The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-26


different nerves which enter 1t. We shalt there
fore content ourselves with relating what Is
known in regard to corroyal, poison whlch
thus far has been investigated only by two
American toxlcoogists. Like woorara, this
substance is a demonstrating material, which
is certainly OF vegetable origin. 1t is used as an
arrow poison by the dwellers on the Rio Darien,
but OF the nature of the plants which yield it
we know absolutely nothing. Thus far 1t is
known only to savages, and to two or three
students OF poisons, nor, It II were usei 70 klI XII
tissues. As in the case of woorara, let us relate
briefly how the toxic characters OF corioval were
| first investigated.
| A frog was held while the operator placed
a morsel OF poison in wound made in the back.
| In ten or twelve minutes it showed signs of
lassitude, and in halt an hour was totally mo-
tionless and dead. Nothing was seen to lead
| to the belief that the toxicologist was dealing
with substance differing from common
| woorara. The outward signs were alike.
A second frog was then poisoned, after little
| to expose the heart, whose natural beat
was noted as being forty-hve to the minute. In
| three minutes it was unaltered as to number,
| but had become irregular Then it began to tail,
beating thirty at the fifth minute, and ceaslng
! half a minute later, the aurlcles continuing
somewhat longer. As the organ failed strange
fact was noted; at the instant when the great
| cavity of the hear-the ventricle-contrac
so as to eXpel the blood into the arteries, it was
observed that here and there its surface little
| ptomineuces arose, which were presumed to be
! due to these parts beng palsied so that they
| yielded under the pressure from within. That
! this true view OF the case was shown by
pinching or galvanzing minute portions OF a
| healthy, active heart, when the same appear
| ances were noted at the points enteebled by the
oyer.stimulatlon to which they had been thus
mechanically subjected. When the heart
! stopped it could not be re.eXced by a touch, or
| by electric currents, as was the case In woorara
| poisoning, or in death from violence.
During all of this time, and for twenty minutes
after the heart ceased to beat, the frog leaped
| Nn,,4 Il 80
| pretty clear that corroval was poison which
paralyzed directly the tissues of the heart, with
out at first influencing any other portion of the
| economy. To put this beyond doubt, the ex-
| perimeuter tried to keep up the circulation by
causing artificial breathing, which in the case Of
| woorara was competent to sustain the hearts
action. Here, however, the heart stopped as
| though no such means had been used. The
| same observation may be better made on the
| alligator, because IN this creature the breathing
continues for some twenty minutes after the
heart has ceased to pulsate, thus making it still
| more clear that the heart does not die owing to
defect of respiration. Lastly, 1t was shown that
when in healthy frog the heart is cut out, or
| its vessels tied, voluntary and reflex motion dis
| appear at about the same period as they do
| when corroval has been given; whence it was
inferred that this agent destroys the general
| movements only because it first interrupts the
circulation of the blood, without which they
| soon cease to be possible.
Sir Walter Raleigh.
Mr.. L. P. Whipple gives the following ac-
count of the death and character of Sir Walter
Raleigh:-
| The restless activity of his mind now found a
! vent in experimental science and in literature;
and, taking theme as large as the scope of his
| own mind he set himself resolutely to work to
write the History of the World. Mean while he
spared no arts of influence, bribery, and 1attery
Of the King to get his liberty; and at last, IN
| March, 1915, was released, without beng par
doned on his tempting the cupidity of James
|
wealth of Guiana, and by offering to conduct an
expedition there 20 open gold mine. With
feet of thirteen ships he set SAIL arrived on the
coast in November, and sent large party
up the OrinoCo. who after having attack ed and
burnt the Spanish town of ST. Thomas,-an
engagement in which Raeigh's eldest son lost
his life,-returned to their sick and mortified
commander with the intelligence tnat they
had failed to discover the mine. The accounts
of what erWards occurred in this il-tated
expedition are so confused and contradictory
that it is difficult to obtain a clear idea of the
facts. 1t is sufficient that Raleigh returned to
England, laborlng under imputations of false.
hood, treachery, and contemplated treason and
piracy; and that he there found the Spanish
ambassador clamoring in the court of James for
his, life. HIS ruin was resolved upon;
doned it was thought more convenient
TO execute him on the old sentence than
10 run the risk of new trl"". TOR MS alleged
oheDses since. In other words, it was resolved
10 use the technicalities of law to violate its
| as instruments OF murder. On the 29th of Oc-
tober 1918, he was accordingly beheadei. His
| behaviour on the scahod was what might have
been expected from the dauntless spirit which,
in its experience of nearly the whole circle of
human emotions, had never felt the sensation
of tear. After vmdicating his conduct in
| manly and dignihed speech to the spectators he
desired the headsman to show HIM the axe,
which not being done at once, he said, II pray
/ am afraid of itm After he had taken
it in his hand, he felt curiously along
the edge, and then smilingly remarked to the
Sheriff This is sharp medicine, but 1t is
physician tor all diseases" After he had laid
his head on the block, he was requested to turn
! it on the other side. $50 the heart be right"
he replied, sit is no matter which way the mead
leth." After forgiving the headsman, and
praying few moments, the signal was made,
which not being Immediately followed by the
dost thou not strike? Strike, man !" Two strokes
OF the axe, under which his frame did not
shrink or move, severed his head from his body.
| The immense ehusion of blood, in man of
siXty-siX, amazed every body that saw it. who
would have thought" King James might have
| said, with another distinguished ornament OF
the royal house OF Scotland, "that the old man
had so much blood in him /" Yes, blood enough
in his veins, and thought enough in his head,
and heroism enough in his soul, TO have served
| England for twenty years more had folly and
baseness not otherwise wiled it!"
The superabundant physical and mental
| vitality of this extraordinary man is seen
| almost equally in his actions aud his writings.
! courtier riding abroad with the Queen in his
suit of silver armor or in attendance at her
court, dressed, as the antquaIY tells us, in "a
pearls, and mighty rich chain of great pearls
about his neck ~ he was still not i'm prisOued by