ON THE JAMAICA DOGWOOD. 47 
leaves (the piscidia being one of the few deciduous trees in- 
digenous within the tropics,) in four times its weight by- 
measure of rectified spirit for twenty-four hours, and filter- 
ing, was the only eligible mode of preparation. The fol- 
lowing was his experiment, and its result. 
" Having been for some time a martyr to the toothache, 
which had deprived me of my natural rest, 1 determined to 
make the first trial of my new medicine upon myself ; and 
accordingly on going to bed, mixed a drachm-measure of 
the tincture with a rummer of cold water, and drank it 
off — waiting to observe its effects. Soon after receiving it 
into the stomach, I experienced a violent sensation of heat, 
which gradually increased in intensity, awakening in my 
mind a suspicion that the predictions of my friends, who as- 
sured me I should poison myself, were on the eve of fulfil- 
ment. However, the deed was done, and I resolved to 
abide the issue without flinching. The sensation of burn- 
ing gradually extended itself to the surface, and while I was 
considering what antidote I ought to employ, a profuse dia- 
phoresis burst out from every pore, and a sleep the most 
profound I ever experienced arrested me so abruptly, that I 
remained motionless for the whole night, with the uncorked 
phial in one hand and the glass out of which I had taken 
the dose in the other, till after the sun was high* above the 
horizon on the following morning, a space of twelve good 
hours, when I first returned to consciousness, free from eve- 
ry pain or ache, and without any of those unpleasant sen- 
sations which invariably succeed to an overdose of opium. 
" I had certainly taken a larger dose than was, perhaps, 
necessary ; but the result was most triumphant. I after- 
wards employed it with equal success, as a topical applica- 
tion, in a number of cases of carious teeth, introducing it 
on a dossil of cotton into the diseased cavity ; and after a 
single application, I never heard of a return of pain in that 
tooth. Wishing to compare its powers with those of opium, 
I took equal measures of water, containing the animalcule 
