1 Class III, contains all matters den animated poisons —
2 antmal> vegetable, mineral—as strong acids, &c. which
3 are generally administered in doses of less than a grain ;
4 for instance: Hydrocyanic acid, Morphia, corrosive sub¬
5 limate of Mercury, &c.
6 Remedies of tin? first, class I administered in doses
7 of from 1 in J of a grain; those of the second
8 class, in doses of from to A of a grain; and those of
9 the third class, in doses of from ~ to ^ of a //rain.
10 By thus administering them, I obtained the results
11 communicated in this work.
12 The question may be raised, and with some appearance
13 of reason, why I have not; arranged animal venoms, such
14 as those of beasts when mad, of serpents, scorpions, do.
15 among t,i:e milder medicinal agents, inasmuch as they
16 are obnoxious only when they come in contact with the
17 blood or with an abraded surface, since, when taken in¬
18 ternally, even in large doses, they do not exercise any pre¬
19 judicial influence? 1 reply, because, I have observed that
20 they produced marked effects when administered even in
21 doses of ~ of a grain ; it may be, that in larger doses they
22 might have operated otherwise—perhaps, just the reverse.
23 Besides, the usual animal medicines, as ambergris, icas-
24 toreum, nntsk, &c. I have admitted various other animal
25 substances, opening a wider field for naturalists and
26 physicians.
27 It was not owing to any scarcity of plants, herbs,
28 or minerals, that I have added such substances to my
29 already rich collection of medicaments ; but having, out
30 of curiosity, tried several of them, and, obtained satis¬
31 factory respite, I retained them in my Manuscript, and
32 now present them to my readers: among them may be