OF POISONING WITH ALCOHOL, ETHER, AND EMPYREUMATIC OILS.
The last group of the narcotico-acrids comprehends _alcohol_, _ether_,
and the _oleaginous products of combustion_.
_Of Poisoning with Alcohol._
_Of its Action on Animals, and Symptoms in Man._—Alcohol has been
generally believed, since the experiments of Sir B. Brodie,[2511] to act
on the brain through the medium of the nerves, and to do so without
entering the blood. This may be doubted. At least in some experiments
performed several years ago by Dr. C. Coindet and myself it appeared not
to act so swiftly, but that absorption might easily have taken place
before its operation began. At all events, through whatever channel it
may operate, there is no doubt that it enters the blood; for in man the
breath has a strong smell of spirit for a considerable time after it is
swallowed; and it has been found in the tissues and secretions after
death from large doses. Professor Orfila found that alcohol is a violent
poison when injected into the cellular tissue; and that it produces
through that channel the same effects as when taken into the
stomach.[2512] In the course of our experiments Dr. C. Coindet and I
found that it acted with great rapidity when injected into the cavity of
the chest.
Authors who have treated of the action of alcohol and spirituous liquors
on man, have distinguished three degrees in its immediate effects.