556 
ANTIDOTE   TO  STRYCHNIA. 
I  will  now  state  the  experiments  of  mine  own,  and  the  occasion 
of  their  having  been  made. 
There  were  some  three  or  four  dogs,  nightly  frequenting  my 
premises,  committing  devastations  upon  anything  left  exposed. 
They  had  continued  to  worry  me  until  forbearance  ceased  to  be  a 
virtue,  and  sentence  was  pronounced  :  "  They  shall  die."  A  piece 
of  meat  containing  "  1  grain  of  strychnia,"  was  placed  close  be- 
side ajar  containing  refuse  "  lard."  I  sat,  watched  a  dog  take, 
eat  the  meat,  and  commence  upon  the  lard.  My  watch  was  be- 
side me,  and  I  expected  the  dog  to  die  ;  five,  ten,  fifteen,  twenty, 
thirty  minutes  passed ;  still,  he  did  not  die.  That  night,  the 
"  lard"  having  all  been  eaten,  three  pieces  of  meat,  upon  which 
the  poison  had  been  placed,  were  dropped  in  separate  places. 
Next  morning,  I  found  three  dogs  dead.  I,  that  day,  tried  dog 
No.  1  with  two  more  grains  without  the  lard,  and,  in  ten  minutes, 
he  was  dead.  There  have  been  nine  instances  in  which  the  poi- 
son was  given,  and  antidote  used  ;  in  neither  one  did  the  dog  die. 
In  eleven,  without  the  lard,  they  all  died.  The  half  grain  was  suf- 
ficient to  kill.    Three  grains  failed  when  the  antidote  was  used. 
The  test  has  been  also  used  upon  cats  with  the  same  result. 
A  difference  in  time  of  death  is  made  by  simply  putting  it  upon 
fat  instead  of  lean  meat ;  the  latter  being  over  some  three  minutes 
sooner  than  the  former. 
It  is  proper  to  state,  that  the  lard  was  given  in  not  less  than 
"  half  pints"  up  to  the  one  and  a  half. 
What  is  the  action  of  the  lard  ? 
Will  you,  doctor,  have  this  matter  tested  fully,  and  then  report 
through  the  Journal  ?  The  article  of  strychnia,  wich  I  have  used, 
was  obtained  from  my  chemists  in  Baltimore,  Coleman  &  Rogers. 
I  do  not  know,  or  am  unable  to  account  for  the  action  of  the  lard. 
I  may  now  state  that  I  have  used  the  camphor  and  "failed." 
If  it  be  necessary,  it  will  afford  me  pleasure  to  report  at  length 
of  the  trials,  and  then  have  the  public  to  know  of  the  agent,  if  it 
should  meet  your  wishes. — Amer.  Jour.  Med.  Sci» 
*  [No^tk. — In  repeating  these  experiments,  should  they  be  corroborated,  it 
would  be  well  to  try  if  olive;  and  other  bland  fixed  oils,  will  act  in  the  same 
mariner.  It  will  be  much  more  easily  administered.  The  subject  is  worthy 
of  attention.  One  condition  of  success  maybe  that  the  poison  and  antidote 
shall  be  taken  at  the  game  time,  as  in  the  instances  quoted  such  was  the 
