1 160
2 experiment by Magendie proves that narcotin may produce
3 different effects, according to the different combinations in which
4 it is administered. One grain of narcotin, dissolved in olive oil,
5 killed a dog in twenty-four hours, but 24 grains, dissolved in
6 acetic acid, were administered to another without any prejudicial
7 effect. In its natural state it is still less energetic, and 129
8 grains did not do the least harm. From these experiments, it
9 may be conceived how easily medical skill may be baffled by the
10 combination of the drug with oil, as in the case of the lady
11 whose suicide I have already mentioned. I cited a receipt
12 of a Kashgar physician, and another taken from a Persian book,
13 and I could cite a still greater number of similar receipts,
14 which however, are all possessed of some peculiarity or oddity.
15 It is true, that we cannot deny the utility of some, but most
16 of them are of such a nature, that it is scarcely conceivable
17 how the human brain could invent such ridiculous imaginations.
18 The following may serve as an example of Persian wisdom,
19 and I mention it for the benefit of our accoucheurs, who may
20 make use of it if they choose. It is nothing less than a method
21 of replacing an abortion of two months, and of carrying it to
22 maturity. For that purpose they say, the embryo must be
23 wrapped in some raw yellow silk, bestrewed with sugar and
24 semen sisymbrii irionis , and then swallowed by a wife or girl,
25 which will produce the desired result. It is quite indifferent
26 whether it is swallowed by the mother or any other female,
27 only that when a girl is to undergo this operation she must
28 be of the age of puberty. When the child is born, it will
29 come forth with the silk on its feet ! I hope the reader will
30 feel much edified at the recital of this new revelation of
31 medical science; but we must remember that this outrageous
32 operation is described in a dingy manuscript of very ancient
33 date. But what shall we say when, in the year of grace 1850,
34 in the most civilised part of Europe, viz., in the city of Weimar,
35 in Germanv, there was a work published which surpasses in its
36 absurdities all the oriental manuscripts with which we are
37 acquainted. The book in question was probably written for the