An Essay on the Influence of Tobacco upon Life and Health | Page 4

6.
Two drops of the oil were rubbed upon the tongue of a red squirrel. This animal, so athletic as to render it difficult to secure him sufficiently long for the application, was in a moment seized with a violent agitation of the whole body and limbs, and was perfectly dead and motionless in one minute.
EXPERIMENT 7.
To the tongue of a dog rather under the middle size, five drops of the oil of tobacco were applied. In forty-five seconds he fell upon the side, got up, retched, and fell again. In one minute the respiration was laborious, and the pupils were dilated. In two minutes the breathing was slow and feeble, with puffing of the cheeks. In three minutes the pupils were smaller but continually varying. The left fore leg and the right hind leg were affected with a simultaneous convulsion or jerk, corresponding with the inspiratory motions of the chest. This continued for five minutes.
In nine minutes alimentary evacuations; symptoms abated; and the animal attempted to walk. At ten minutes two drops of the oil were applied to the tongue. Instantly the breathing became laborious, with puffing of the cheeks; pupils much dilated. The convulsive or jerking motions of the two limbs appeared as before, recurring regularly at the interval of about two seconds, and exactly corresponding with the inspirations. In twelve minutes the pupils were more natural; slight frothing at the mouth, the animal still lying upon the side. At this time a drop of the oil was passed into each nostril. The labor of the respiration was suddenly increased, the jaws locked.
In twenty-two minutes no material change; the jaws were separated and five drops of the oil were rubbed on the tongue. In one minute the pupils were entirely dilated, with strong convulsions. In one and an half minutes, in trying to walk, the animal fell. In three minutes the eyes rolled up, and convulsions continued. In six minutes, the plica semilunaris so drawn as to cover half the cornea. In seven minutes, slight frothing at the mouth. In forty minutes the inspirations were less deep, the convulsions had been unremitted, the strength failing. From this time he lay for more than half an hour nearly in the same state; the strength was gradually sinking, and as there was no prospect of recovery, he was killed. In this case, the true apoplectic puffing of the cheeks was present the greater part of the time.
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From the foregoing, and from additional experiments, which it is not necessary to give in detail, it appeared, that when applied to a wound made in the most sensitive parts of the integuments, the oil of tobacco, though it caused a good deal of pain, had a far less general effect than when applied to the tongue. Rats were less affected than cats. Two and sometimes three drops rubbed upon the tongue of a rat, did not kill in half an hour.
Three large drops rubbed upon the tongue of a full-sized cat, usually caused death in from three to ten minutes, and in one instance, already stated, in two minutes and forty-five seconds. One drop passed into the jugular vein of a large dog, occasioned an immediate cry, followed in a few moments by staggering, convulsive twitchings of the voluntary muscles, and vomiting.
In those cases in which full vomiting occurred, evident relief followed. Young animals suffered much more than those, which had come to their full growth and vigor. In those animals, whose lives were suddenly destroyed by the tobacco, no coagulation of the blood took place. The bodies of several cats were examined the next day after death, and only in a single instance was a slight coagulum observed; and this was in a cat, whose constitution possessed strong powers of resistance, and whose death was comparatively lingering.
It is not improbable, that the charge of inhumanity may be made against experiments prosecuted upon defenceless animals, with a poison so painful and destructive in its operation as tobacco; the justice of this charge is freely admitted, if such experiments be made merely for the gratification of curiosity, and not with the object and reasonable hope of making them useful to mankind, and of influencing, at least, some few individuals, to abandon the practice (humane can it be called?) of administering this poison to themselves and their children, till it occasions disease and death. Indeed, there are but few, who would willingly witness more than a single experiment of this kind, with no prospect of benefit to result from it.
When applied to sensitive surfaces of considerable extent, even in a form somewhat dilute, tobacco often produces the most serious effects. The tea of tobacco has been known to destroy the life of a horse, when forced into his stomach to relieve indisposition.