ALCOHOL.

201

beneath the skin, or when applied to the brain or spinal marrow. Plung-ing the heart of this animal in spirit caused its motion to cease in twentyseconds. Applied to the right crural nerve of a frog, it destroyed thepower of moving, in the right loot, on the application of stimulus (Fontana,Treatise on the Venom of the Viper , translated by J. Skinner, vol. ii.p. 371, et. seq .) Monro {Essays and Observ. Physic, and Literary,vol. iii. p. 340) observed, that alcohol applied to the hind legs of a frogrendered the pulsations of the heart less frequent, and diminished sensi-bility and mobility. Fontana {op. cit. p. 365, et. seq.) states that turtleswere killed by spirit administered by the stomach or by the anus, orinjected beneath the skin: before death the animal became motionless:applied to the heart of these animals it destroyed the contractility of thisviscus. Some very interesting experiments were made with spirit onbirds by Flourens ( Recherches sur les fonctions et les proprietes du systemenerveux dans les animaux vertebres, 1824). This distinguished physiolo-gist administered six drops of alcohol to a sparrow, whose skull he hadlaid bare. In a few minutes the animal began to be unsteady both inwalking and flying. After some time a dark-red spot appeared on theskull, in the region of the cerebellum, and became larger and deeper-coloured in proportion as the alcohol more powerfully affected the animal.In some other experiments, Flourens observed that alcohol produced thesame effects on the movements of birds as the removal of the cerebellumoccasioned, but that when alcohol was administered the animal lost theuse of his senses and intellectual faculties; whereas when the cerebellumwas removed, no alcohol being given, he preserved them. From theseand other observations, Flourens is of opinion that alcohol, in a certaindose, acts specifically on the cerebellum, and that in larger doses it affectsother parts also. Furthermore, he thinks the physical action of alcoholon the cerebellum to be absolutely the same as a mechanical lesion.

The effect of alcohol on fishes is analogous to that on other animals.If a little spirit be added to water in,which are contained some minnows{Cyprinus phoocinus, Linn.), the little animals make a few (spasmodic ?)leaps, and become incapable of retaining their proper position in thewater, but float on their sides or back. If removed into pure water theysoon recover.

The mammals on which the effects of alcohol have been tried are dogs,cats, horses, rabbits, and guinea-pigs. The principal experimentalistsare Courten {Phil. Trans, for 1712); Fontana {op. cit.) ; Viborg (. Abhandl .fur Thier'arzte, Theil II. quoted by Wibmer, Die Wirkung, &c.); Brodie{Phil. Trans, for 1811); and Orfila {Toxicologie Generate). The results oftheir experiments may be thus briefly expressed:—Four drachms of alco-hol injected into the jugular vein of a dog coagulated the blood andcaused instant death (Orfila). Introduced into the stomach of cats, dogs,or rabbits, it produces an apoplectic condition (Brodie and Orfila): thisstate is preceded, according to Orfila, by a strong excitement of thebrain. The same experimentalist found that alcohol acts with lessenergy when injected into the cellular texture, than when introduced intothe stomach ; from which he infers that its first effects are the result ofthe action which it exerts on the extremities of the nerves ; though headmits that ultimately it becomes absorbed. On examining the bodiesof animals killed by introducing alcohol into the stomach, this viscushas been found in a state of inflammation.