OF Poisonous Minerals AND PLANTS.

Altho’ there be a great Variety of Internal Poisons, as well Mineral as Vegetable; yet they do all of ’em seem to agree in their Primary Effects, and Manner of Operation; and as the Teeth or Stings of Venomous Animals do constantly infuse a Juice into the Wound they make, by which the Mass of Blood is infected; so the Force of These is chiefly confined to the Stomach and PrimÆ ViÆ; and tho’ it may in some Cases be Communicated Farther, yet the Principal Mischief is done in These Parts.

Deleterious Medicines, says Dioscorides, are many, but the Alterations made by them in the Body, common, and but few (110).

Of all this kind, those of a Mineral Nature are the most violent and deadly, the greater Gravity and Solidity of their Parts giving to these a Force and Action surpassing the mischief of Vegetable Juices; and therefore whereas noxious Plants do vary their Effects in different Creatures, so as to prove harmless, nay, perhaps Beneficial and Nutritive to some, as Hemlock they say is to Goats (111) and Starlings (112), and Henbane to Hogs (113), the Strength of the Stomach in These Animals being sufficient to Conquer and Divide such Corrosive Substances, and their Blood perhaps requiring to be recruited by such warm and active Particles; A Mineral Malignity is not, at least so far as we know, conquerable by any, but becomes universally hurtful and destructive.

We shall here give the first Place to Mercury Sublimate.

This is no other than a Mixture of Quicksilver with common Salt. The way of preparing it, as ’tis made at Venice, from whence great quantities are sent into other Countries, Tachenius has given Us in his Hippocrates Chymicus (114); as to which we must observe, that tho’ there be always added a proportion of Salt-Petre, and Calcin’d Vitriol to the other Ingredients, yet these do not enter into the Composition, but only serve to facilitate the Work; as abundantly appears from this Experiment, That Mercury sublim’d with the same Proportion of Nitre and Vitriol without Marine Salt, neither receives any increase of its Weight, nor acquires any malignant Quality.

The Effects of this Poison when taken are, violent Griping Pains, with a Distension of the Belly, Vomiting of a slimy, frothy Matter, sometimes mixt with Blood, and Stools of the same, an intolerable Heat and Thirst, with cold Sweats, Tremblings, Convulsions, &c. as will appear from the following History (115).

To a large Dog was given a Drachm of Mercury Sublimate, mixt with a little Bread; within a quarter of an Hour He fell into terrible Vomitings, casting up frequently a Viscid, frothy Mucus, every time more and more Bloody, and purged the same downwards; till tired and spent with this hard Service, He lay down quietly as it were to Sleep, but Died the next Morning.

The Abdomen being opened, a great quantity of extravasated Blood was found between the Liver and Stomach, and between the duplicature of the Omentum about the Stomach; the Guts as well as the Stomach were distended, and full of a frothy Bloody Mucus; on the outside they were of a livid Colour, within all over red, and inflamed down to the very Rectum; The Fibrous Coat of the Stomach being taken off, between that and the Nervous one, grumous Blood was found in several Places; the like was discovered here and there in the Intestins between the same Coats.

The same Symptoms with these, and manifest Signs of a burning Corrosion followed with Ulcers in the Bowels, Baccius (116) observ’d in a young Man Poison’d by Sublimate, mixt with his Meat.

What we are here chiefly to examine is, how from Ingredients singly Innocent and Harmless, so Mischievous a Compound can result; for as the Case is very plain with respect to Salt, so is it likewise now Notorious enough, that Quick-silver it self, which the Ancients, Dioscorides, Galen, Pliny, &c. have unjustly rank’d among Poisons, is in many Diseases inwardly taken of very safe and beneficial Use; and that not only when disguised with Sulphur, Sugar, &c. but Crude, without any Correction, or vainly pretended Mortification.

This the Arabian Physicians first gave the hint of; Avicen, (117) having observ’d, that They who drink It in a large quantity receive no hurt, its weight making a free Passage thro’ the Body. This was Incouragement enough for the Practice of giving whole Pounds of It in the Iliac Passion; which is oftentimes done with good Success, without any frightful Symptom accompanying the Advantage receiv’d from its Ponderosity.

Afterwards it plainly appear’d that this Mineral, tho’ not taken in so great a Dose as could immediately force its way thro’ the Intestins, even when it was lodged for some time in this or that Part, was not at all hurtful by any Corrosive or Malignant Quality. And Fallopius (118), Brasavolus (119), with others of great Note, confirmed its harmless Efficacy in the Cure of the Worms, not only in adult Persons, but even in the more tender Constitutions of Children.

Nor are these the only Cases in which good Service may be had from this Weighty Fluid; he that rightly considers the State of the Animal Oeconomy, the various Alterations it suffers from the Stagnation of its more Viscid Juices in the smallest Canals, and how much the Impulse and Force of the Circling Blood, by which Obstructions are to be removed, must be increased by its carrying along with it such Particles as the Mercurial Globuli, will perhaps see good Reason to allow, that the prudent and cautious Management of Quicksilver may do that in some obstinate and dangerous Diseases, which we cannot promise our selves from any other of our known Medicines whatsoever.

But I am not to insist on this Head; and the learned Author of the New Theory of Fevers (120), has already most ingeniously explain’d the Mechanism by which such Effects as these are produced in the humane Body. It suffices to my present purpose, to have proved that pure Mercury is not Poisonous or Corrosive; and therefore not only have I seen Two Ounces of It given every Day for One and Twenty Days together, without any Inconvenience at all; but found once some quantity of It in the PerinÆum of a Subject I took from the Gallows for a Dissection (whose rotten Bones quickly discovered what Disease it was had required the Use of it, and that I suppose chiefly in External Application by Unction) without any Marks of Corrosion of the Part where it was lodged.

Tho’ withal we may upon this Occasion remark, that the extreme Gravity of this Mineral alone, however serviceable it may be in other Respects; yet when it happens in so great a Quantity to Obstruct the Capillary Ducts, as that the Force of the Circling Fluid is not sufficient to Wash it away, must necessarily induce Symptoms troublesome and bad enough, as Spasms, Contractions, Palsies, &c. which They do commonly Experience, who have either been too often dawbed with Mercurial Ointments, or for a long time imploy’d in rubbing the Quicksilver upon Looking-Glasses; for the Internal Use of It will never produce any such Mischiefs.

As for Sublimate then, most certain it is, that the Saline Particles do impart to the Mercury this Malignant Quality; or to speak more properly, That the Salt receives from the Mercurial Corpuscles such an Increase of its Gravity and Momentum, as renders its Cutting Corrosion more Effectual and Penetrating; for the manner after which this Matter is done, is plainly this.

The Globules of the Mercury, tho’ so minutely divided by the Action of the Fire, as to rise in the form of a Fume, yet are still Solid and Ponderous Bodies; ’tis all one to the present purpose, whether We suppose ’em perfectly SphÆrical, or with the Learned Gulielmini (121) SphÆroidical, for in both Cases, by reason of their extreme Parvity, being perhaps Simple and Elementary Bodies, they will easily be lodg’d in the Pores and Interstices of the Saline Crystals; which being compos’d of the Atoms of Salt, variously by Sublimation combin’d and united, are a kind of Cutting LamellÆ or Blades; the force of which could never have been very penetrating, upon the account of their Lightness and easie Dissolution, if the Mercury, without blunting their Edge, or breaking their Figure, did not lend ’em an Additional Weight, and thus at the same time strengthen their Action, and prevent their quick Solution by the Juices of the Stomach; which cannot now disjoin their Compounding Parts, because the Vacuities into which they should, in order to do this, insinuate themselves, are already possess’d, and taken up by the Mercurial Globules.

In short, These Crystals, which are to be considered as so many sharp Knives or Daggers, Wounding and Stabbing the tender Coats of the Stomach, and thus causing excessive Pains, with an Abrasion of their Natural Mucus, and (upon the constant Sense of Irritation) continual Vomitings, &c. must of necessity, sticking here and there in the capillary Vessels, stop the Passage of the Blood in several Places, whereupon it Stagnates, and there follow little Inflammations, which growing higher and higher, terminate quickly in perfect Ulcers and Gangrenes; and these though singly very small, yet many in number, do all together make up one continued and incurable Mortification.

This being the Nature of Sublim’d Mercury, it may not be amiss to enquire, how it comes to pass, That This same Compound resublim’d with live Mercury in the Proportion of Four Parts to Three, (for the Sublimate will not take up an equal quantity) especially if the work be repeated Three or Four times, looses its Corrosiveness to that Degree as to become not only a Safe, but in many Cases, a Noble Medicine. For I do not see that any of the Chymical Writers have hit upon the true Solution of this PhÆnomenon.

Here then it is to be considered, That the Action of the Saline Crystals depending upon their Solidity and Largeness, these must necessarily, by every subsequent Sublimation, be broken into smaller and smaller Parts; the Mercurial Globules (for the Reasons given by the Author (122) of the forementioned Theory of Fevers) arising more quickly and easily than the Salts, quit the Interstices in which they were lodged, and the Crystalline Blades are divided every time more and more by the force of the Fire; whereupon a new Combination of Parts succeeds; and although there be a greater Proportion of the Mineral to the Salts than before, which makes Dulcify’d Mercury Specifically heavier than the Corrosive; yet the broken pieces of the Crystals uniting into little Masses of differing Figures from their former Make, those Cutting Points which were before so sharp, are now either quite lost, or at least, by reason of their Bluntness, cannot make Wounds deep enough to be equally mischievous and deadly; and therefore do only Vellicate and Twitch the sensible Membranes of the Stomach to that Degree, as excites them to an Excretion of their Contents and Glandular Juices, upwards or downwards, according as the force of Irritation is greater or less.

Thus a violent Poison is mitigated into a Vomit or Purge; nay, it may easily happen (especially in Robust Constitutions, and if the Bowels be at the same time by any means defended against the Stimulating Power of the Medicine) that this Twitching may be so slight, as to be almost insensible, and hardly troublesome; and then the Mercurial Globules being freed indeed from most of the Saline Parts in their Passage thro’ the PrimÆ ViÆ, but still having a mixture of some few of them, are quickly conveyed into the Blood, where by their Motion and Weight they must necessarily dissolve the Preternatural CohÆsions of all the Liquors, particularly of Those which Circulate in the smallest Canals, and are most Viscid and Tenacious, making ’em more Fluxile and Thin, or of more easie Secretion; whereupon all the Glands of the Body are, as it were, set to Work, and Scoured of their Contents; but the Salival Ones especially, being many in Number, very large and wide, and the Juice they separate of a Tough and Ropy Substance, so that a considerable quantity of It is accumulated before it is forced out at the Orifices of the Ducts. These Effects will be most remarkable in Them, and a Salivation or Spitting must continue so long, till the Active Mineral Particles are thro’ these and the other Passages discharged out of the Body.

As the Difference between Mercury Corrosive and Dulcified lies in a greater and lesser Degree of Operation and Force, so this same Consideration distinguishes the several Preparations of this Mineral from each other; which tho’ very many, yet do all vary their Effects in the Body, only according as the Mercurial Globules are differently combined with Salts, and the Points of These more or less broken by the Action of the Fire, in the Burning of Spirits upon Them, and such like Managements: And therefore however dignified with the great Names of Arcana, PanacÆÆ, Princes Powders, &c. They do not afford Us any thing Singular and Extraordinary, beyond what we may with equal Advantage promise our selves from some or other of the most common and usual Processes.

We may also fairly conclude from this Reasoning, that the safest way of raising a Salivation is by Internal Medicines; since whatever Mischiefs can be apprehended from These, may in a greater degree follow from the External Use of Mercury; not only because, as We have already hinted, the Mineral Globules being intimately combined with Salts in the several Preparations given inwardly, will by the Irritation of These, be easily and fully thrown out at the Organs of Secretions, till the Blood is quite discharged of its Load; whereas, in all the Dawbings with Mercurial Ointments, We can never be certain that none of the heavy Particles are left lodg’d in the Interstices of the Fibres or Cells of the Bones; But also, in as much as by computing the Portion of Mercury in all the Doses necessarily to promote a Spitting, and the Weight of the same Mineral usually apply’d when this is done by Unction, it will appear, that the quantity in the latter Case vastly exceeds that in the former, and consequently that the Inconveniencies to be feared will be in the same proportion.

Therefore this External Management of Mercury is only to be allow’d of, where either the Case will bear the Violence of such a Method, or outward Ulcers and Tumors require a particular Cure by Liniments, &c.

Nor is it improper to Remark that, We do hereby see how the Use of this Mineral comes to produce that Effect so often complain’d of, (tho’ not always with Reason) of making the Bones Foul or Carious. For, if the LaminÆ or Fibres of These are already so much broken and spoiled by a Disease, as that the Circulation of the Fluids thro’ ’em can’t be maintain’d, they must necessarily be corrupted more by the Weight of the Mercurial Globules; tho’ here also it is plain, that the outward Use of this Remedy will be more to be blamed than the inward.

And indeed, as the earliest Use of Mercury was in Unguents and Emplasters, so most of the Prejudices and Out-cries against It are owing to Effects produced this way. For the first attempts of the Cure of Venereal Maladies by this Remedy, were learned from the Arabians (123), who having recommended Mercurial Ointments in the Lepra or Scabies, gave a handle to the Italian Physicians to try their Efficacy, in removing the Foulness of the Skin from a new and terrible Contagion; neither were they sparing of their Liniments, which they continued to rub in for 12, 15, nay, sometimes for above 30 Days together (124). So that it is no wonder if they often met with very untoward Symptoms from so severe a Treatment, and if, (as some of them (125) do affirm) they now and then found Mercury in the rotten Bones of their Patients, who had, it may be, suffered too much both from their Disease and their Physician.

Thus much of Mercury. Let Us in the next place examine Arsenick, about the Nature and Composition of which Authors are very much puzzled.

This, in short, is either Native or Factitious, and each of Three sorts, Yellow, Red, and White. The Native Yellow is what the Latins call’d Auripigmentum; and this Olaus Wormius (126) makes Threefold. The Red is the Sandaracha of the Greeks. The White was not known to the Ancients; and indeed Theophrastus seems only to have known the Red; but Dioscorides describes both Red and Yellow; Nicander had no Knowledge of either; The only Mineral Poisons He mentions are Litharge and Ceruss.

Orpiment and Sandaracha differ only by their greater or lesser Concoction in the Earth; and therefore from Orpiment Boiled in a close Pot Five Hours in a Furnace Fire, is made the Factitious Sandaracha, as perfect as the Natural (127).

The Factitious Yellow is made from the Crusts of the Natural Orpiment (128).

The Native White is more rare, but found plentifully in some Silver Mines in Germany (129).

But the White Factitious is of the most common Use of all; and it is, as Agricola tells us, no other than Orpiment again and again sublimed with an equal part of Fossile Salt, till it is brought to a Whiteness.

Orpiment and Sandaracha are mostly found in Mines of God; and all Metallic Writers do agree them to be the best Signs of the Richness of the Vein. This is Ground sufficient for the Chymists to take Arsenick for the Subject Matter of their great Work, as they call It; and they have very fondly accommodated some Ænigmatical Lines in the Sibylline Oracles (130) to this Mineral. Tho’ the Interpretation be strained, and not fairly made out, (the Author of these Verses, whatever he might mean, being indeed Discoursing of the Name of the Divine Power it self) yet very true it is, that this great Expectation from Arsenick is as old at least as Caligula; that is, of more ancient Date considerably than the far greatest part of those Suppositious and Ill-contrived Compositions which do now bear the Name of Oracles: For that Covetous Emperor, as Pliny relates (131), ordered a great quantity of Orpiment to be wrought upon, that He might extract Gold out of It, and made some; but as it usually happens in such like Attempts, the quantity did not answer the Expence.

It is more to our purpose to take notice, that the later Pretenders to this Philosophy, by finding their three Principles, Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury in this Body, will lead Us into its true Nature and Composition.

For whether We take Orpiment or Sandaracha, either of them will afford a Regulus or Mercurial Substance, more pure than that of Antimony. The manner of extracting It Lemery (132) has taught; and to This indeed the Mineral owes its great Ponderosity.

The Inflammability and Smell of Arsenick are sufficient Proofs of its abounding Sulphur, which may without much difficulty be separated from It (133).

That it consists of some Saline Parts we are assured by Its Solution in common Water (134); and it is upon the account of These that It does more happily promote the Flowing of Metals than any other Salt-Pouders which the Workmen make use of: Wherefore some have called It a coagulated Aqua Fortis.

From all this it appears, that Authors do vainly Dispute wherein the Noxious quality of Arsenick resides, since the Case here is plainly much the same with that of Sublimate Corrosive; and as the Salts there, together with the Mercurial Particles, do compose pungent Crystals, so without all doubt the Regulus of this Mineral gives a like force to the Saline Bodies, which without this weight could be but of small Effect. The main difference is, that in Arsenick we have an addition of Sulphur, which does not only strengthen the Action of the other Parts, in that as a Vinculum it keeps them united together; but consisting besides of many hot and fiery Corpuscles, promotes the Inflammation of those Wounds which the Crystalline Spicula make in the Membranes of the Stomach.

Upon the Score of such a Texture and Make as this, Arsenick makes no Ebullition either with Alcalies or Acids (135); and as the Regulus of It being cleared from most of its Salts, is by much less hurtful than the crude Mineral it self; so on the other Hand, the Factitious White, in which there is a much greater Proportion of the Saline to the Metallic Parts, is the most Violent of all the kinds, superiour in Force to Mercury Sublimate.

The several Histories related by Wepfer (136) do put this out of Question; It is sufficient to our Purpose to mention One.

A Dog having eat some Fat mixt with White Arsenic, died the next Day; The upper Part of the Stomach, when opened, was red and inflamed, the Coats thinner than ordinary, the bottom of It was covered with a fÆtid Slime, and some Pieces of Fat; the Thin Guts were so Corroded as to be Pervious in Three Places, Two of the Ulcers so large that they would easily admit a Bean. The Cavity of the Abdomen contained a yellowish Ichor tinged with Blood.

The Case being thus, one would wonder what should induce Authors to prescribe so Corrosive a Mineral to be worn upon the Pit of the Stomach, as an Amulet against the Plague. This Trick we may well believe to be Dangerous, when Lionardo di Capo (137) tells Us of a Child a kill’d by the Violent Vomiting and Purging, occasion’d from a slight Wound made in the Head by a Comb wet with Oil in which Arsenick had been infused; for the Pores of the Body being opened by Heat and Exercise, some of the Noxious Effluvia may easily Insinuate themselvs into the Part; accordingly Crato (138) observ’d an Ulcer of the Breast caused by this Application; Verzascha (139) Violent Pains, and fainting Fits; Diemerbrock (140), and Dr. Hodges (141), Death it self.

The Truth of the Matter is, This Practice seems to owe its Origine to a Mistake (142), some of the Arabian Physicians had commended Darsini worn in a Bag for a Preservative in Plague time; This in their Language signifies Cinnamom; but the Latin Interpreters retaining the same Word in their Translations (as was frequently done), one or other afterwards not understanding its meaning, and deceived by the likeness of the sound, substituted in its Place De Arsenico, as if Darsini were all one with Zarnich. The Authority of the first Author served to propagate the Error; nor were Those wanting who reason’d upon the Matter, and found it agreable to their Philosophy, that this Mineral should draw to it self and concenter the Arsenical Effluvia out of the Air, and thus secure the Body from their Infection; These being, as they imagined, the Common Cause of Pestilential Diseases.

Having thus particularly Discoursed of the Nature of these Two Poisons, I shall not need to insist upon any more out of the Mineral Kingdom.

All of Them bear some Analogy to the former, and are more or less Dangerous, according as their Salts receive a differing Force from the Metallic Particles. For this Reason as we have observed, that the most Virulent may be mitigated by breaking the Points of the Saline Crystals; so on the other Hand, the most Innocent Minerals may become Corrosive, by combining Them with Salts, as we see in the several Preparations of Silver, Antimony, Iron, &c.

Poisonous Plants.

To Proceed therefore to Vegetables; the most Notorious of These for Venomous Juices among the Ancients were Cicuta and Aconitum.

Our Œnanthe CicutÆ facie, succo viroso, which Wepfer has described by the Name of Cicuta Aquatica, and of the dismal Effects of which in some Children, who by mistake did Eat of It, He has wrote a large Volume, was very probably the Cicuta so much in use of old, especially at Athens, for Killing. At least the Violence of This makes It a much fitter Instrument of Death than the common Hemlock, which is not by far of so Malignant a quality.

Tho’ we must withal allow differing Climates very considerably to heighten or abate the Virtues of Plants. And it is not altogether Improbable, that the Poison with which the Athenians took away the Lives of Malefactors was an inspissated Juice compounded of That of Cicuta and other Corrosive Herbs (143).

But be this as it will; The Alterations which Wepfer observed the Roots of Œnanthe to make in the Body, were a Violent Pain and Heat in the Stomach, Terrible Convulsions, with the Loss of all the Senses, Distorsion of the Eyes, and flowing of Blood out at the Ears, the Mouth so fast shut that no Art could open It, Efforts to Vomit, but nothing thrown up, frequent Hick-Coughs, with a great Distension and Swelling, especially at the Pit of the Stomach; and when Death had concluded the Tragedy, a continued Running of green Froth at the Mouth.

Stalpart van der Wiel gives Us the like account of Two Persons kill’d at the Hague by the same Roots (144).

In a Dog, who for Experiment’s sake died by this Poison, The Stomach when opened was found quite Constringed, and shut up at both Orifices, Its inward Surface red, with livid Spots here and there; The Intestines were empty; only the Rectum contained a little greenish Mucus.

Thus it appears, that this Plant consists of Hot, Acrious and Corrosive Parts, which by Rarefying the Juices of the Stomach, and Wounding Its Nervous Membrane, are the Cause of all those Disorders which do immediately follow.

For upon the Sense of a violent Irritation and Pain, the Fluid of the Nerves is presently in large quantities determined to the Part affected; and this, if the Stimulus be not over great, will be only to such a Degree as is sufficient, by contracting the Fibres of the Stomach, and Muscles of the Abdomen, to throw off the Cause of the Disagreable Sensation; but the uneasie Twitching being too terrible to be born, the Mind, by a kind of surprize, does with Haste and Fury as it were Command the Spirits thither; Thus the Business is over-done, and the Action of the Fibres becomes so strong, that the Orifices of the Stomach are quite closed; so that instead of discharging the Noxious Matter, The Torment is made greater, and the whole Œconomy put into Confusion.

This forcible Contraction of the Muscles was the Reason that one of the Children which Wepfer saw, made Urine in the midst of the Agony, to the height of Five or Six Foot, with a strength and violence Surprising to the Spectators.

Nor is it any wonder, if in these Circumstances all Sense be lost, Blood gush out at the Ears, Nostrils, &c. the Parts being all torn and broke by the Violence of the Convulsions; which tho’ they began in the Muscles of the Belly, must at last prevail in the Members too, till the whole Fabrick is shock’d and overturn’d; and some of the Corrosive Salts perhaps getting into the Blood, and by the Rarefaction of It Distending the Vessels, The Membranous Coats of which being already overstretched, will the more easily give way, and let out their Fluid.

The Case of Aconitum is much the same; this is our Napellus or Monkshood; and its Effects do so nearly agree with those now related of Œnanthe, that I shall not need to recite Them; the Experiments of Wepfer (145) are full and convincing. And indeed as all the Histories which this same Author has so carefully given Us of Trials made with several Vegetable Poisons, Solanum, Nux Vomica, Coculus Indicus, &c. on different Creatures, do put it out of all doubt, that the common Mischief of These is a Twitching and Inflammation of the Stomach; so it appears from hence, that Virulent Plants, although they may be distinguished even from one another by particular Virtues, do however Kill by a like Operation and Force, which differs chiefly in Degree from That of Noxious Minerals.

And therefore in order to know what the Specifick Qualities of any such Herbs are, they must be given only in very small Doses; and then perhaps it would appear, that they are not made (as some do imagine) to be Deleterious and Destructive, but for very Good and Beneficial Uses; as we do particularly Experience in the Case of Opium.

Nor is it at all strange, that the Symptoms from a Vegetable, and from a Mineral Virulency, should be so different, although of the same kind, and only of unequal force; for the more solid Parts of Minerals, eroding the Coats of the Stomach, induce a perfect Mortification and Gangrene, and thus do their Work at once; whereas the weaker Salts of Plants can make but a slighter Excoriation, upon the painful Sense of which those Agonies and Convulsions that follow do rather gradually exhaust the Strength; and thus the Animal is not kill’d so speedily, nor with the same Appearances.

Upon this Score, tho’ Mineral Poisons do not pass the PrimÆ ViÆ, Vegetable ones in some Cases possibly may; just as We find Those Medicines which have a great Degree of Irritation presently to induce a Vomiting; whereas the same Twitching a little weakened suffers them to pass into the Intestines, and Work downwards by Stools.

By this We may perhaps give some Guess at the Nature of those Poisons, with which They tell Us the Natives in some Parts of Africa and India are so expert at Killing, that they can do It in a longer or shorter time as they please. These are most probably either the Fruits, or the Inspissated Juices of Corrosive Plants, which inflaming the Bowels, may cause little Ulcers there, whose Fatal Consequences, we know, may very well be slow and lingering.

This I am the rather induced to believe, because an Ingenious Surgeon, who liv’d in Guinea, told Me, that the Antidote by which the Negroes would sometimes Cure Those who were poisoned, was the Leaf of an Herb which purged both upwards and downwards. For by this means the Stomach might be cleared from the adhering Corrosive Parts of the Venom. Yet I can hardly think it possible at the same time that they should be able, by varying the Composition or Quantity of the Dose, to ascertain the Time in which It shall Kill, to a Week, Month, &c. nor indeed have I ever met with any Person who could Attest This, to be Matter of Fact.

Tho’ repeated Trials and Observations may help one well practised in such Tricks to give notable Conjectures in this Point.

The Ancients indeed pretended much the same thing with their Aconitum, of which They seem to have made a kind of Secret and Mystery; as we learn from Theophrastus (146), who says, The ordering of this Poison was different, according as It was designed to Kill in Two, Three Months, or a Year: But this he relates only as a common Tale or Opinion, and not as a Story to which Himself gave any manner of Credit.

It is very plain; that the common Cure of all Poisons of this kind, must be by freeing the Stomach, as soon as possible, from the Corrosive Vellicating Particles, and defending the Membranes from their Acrimony, by such Things as are of a a Smooth, Oily and Lubricating Substance.