Page:First Footsteps in East Africa, 1894 - Volume 1.djvu/187

VI. From the Zayla Hills to the Marav Prairie. 141 road from Zayla to Harar : we had wasted ten days, and the want of grass and water made us anxious about our animals. The camels could scarcely walk, and my mule's spine rose high beneath the Arab pad : such are on his side : twelve minutes, several severe general convulsions came on, and at the end of another minute he was quite dead, the pulsation being for the last minute quite imperceptible. The chest was instantly opened, but there was no movement of the heart whatever. " September aoth. 3. The rabbit used for the first experiment was taken and an attempt was made to inject a little filtered solution into the jugular vein, which failed from the large size of the nozzle of the syringe ; a good deal of blood was lost. A portion of the solution corresponding to about two grains and a half of the poison was then injected into a small opening made in the pleura. Nine minutes afterwards : symptoms precisely resembling those in number two began to appear. Fourteen minutes : convulsions more violent ; fell on his side. Sixteen minutes, died. " 4. A portion of the poison, as much as could be applied, was smeared over the square iron head of an arrow, and allowed to dry. The arrow was then shot into the buttock of a goat with sufficient force to carry the head out of sight ; twenty minutes afterwards, no effect whatever having followed, the arrow was extracted. The poison had become softened and was wiped completely off two of the sides, and partly off the two other sides. The animal appeared to suffer very little pain from the wound ; it was kept for a fortnight, and then died, but not apparently from any cause connected with the wound. In fact it was previously diseased. Unfortunately the seat of the wound was not then examined, but a few days previously it appeared to have healed of itself. In the rabbit of the former experiment, three days after the insertion of the poison in the wound, the latter was closed* with a dry coagulum and pre- sented no marks of inflammation around it. " 5. Two good-sized village dogs being secured, to each after several hours' fasting, were given about five grains enveloped in meat. The smaller one chewed it a long time, and frothed much at the mouth. He appeared to swallow very little of it, but the larger one ate the whole up without difficulty. After more than two hours no effect whatever being perceptible in either animal, they were shot to get rid of them. These experiments, though not altogether complete, cer- tainly establish the fact that it is a poison of no very great activity.