Origin.—Cinchona is obtained from the bark of a tree (Cinchona Calisaya), which grows in South America, East Indies and Jamaica. It contains at least five per cent of its peculiar alkaloids, of which not less than one-half should be quinine sulphate, which is the most important.
Actions.—Cinchona is an astringent. Other than that cinchona and its alkaloids possess the same actions, that being, bitter tonic, stimulant, antiseptic, antiperiodic, antipyretic, antiphlogistic, antimiasmatic, stomachic and antiferment. Large doses are general depressants.
Uses.—Cinchona and its alkaloids are recommended for all classes of patients as bitter stomachic and tonics. They stimulate the appetite, check abnormal gastro-intestinal fermentation and counteract relaxed conditions of the intestines and the accumulations of mucus, which prove favorable to the development of worms.
In troublesome cases of atonic indigestion in horses respond rapidly when quinine sulphate is frequently given in thirty to forty grain doses with half a drachm of dilute nitric or hydrochloric acid. Weak foals and calves suffering from relaxed condition of the bowels, following a dose of castor oil are often much benefited by a few doses of cinchona bark, hydrochloric acid dilute and brandy.
Few medicines are so effectual as cinchona bark orquinine sulphate in improving appetite and muscular strength and hastening convalescence from debilitating disease.
They are advantageous in anaemia joined with iron salts.
Good results are obtained from cinchona or quinine in the earlier stages of tuberculosis, in septicaemia and pyaemia in all animals; in influenza, protracted cases of strangles, purpura and other similar diseases of the horse; in septic metritis in cows and ewes and in lingering cases of distemper in dogs. Their beneficial effects in these and other diseases probably depending on the action of quinine on micro-organisms or their products. It is often useful in rheumatism conjoined with salicylic acid or potassium iodide. Administered with cathartics, like other bitter tonics, it generally increases their activity. Alternated with cod liver or olive oil and iron, quinine is the best tonic for weak dogs and those suffering from chorea.
Quinine and urea hydrochloride has recently come into use as local anaesthetic. One per cent solutions make a satisfactory substitute for cocaine, etc. It also has advantages over cocaine. It is non-toxic, it may be exposed to a boiling temperature and its anaesthetic effect for dogs after an operation, therefore aiding in dressing of wounds. Its anaesthetic effect comes on within five minutes to half an hour after being injected into the intended seat of operation.
Speaking from practical experience, I prefer quinine and urea hydrochloride to cocaine or any of its allies.
Dose.—Of the powdered cinchona bark: Horses, 2 dr. to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 4 dr.; dogs, 10 gr. to 1 dr.
Dose.—As a tonic: Horses, 15 gr. to 1 dr.; cattle,1⁄2to 11⁄2dr.; sheep and pigs, 5 to 10 gr.; dogs and cats, 1 to 2 gr. As antipyretic Dose: Horses andcattle, 2 to 4 dr.; sheep and pigs, 15 gr to 1 dr.; dogs and cats, 5 to 10 gr.
Soluble in 18 parts of water. Use hypodermically as a local anesthetic.
“The dried leaves of Erythroxylon Coca Lamarck (Fam. Erythroxylaceae), known commercially as Huanuco Coca, or of E. Truxillense Rusby, known commercially as Truxillo Coca, yielding when assayed not less than 0.5 per cent of the ether-soluble alkaloids of coca.” U. S. “The dried leaves of Erythroxylum Coca, Lam., and its varieties.”
Habitat.—Cultivated in Peru and Bolivia and introduced into medicine by Koller in 1884.
Derivation.—Cocaine hydrochloride is recovered by agitating an acidulated alcoholic solution of coca leaves with ether. The etheral liquid is made alkaline with sodium carbonate and evaporated. The residue is purified, deodorized, neutralized with hydrochloric acid and finally crystallized.
Properties.—A colorless, transparent, monoclinic prism, flaky, lustrous leaflets or a white crystalline powder; permanent in air, containing no water of crystallization; odorless; of a saline, slightly bitter taste, and producing on the tongue a tingling sensation followed by numbness of several minutes’ duration. Soluble in 0.4 part of water, 2.6 parts of alcohol and in 18.5 parts of chloroform at 25° C. (77° F.); soluble in benzine, petroleum benzine and ether. It leaves no residue on incineration. Its aqueous solution is neutral to litmus paper.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 5 to 20 gr.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 3 gr.; dogs,1⁄8to 1 gr. Not much used internally.
Action.—Cocaine in small doses is a cerebral, cardiac, respiratory and nervous stimulant and dieuretic; overdoses cause delirium with cardiac and respiratory failure. Cocaine is a powerful local anaesthetic; used for all animals in 4 to 10 per cent solution, usually a 4 to 6 per cent solution is strong enough for ordinary operations. Inject under the skin, into the muscular tissue or over nerve trunks for minor operations. Applied to such structures as the eye, penis, tongue and other delicate mucous surfaces as the uterus, vagina, rectum, etc. It causes profound but temporary anaesthesia over a small area; it causes rapid and extreme dilation of the pupil.
Cocaine is injected for minor operations to prevent pain, such as neurectomy, removing tumors, operations on the eyes, tongue, fistulae, firing, etc. For dogs it should be used with great caution, a two per cent solution usually being enough and as little as possible being used.
For the horse, as a rule, not more than two drachms of a five per cent solution should be injected subcutaneously, lest restlessness, excitement, etc., ensue, which though not necessarily dangerous, may interfere with the operation.
In using cocaine as a diagnostic agent for lameness, the fact must not be lost sight of that it is a cerebral stimulant and that if a large quantity is injected it may cause such a degree of excitement as to make the patient forget his lameness, thus leading the operator to believe that the improvement is due to anaesthesia below the point of injection, when the apparent remission from the lameness is of physical origin. Cocaine is advantageously used in painful eye affections. Its effects may be prolonged and the danger of its use lessened by dissolving the cocaine in a 1 to 1000 adrenalin chloride solution.
Derivation.—Native calcium carbonate, freed from most of its impurities by elutriation.
Properties.—A white, amorphous powder, often molded into conical drops; odorless and tasteless; permanent in the air. Almost insoluble in water; insoluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Horses, 1 to 2 oz.; cattle, 2 to 4 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 4 dr.; dogs, 10 gr. to 1 dr.
Composed of chalk, 30 parts; acacia, 20 parts; sugar, 50 parts.
Dose.—Dogs, 10 gr. to 1 dr.; cats, 1 to 5 gr.
Composed of compound chalk powder, 20 parts; cinnamon water, 40 parts; water to make 100.
Dose.—Dogs, 1 to 2 oz.; cats, 1 to 2 dr.
Actions.—Internally, chalk is the slowest acting antacid, because of its comparative insolubility and is of value when it can exert its long-continued influence throughout the digestive tract. It resembles bismuth in mechanically coating or protecting inflamed or irritable surfaces. It is not so astringent nor antiseptic as the bismuth salts, and these are generally preferable to chalk for the smaller animals. It is excreted unchanged in the feces. Externally it is a dessicant and slightly astringent powder, also protective.
Uses.—Chalk forms a dusting powder for moist eczema, slight burns and intertrigo; zinc oxide and starch (one to four) is, however, a better preparation. Chalk is the most useful antacid for diarrhoea accompanied by fermentation of the intestinal contents, while its local astringent and protecting influence assists in overcoming the trouble. It is especially good for foals and calves given in flour gruel and often conjoined with catechu, ginger and opium.
Chalk may be given to dogs in pills or powder; to other animals in powder, capsules or electuary. Chalk is frequently prescribed suspended in flour, gruel, milkor mucilage to the larger animals. The chalk preparations are suitable for dogs and cats.
Derivation.—Boil metallic copper and sulphuric acid together. Dissolve product in hot water and crystallize.
Properties.—Large, transparent, deep blue, triclinic crystals; odorless, of a nauseous, metallic taste; slowly efflorescent in dry air; soluble in water; almost insoluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 dr.; sheep and pigs, 20 to 40 gr.; dogs, 1 to 2 gr.
As a tonic and astringent, repeat two or three times daily; given either in capsule or in some mucilagenous solution, or in powder form, with some inert substance; when given as a tonic should be given at time of feeding, or right after eating.
Actions.—Gastro-intestinal irritant, astringent, tonic, emetic in large doses; acts directly on the stomach; antiseptic and vermifuge.
Uses.—Internally used as emetic, antidote for phosphorus, atony of the bowels, diarrhoea, especially combined with dilute sulphuric acid opium; is supposed to prevent the development of farcy and glanders in exposed animals. Used externally as a caustic and stimulant; styptic, also used for foot-rot; for granular eyelids, touch lightly over the granular surface with the sulphate of copper.
The dried leaves of Digitalis purpurea Linne (Fam. Scrophulariaceae), collected from plants of the second year’s growth, at the commencement of flowering.
Habitat.—Foxglove grows wild in the temperate parts of Europe, where it flowers in the middle of summer. In this country it is cultivated for ornamental and for medical use.
Properties.—Foxglove is without odor in the recentstate, but acquires a faint narcotic odor when dried. The color of the dried leaf is a dull pale green, modified by the whitish down upon the under surface; that of the powder is a fine deep green.
Constituents.—Digitalein, Digitonin, Digitalin and Digitoxin, the latter is most poisonous and active. Said to be cumulative.
Dose.—Digitalis leaves, horses, 15 gr. to 1 dr.; cattle, 30 gr to 11⁄2dr.; sheep and pigs, 5 to 15 gr.; dogs,1⁄2to 3 gr.
Active Principles.—Digitoxin—It occurs in crystals, soluble in alcohol and chloroform, slightly in ether, and insoluble in water; said to be cumulative.
Dose.—Horses and cattle,1⁄8to1⁄4gr.; dogs,1⁄250to1⁄50gr.
Digitalein, an amorphous, bitter substance, soluble in water and alcohol and non-cumulative.
Dose.—Same as digitoxin.
Digitalin, a very bitter, crystalline substance, soluble in alcohol, and slightly soluble in water and ether.
Dose.—Same as for digitoxin.
Digitonin, resembling or identical with saponin of senega. White, amorphous powder, soluble in water. It is a heart depressant, muscular paralyzant and powerful irritant, besides being antagonistic to digitalis. In addition to these principles there are: Digitin, an inactive substance. Digitalic and antirrhinic acids. Tannin coloring matter, starch, sugar, gum, a volatile oil, salts, etc., common to most vegetables.
Made by maceration and percolation with alcohol and water; distillation of alcohol and evaporation to pilular substance.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 5 to 10 gr.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 2 gr.; dogs,1⁄8to 1 gr.
Prepared by maceration and percolation with alcohol and water, and evaporating so that 1 c. c. equals 1 gm. of the crude drug.
Dose.—Horses, 10 m. to 1 dr.; cattle, 30 m. to 11⁄2dr.; sheep and pigs, 5 to 15 m.; dogs,1⁄2to 2 m.
Composed of powdered digitalis 100 parts with sufficient alcohol and water to make 1000 parts. By maceration and percolation.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 dr.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 dr.; dogs, 5 to 20 m.
Composed of digitalis 15 parts, alcohol 100 parts, cinnamon water 150 parts, boiling water 500 parts, cold water to make 1000 parts. By maceration.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 oz.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 oz.; dogs, 1 to 4 dr.
There are several substitutes for digitalis found in commerce.
Actions.—A cardiac and vascular tonic and stimulant, a motor excitant, paralyzant, anaphrodisiac, it is an indirect diuretic and an emetic, irritates the mucous membrane.
The heart is slowed but the force is increased; digitalis stimulates the cardiac motor ganglia, the inhibitory apparatus and the vaso-motor centers, contracting the arterioles and thereby greatly raising the arterial tension; large doses exhaust and paralyze the heart.
Its diuretic action is very complex, one of the active principles, digitalin, increases the arterial pressure by contracting the blood vessels of the body, while the large renal arteries are dilated by two of its active principles, digitoxin and digitalein. On this account digitalis is an ideal diuretic.
Uses.—It is used as a cardiac stimulant in full doses, followed by small ones; used in heart and cardiac debility from any cause, irregularity of the heart due to debility; used in dropsical conditions, combined with acetate or nitrate of potash; it is useful in congestion of organs, useful in the first stages of pneumonia and scarlatina; as a diuretic over the region of the kidneys this can be used two or three times daily; when internal remedies fail to increase the action of the kidneys this is very effectual. Useful in palpitation of the heart due to overexertion. Digitalis is occasionally employed with good results as a poultice of the leaves, applied over the loins to promote diuresis, or in local inflammation, to contract blood vessels.
Derivation.—Hydrogen gas is passed over freshly made and carefully washed ferric oxide in a hot and closed tube.
Properties.—A very fine grayish-black, lustreless powder, without odor or taste; permanent in dry air; insoluble in water or alcohol.
Dose.—Horses, 1 to 2 dr.; cattle, 2 to 4 dr.; sheep and pigs, 20 to 30 gr.; dogs, 1 to 5 gr.
Derivation.—Iron wire is dissolved by boiling in dilute sulphuric acid.
Properties.—Large, pale bluish-green, monoclinic prisms, without odor and having a saline styptic taste; efflorescent in dry air. On exposure to moist air the crystals rapidly absorb oxygen and become coated with brownish-yellow, basic ferric sulphate; soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Same as reduced iron.
Derivation.—Allow ferrous sulphate, 100 parts,to effloresce at a temperature of 104° F., then heat on a water bath until the product weighs 65.
Properties.—A greyish-white powder, slowly but completely soluble in water, without odor, and having a saline styptic taste.
Dose.—Same as reduced iron.
Derivation.—Ferrous sulphate, 50; sodium bicarbonate, 35; sugar and distilled water. Made by solution, precipitation and washing.
Properties.—Greenish-brown powder, without odor; sweetish taste; becomes oxidized on exposure to the air.
Dose.—Horses, 2 to 4 dr.; cattle,1⁄2to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 dr.; dogs, 2 to 10 gr.
Contains five per cent, by weight, of ferrous iodide.
Properties.—Transparent, pale green liquid; sweet, ferruginous taste.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 dr.; dogs, 5 to 30 m. Given when you want the combined action of iron and iodine.
Action.—Tonic, alterative, diuretic and emmenagogue.
Ferric chloride should contain not less than 22 per cent of metallic iron in the form of chloride.
Properties.—It is in orange-yellow, crystalline pieces, odorless or having a faint odor of hydrochloric acid and a strong styptic taste; deliquescent; soluble in water and alcohol; not used internally.
Used almost exclusively in the form of tincture or liquor, and in reference to its effect and application I refer you to Tincture Ferri Chloridi and Liquor Ferri Chloridi.
Derivation.—Dissolve iron wire, 125, in hydrochloric acid, 680, nitric acid and water to make 1000.
Properties.—A reddish-brown liquid, having a faint odor of hydrochloric acid, an acid, strongly styptic taste.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 dr.; sheep and pigs, 10 to 20 m.; dogs, 2 to 10 m. All liquid preparations of iron should be well diluted with water or oil.
Composed of ferric chloride, 350 parts; alcohol to make 1000.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 20 to 30 m.; dogs, 5 to 30 m.
A solution of sulphate of iron, sulphuric and nitric acids.
Properties.—A dark reddish-brown liquid, odorless or nearly so; of an acid, strongly styptic taste; miscible in water and alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 dr.; sheep and pigs, 10 to 20 m.; dogs, 2 to 10 m. This is used almost entirely for external use as an astringent and styptic.
There are 36 official preparations of iron and a number of unofficial preparations, quite a few of which are impracticable for use in veterinary medicine, consequently we have considered only those which are practicable for use. Some are more irritating than others and some have special actions due to other drugs combined with the iron.
Iron is not a foreign substance to the organism. It is constantly present in the blood, gastric juice, lymph, bile, pigment of the eye and traces of it in the milk andurine. In man there is 1 part of iron to 230 red blood corpuscles, and in cattle 1 to 194 red globules. That it performs a very important part is shown in the rapid construction of red globules when iron is administered in anaemia. Without it haematin is not formed and red globules diminish in number. By its medicinal use we furnish to the blood a material which it needs. The action of iron is not limited merely to the construction of red blood. It also promotes the appetite and invigorates the digestion when there is no intolerance to its presence in the stomach. By increasing the disposition for food and the ability to dispose of it, iron acts as a stomachic, consequently when given in the healthy state or when administered for too long a period during disease the gastric glands become exhausted by over-stimulation; then it is said that iron disagrees. Being a restorative its use is contra-indicated in a condition of plethora (fullness of the blood vessels). In large doses the soluble preparations of iron give rise to nausea and vomiting, some of them possessing more or less toxic activity. The iodide chloride and sulphate are the most active. Large doses will produce gangrene of the stomach and intestines. Certain salts of iron, as the sulphates, nitrates and chlorides, possess a high degree of astringency, hence they produce constipation when taken internally. When brought into contact with blood they coagulate it, forming a tough brownish magma, and as the albuminous elements of the tissues are also solidified they are powerful haemostatics. Iron is eliminated chiefly by the intestinal route, partly by the liver into the bile, thence into the intestines, some by the kidneys also. The tincture of the chloride being especially diuretic.
Iron is a haematinic, stomachic, styptic, astringent or haemostatic. The tincture chloride in addition is diuretic. The sulphate is in addition vermicide. The iodide is alterative and resolvent as well as tonic. A medicine used in combination with iron may modify or enhance its action. Externally iron salts contract tissue by coagulatingalbumen when applied to raw surfaces or mucous membranes, and through this means by compressing the blood vessels from without and plugging them from within with clotted blood, arrest hemorrhage. The astringent salts may also induce some contraction of the vessels besides. Iron in the form of liquor ferri chloridi or liquor ferri subsulphatis is the most powerful of the metallic hemostatic agents we possess.
Uses Internally.—The saccharated carbonate is staple, non-irritating to the stomach, and especially suited to dogs. It has the same uses as the sulphate. It is also used for the other animals when the stomach is weak.
Sulphate of iron is used locally as an astringent and internally as a haematinic and tonic in anaemia. It improves the appetite and abates exhausting discharges, as in nasal gleet and leucorrhoea. In atonic torpidity of bowels it is prescribed with aloes; also in the same way for intestinal worms. Conjoined with iodine it is the best prescription for diabetes insipidus. It is also prescribed with good results in the first stages of liver rot in sheep. Chorea and epilepsy when with anaemia are benefited by iron. Combined iron and arsenic for chorea. Septicaemia, pyaemia and all forms of blood poisoning, as purpura, haemorrhagica, scarlatina, etc., with quinine. The tincture chloride is prescribed in blood poisoning. In red water of cattle, after bowels are freely opened. In convalescence from debilitating diseases it is a valuable tonic combined with other medicines as nux vomica, quinine, etc. Such diseases as influenza, chest diseases and chronic catarrh should be followed with iron and other tonics.
Iodide of iron is used when an alterative as well as a tonic action is desired. It is given to promote the absorption of glandular enlargements in young and weakly animals, and in swelling of the joints. It is useful in polyuria or diabetes insipidus, also nasal gleet.
Tincture chloride of iron acts as a haematinic, tonic, antiseptic, astringent, styptic, diuretic and local irritantor caustic. It is serviceable in most cases in which the sulphate is recommended. It is used in atonic dyspepsia and for the removal of intestinal worms, in relaxed and sore throat.
Tincture Chloride of iron is also used in anaemia combined with arsenic or quinine, and in blood poisoning combined with quinine. It also promotes absorption of inflammatory material when associated with debility and anaemia. It is the most serviceable preparation of iron for influenza, purpura and scarlatina, as it has a tonic effect on both the blood and arterioles. In these cases it is prescribed with turpentine, quinine and oil. It is used in rheumatism in weakly patients alternated with salol, salicylic acid or salicylate of soda. Also used as an astringent and stimulant for the genito-urinary mucous membrane. The tincture being excreted by the kidneys, is preferred to watery solution. It is particularly suited for distemper and rheumatic lameness in weakly dogs.
Uses.—Externally: Liquor ferri chloridi and liquor ferri subsulphatis are sometimes used to stop bleeding from wounds or natural cavities of the body. They may be injected, applied by swab, or on absorbent material, which is packed into the wound or cavity. As a local application in pharyngitis, we use one part of the solution of ferric chloride with four parts of glycerine. In the same strength, diluted with water, the chloride may be injected into the uterus to stop hemorrhage. Again, a solution in the strength of two drachms to the pint of water, is employed as an enema to destroy ascarides. The objection to these solutions of iron is that they form heavy, nasty, tenacious clots when employed to arrest hemorrhage, and the clots are apt to decompose and favor sepsis. Therefore they should not be used if other means, as ligature, pressure, heat or cold can be utilized. Iron is regarded as a specific for erysipelas. It is given both internally and externally.
Administration of Iron.—The fluid preparations should be freely diluted; the solid preparations shouldbe combined with protectives or inert remedies, either in powder or capsule form, or with stomachics as gentian root. Iron causes less gastric irritation and enters the blood more readily if given with or immediately after meals. In anaemia it should be given in increased doses. Overcome constipation by giving when necessary or combining iron with laxatives as linseed oil.
An extract prepared from the leaves and twigs of Ourouparia Gambir (Hunter), Ballon (Fam. Rubiaceae). U. S. “An extract of the leaves and young shoots of the Uncaria Gambir, Roxb.”
Habitat.—Africa and Southern Asia.
Description.—Irregular masses or cubes; reddish-brown, pale brownish-gray or light brown; fracture dull-earthy; friable, crystalline; inodorous, bitterish, very astringent, with a sweetish after-taste; free from starch. Not less than 70 per cent should be soluble in alcohol.
Constituents.—Catechutannic acid (about 45 per cent) is the active principle; it is converted into the isomeric inactive catchnic acid, or catchin, by the saliva and by boiling, a red color being developed. There is also pyrocatechin or catechol.
Incompatibles.—Alkalies, metallic salts and gelatine.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 dr.; dogs, 5 to 30 gr.
Composed of gambir, 50; cinnamon, 25; alcohol to make 1000.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 2 oz.; cattle, 1 to 3 oz.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 oz.; calves and foals,1⁄2to 1 oz.; lambs, 10 to 30 m.; dogs,1⁄2to 1 dr. The above doses can be considerably increased and are good in cases of diarrhoea of small and young animals.
Action and Uses.—Gambir is administered to allclasses of domestic animals for the arrest of chronic catarrhal discharges and haemorrhage, especially from the alimentary canal. The insoluble catechnic acid beneficially exerts its astringency on the relaxed, over-secreting surfaces alike of small and large intestines. In chronic diarrhoea and in dysentery it is combined with aromatics to allay flatulence; with opium to relieve irritability and spasm; with alkalies, magnesia, or chalk to counteract acidity.
If there is much mucus in the fecal discharges, showing a catarrhal state of the intestinal mucous membrane, it is advisable to give oil, salts or calomel before checking up the bowels with an astringent.
Gentian is obtained from the root Gentiana lutae.
Habitat.—Mountainous parts of Southern and Central Europe.
Properties.—Odor strong, characteristic; taste slightly sweetish, strongly and persistently bitter. The powder is free from starch grains and sclerenchymatic tissues.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 dr.; dogs, 5 to 30 gr.
Made by maceration and percolation with water and evaporated.
Dose.—Horses, 30 gr. to 1 dr.; cattle, 1 to 2 dr.; sheep and pigs, 20 to 40 gr.; dogs, 1 to 3 gr.
Made by maceration and percolation with dilute alcohol and evaporated, so that 1 c. c. equals 1 gm. of the crude drug.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 1 oz.; cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 dr.; dogs, 5 to 30 m.
Composed of gentian, 100 parts; bitter orange peel, 40 parts; cardamon, 10 parts; made by maceration and percolation with alcohol and water.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 4 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 dr. to 1 oz.; dogs,1⁄2to 1 dr.
Action and Uses.—Gentian is a pure bitter, and is prescribed as a stomachic and tonic for all classes of animals. Gentian improves the appetite and general tone. In atonic indigestion it is particularly useful amongst young animals, and in such cases is often conjoined with ginger and sodium bicarbonate. In relaxed and irritable states of the bowels and where intestinal worms are suspected, after administration of a laxative, gentian and dilute hydrochloric acid are of service. For horses suffering from simple catarrh few combinations are more effectual than an ounce of powdered gentian, two drachms potassium nitrate with two ounces of magnesium sulphate, dissolved in a pint of linseed tea, repeated morning and night. Where more general tonic effects are sought, iron sulphate is alternated with the gentian and salines. Gentian proves an excellent stomachic and stimulating tonic in influenza and other epizootics, helps convalescence from exhausting disorders and is a useful restorative for horses, overworked or suffering from loss of appetite or slight cold. The powdered gentian should be added to aloes when given in full cathartic doses to horses.
Origin.—Bichloride of mercury is obtained as a sulphate by heating a mixture of mercuric sulphate, sodium chloride and a little black oxide of manganese.
Properties.—Heavy, colorless masses; soluble onein sixteen of water, one in three of alcohol; hydrochloric acid or muriate of ammonia increases its solubility.
Actions.—It is a corrosive, irritant poison; it is occasionally prescribed as an alterative, antiseptic and hepatic stimulant; repeated doses or long continued produce mercurialism. Externally, it is used as an antiseptic, astringent, caustic and parasiticide. It is a most powerful antiseptic when five parts of tartaric acid are added to one part of bichloride of mercury, which prevents the formation of insoluble albuminates of mercury in the tissues which checks any further action of the drug. Hydrochloric acid equal parts serves the same purpose.
Uses.—For internal use milder preparations of mercury are preferred, and it is dangerous to use it for the production of mercurialism. For horses it has been prescribed in tetanus, chronic skin eruptions and swollen oedematous legs following repeated attacks of lymphangitis. Its chief use is that of an antiseptic externally for many surgical purposes, usually in the strength of one to five hundred, one to one thousand; for uterine injections, one to five thousand or one in ten thousand. Seven and a half grains to a pint of water makes a one to one thousand solution. Seven and a half grains to a quart of water makes a one to two thousand solution. Fifteen grains to a pint of water makes a one to five hundred solution. Instruments, sponges, towels as well as the hands are disinfected by washing in a one thousandth solution. But it is injurious to most metal instruments and irritates and roughens the operator’s hands. Best antiseptic for foul wounds, thrush, poll-evil, quittor and fistulous withers and nail punctures of the feet, a one in five hundred to one in one thousand solution to destroy the cryptogamic growths of ringworm, to kill lice and allay the itching of puritis and urticaria. Bichloride of mercury one part in one or two thousand parts of water is injected into the uterus in metritis, and in cases of abortion with good results. Contagious abortion is satisfactorily prevented by washing the aborted animal’s tail and external genital organs twice daily. All pregnant cows should be treated in the same manner. Warm solutions are much more active than cold.
A one in three to five thousand solutions are used in purulent conjunctivitis or wounds of the eye and lids, by frequently saturating absorbent cotton in the solution and holding over the eye by means of a clean cloth or bandage.
Doses.—Horse, 1 to 5 gr.; cattle, 2 to 8 gr.; sheep,1⁄2to 1 gr.; pigs1⁄8to1⁄2gr.; dogs,1⁄60to1⁄10gr. Not often given internally. It is the best of all the preparations of mercury for hypodermic use in syphilitic diseases.
Antidotes.—The white of eggs, stomach pump for horses and emesis for dogs; wheat flower, milk, etc.
Origin.—Calomel is obtained by heating a mixture of mercurous sulphate and sodium chlorid. Calomel is found native in Spain and Carniola, but in too small quantities for commercial value.
Properties.—Calomel is a dull-white heavy powder. It is inodorous, insoluble in water, alcohol or ether.
Actions.—Calomel is a cathartic, laxative, alterative, diuretic and vermifuge. Small doses are laxatives when repeated, large doses are cathartics, full doses irritate the stomach and produce emesis in man and dog. By stimulating the urea functions of the liver diuresis are produced, its action on the liver does not directly increase the secretion of bile, but removes it from the duodenum which reflexly increases its secretion. Repeated doses produce mercurial poisoning. It is an alterative when combined with opium, laxative in small repeated doses and cathartic in larger doses.
Uses.—Calomel is useful in gastric and intestinal catarrh, bilious diarrhoea, influenza lymphangitis and liver disorders which show themselves by a yellowness of the visible mucous membranes. It is a useful adjuvant cathartic conjoined with aloes or other cathartics.As a laxative or cathartic for horses give aloes and calomel; cattle and sheep, magnesium and sodium sulphate; for pigs, dogs and cats with jalap. Pure calomel is a specific for thrush. It is also useful in the treatment of moist skin and raw sores, mixed in equal parts with bismuth subnitrate it quickly dries the flesh and prevents itching.
Doses.—As a laxative vermifuge and alterative horses and cattle take 20 to 40 grs.; sheep and pigs, 5 to 20 grs.; dogs and cats,1⁄16to 1 gr., given two or three times a day with equal weight of opium which prevents griping and a too rapid removal by the bowels. As a cathartic, calomel is best conjoined with other medicines regulated by that of the medicine with which it is conjoined. A full cathartic for horses should consist of calomel 1 to 11⁄2drs. with aloes 4 to 6 drs.; cattle, 11⁄2to 2 drs. with magnesium sulphate or sodium sulphate 1 to 11⁄2pounds; sheep, 5 to 30 grs. with magnesium sulphate 4 to 8 ounces; pigs, 5 to 30 grs. with sodium bicarbonate1⁄2to 1 ounce; dogs and cats1⁄8to 10 grs. with jalap 10 to 30 grains.
Origin.—Red iodide of mercury is obtained by dissolving in water separately bichloride of mercury and potassium iodide, and pour both solutions slowly and stirring actively.
Properties.—A scarlet-red, amorphous powder; odorless and tasteless; permanent in air, insoluble in water; soluble in one hundred and twenty-five parts of alcohol.
Actions.—Red iodide of mercury is a stimulant irritant, resolvent pustulant antiseptic and parasiticide.
Uses.—Mixed with one to eight parts of lard it is a blister used to reduce bony enlargements or bone-tumors as in splints, bone spavin, ringbone, sidebone and actinomycosis; it is also used with good results in reducing soft swellings, to arrest chronic inflammationand promote absorption of inflammatory deposits, as seen in sprained tendons, curbs, enlarged joints, bursae, etc. It is frequently used as a counter-irritant in sore throat, chronic cough and roaring. Mixed with cantharides the strength can be reduced as an irritant and less apt to permanently destroy the hair bulbs. It is used internally to arrest the growths of actinomycoses and scirrhous cord, but in those cases the benefits are derived from the potassium iodide which it contains, and I would recommend administering internally without the mercury.
Origin.—Yellow mercuric oxide is obtained by the interaction of mercuric chloride and sodium hydroxide.
Properties.—Mercuric oxide is of a yellow color, similar to that of the yolk of egg, and is a completely amorphous powder; odorless, and having a somewhat metallic taste; permanent in the air, but turning dark on exposure to light; insoluble in water or alcohol.
Actions.—A stimulant caustic and anesthetic.
Uses.—The official ointment of yellow mercuric oxide is prescribed as a stimulant and anesthetic in chronic inflammation and ulceration of the eye (4 gr. of yellow mercuric oxide to 1 oz. of vaseline). It is also employed on skin diseases, indolent ulcers, swollen glands and granulated wounds.
The rhizome and roots of hydrastis canadensis Linne, yielding not less than 2.5 per cent of hydrastine.
Habitat.—North America in woods west to Missouri and Arkansas.
Properties.—Externally brownish-gray to yellow-brown; fracture short, wood wedges bright yellow, pith large, light yellow, the roots thin, brittle, with a thick yellow bark and a somewhat quadrangular wood; odor distinct; taste bitter.
Constituents.—Berberine, an alkaloid occurring in yellow crystals; hydrastine, a colorless crystalline alkaloid, soluble in alcohol and ether; canadine occurring in white, acicular crystals.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 dr. to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 dr.; dogs, 5 gr. to 1 dr.
Made by maceration and percolation with alcohol, glycerin and water and evaporation.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 3 drs. to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 drs.; dogs, 5 gr. to 1 dr.
Made by maceration and percolation of hydrastis, with diluted alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 4 drs.; dogs,1⁄2to 2 drs.
Made by maceration and percolation of hydrastis, 1000 parts add water to the percolate and evaporate. Add water to the residue, set aside 24 hours and filter; add enough water to the filtrate to make 500 parts; then add glycerin 500.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 drs. to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 drs.; dogs, 5 m. to 1 dr.
The hydrochloride of an artificial alkaloid derived from hydrastine.
Properties.—Light, yellow, amorphous granules, or a pale yellow crystalline powder; odorless and having a bitter, saline taste; deliquescent on exposure to damp air. Very soluble in cold and hot water and in alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 6 grs.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 11⁄2grs.; dogs,1⁄12to1⁄4gr.
Action and Uses.—It acts like the simple bitters, promotes appetite and aids digestion, increases nutrition and stimulates secretion, especially of the intestines and liver. It is a stomach tonic, laxative, slightly diuretic and hepatic stimulant. It is also said to promote uterine constructions, and has some power as an antispasmodic. Externally it is an antiseptic and astringent. Useful in conjunctivitis, nasal gleet and leucorrhoea; one to two drachms of the fluid extract or glycerite to the ounce of distilled water. One to two drachms of the fluidextract of hydrastis to one ounce of water is useful as a gargle for sore throat. Equal parts of fluidextract of ergot and fluidextract of hydrastis is useful in ulceration of the uterus, vagina and in eversion of the rectum. Useful internally during convalescence after debilitating diseases, as in influenza and distemper, or whenever a bitter tonic is indicated, as in dyspepsia, chronic gastric catarrh, catarrhal jaundice, constipation from chronic nephritis and chronic cystitis. The glycerite applied locally for fissure of teats, cracked heels. Where there is a tendency to constipation it should be used as a bitter in preference to gentian, etc.
Derivation.—Iodine exists in certain marine vegetables, particularly the fuci or common sea weeds, which have long been its most abundant natural source. Iodine is also found in the animal kingdom, as in the sponge, oysters, cod liver oil and eggs, and in the mineral kingdom, in sea water in small quantities, in certain salt springs. It is obtained commercially from one of these sources.
Properties.—Iodine is heavy, bluish-black color, dry and friable, rhombic plates, having a metallic luster, a distinctive odor, and a sharp and acrid taste. Iodine imparts a deep brown, evanescent stain to the skin, and slowly destroys vegetable colors. Soluble in about 5000 parts of water and in 10 parts of alcoholat 77° F., freely soluble in ether, chloroform or carbon disulphide; its solution in alcohol or in an aqueous solution of potassium iodide has a reddish color; its solution in chloroform or carbon disulphide has a violet color.
Actions.—Iodine internally is an antiseptic, alterative, resolvent and irritant. Full doses persisted will produce a state of debility and emaciation termed iodism. Externally it is applied as an antiseptic, disinfectant, parasiticide, deodorant, stimulant, desquamatic, absorbent and counter-irritant. Iodine is one of the best antiseptics for surgical purposes. The tincture iodine especially kills all disease producing bacteria in one minute, whereas it takes a one in one thousandth solution of bichloride of mercury more than half an hour to destroy the same micro-organisms. The tincture of iodine also possesses unusual penetrating power on the dry skin, finding its way into the hair follicles and cutaneous glands. Iodine must not be applied to the wetted skin because the wetting causes the skin cells to swell and thus prevent the iodine from penetrating into the sebaceous and sudoriparous glands, the very action upon which the special germicidal action depends.
Uses.—Iodine is of most value applied externally, or locally. In sterilizing the skin for an emergency operation the hair should be clipped and shaved dry and the tincture of iodine applied without washing the skin. For other operations the skin may be scrubbed with soap and shaved and dried before applying the tincture. The tincture should always dry on the skin before the operation is begun.
The method used in human surgery for sterilizing the skin, and recommended by leading surgeons, consists in first of cleansing the skin with gasoline to remove the grease and then applying the tincture of iodine in full or half strength.
Tincture of iodine applied is of some value in the treatment of periostitis with osseous deposits, as splints, bone-spavin, ringbone, sidebones, etc. It is used for enlargements of glands as goiter in dog.
Ground linseed (linseed meal or flaxseed meal) should be recently prepared and free from unpleasant or rancid odor. It is a grayish-yellow powder containing brownish fragments.
Action and Uses.—It is nutrient, tonic, laxative, emollient and demulcent. Linseed meal and the cake are valuable foodstuffs in small quantities. It is two and one-half times as fattening as starch or sugar. It causes the hair of an animal to become slick and glossy and induces shedding in the spring, but is very heating in summer. Linseed gruel is a food, being palatable and easily digested, for horses, cattle and sheep, not only good in health, but in debilitating diseases, also in chronic skin diseases. It acts in such cases both as food and medicine. In febrile diseases horses will often sip or drink cold linseed tea (linseed meal two ounces to one pint of water) when they will not touch anything else. When a patient is exhausted the linseed tea is given with milk, eggs and whisky. Horses that are poor feeders, having harsh scurvy skins, or being affected with roaring, thick wind or heaves, are usually much benefited with linseed in some form. A mucilaginous demulcent in the proportion of about one to two ounces to a pint of warm water, is useful in irritable conditions of the throat, alimentary canal, kidneys and bladder.
For linseed poultices, take the best grade of linseed meal, pour hot water over it until it becomes pasty. Charcoal and antiseptics are often mixed with it. When used as a poultice on the foot in nail pricks, always put on a poultice that will cover the whole foot.
A fixed oil expressed from flaxseed without the use of heat.
Properties.—A yellowish or yellow, oily liquid, having a slight, peculiar odor and bland taste. Soluble inabout ten parts of absolute alcohol and in all proportions in ether, chloroform, benzine or oil of turpentine.
Linseed oil for medicine should always be used raw.
Dose.—Horses, 1 to 2 pints; cattle, 2 to 4 pints; sheep and pigs, 5 to 10 ozs.; dogs,1⁄2to 3 ozs.; cats,1⁄2to 1 dr.
Action and Uses.—Linseed oil cannot be used as a diet on account of its being too laxative; it is laxative in small doses, but in large doses produces copious discharges of faeces, having a distinct linseed oil smell. The oil is also emollient, soothing and softening to inflamed and indurated surfaces. As a laxative it usually produces tolerably full and softened evacuations, without nausea, griping or superpurgation and with decided odor of oil. It is the best physic to administer to pregnant animals and in irritable conditions of the bowels; also in cases of influenza, purpura and other debilitating diseases, where the usual purgatives would be too severe, irritating and exhausting. It is also used as an enema; two to four ounces of the oil or meal given daily in mash often suffices to maintain the bowels in a relaxed condition throughout febrile attacks, where there is a tendency to constipation. An ounce or two of oil given daily often relieves broken wind in horses. For burns and scalds the well knowncarron oil, composed of equal parts of linseed oil and lime water, cannot be surpassed. This oil is also used as a vehicle for acrid medicines and to act as a protective to the alimentary tract in poisoning of corrosive medicines, also to sweep them out. Carron oil in two to four ounce doses two to three times daily will often relieve “heaves” in horses.
Linseed oil is frequently given to ruminants, although Epsom salts is generally the best purge for them. It is indicated for these animals when a milder operation than that obtained by a full dose of salts is required, and for its demulcent action in irritable states of the digestive organs.
Derivation.—Magnesium sulphate is a constituent of sea water and of some saline springs. It also occurs native, either crystallized in slender, prismatic, adhering crystals, or as an efflorescence on certain rocks and soils which contain magnesia and a sulphate or sulphide. In the United States it is found in the great caves so numerous to the west of the Alleghany Mountains.
Properties.—Small, colorless, rhombic prisms, or acicular crystals, without color and having a cooling, saline and bitter taste; slowly efflorescent in dry air; .85 part of water; insoluble in alcohol.
Actions.—Magnesium sulphate is a hydragogue and cholagogue cathartic; alterative and febrifuge and is also feebly diuretic and diaphoretic. As a cathartic it resembles common and glauber salts, and is more active than potassium bitartrate or sodium phosphate. When magnesium sulphate is administered it causes outpouring of secretion from the walls of the small intestines, most quickly and abundantly when the bowels have been partially emptied by several hours’ fasting. Neither pancreatic fluid nor bile is materially increased. But magnesium sulphate has a low diffusing power. It is slowly absorbed, and moreover, retards diffusion and absorption of fluid present in the bowels. In this twofold action by increased secretion and retarded absorption the fluid contents of the bowels are increased, producing more or less mechanical distension and provoking, like other salines, slight peristalsis. The retarded removal of accumulating liquid is apt to produce the formation of gases in the bowels, which is relieved by conjoining carminatives, as ginger or capsicum, while effectual removal of the intestinal fluids is attained by using with magnesium sulphate aloes, calomel or oil. It acts in from twelve to sixteen hours; in small doses it stimulates the secretions of the kidneys and skin. In febrile diseases it is used in small repeated doses. It is valuable in treating animals suffering from reflex skinirritation, combined with large doses of bicarbonate of sodium, generally gives relief, especially in urticaria of the horse. It is quite commonly used as a cathartic for horses, but most often for cattle and sheep.
Doses.—When repeated two or three times as a laxative and alterative horses take 2 to 4 ounces, cattle 3 to 6 ounces, sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 drachms. As a cathartic cattle take 1 to 2 pounds, calves two to three months old 3 to 4 ounces, sheep 4 to 6 ounces, dogs 1 to 4 drachms. Aloes is a much better cathartic for horses, and castor or linseed oil acts much better as a cathartic in pigs.
A by-product of gas manufacture.
Properties.—Colorless, shining rhombic crystals of an aromatic acrid taste, insoluble in water but soluble in alcohol, ether and oils.
Dose.—Horses, 1 to 3 dr.; cattle, 2 to 4 dr.; sheep and pigs, 5 to 15 gr.; dogs, 1 to 10 gr. These doses can be doubled in severe cases of intestinal flatulence.
Actions and Uses.—A true intestinal antiseptic and antiferment, is also expectorant, antiseptic and parasiticide. Used in intestinal flatulence, dissolved in tincture capsicum; in diarrhoea and dysentery, is of great value in these ailments, quickly allays foul odor of the evacuations of the bowels; large doses irritate the kidneys and cause bloody urine which ceases upon withholding the drug. When powdered on a wound as wire cuts, etc., will keep away flies and other insects, besides it is a powerful antiseptic and promotes the healing of wounds. Used as an ointment it is very effective in parasitic skin diseases.
The dried ripe seeds of Strychnos nux vomica, yielding when assayed by the process given below, not less than 1.25 per cent of strychnine.
Habitat.—The tree is a native of the East Indies, growing in Bengal, Malabar, on the Coromandel Coast,in Ceylon, in many islands of the Indian Archipelago, in Cochin-China and in other neighboring countries.
Description.—Orbicular, nearly flat, sometimes irregularly bent, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter and two in thickness; externally grayish or greenish-gray, the surface covered with short closely oppressed, satiny hairs; rounded or somewhat acute at the margin, with a slight ridge extending from the center of one side to the edge; internally whitish-gray, horny, very tough, the endosperm in two more or less regular concavo-convex halves, between which, at one end, lie the heart-shaped, palmately nerved cotyledons; inodorous; taste intensely and persistently bitter.
Constituents.—Two alkaloids. 1. Strychnine, 0.2-0.6 per cent. 2. Brucine, 0.5-1.0 per cent. Similar in action to strychnine, but weaker and slower. Both alkaloids exist in combination with igasuric acid. Brucine occurs in rectangular octohedral crystals; it is soluble in alcohol, in 7 parts of chloroform, and possesses a bitter taste. With sulphuric and nitric acids a beautiful blood-red color is developed. There are also: 4. Igasuric acid with which strychnine and brucine are combined. 5. Loganin, an inert glucoside occurring in colorless prisms.
Dose.—Of the ground seeds, horses and cattle, 1 to 2 dr.; sheep, 20 to 40 gr.; pigs, 10 to 20 gr.; dogs, 1 to 2 gr.
Made by maceration with alcohol, water and acetic acid; percolation with alcohol and water and evaporation. Standardized to contain 5 per cent of strychnine.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 5 to 15 gr.; sheep, 2 to 5 gr.; pigs, 1 to 2 gr.; dogs,1⁄8to1⁄4gr.
Made by digestion and percolation with alcohol and water and acetic acid. The alcohol is distilled off andthe solution evaporated. Alcohol and water are added so that the fluid extract shall contain one per cent of strychnine.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 dr.; sheep, 20 to 30 m.; pigs, 10 to 20 m.; dogs, 1 to 2 m.
Made by solution of the extract of nux vomica, 20 in alcohol, and water to make 1000. Standardized to contain 0.1 per cent strychnine.
An alkaloid obtained from nux vomica, and also obtainable from other plants of the natural order Loganiaceae.
Derivation.—Nux vomica seeds are powdered and strychnine is extracted with water acidulated with hydrochloric acid. The solution is concentrated and strychnine precipitated with lime. It is then redissolved in boiling alcohol and the crystals are deposited upon concentration of the solution.
Properties.—Colorless, transparent, prismatic crystals, or a white crystalline powder; odorless, having an intensely bitter taste, perceptible even in solutions of 1 in 700,000. Strychnine should be tasted with extreme caution. Permanent in the air, soluble in water, alcohol, ether, chloroform, benzine and amyl alcohol.
Dose.—Same as strychnine sulphate.
Made by the action of sulphuric acid on strychnine.
Properties.—Colorless or white, prismatic crystals, odorless and having an intensely bitter taste. Efflorescent in dry air. Soluble in water and alcohol. Almost soluble in ether.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 11⁄2gr.; cattle, 1 to 3 gr.; sheep,1⁄4to1⁄2gr.; dogs,1⁄120to1⁄40gr. The small doses are to be used when strychnine is given subcutaneously.
Actions.—Nerve tonic, stomach tonic, stimulates respiration, secretion, appetite and digestion; it increases peristalsis, stimulates both the motor and inhibitory apparatus of the heart, and raises arterial tension by stimulating the vaso-motor centers, thus contracting the arterioles, though full doses relax the arterioles and thus lower blood pressure.
Strychnine exalts all functions of the spinal cord, reflex, motor, vaso-motor and sensory, the latter being the least affected; it does not affect the brain directly.
Toxicology.—Large doses cause trembling and twitching of the voluntary and involuntary muscles with violent clonic spasms, lasting one or two minutes, gradually getting more frequent and severe in form involving the glottis, diaphragm and other muscles of respiration; causes death usually from asphyxia. Very large doses may paralyze the cord as from a blow, and cause almost instant death.
Uses.—Nux vomica or strychnine is indicated in any condition in which there is a paralysis or depressed state of the nerves or nervous system; atonic dyspepsia, broken wind, relaxed condition of the bowels due to lack of tone, in small doses.
In weak condition of the heart give with small doses of digitalis; it stimulates sexual organs. Give it in convalescence from debilitating diseases, also as an aid to recovery during their progress; in collapse and for narcotic poisoning strychnine hypodermically in paralysis, whether of limbs, intestines or bladder.
In diarrhoea, due to lack of tone of muscular coat of the bowels combined with astringents; for anaemia, strychnine combined with iron and quinine; nervous coughs use strychnine with sedatives; also in incontinuence of urine and chorea, in dogs after distemper.
Antidote for Strychnine Poisoning.—Tannic acid or vegetables containing it should be freely administered, for the tannate of strychnine which is formed is very insoluble; an emetic or the stomach pump must be used promptly. The tetanic spasms are best controlledby chloral hydrate or very large doses of potassium bromide (2 dr. to1⁄2oz. for man) or 4 to 8 ounces for the horse as antidote for strychnine poisoning. Inhalations of ether are also recommended. Chloral hydrate may be used per rectum or intravenously. Inhalations of amyl nitrate are also of value. The administration of melted lard seems to exert peculiar antidotal properties to strychnine poisoning. As an emetic for dogs apomorphinae hydrochloras1⁄20to1⁄5grain, given hypodermically, is the best and may have to be pushed as emetics act tardily in poisoning by this drug.