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