frequently repeated, and it had always the same
Appearances and Event. The Recovery, however,
of one of the Frogs, which for a considerable
Time seemed to be dead, is not to be omitted.
My Friend and I one Evening killed, as above,
a Couple of Frogs, with Opium. One of them,
which was the strongest, I laid half in Water
on a Tile, in the Bottom of a Water-Pot, that
if it recovered it might sit either wet or dry as
it liked best; the other I left on the Earth dry
under a Hedge. Next Morning when I returned
to the Garden, I found the one under the Hedge
dead as I left it, but the other in the Water-
Pot was alive, and appeared to be in perfect
health.
“ While we were thus employed, another thing
occurred, which though foreign to the present
subject, it may not be amiss to mention. One
of the Frogs we got for the above Experiments,
had not the use of one of its hinder legs, which
was of a pale reddish Colour. This made me
desirous to observe by the Microscope the Circumstances
of the Circulation in this paralytick
and apparently inflamed member ; and we found
that the red Globules were entirely dissolved;
that the Blood-vessels were distended with a
reddish homogeneous Liquid, as if the Part had
been injected with a bloody Water; and that
neither Sense or Motion remained in it.” 1
It is singular that this author did not discover
that the paralysis, of which he speaks, was, in
fact, tetanus ; and that Drs. Philip and Hastings
have overlooked this peculiar effect of opium
altogether. It is precisely similar to that of
strichnine. And it is equally produced, whether
the opium be applied externally or given internally.
With the accession of this tetanic affection,
there is a total annihilation of the respiration
and capillary circulation. It is remarkable,
that an aqueous solution of opium should produce
this effect, whilst the influence of this drug,
in laudanum, should be entirely superseded by
that of the spirit.
2. Of the Effect of the Application of Alcohol
to the Brain or Spinal Marrow.
But I proceed to the detail of the experiments
of applying alcohol to the brain and spinal
marrow.
1 Edinburgh M edical Essays, Ed. 3. Vol. v. pp. 128—130.