspector 
generals of culture ; taking my rounds one day, I arrived at a 
house where they informed me that one of the negroes had 
just taken a quantity of the juice of the bitter manioc. He 
was surrounded by the other work people, and we much feared- 
that his example as is almost always the case, would be fol- 
lowed by his companions. I immediately ordered him (al- 
ready beginning to feel the effects of the poison,) to be whip- 1 
ped. He was therefore turned over to the inexorable over-- 
seer, w r ho pursued him round the court yard^ armed with his^ 
treble whip. The dragoons of my escort also pursued him, 
and the poor wretch to escape the blows, ran about, rolled ; 
himself on the ground &c. The punishment being over, it' 
was fully expected that he would soon fall a victim to the 
poison he had taken, when to our joy, he experienced no ill' 
effects from it. About a month afterwards another negro in 1 
the same neighbourhood, poisoned himself in the same way ;' 
one of the dragoons, who was present at the cure of the 
above, immediately advised the remedy then prescribed ; the' 
patient was severely scourged, and recovered." 
Hogs are very fond of manioc, and when cassava is mak- 
ing they often deceive the vigilance of their keepers, and ; 
swallow large quantities of the juice. When this is the case, 
they are pursued for an hour, so as to fatigue them greatly,* 
which generally prevents the poison from taking effect. 
It would be easy, says Dr. Sureau, to give a satisfactory 
explanation of these facts. In general, absorption takes place 
in an inverse ratio to the degree of force and vital energy.- 
Thus individuals who are enfeebled from moral or physical 
causes, readily contract contagious disorders. Those, on the 
contrary, who lead an active life, and are endowed with 
much moral energy, or a certain degree of recklessness, are 
less exposed than others to contagious miasmata. 
There can be no doubt, that in the case in question, the 
