ON  AN  EASY  METHOD  OF  PREPARING  ATROPINE. 
155 
functions  of  the  plants  was  observed  in  the  leaves  :  these  began 
to  wilt  and  die  at  their  edges  and  apices  ;  and  this  death  gradu- 
ally and  uniformly  advanced  on  all  sides  towards  the  midrib  and 
petiole,  till  the  whole,  or  nearly  the  entire  leaf-blade  was  de- 
stroyed. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  in  physiology,  that  the  plants  first 
exhibited  signs  of  death  in  the  leaves  ;  and  still  more  interesting, 
that  this  death  commenced  first  in  the  leaves  on  the  side  of  the 
plant  in  which  the  poison  was  inserted.'*1 
The  facts  materially  deducible  from  these  experiments  are : — 
1.  That  the  effects  of  the  poison  of  the  rattlesnake  upon  plants 
and  animals,  when  introduced  into  the  circulation  by  a  wound, 
are  similar.f 
2.  That  it  requires  a  much  longer  time  for  it  to  affect  the 
plant  than  the  animal.J 
3.  That  the  effects  were  invariably  exhibited  on  the  parts 
above  the  wound,  and  in  no  case  effected  the  leaves  below  it.§ 
4.  That  it  invariably  affected  first  the  leaves  on  the  side  of 
the  plant  in  which  the  incision  was  made. 
5.  That  its  influences  were  first  rendered  visible  on  the  edges 
and  apices  of  the  leaf-blades. — N.  Y.Jour.  of  Mad. ,  Nov.,  1854. 
ON  AN  EASY  METHOD  OF  PREPARING  ATROPINE. 
Br  W.  T.  Luxton,  M.  R.  C.  S.,  L.  A.  C, 
Late  House-Surgeon  to  King's  College  Hospital,  London. 
This  alkaloid,  which  is  of  such  immense  value  to  the  ophthal- 
mic surgeon,  and  which,  I  think,  will  become  of  almost  equal 
*  This  shows  a  less  perfect  system  of  anastomosing  vessels  than  exists 
in  the  animal. 
t  It  is  stated  on  good  authority,  that  the  poison  of  the  snake  can  be 
taken  into  the  stomach  of  the  animal  with  impunity  ;  its  dangerous  effects 
being  only  exhibited  when  introduced  into  the  circulation  by  a  wound.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  note  its  influence  on  the  animal  when  applied  ex- 
ternally, to  the  skin,  to  see  whether  its  deadly  effects  would  be  modified 
by  the  absorbents. 
X  It  should  be  stated,  in  order  to  show  that  animals  were  readily  affected 
by  the  poison  of  the  snake,  that  a  short  time  previous  to  its  death,  a  rat 
bitten  by  it  died  in  two  hours. 
§  This  was  probably  owing  to  the  small  quantity  of  poison  inserted  in 
each  c  ise. 
