23 °
THE LIFE OF
tain small Plate of Brass (of above half an Inch long, and about a quarter ofan Inch broad, whose Sides were bending inwards) almost of the Shape andBigness of the Nail of a Man’s Thumb, but somewhat longer. This Platehad four little Holes in the Sides, near the Corners, that by Threads pafs’dthrough them, it might be well fasten’d to the Vessel; and in the fame littlePlate, there was also left an Aperture, or somewhat large Slit, parallel tothe Sides of it, and almost as long as the Plate, that the Vein might bethere exposed to the Lancet, and kept from starting aside. This Plate beingwell fastened on, he made a Slit along the Vein, from the Ligature towardsthe Heart, great enough to put in at it the slender Pipe of a Syringe; bywhich I had proposed to have injected a warm Solution of Opium in Sack,that the Effect of our Experiment might be the more quick and manifest.And accordingly our dexterous Experimenter having surmounted the Difficul-ties, which the tortured Dog’s violent smugglings interposed, conveyed a smallDose of the Solution or Tincture into the opened Vessel, whereby gettinginto the Mass of Blood, (some Quantity of which ’tis difficult to avoidshedding in the Operation) it was quickly, by the circular Motion of that,carried to the Brain, and other Parts of the Body: So that we had scarce un-tied the Dog, (whose four Feet it had been requisite to fasten very stronglyto the four Corners of the Table) before the Opium began to disclose its Nar -cotick Quality, and almost as soon as he was on his Feet, he began to nodwith his Head, and faulter and reel in his Pace, and presently after appearedso stupified, that there were Wagers offered his Life could not be saved.But I, that was willing to reserve him for further Observation, caused him tobe whipped up and down a neighbouring Garden, whereby being kept awake,and in Motion, after some Time he began to come to himself again; and be-ing led home, and carefully tended, he not only recovered, but began togrow fat so manifestly, that ’twas admired : But I could not long observe hoWit fared with him: For this Experiment and some other Trials made uponhim, having made him famous, he was soon after stolen away from me.Succeeding Attempts informed us, that the Plate was not necessary, if theFingers were skilfully employed to support the Vessel to be opened, andthat a slender Quill fastened to a Bladder containing the Matter to be injected,was somewhat more convenient than a Syringe; as also that this notwithstand-ing, unless the Dog were pretty big and lean, that the Vessels might be largeenough, and easily accessible, the Experiment would not well succeed.
The Inventor of it afterwards practised it in the Presence of that modlearned Nobleman, the Marquiss of Dorchejler , and found that a moderateDose of the Infusion of Crocus Metallorum did not much move the Dog towhom it was given; but once, that* he injected a large Dose, (about twoOunces or more) it wrought so soon and so violently upon a fresh one, th* 1within a few Hours after he vomited up Life and all, upon the Straw where-on they had laid him. I afterwards wished, that not only some vehementlyworking Drugs, but their appropriated Antidotes, (or else powerful liquidCordials) and also some altering Medicines might be in a plentiful Dose injected*And in Diureticks, a very ingenious Anatomist and Physician told me, b etry’d it with very good Success. I likewise proposed, that if it could bedone, without either too much Danger or Cruelty, Trial might be made onsome human Bodies, especially those of Malefactors. And some Months af-ter, a foreign Ambassador, a very curious Person, at that Time residing inLondon , did me the Honour to visit me, and informed me, that he hadcaused Trial to be made, with Infusion of Crocus MctaUormn y upon an infe-rior Domestick of his that deserved to have been hanged; but that the Fel-low, as soon as ever the Injection began to be made, did, (either really or
craftily)