Page images
PDF
EPUB

Poggy the Sumatra stock, and look for some affinity in their islands. language and manners; but, to our no small surprise,

we find a race of men, whose language is totally different, and whose customs and habits of life indicate a very distinct origin, and bear a striking resemblance to those of the inhabitants of the late discovered islands in the great Pacific ocean."

There is safe riding for ships of any size in the straits, which have no other defect as a harbour than the depth of the water (25 fathoms close in shore). The face of the country, and its vegetable and animal productions, are described in the following words:

"The mountains are covered with trees to their summits, among which are found species of excellent timber; the tree, called by the Malays, bintangoor, and which, in the hither India, is called pohoon, abounds here. Of this tree are made masts, and some are found of sufficient dimensions for the lower mast of a first-rate ship of war. During my stay here I did not discover a single plant which we have not on Sumatra. The sago trees grows in plenty, and constitutes the chief article of food to the inhabitants, who do not cultivate rice; the cocoa-nut tree and the bamboo, two most useful plants, are found here in great plenty. They have a variety of fruits, common in these climates, such as mangosteens, pine-apples, plantains, buah, chupah, &c. The woods, in their present state, are impervious to man; the species of wild animals which inhabit them are but few; the large red deer, some hogs, and several kinds of monkeys are to be found here, but neither buffaloes, nor goats; nor are these forests infested, like those of Sumatra, with tigers or any other beast of prey. Of domestic poultry, there is only the common fowl, which probably has been originally brought from Sumatra; but pork and fish constitute the favourite animal food of the natives. Fish are found here in considerable plenty, and very good."

The stature of the inhabitants of these islands seldom exceeds five feet and a half; their colour is like that of the Malays; they practise tattooing, and file their teeth to a point; and though of a mild disposition, they have some of the filthy customs of savages, particularly that of picking vermin from their heads and eating them.

Their mode of tattooing, as well as the treatment of their dead, is represented to be very similar to the practices of the Otaheitans.

"The religion of this people, (says Mr Crisp), if it can be said that they have any, may truly be called the religion of nature. A belief of the existence of some powers more than human cannot fail to be excited among the most uncultivated of mankind, from the observations of various striking natural phenomena, such as the diurnal revolution of the sun and moon; thunder and lightning; earthquakes, &c. &c. nor will there ever be wanting among them some, of superior talents and cunning, who will acquire an influence over weak minds, by assuming to themselves an interest with, or a power of controuling those super-human agents; and such notions constitute the religion of the inhabitants of the Poggys. Sometimes a fowl, and sometimes a hog, is sacrificed to avert sickness, to appease the wrath of the offended power, or to render it propitious to some projected enterprise; and Mr Best was informed that omens of good or ill fortune were drawn from certain appear

Poggy

ances in the entrails of the victim. But they have no form of religious worship, nor do they appear to have islands the most distant idea of a future state of rewards and ព Point. punishments. They do not practise circumcision.". Asiatic Researches.

POGO, is the name by which the inhabitants of the Philippine islands distinguish their quail, which, though smaller than ours, is in every other respect very like it.

POICTIERS, an ancient, large, and considerable town of France, capital of the department of Vienne. It was a bishop's see, and contained four abbeys, a mint, an university famous for law, 22 parishes, 9 convents for men, and 12 nunneries. There are here several Roman antiquities, and particularly an amphitheatre, but partly demolished, and hid by the houses. There is also a triumphal arch, which serves as a gate to the great street. It is not peopled in proportion to its extent. Near this place Edward the Black Prince gained a decisive victory over the French, taking King John and his son Philip prisoners, in 1356, whom he afterwards brought over into England. See France, No 71, &c.-It is seated on a hill, on the river Clain, 52 miles south-west of Tours, and 120 north by east of Bourdeaux. E. Long. o. 25. N. Lat. 46. 35.

POICTOU, a province of France, lying south of the Loire, and comprehending the present departments of Vendee, Deux Sevres and Vienne. The principal rivers are the Vienne, the Deux Sevres, the Gartempe, and the Lay. It is divided into the Upper and Lower; and is fertile in corn and wine, and feeds a great number of cattle, particularly mules. It was in possession of the kings of England for a considerable time, till it. was lost by the unfortunate Henry VI. Poictiers is the capital town.

Colic of PoICTOU. See MEDICINE, N° 303.

POINCIANA, BARBADOES FLOWER FENCE; a genus of plants belonging to the decandria class; and in the natural method ranking under the 33d order, Lomentaceæ. See BOTANY Index.-Of this genus there is only one species, the pulcherrima, which is a native of both Indies, and grows to the height of 10 or 12 feet, producing flowers of a very agreeable odour. In Barbadocs it is planted in hedges to divide the lands, whence it has the name of flower-fence. In the West Indies, its leaves are made use of as a purgative instead. of senna; and in Jamaica it is called senna. POINT, a term used in various arts.

POINT, in Grammar, a character used to mark the divisions of discourse. See COMMA, COLON, &c. A point proper is what we otherwise call a full stop or period. See PUNCTUATION.

POINT, in Geometry, according to Euclid, is that which has neither parts nor magnitude.

POINT, in Music, a mark or note anciently used to distinguish the tones or sounds; hence we still call it simple counter-point, when a note of the lower part answers exactly to that of an upper; and figurative counter-point, when any note is syncopated, and one of the parts makes several notes or inflexions of the voice, while the other holds on one.

We still use a point, to raise the value of a note, and prolong its time by one half, e. g. a point added to a semibreve, instead of two minims, makes it equal to three; and so of the other notes. See the article TIME.

Point

POINT, in Astronomy, a term applied to certain points or places marked in the heavens, and distinPaints. guished by proper epithets.

The four grand points or divisions of the horizon, viz. the east, west, north, and south, are called the cardinal points.

The zenith and nadir are the vertical points; the points wherein the orbits of the planets cut the plane of the ecliptic are called the nodes: the points wherein the equator and ecliptic intersect are called the equinoctial points: particularly, that whence the sun ascends towards the north pole, is called the vernal point; and that by which he descends to the south pole, the autumnal point. The points of the ecliptic, where the sun's ascent above the equator, and descent below it, terminate, are called the solstitial points; particularly the former of them, the estival or summer point; the latter, the brumal or winter point.

POINT is also used for a cape or headland jutting out into the sea: thus seamen say, two points of land are in one another, when they are so in a right line, against each other, as that the innermost is hindered from being seen by the outermost.

POINT, in Perspective, is used for various poles or places, with regard to the perspective plane. See PER

SPECTIVE.

POINT is also an iron or steel instrument, used with some variety in several arts. Engravers, etchers, cutters in wood, &c. use points to trace their designs on the copper, wood, stone, &c. See the articles ENGRAVING, &c.

POINT, in the Manufactories, is a general term, used for all kinds of laces wrought with the needle; such are the point de Venice, point de France, point de Genoa, &c. which are distinguished by the particular economy and arrangement of their points.-Point is sometimes used for lace woven with bobbins; as English point, point de Malines, point d'Havre, &c.

POINT, in Poetry, denotes a lively brisk turn or conceit, usually found or expected at the close of an epigram. See POETRY, N° 169.

POINT-Blank, in Gunnery, denotes the shot of a gun levelled horizontally, without either mounting or sinking the muzzle of the piece.-In shooting point-blank, the shot or bullet is supposed to go directly forward in a straight line to the mark; and not to move in a curve, as bombs and highly elevated random-shots do.-When a piece stands upon a level plane, and is laid level, the distance between the piece and the point where the shot touches the ground first, is called the point-blank range of that piece; but as the same piece ranges more or less, according to a greater or less charge, the point-blank range is taken from that of a piece loaded with such a charge as is used commonly in action. It is therefore necessary that these ranges of all pieces should be known, since the gunner judges from thence what elevation he is to give to his piece when he is either farther from or nearer to the object to be fired at; and this he can do pretty nearly by sight, after considerable practice.

POINTING, in Grammar, the art of dividing a discourse by points, into periods and members of periods, in order to show the proper pauses to be made in reading, and to facilitate the pronunciation and understand ing thereof. See the article PUNCTUATION.

POINTS, in Heraldry, are the several different parts

of an escutcheon, denoting the local positions of any - Points, figure. See HERALDRY.

POINTS, in Electricity, are those acute terminations of bodies which facilitate the passage of the electrical fluid from or to such bodies. See ELECTRICITY.

POINTS, or Vowel Points, in the Hebrew language. See PHILOLOGY, Sect. 1. N° 31, &c.

POISON, is any substance which proves destructive to the life of animals in a small quantity, either taken by the mouth, mixed with the blood, or applied to the nerves. See MEDICINE, No 261, 269, 303, 322, 408, &c. &c.

Of poisons there are many different kinds, which are exceedingly various in their operations. The mineral poisons, as arsenic and corrosive mercury, seem to attack the solid parts of the stomach, and to produce death by eroding its substance: the antimonial scem rather to attack the nerves, and to kill by throwing the whole system into convulsions; and in this manner also most of the vegetable poisons seem to operate. All of these, however, seem to be inferior in strength to the poisons of some of the more deadly kinds of serpents, which operate so suddenly that the animal bit by them I will be dead before another that had swallowed arsenic would be affected.

Much has been written concerning a poison made use of by the African negroes, by the Americans, and by the East Indians. To this very strange effects have been ascribed. It has been said, that by this poison, a man might be killed at any certain time; as, for instance, after the interval of a day, a weck, a month, a year, or even several years. These wonderful effects, however, do not seem worthy of credit; as the Abbé Fontana has given a particular account of an American poison called ticunas, which in all probability is the same with that used in Africa and the East Indies; and from his account it is extremely improbable that any such effects could be produced with certainty.

With this poison the Abbé was furnished by Dr Heberden. It was closed and sealed up in an earthen pot inclosed in a tin-case. Within the tin-case was a note containing the following words: "Indian poison, brought from the banks of the river of the Amazons by Don Pedro Maldonado. It is one of the sorts mentioned in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xlvii. N° 12." In the volume of the Philosophical Transactions here quoted, mention is made of two poisons little different in their activity; the one called the poison of lamas, and the other of ticunas. The poison in the earthen vessel used by the Abbé Fontana was that of the ticunas ; he was also furnished with a number of American ar rows dipped in poison, but whether that of the lamas or ticunas he could not tell.

Our author begins his account of the nature of this poison with detecting some of the mistakes which had been propagated concerning it.-It had been asserted, that the ticunas poison proves noxious by the mere effluvia, but much more by the steam which exhales from it in boiling or burning: that, among the Indians, it is prepared only by women condemned to die; and that the mark of its being sufficiently prepared, is when the attendant is killed by its steam. All these assertions are by the Abbé refuted in the clearest manner. He exposed a young pigeon to the smell of the poison when the vessel was opened, to the steam of it when boiling, G 2 and

Poison.

Poison. and to the vapour of it when burning to the sides of the vessel, without the animal's being the least injured; on which, concluding that the vapours of this poison were not to be dreaded, he exposed himself to them without any fear.

This poison dissolves very readily even in cold water, and likewise in the vegetable and mineral acids. With oil of vitriol it becomes as black as ink, but not with the rest of the acids. In oil of vitriol it also dissolves more slowly than in any of the rest. It does not effervesce with acids or alkalies; neither does it alter milk, nor tinge it, except with the natural colour of the poison; nor does it tinge the vegetable juices either red or green. When examined by the microscope, there is no appearance of regularity or crystallization; but it for the most part appears made up of very small, irregular, roundish bodies, like vegetable juices. It dries without making any noise, and has an extremely bitter taste when put upon the tongue.

The ticunas poison is harmless when put into the eyes; nor is it fatal when taken by the mouth, unless the quantity is considerable. Six grains of the solid poison, dissolved in water, killed a young pigeon which drank it in less than 20 minutes. Five grains killed a small Guinea-pig in 25 minutes. Eight grains killed a rabbit in an hour and eight minutes, &c. In those experiments it was observed, that much less poison was required to kill an animal whose stomach was empty than one that had a full stomach. Three rabbits and two pigeons were killed in less than 35 minutes, by taking a dose of three grains each on an empty stomach; but when the experiment was repeated on five animals with full stomachs, only one of them died.

The most fatal operation of this poison is when mixed with the blood. The smallest quantity, injected into the jugular vein, killed the animal as if by a stroke of lightning. When applied to wounds in such a manner that the flowing of the blood could not wash it away, the animal fell into convulsions and a train of fatal nervous symptoms, which put an end to its life in a few minutes. Yet, notwithstanding these seeming affections of the nerves, the poison proved harmless when applied to the naked nerves themselves, or even to the medullary substance of them slit open.

The strength of this poison seems to be diminished, and even destroyed, by mineral acids, but not at all by alkalies or ardent spirits; but if the fresh poison was applied to a wound, the application of mineral acids immediately after could not remove the pernicious effects.

So far, indeed, was this from being the case, that the ap- Poison. plication of nitrous acid to the wounded muscle of a pigeon, killed the animal in a short time without any poison at all. The effects of the arrows were equally fatal with those of the poison itself (A).

The poison of the viper is analogous in its effects to that of ticunas, but inferior in strength; the latter killing more instantaneously when injected into a vein than even the poison of the most venomous rattle snake.

The Abbé has, however, observed a difference in the action of the two poisons upon blood taken out of the body. He cut off the bead of a pigeon, and received its blood into warm conical glasses, to the amount of about 80 drops into each. Into the blood contained in one porringer, he put four drops of water; and into the other four drops of the poison dissolved in water as usual, The event of this experiment was, that the blood, with which the water only was mixed, coagulated in a short time; but that in which the poison was mixed did not coagulate at all. The poison of the viper also hinders the blood from coagulating, but gives it a much blacker tinge than the poison of the ticunas. The poison of the viper also proves certainly fatal when injected into the veins, even in very small quantity; but it produces a kind of grumous coagulation and blackness in the blood when drawn from a vein, though it prevents the proper coagulation of that fluid, and its separation into crassamentum and serum as usual.

In the Philosophical Transactions, N° 335. we have a number of experiments which show the effects of many different poisons upon animals; from whence it appears, that many substances which are not at all accounted poisonous, yet prove as certainly fatal when mixed with the blood as even the poison of rattlesnakes, or the ticunas itself. An ounce of emetic wine, being injected into the jugular vein of a large dog, produced no effect for a quarter of an honr. At the expiration of that space he became sick, had a continual vomiting, and evacuation of some hard excrements by stool. By these evacuations he seemed to be somewhat relieved; but soon grew uneasy, moved from place to place, and vomited again. After this he laid himself down on the ground pretty quietly; but his rest was disturbed by a return of his vomiting, and his strength greatly decreased. An hour and a half after the operation he appeared half dead, but was greatly revived by having some warm broth poured down his throat with a funnel. This, however, proved only a temporary relief; for in

a

(A) Mr Paterson, in his travels in Africa, in the years 1777-8-9, fell in with an European woman who had been wounded with a poisoned arrow. Great pains had been taken to cure her, but in vain; for at different periods of the year an inflammation came on which was succeeded by a partial mortification. She told him that the wound was easily healed up; but in two months afterwards there was a certainty of its breaking out again, and this had been the case for many years. The Hottentots poison their arrows with a species of euphorbia. The amaryllis disticha, a large bulbous plant growing about the Cape of Good Hope, called mad poison, is used for the same purpose. The natives take the bulbs when they are putting out their leaves, cut them transversely, extract a thick fluid, and keep it in the sun till it acquires the consistence of gum, when it is fit for use. With arrows poisoned with this gum, they kill antelopes and other small animals intended for food. After they are wounded, the animals generally run for several miles, and are frequently not found till next day. When the leaves of this plant are young, the cattle are very fond of them, though they occasion instant death. Mr Paterson mentions another shrubby plant producing a nut, called by the Dutch woolf gift or wolf poison, the only poison useful to the European inhabitants. The nuts are roasted like coffee, pulverized, and stuffed into some pieces of meat or a dead dog, which are thrown into the fields. By this means the voracious hyenas are generally killed.

coction of tobacco injected into a vein killed a dog in a very short time in terrible convulsions. Ten drops of oil of sage rubbed with half a dram of sugar, and thus dissolved in water, did no harm by being injected into

the blood.

Poison. a short time the vomiting returned, he made urine in great quantity, howled miserably, and died in convulsions. A dram and a half of sal ammoniac dissolved in an ounce and a half of water, and injected into the jugular vein of a dog, killed him with convulsions almost instantly.-The same effect followed from injecting a dram of salt of tartar dissolved in an ounce of warm water; but a dram and a half of common salt injected into the jugular produced little other bad consequences than a temporary thirst.-A dram of purified white vitriol, injected into the crural vein of a dog, killed him immediately.-Fifteen grains of salt of urine dissolved in an ounce of water, and injected into the crural vein of a dog, threw him into such violent convulsions that he seemed to be dying; nevertheless he recovered from a second dose, though not without a great deal of difficulty: but an ounce of urine made by a man fasting produced no bad effect. Diluted aquafortis injected into the jugular and crural vein of a dog killed him immediately by coagulating the blood. Oil of sulphur (containing some quantity of the volatile vitriolic aid) did not kill a dog after repeated trials. On the contrary, as soon as he was let go, he ran into all the corners of the room searching for meat; and having found some bones, he fell a gnawing them with strange avidity, as if the acid, by injection into his veins, had given him a better appetite.-Another dog, who had oil of tartar injected into his veins, swelled and died, after suffering great torment. His blood was found florid and not coagulated.-A dram and a half of spirit of salt diluted with water, and injected into the jugular vein of a dog, killed him immediately. In the right ventricle of the heart the blood was found partly and concreted into harder clots than ordinary, grumous and partly frothy. Warm vinegar was injected without doing any manifest harm.-Two drams of sugar dissolved in an ounce of water were injected into the jugular vein of a dog without any hurt.

These are the results of the experiments where saline substances were injected into the veins. Many acrids proved equally fatal. A decoction of two drams of white hellebore, injected into the jugular vein of a dog, killed him like a stroke of lightning. Another dog was killed in a moment by an injection of an ounce of rectified spirit of wine in which a dram of camphor was dissolved.-Ten drams of highly rectified spirit of wine, injected into the crural vein of a dog, killed him in a very short time: he died quietly, and licking his jaws with his tongue, as if with pleasure. In the vena cava and right ventricle of the heart the blood was coagulated into a great many little clots.-Three drams of rectified spirit of wine, injected into the crural vein of a small dog made him apoplectic, and as it were half dead. In a little time he recovered from the apoplexy, and became giddy; and when he endeavoured to go, reeled and fell down. Though his strength increased by degrees, yet his drunkenness continued. His eyes were red and fiery; and his sight so dull that he scarce seemed to take notice of any thing: and when he was beat, he would scarce move. However, in four hours he began to recover, and would eat bread when offered him; the next day he was out of danger.-Five ounces of strong white wine injected into the crural vein of a dog made him very drunk for a few hours, but did not produce any other consequences. An ounce of strong de

Mercury, though seemingly void of all acrimony, proves also fatal when injected into the blood. Soon after the injection of half an ounce of this mineral into the jugular vein of a dog, he was seized with a dry short cough which came by intervals. About two days after, he was troubled with a great difficulty of breathing, and made a noise like that of a broken-winded horse. There was no tumour about the root of the tongue or the parotid glands, nor any appearance of a salivation. In four days he died; having been for two days before so much troubled with an orthopnoea, that he could sleep only when he leaned his head against something. When opened, about a pint of bloody serum was found in the thorax, and the outside of the lungs in most places was blistered. Some of the blisters were larger and others smaller than a pea, but most of them contained mercurial globules. Several of them were broken; and upon being pressed a little, the mercury ran out with a mixture of a little sanies; but upon stronger pressure, a considerable quantity of sanies issued out. In the right ventricle of the heart some particles of quicksilver were found in the very middle of the coagulated blood lodged there, and the same thing also was observed in the pulmonary artery. Some blood also was found coagulated in a very strange and unusual manner between the columnæ of the right ventricle of the heart, and in this a greater quantity of quicksilver than anywhere else. In the left ventricle was found a very tenacious blood coagulated, and sticking to the great valve, including the tendons of it, and a little resembling a polypus. No mercury could be found in this ventricle by the most diligent search; whence it appears that the mercury had passed no farther than the extremities of the pulmonary artery, where it had stuck, and occasioned fatal obstructions.-In another dog, which had mercury injected into the jugular, it appears to have passed the pulmonary artery, as part of it was found in the cavity of the abdomen, and part also in some other cavities of the body. All the glandules were very turgid and full of liquor, especially in the ventricles of the brain, and all around there was a great quantity of

serum.

In like manner, oil of olives proves certainly fatal when injected into the blood. Half an ounce of this injected into the crural vein of a dog, produced no effect in half a quarter of an hour: but after that, the animal barked, cried, looked dejected, and fell into a deep apoplexy; so that his limbs were deprived of all sense and motion, and were flexible any way at pleasure. His respiration continued very strong, with a snorting and wheezing, and a thick humour sometimes mixed with blood flowing out of his mouth. He lost all external sense: the eyes, though they continued open, were not sensible of any objects that were put to them; and even the cornea could be touched and rubbed, without his being the least sensible of it; his eyelids, however, had a convulsive motion. The hearing was quite lost; and in a short time the feeling became so dull, that his claws and ears could be bored with redhot pincers without his expressing the least sense of pain. Sometimes

Poison.

Poison.

Sometimes he was seized with a convulsive motion of the diaphragm and muscles subservient to respiration; upon which he would bark strongly, as if he had been awake but this waking was only in appearance; for all the time of this barking he continued as insensible as ever. In three hours he died; and on opening his body, the bronchiæ were filled with a thick froth.An ounce of oil of olives injected into the jugular of another dog killed him in a moment; but a third lived an hour after it. He was seized with great sleepiness, snorting, and wheezing, but did not bark like the first. In all of them a great quantity of thick froth was found in the lungs.

We come now to speak of those poisons which prove mortal (B) when taken by the mouth. The principal of these are, arsenic, corrosive sublimate or muriate of mercury, glass of antimony, and lead. What the effects of these substances are when injected into the blood, cannot be related, as no experiments seem to have been made with them in that way, excepting antimony, whose effects have been already mentioned. The effects of opium, when injected into the veins, seem to be similar to its effects when taken by the mouth. Fifty grains of opium, dissolved in an ounce of water, were injected into the crural vein of a cat. Immediately after the operation she seemed much dejected, but did not cry; only made a low, interrupted, and complaining noise. This was succeeded by trembling of the limbs, convulsive motions of the eyes, ears, lips, and almost all parts of the body, with violent convulsions of the breast. Sometimes she I would raise up her head, and seem to look about her; but her eyes were very dull, and looked dead. Though she was let loose, and had nothing tied about her neck, yet her mouth was so filled with froth, that she was almost strangled. At last, her convulsive motions continuing, and being seized with stretching of her limbs, she died in a quarter of an hour. Upon opening the body, the blood was found not to be much altered from its natural state.- -A dram and a half of opium was dissolved in an ounce and a half of water, and then injected into the crural vein of a lusty strong dog. He struggled violently; made a loud noise, though his jaws were tied; had a great difficulty of breathing, and palpitation of the heart, with convulsive motions of almost all parts of his body. These symptoms were succeeded by a profound and apoplectic sleep. Having untied him, he lay upon the ground without moving or making any noise, though severely beaten. About half an hour after he began to recover some sense, and would move a little when beaten. The sleepiness still decreased; so that in an hour and a half he would make

a noise, and walk a little when beat. However, he died in four days, after having voided a quantity of fetid excrements, in colour resembling the diluted opium he had swallowed.

The oil of tobacco has generally been reckoned a very violent poison when introduced into the blood; but from the abbé Fontana's experiments, it appears to be far inferior in strength to the poison of ticunas, or to the bite of a viper. A drop of oil of tobacco was put into a small incision in the right thigh of a pigeon, and in two minutes the animal could not stand on its right foot. The same experiment was repeated on another pigeon, and produced exactly the same effect. In another case, the oil was applied to a slight wound in the breast; three minutes after which, the animal could not stand on the left foot. This experiment was also repeated a second time, with the same success. A tooth-pick, steeped in oil of tobacco, and introduced into the muscles of the breast, made the animal fall down in a few seconds as if dead. Applied to two others, they threw up several times all the food they had eaten. Two others treated in the same manner, but with empty stomachs, made many efforts to vomit. In general, the vomiting was found to be a constant effect of this poison: but the loss of motion in the part to which the poison is applied, was found to be only accidental. None of the animals died by the application of oil of tobacco. Dr Leake, however, asserts the contrary; saying, that this oil, which is used by the Indians in poisoning arrows, when infused into a fresh wound, besides sickness and vomiting, occasions convulsions and death. See Practical Essay on Diseases of the Viscera, p. 67.

[ocr errors]

The pernicious effects of laurel-water are taken notice of under the article MEDICINE, N° 261. The account is confirmed by the experiments of the Abbé Fontana; who tells us, that it not only kills in a short time, when taken by the mouth, but that, when given in small doses, the animal writhes so that the head joins the tail, and the vertebræ arch out in such a manner as to strike with horror every one who sees it. In order to ascertain the effects of this water when taken into the blood, our author opened the skin of the lower belly of a pretty large rabbit, and make a wound in it about an inch long; and having slightly wounded the muscles under it in many parts, applied two or three tea spoonfuls of laurel-water. The animal fell down convulsed in less than three minutes, and died soon after. The experiment was repeated with similar success in other animals but was always found to act most powerfully, and in the shortest time, when taken by the mouth, or

Poison.

* See Leake's Practical

(B) Of all poisons those which may be called culinary are perhaps the most destructive, because they are generally the least suspected. All copper + vessels, therefore, and vessels of bell metal, which contains copper, † See Poi+ should be laid aside. Even the common earthen ware, when they contain acids, as in pickling, become very per- son of CopDiseases of nicious, as they are glazed with lead, which in the smallest quantity, when dissolved, is very fatal; and even tin, per. the Viscera. the least exceptionable of the metals for culinary purposes except iron, is not always quite free of poisonous quali

Treatise on

ties, it having been found to contain a small portion of arsenic. Mushrooms and the common laurel are also very
fatal. The bitter almond contains a poison and its antidote likewise. The cordial dram ratafia, much used in
France, is a slow poison, its flavour being procured from the kernels of peach, black cherry stones, &c.-The
spirit of lauro-cerasus is peculiarly fatal. The adulteration of bread, beer, wine, porter, &c. produces very fatal
consequences, and merits exemplary punishment. Next to culinary poisons, the abuse of medicines deserves par-
ticular attention.

« PreviousContinue »