Observations on morbid poisons, chronic and acute : the first compehending syphilis, yaws, sivvens, elephantiasis, and the anomala confounded with them ; the second the acute contagions, particularly the variolous & vaccine / by Joseph Adams.

  • Adams, Joseph, 1756-1818.
Date:
1807
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on morbid poisons, chronic and acute : the first compehending syphilis, yaws, sivvens, elephantiasis, and the anomala confounded with them ; the second the acute contagions, particularly the variolous & vaccine / by Joseph Adams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    loose in the cavity, with part of a fish, half digested, and a living worm. The contents were kept by themselves, and the worm killed. On inspecting them a few hours after, the worm was more than half digested. But we are not to expect this effect uniformly to follow the death of fish. Some die slower after expiration than others, as is well known by the advantage of keeping them before they are dressed for the table, whilst others will not admit of any delay. The season of the year and time of day, make a great difference in these as well as in land animals. Among the modes of producing instantaneous death, Mr. Hunter mentions a blow on the stomach. I made several at- tempts to kill dogs in this way. But whether it arose from the protection of their thick elastic skins, or from whatever cause, I never could succeed. In one instance, however, after a second blow, the animal expired. This was about nine in the morning, in the summer, in the island of Madeira. The dog was immediately put in woollen cloth, and laid on a broad stone sill against a south wall, both of which had been previously heated by the sun. Seven hours afterwards the body was examined. No stiffening had taken place: the blood did not coagulate: a hole was found in the great end of the stomach, and on examining the inside, a con- siderable part of the substance was found consumed. By morn- ing the putrefaction was universal, and intolerable even to those accustomed to such experiments, This was, however, the only instance in which I succeeded; but it was the only instance in which I had been able to kill the animal in such a manner, that neither stiffening of the body nor coagulation of the blood followed. I, therefore, resolved to leave the experiment till my return to England should procure me the convenience of an electrical machine, powerful enough to kill a dog. But here I was not more fortunate. Mr. Cuthbertson’s most powerful battery did not succeed till after f