A fixed oil obtained from the fresh livers of cod fish.
Habitat.—North Atlantic Ocean.
Properties.—A pale yellow, thin, oily liquid, having a peculiar slightly fishy but not rancid odor, and a bland, slightly fishy taste. Cod liver oil is often adulterated with the oil of other fish. Brown oils are not desirable therapeutically.
Dose.—Horses, 2 oz.; cattle, 2 to 4 oz.; sheep, 1 oz.; pigs,1⁄2to 1 oz.; dogs, 1 to 4 dr.; cats,1⁄2to 1 dr.
Action and Uses.—Nutrient, tonic and alterative; on account of its biliary constituents is easily emulsified and digested. It is indicated in all cases of malnutritions and where the digestive organs are weak; also in animals recovering from debilitating diseases, such as distemper and influenza. It is good in catarrh and bronchitis, as it appears to furnish suitable material for repair of the inflamed mucous membranes. Like other oils it relieves broken wind and is given to man in consumption. It is particularly used for the smaller animals. It is given to dogs and cats during distemper, also in eczema, epilepsy, chorea, rickets and chronic rheumatism.
A fixed oil expressed from the ripe fruit of Olea europaea Linne. It should be kept in well stoppered bottles in a cool place.
Habitat.—Southern Europe and Asia.
Properties.—A pale yellow, or light greenish-yellow, oily liquid, having a slightly peculiar odor and a nutty oleaginous taste, with a faintly acrid after-taste. Very sparingly soluble in alcohol, but readily soluble in ether and chloroform.
Dose.—As a laxative—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 pt.; dogs, 2 to 4 oz.
A fixed oil expressed from the seeds of Gossypium herbaceum Linne and of other species of Gossypium and subsequently purified.
Habitat.—Southern United States and other semitropical countries; cultivated.
Properties.—A pale yellow, oily liquid, without odor and having a bland nut-like taste. Very sparingly soluble in alcohol, but readily soluble in ether, chloroform or carbon disulphide.
Dose.—Same as olive oil.
Action and Uses.—Both olive and cotton seed oil are laxative tonics, demulcents and emollients. Sweet oil, not used internally to any extent, but is used externally for soothing and healing irritated wounds. It may be used in its pure state or be mixed with carbolic acid, 20 m. of the carbolic acid to 4 oz. of sweet oil.
Derivation.—Castor oil is expressed from the seeds of a plant (Ricinus communis) which grows in the East Indies and Africa in the character of a tree and rises sometimes thirty or forty feet. It also grows in the temperate latitudes of North America and Europe.
Properties.—Pure castor oil is a thick, viscid, colorless liquid, with little or no odor and a mild though somewhat nauseous taste.
Action and Uses.—Good castor oil is a mild and speedy cathartic, usually operating within four to five hours with little griping or uneasiness, and evacuatingthe contents of the bowels without much increasing the alvine secretions. Hence it is particularly applicable to constipation from collections of abnormally hard faeces, and to cases in which irritating substances have been swallowed or irritating substances have accumulated in the bowels. From its mildness it is also especially adapted to diseases of the bowels, as colic, indigestion, diarrhoea, dysentery and enteritis. It is also indicated in overloaded bowels in pregnancy combined with anodynes and antispasmodics to prevent griping. Castor oil in two or three ounce doses conjoined with gruel and five or six drops of oil of peppermint is suitable for foals and calves affected with gastro-intestinal disorders. Castor oil is specially applicable in canine practice, to evacuate the bowels, and in irritated conditions of the digestive tract, in ounce doses mixed with equal parts of glycerine and adding two or three drops of oil of wintergreen.
Castor oil may be given to horses in sixteen ounce doses conjoined with oil of peppermint, twenty drops, or tincture opium, one ounce and fluidextract of belladonna, one to two drachms, flour gruel, etc.
Castor oil in one to two drachm doses is especially valuable for poultry.
Castor oil is used with equal success in the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders of cattle, sheep and pigs.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 12 to 16 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 6 oz.; dogs and cats,1⁄2to 2 oz.; poultry,1⁄2to 2 dr.
Derivation.—A concrete oleo-resin from Pinus palustris Miller, and from other species of Pinus. The oil is distilled, usually by the use of steam, from the oleo-resin.
Habitat.—Southern United States, from Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico.
Properties.—A thin, colorless liquid, having a characteristicodor and taste. Soluble in three times its volume of alcohol; also soluble in an equal volume of glacial acetic acid.
Dose.—Carminative—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 4 dr.; dogs, 5 to 30 m. Best given in 8 to 10 times its bulk of cotton seed oil, linseed oil or milk. Anthelmintic—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 oz.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 oz.; dogs,1⁄2to 4 dr. Diuretic—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 dr.
Composed of resin cerate, 650 parts; oil of turpentine, 350 parts; melt the resin cerate and add the oil of turpentine.
Made by slaking oil of turpentine with an equal volume of Solution of Sodium Hydroxide, and distillation.
Properties.—A thin, colorless liquid, having the same properties as oil of turpentine and should be the one used for internal use.
Made by the action of sulphuric acid on oil of turpentine and by distillation.
Properties.—A colorless, or slightly yellowish, thin liquid, having a rather agreeable thyme-like odor, and an aromatic, somewhat terebinthinated taste. Only slightly soluble in water, but soluble in three times its volume of alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 dr.; dogs, 5 to 15 m. Dilute same as oil of turpentine.
The hydrate of the diatomic alcohol Terpin.
Derivation.—Rectified oil of turpentine, alcoholand nitric acid are mixed together in a shallow porcelain dish, and after three or four days terpin hydrate crystallizes out. The crystals are collected, drained, dried on absorbent paper and purified by recrystallization in alcohol.
Properties.—Colorless, crystals, odorless, having a somewhat bitter taste. Soluble in 200 parts of water, 10 parts of alcohol.
Actions.—Externally—Oil of turpentine is rubefacient, irritant and counter-irritant; vesicant if rubbed in or confined, also a powerful antiseptic and disinfectant; is absorbed by the unbroken skin.
Internally—Is diuretic, stimulant, carminative, antispasmodic, hemostatic and anthelmintic; it is irritant, and large undiluted doses may cause gastro-enteritis and paralysis of nerve centers.
Uses.—In colic, both spasmodic and flatulent; for worms, give full doses, septic fevers; gangrene of the lungs; catarrhal conditions, pneumonia and bronchitis; as a diuretic, but others not as irritant are better.
For local gangrene remove the dead tissue and then apply the turpentine direct to the affected parts by means of absorbent cotton or cloth saturated with it; the offensive odor is removed and sloughing arrested. For tape worm it is given with oleo-resin of aspidium, in oil. As an inhalation in pulmonary diseases one-half ounce is added to three quarts of boiling water. In two drachm doses every three hours, if frequently, aborts suppuration in parotiditis of horses. In purpura haemorrhagica, turpentine is a valuable medicine as a vaso-motor stimulant and diuretic, given in two drachm doses every four hours with tincture chloride of iron and linseed oil.
A fixed oil expressed from the seed of Croton Tiglium Linne.
Habitat.—Asia, India, Indian Archipelago and Philippine Islands.
Properties.—A pale yellow or brownish-yellow,somewhat viscid, and slightly fluorescent liquid, having a slight fatty odor, and a mild, oily afterwards acrid and burning taste (great caution is necessary in tasting). Specific gravity 0.935 to 0.950 at 25° C. (77° F.).
Constituents.—Crotonoleic acid is the purgative principal. A small amount is free in the oil but it is mostly formed within the bowels. It resembles acid of castor oil in its chemistry; crotonol is a non-purgative body causing irritation of the skin; tiglinic acid and other volatile acids existing as glycerides and accounting for the odor of croton oil; it also contains free and combined fatty acids.
Dose.—Horses, 15 to 30 m.; cattle,1⁄2to 1 dr.; sheep and pigs, 5 to 10 m.; dogs,1⁄2to 2 m.
Actions.—It is a powerful irritant and pustulant, is a drastic hydragogue cathartic; full doses cause gastro-enteritis and much prostration; undiluted it seriously and deeply inflames the skin, causing severe blemishes and by absorption it may cause fever and superpurgation. The purgative action is probably due in part to direct irritation of the intestinal mucous membrane; in part to absorption and elimination of the purgative principle by the bowels.
Uses.—Cattle are the only animals for which it can be used with any degree of safety; it can be used for dogs and pigs if used with great caution. For horses and sheep it is too irritating and depressing; it is used in cattle as an active hydragogue purgative when they suffer from lodgment of fecal matter in the third stomach and other forms of constipation, and from torpidity of the bowels. Should not be used in debilitated, delicate or young animals. If an over-dose has been given combat with demulcents, opium and stimulants. It should not be used as a counter-irritant or applied to the skin in any form or for any purpose. Croton oil (in a pint of linseed oil) is valuable in assisting the action of salts in obstinate constipation of cattle. It may be given to horses when a powerful derivative and purgative actionis indicated, as in acute inflammation of the brain and spinal cord with calomel and aloes in a capsule.
Derivation.—The concrete, milky exudate obtained by incising the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum Linne, and yielding in its normal, moist condition, not less than nine per cent of crystallized morphine when assayed by the official process. Opium is imported from Turkey, Asia Minor, Persia, India and Egypt. The Smyrna, or Turkey opium, is the more common variety used in the United States. It occurs in irregular, globular masses, covered with poppy leaves and capsules of a species of dock, weighing from one-half to one pound.
Properties.—In irregular, flattened, more or less rounded masses of variable size, externally grayish-brown, covered with particles of poppy leaves and with occasional fruits of a species of Rumex; more or less plastic when fresh, but becoming hard on keeping; internally dark brown, somewhat lustrous; odor strong, narcotic; taste bitter and characteristic. It yields its medical properties to water, alcohol and dilute acids, forming dark brown solutions. Ether extracts its principles in part.
Constituents.—There are about nineteen or twenty alkaloids derived from opium, but only a few are of any importance so far as their medical value is concerned.
Dose.—Of the crude opium—Horses, 1 to 2 dr.; cattle, 2 to 4 dr.; sheep, 10 to 30 gr.; pigs, 5 to 10 gr.; dogs,1⁄2to 2 gr.
This is opium dried at a temperature not exceeding 85° C. (185° F.) and powdered and should not contain less than 12 per cent nor more than 121⁄2per cent morphine.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 11⁄2dr.; cattle, 1 to 3 dr.; sheep, 5 to 30 gr.; pigs, 5 to 15 gr.; dogs,1⁄4to 3 gr.
Composed of powdered opium, 100 parts; distilled water, 1000 parts; sugar of milk, a sufficient quantity. Made by trituration, filtration and evaporation. Assayed to contain 20 per cent of morphine.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 1 dr.; cattle, 1 to 2 dr.; sheep, 5 to 15 gr.; pigs, 3 to 10 gr.; dogs,1⁄4to 2 gr.
Composed of ipecac, 10 parts; powdered opium, 10 parts; sugar of milk, 80. The most diaphoretic and expectorant compound of opium.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 1 oz.; dogs, 2 to 12 gr.
Composed of tincture of deodorized opium 100, evaporated to 80, fluid extract of ipecac 10, diluted alcohol sufficient quantity to make 100.
Dose.—Horses,1⁄2to 1 oz.; dogs, 3 to 12 m.
Composed of granulated opium, 100 parts; alcohol, 400 parts; water, 400 parts; diluted alcohol to make 1000. Made by trituration, maceration with precipitated calcium phosphate and percolation. Assayed and standardized to contain between 1.2 and 1.25 gm. of morphine in 100 c. c.
Dose.—Horses, 1 to 2 oz.; cattle, 2 to 3 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 4 dr.; dogs, 3 to 20 m.
Composed of powdered opium, 4 parts; benzoic acid,4 parts; camphor, 4 parts; oil of anise, 4 parts; glycerine, 40 parts; diluted alcohol to make 1000 parts. Made by maceration and filtration.
Dose.—Dogs, 1 to 4 dr.; puppies and cats, 2 to 10 m.
Composed of powdered opium, 500 parts; purified petroleum, q. s. Made by repeated maceration, agitation and percolation with purified petroleum benzine. The petroleum benzine removes narcotic and odorous principles, which cause nausea and disagreeable after-effects in opium. Contains 12 to 12.5 per cent of morphine.
Dose.—Same as powdered opium.
Composed of opium, cloves, cinnamon and sherry wine. Recommended for dogs suffering from diarrhoea.
Dose.—Same as the tincture of opium.
An alkaloid obtained from opium.
Properties.—Colorless or white, shining prismatic crystals, or fine needles, or crystalline powder; odorless and having a bitter taste; permanent in the air; soluble in 3330 parts of water. The latter are preferable owing to their greater solubility.
Morphine is stirred with hot distilled water, to which hydrochloric acid is gradually added. Morphine hydrochlorate crystallizes out on cooling.
Properties.—White silky, glistening needles or microcrystalline cubes, or a white, crystalline powder, odorless and having a bitter taste; permanent in the air. Soluble in water and alcohol; insoluble in ether and chloroform.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 3 to 10 gr.; sheep,1⁄2to 2 gr.; pigs,1⁄10to1⁄2gr.; dogs,1⁄8to1⁄2gr. About one-half of these doses for hypodermic use.
Morphine is dissolved in acetic acid and water and the solution evaporated and crystallized.
Properties.—A white or faintly yellowish-white, crystalline, amorphous powder, having a faint, acetous odor and bitter taste. Soluble in water and alcohol.
Dose.—Same as morphine hydrochloride.
Morphine is stirred into boiling distilled water; diluted sulphuric acid is added until neutralization is attained, and the sulphate crystallizes out on cooling.
Properties.—White, feathery, acicular, silky crystals, or in cubical masses, odorless, permanent in the air, and having a bitter taste. Soluble in water and alcohol, insoluble in chloroform and ether.
An alkaloid obtained from opium by evaporation of the ammoniacal liquid, after the precipitation of morphine. The residue is added to water, precipitated by potassium hydrate, and redissolved in ether, from which codeine crystallizes out on evaporation.
Properties.—White or nearly translucent, orthorhombic prisms, octahedral crystals, or a crystalline powder; odorless and having a faintly bitter taste; slightly efflorescent in warm air. Soluble in water, alcohol, ether and chloroform.
Dose.—Dogs,1⁄4to 11⁄2gr.
This drug is a derivative of morphine, and is now used extensively in human medicine as a substitute for morphine and codeine.
Properties.—White or colorless, crystalline powder, possessing a slightly bitter taste. Insoluble in water, but readily soluble in weak acidous solutions. Heroin hydrochloride is a white, crystalline powder, odorless, soluble in 2 parts of water. Heroin surpasses both morphine and codeine therapeutically in many ways. It increases markedly the inspiratory and expiratory force, while lessening the number of the respiratory movements and exerts a special sedative influence on the respiratory mucous membranes. The drug acts also as a general motor depressant, hypnotic and analgesic, but is not comparable to morphine in these respects. Heroin is about five times more toxic for dogs than morphine. Heroin is particularly valuable in the treatment of all varieties of coughs affecting the dog. The after-effects of small doses are not as nauseating or constipating as morphine.
Heroin can be given in powder, pill or tablet, the Heroin hydrochloride in solution, every three or four hours.
Dose of Either.—Horses,1⁄2to 2 gr.; dogs,1⁄24to1⁄6gr.
Actions.—Opium is analgesic, hypnotic, diaphoretic, antispasmodic, narcotic; also cardiac and respiratory depressant after primary brief stimulation.
Medical Doses.—It dries all secretions except the mammae and skin. The latter being increased, it produces dryness of the mouth and throat, arrests gastric secretions, retards digestion and causes anorexia (loss of appetite); it stimulates the brain by increasing the blood supply; in man it stimulates the mental activity, while in animals it stimulates motor activity; it does not affect the conductivity of nerves, but it prevents the consciousness to pain by paralyzing the nerve centers; the action of the heart is increased and arterial tension is raised; the pupil slightly contracted; the mind at first stimulated, becomes calm, sleep follows, disturbed by dreams and headache; constipation and some depression follows.
Large Doses.—Arrest digestion, cause nausea and vomiting, greatly increase perspiration, prevents the conductivity of nerves, depresses the heart and circulation, impairing oxidation and lowering temperature; it contracts the pupil by stimulating the motor nerve of the eye (in horses it dilates the pupil) and causes intense puritis (itching), especially of the nose, often retention of the urine and soon profound sleep; in some cases coma or delirium, leaving as after-effects nausea, depression, constipation, vertigo, anorexia, nasal puritis and fetid pathological secretions.
Morphine and codeine compared with the action of opium.Morphine is more anodyne and hypnotic; it causes more intense puritis (itching) is less stimulant, less convulsant, less constipating and diaphoretic.
Codeine is a motor paralyzant; it exalts the spinal cord more than morphine and affects the cerebrum less, producing muscular tremors in excess of sedation; it reduces the urinary sugar in diabetes and has a selective sedative influence on the pneumogastric nerve, thus a better sedative in cough.
Indications for the use of Opium:
1. To relieve pain and spasm.
2. To produce sleep.
3. To abort inflammation.
4. To check excessive secretions.
5. To act as a stimulant and supporting agent.
6. As a sudorific (not so active in animals as in man).
Sulphuric ether administered with opium prevents its drying up effects as well as the nauseating and depressing effects. Used for pain from any cause except acute inflammation of the brain. Used in low fevers to support the system when sufficient food cannot be taken, also in irritation of bronchi, bladder, stomach and bowels, as well as the uterus.
In inflammation of the serous membranes which line the abdominal walls (peritonitis) opium can be usedfreely; combined or alternated with aconite and diuretics is very highly recommended and tends to prevent dropsical conditions.
In inflammation of the serous membrane investing lungs and lining the thorax (pleurisy) opium and aconite will often arrest its development if administered in its first stages.
In diarrhoea and dysentery opium is said to be one of the best medicines we have, it can be combined with acetate of lead, prepared chalk, etc.
In inflammation of the bowels, owing to its effect in binding up the bowels, belladonna alternated with aconite is preferred to opium.
In colds administer Dover’s Powder, or opium, ammonium carbonate, quinine sulphate and camphor.
In spasmodic colic do not use opium, but give hypodermically three to four grains of morphine sulphate; it is non-constipating; also use anodynes, such as cannabis indica, hyoscyamus, etc., are preferable.
In gastritis, opium conjoined with bismuth subnitrate and hydrastis.
In eversion of the rectum or uterus, administer morphine hypodermically to prevent straining.
In muscular spasms opium is very effective.
In cerebro-spinal meningitis opium should be administered early, before exudation has set in, with belladonna and ergot, alternated with aconite.
In diabetes mellitus, codeine is said to be best, as it lessens the amount of sugar in the urine and should be administered by the mouth; if given hypodermically it exerts no influence on the sugar.
In catarrhal diseases administer opium to lessen the discharge.
In Thumps administer full doses of morphine subcutaneously.
In inflammation of the eyes morphine sulphate is very efficient combined with zinc sulphate and distilled water.
Toxic Doses.—Produce cold clammy sweat, veryslow heart, diminished quantity of urine, abolished reflexes, coma, the pupil minutely contracted (except in the horse) but dilated as the end approaches and death by suspension of respiration, due to direct action of the poison on the respiratory centers in the medulla.
In case of poisoning. Emetics, stomach pump, permanganate of potassium, grain for grain of morphine, or 10 to 15 grains dissolved in 8 ounces of water, given by the mouth for large dogs, and 1 to 2 drachms of permanganate of potassium in 2 or 3 pints of water for horses. Artificial respiration, striking the body, keep patient moving, empty bladder to prevent absorption.
Derivation.—The hydrochloride of an artificial alkaloid, obtained by heating morphine or codeine in hermetically closed tubes with an excess of pure hydrochloric acid.
Properties.—Minute, grayish-white, shining monoclinic prisms, without odor, having a faintly bitter taste and acquiring a greenish tint upon exposure to light and air. It should be kept in small, dark, amber-colored vials. Soluble in water, alcohol, ether and chloroform.
Dose.—As an emetic for dogs,1⁄8to1⁄5gr., by the mouth, and1⁄20to1⁄10gr., subcutaneously.
Dose.—As an expectorant, subcutaneously, horses,3⁄4gr.; foals,1⁄2gr.; cattle, 11⁄2gr.; sheep and calves,1⁄2gr.; dogs,1⁄10to1⁄5gr. By the mouth, dogs,1⁄40to1⁄25gr. as an expectorant.
Action and Uses.—It is a prompt and effectual emetic in animals that vomit, acting on the vomiting centers. When1⁄5gr. dissolved in water is swallowed by either man or dog repeated vomiting occurs, but is not followed by so much nausea as usually follows the use of tartar emetic. Increases bronchial, intestinal and pancreatic secretions. Chronic dry bronchitis of dogs is benefited by apomorphine. In pica cattle, 11⁄2gr.may be given on three consecutive days, or in recent cases, 3 gr. are given subcutaneously in the same way. It relieves choking in animals by its relaxing spasm and increasing secretion of the gullet. Three-quarters of a grain may be injected under the skin in horses. It should be tried before using a probang, as, if successful, it will act within fifteen or twenty minutes. The alkaloid decomposes in crystal and rapidly in solution, becoming toxic and of a green hue. Solutions should be freshly prepared.
Derivation.—A mixture of hydrocarbons, chiefly of the marshgas series, obtained by distilling off the lighter and more volatile portions from petroleum and purifying the residue when it has the desired consistence.
Properties.—A colorless, or more or less yellowish, oily transparent liquid without odor or taste; or giving off, when heated, a faint odor of petroleum. Insoluble in water; scarcely soluble in cold or hot alcohol, or cold absolute alcohol; but soluble in ether, chloroform, carbon disulphide, oil of turpentine, benzine, benzol and fixed and volatile oils.
Derivation.—A mixture of hydrocarbons, chiefly of the marshgas series, obtained by distilling off the lighter and more volatile portions from petroleum and purifying the residue when it has reached the desired melting point.
Properties.—A fat-like mass of about the consistence of an ointment varying in color from yellowish to light amber, having not more than a slight fluorescence, even after being melted; transparent in thin layers, completely amorphous and without odor or taste, or giving off when heated a faint odor of petroleum. In other respects soft petrolatum has the solubility of liquid petrolatum.
Derivation.—A mixture of hydrocarbons, chiefly of the methane series, obtained by distilling off the lighter and more volatile portions from petroleum and purifying the residue.
Properties.—A white, unctuous mass, of about the consistency of an ointment, transparent in thin layers, completely amorphous; without odor or taste. Otherwise it resembles, in solubility, petrolatum.
Action.—All preparations of petrolatum are valuable emollients. They soothe, protect and soften parts to which they are applied and are superior to animal or vegetable fats or oils in not becoming rancid.
Uses.—Petrolatum may be used alone, or as an excipient in the preparation of ointments, but does not aid the absorption of drugs (as do alcohol, glycerine, chloroform, animal oils and fats), for it is not itself absorbed even when administered internally. Petrolatum exerts a demulcent action upon the mucous membrane of the alimentary tract, and may be prescribed in electuary or capsule in inflammation thereof. Liquid petrolatum is useful given internally in piles (dogs one-half ounce twice daily) to soften the feces. It is also very serviceable with menthol and camphor (equal parts, fifteen grains to one ounce) dropped in the nostrils (with a medicine dropper) for dogs with acute nasal catarrh. Petrolatum is sold universally under the proprietary names of vaseline and cosmoline, and is often combined with antiseptics for medical and surgical purposes in skin diseases and upon inflamed mucous membranes, blisters and abraded surfaces and sores. It is one of the most useful agents in lubricating instruments, protecting metal from rust, and is sometimes employed as a vehicle for electuaries. It should not be used as a base for blisters or other ointments where absorption is desired.
An empyreumatic oleo-resin obtained by the destructive distillation of the wood of various species of pines, especially that of Pinus palustris.
Habitat.—United States.
Properties.—Thick, viscid, semi-fluid, blackish-brown; heavier than water, transparent, in thin layers, becoming granular and opaque with age; odor empyreumatic terebinthinated; taste sharp empyreumatic. Tar is slightly soluble in water; soluble in alcohol, fixed or volatile oils and solutions of potassium or sodium hydrate.
Constituents.—Oil of turpentine; methylic alcohol; creosote; guaiacol; phenol; pyrocatechin; toluol; xylol; acetic acid; acetone; resins.
Dose.—Horses and cattle,1⁄2to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs, 1 to 2 dr.; dogs,1⁄4to 1 dr. Oil of tar should be diluted with alcohol, glycerine, syrup or mucilage.
Composed of tar, 500; yellow wax, 150; lard, 350.
Used alone as a healing ointment or as a base.
A volatile oil distilled from tar.
Properties.—An almost colorless liquid when freshly distilled, but soon acquiring a dull, reddish brown color, and having a strong tarry odor and taste. Soluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 4 dr.; dogs,1⁄2to 2 dr.
Actions.—Internally, is an antiseptic stimulant expectorant. Externally, it is rubefacient and if continually rubbed in may cause papules and pustules.
Uses.—Tar or the oil is commonly used in coughmixtures and in subacute and chronic bronchitis. By inhalation (which is done by pouring tar on a heated shovel or a shovel containing live coals or by adding a pint of tar to a gallon of water, heating the mixture by placing hot bricks or stones in the solution) either method is excellent for its local antiseptic and stimulating effects in the various catarrhal diseases; bronchitis, distemper, strangles, etc. Care should be used so that the vapor be not inhaled too hot.
Externally, it is a very useful agent in various skin diseases, both parasitic and non-parasitic; for this the official ointment may be used, or if used on a large surface on dogs it should be diluted with an equal amount of zinc ointment.
Derivation.—Made by roasting lead in the air.
Properties.—A heavy, yellowish or reddish-yellow powder, or minute scales, without odor or taste. Almost insoluble in water; insoluble in alcohol. Lead oxide is only valuable for its preparations.
Derivation.—Heat lead oxide in acetic acid and water. Lead acetate crystallizes on cooling.
Properties.—Colorless, shining, transparent; monoclinic prisms or plates, or heavy, white crystalline masses, or granular crystals, having a faintly acetous odor and a sweetish, astringent, afterwards metallic taste. Efflorescent and absorbing carbon dioxide on exposure to the air. Soluble in two parts of water and in thirty parts of alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle,1⁄2to 1 dr.; sheep and pigs, 15 to 20 gr.; dogs, 1 to 2 gr. Given in capsule or solution.
An aqueous liquid, containing in solution about 25 per cent of lead subacetate.
Derivation.—Made from acetate of lead, 180 parts; oxide of lead, 110 parts; boiled together in water to make 1000 parts.
Properties.—A dense, clear colorless liquid, sweet, astringent taste, decomposed by exposure to the air.
Actions.—The lead compounds are powerful astringents, haemostatics, styptics, anodynes, local sedatives and desiccants; they coagulate albumen and form a protective coat, also contract small vessels. In large or continued doses they irritate, then paralyze voluntary and involuntary muscles, and also the central nervous system.
Uses.—Plumbi acetate is administered internally to check haemorrhages, especially of the stomach and lungs, has been used in purpura in horses with varying results; it is said to be very good in red water of cattle; also used in diabetes insipidus; for diarrhoea, lead acetate with opium is very good, also in dysentery, chronic scouring and bronchorrhoea; it is occasionally prescribed as a gargle.
Externally used in solution to check superficial inflammation; used on burns, bruises and ulcers, also to cool and relieve strained and inflamed tendons and joints, it is also used as a wash to abate the itching of nettle-rash and erythema and other skin diseases; also serviceable in eczema and grease-heel; used in eye wash but should not be used when there is an abrasion of the cornea, as insoluble compounds are formed; the acetate may be used as an ointment or powder or in solution dissolved in twenty to forty parts water, a little vinegar or acetic acid increases its solubility; it is used in white lotion combined with zinc sulphate and water.
Goulard’s Extract, four ounces to a pint of water, is used for sprains, bruises, cuts, burns, scratches, grease-heel, etc. For painful affections, tincture of opium, four to six ounces to one pint, or belladonna, two ounces to the pint, are added. Goulard’s Extract, one part, lard oil, four parts, makes a good dressing for blistered or bruised surfaces, grease-heel and other ailments of that class; for skin diseases, eczema, canker of ear in dog, etc.
Derivation.—Add acetic acid in excess to potassium carbonate. Evaporate to dryness and fuse residue.
Properties.—White, deliquescent, satiny, neutral masses of a peculiar odor; also in a granular form. Soluble in water and alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle,1⁄2to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 dr.; dogs, 5 to 20 gr.
Derivation.—Neutralize potassium carbonate with a solution of citric acid and evaporate to dryness.
Properties.—White, granular, deliquescent powder, saline taste, neutral reaction. Soluble in water.
Dose.—Same as potassium acetate.
Actions.—Potassium acetate and citrate are the least irritant to the stomach of all the potassium salts. They are neutral and have no action on the gastric juice: are not antacid. They are changed into the carbonate of potassium and as such circulate in the blood. Are powerful direct diuretics, stimulate the renal cells direct and increase both the water and the solids of the urine, also diaphoretic; the citrate more than the acetate. They have a slight depressing action on the heart, and slightly expectorant.
Uses.—Potassium acetate and citrate are indicated in irritation or inflammation of the kidneys and bladder and cause absorption of exudations (pleural effusion, for example) through their diuretic power. They are sometimes prescribed in fever on account of slight diaphoreticand powerful diuretic properties. They also stimulate bronchial secretions and make it thinner and are recommended accordingly in bronchitis. They are used in gouty conditions, Bright’s disease, fevers of all kinds, azoturia, dropsical conditions, pleurisy, ascites oedema of the legs, sheath, udder, etc., combined with tonics, as iron, etc.
Derivation.—Potassium bromide may be obtained by adding a slight excess of bromide to a strong solution of potassium hydroxide, evaporating the potassium bromide and bromate to dryness, decomposing the bromate by fusing the mixture with charcoal and purifying the crystallization.
Properties.—Colorless, or white, cubical crystals, or granules; odorless and having a strong saline taste. Permanent in the air. Soluble in about fifteen parts of water and in about one hundred and eighty parts of alcohol.
Derivation.—Sodium bromide may be obtained in the same manner as potassium bromide, sodium hydroxide being used in place of potassium hydroxide.
Properties.—It occurs in colorless or white, cubical crystals, or a white, granular powder, odorless and having a saline, bitter taste. The salt absorbs moisture from the air without deliquescing. Soluble in one and seven-tenths parts of water and in twelve and a half parts of alcohol.
Action of Potassium and Sodium Bromide.—They are distinguished depressants of the cerebral and spinal functions, also hypnotic, anaphrodisiac, antispasmodic and alterative. The bromide of potash, like all other potassium salts, is especially a cardiac and muscular paralyzant. They are very diffusible and slowly eliminated; long continued doses produce gastric catarrh.They reduce the number of respirations and the heart’s action and force; lessen activity of brain cells, producing sleep; diminish sensibility of peripheral nerves, causing anesthesia of the skin and mucous membrane.
Uses.—The bromides, being particularly useful in the treatment of functional nervous diseases, do not possess nearly the value in veterinary medicine that they have in human practice. Consequently their use is limited mainly to canine disorders, as bromides have little influence upon diseases of horses. They are sometimes used as sedatives to the nervous system, to lower reflex activity, to produce sleep, to subdue excitement of the genital apparatus and to antagonize congestion of the brain. Used extensively in fits of dogs, twenty or thirty grain doses of the bromide of potash or bromide of soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of water; may be used per rectum if necessary in any convulsive or spasmodic condition. In strychnine poisoning, the bromide of potash may be used as an antidote in place of chloral hydrate or conjoined with it.
Doses.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 4 dr.; dogs, 5 to 60 gr.; average dose, 20 gr.
Derivation.—The solution resulting from the lixiviation of wood ashes is boiled to dryness and the resultant mass is the potash of commerce. This is purified to some extent by burning in ovens, forming pearlash, a mixture of the hydrate and carbonate. Water dissolves mainly the carbonate which is obtained by evaporation of the aqueous solution.
Properties.—A white, granular powder, odorless and having a strongly alkaline taste; very deliquescent. Soluble in water; insoluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle,1⁄2to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 dr.; dogs, 5 to 20 gr.
Derivation.—Potassium bicarbonate is obtained by saturating a strong aqueous solution of potassium carbonate and carbonic anhydride.
Properties.—Colorless, transparent, monoclinic prisms, odorless and having a saline and slightly alkaline taste. Permanent in the air. Soluble in water. Almost soluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Same as potassium carbonate.
Action and Uses.—They stimulate the production of gastric juice when administered before meals with bitter tonics, or after meals to overcome excessive acidity of the stomach; used in rheumatism and gouty condition to make blood alkaline and overcome lactic acid. Useful as an antacid in nettle-rash and other itching skin diseases. Internally and externally as a mild wash, two to four drachms to the pint. A solution of the same strength is injected to overcome acidity of the uterus in leucorrhoea, etc. Calculus made up of ammonium, magnesium and phosphates occur in the bladder and urethra of highly fed rams and wethers. For this use potassium bicarbonate one-half to one drachm, well diluted, conjoined with laxative diet and belladonna to dilate urethra; it is less certain as a diuretic than the acetate or nitrate of potassium.
Derivation.—A solution hydrate is evaporated, and this is fused and run into moulds.
Properties.—White, translucent pencils or fused masses, hard and brittle, showing a crystalline fracture; odorless or having a faint odor of lye and a very acid and caustic taste. Very deliquescent in air. Soluble in water and alcohol.
Not used in this form to any extent.
A solution of potassium hydroxide (caustic potash) containing about five per cent of the hydroxide.
Derivation.—Boiling a solution of potassium carbonate with calcium hydrate leaves potassium hydrate in solution, while calcium carbonate is precipitated.
Properties.—A clean, clear colored liquid, odorless, having a very acrid and caustic taste.
Dose.—Horses and cattle,1⁄2to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 dr.; dogs, 5 to 10 m.
Action and Uses.—Externally potassium hydroxide and the solution of potassium hydroxide are irritant and caustic, when applied they abstract water from the parts. They dissolve fatty matters, antacids and if well diluted acts as a sedative. Internally not used to any extent, as milder salts of potassium are preferred, is antacid, alterative, febrifuge and diuretic. Large undiluted doses corrode and inflame the alimentary tract, cause colicy pains, great depression and sometimes perforations. Caustic potash is sometimes used to destroy warts and fungous growths. A dilute solution is used to cauterize poisoned wounds, but is dangerous, as it may penetrate too deeply and spread. This can be overcome by washing with vinegar.
Derivation.—Potassium iodide may be prepared in the same manner as potassium bromide iodine, being used in place of bromine.
Properties.—It is a colorless, transparent, translucent, or opaque white, cubical crystals, or white granular powder, having a peculiar, faint, iodine-like odor and a pungent, saline, afterwards bitter, taste. Permanent in dry air and but slightly deliquescent in moist air. Soluble in 0.7 parts of water, and in about 12 parts of alcohol at 77° F., in 0.5 parts of boiling water, in 6 parts of boiling alcohol; also soluble in 2.5 parts of glycerine.
Actions.—Potassium iodide closely resembles iodinebut is less powerful and devoid of local irritant action. Medical doses are antiseptic, desquamatic, deobstruent, expectorant, alterative and diuretic. It stimulates the lymphatic system. It is readily soluble, and is quickly absorbed in the tissues, where it undergoes decomposition; the iodine, when liberated, apparently combines with albuminoids and acts specially on the lymphatic glands and vessels, modifying nutrition, hastening metabolism and promoting absorption. It is doubtless in this way that it also unites with lead and mercury deposited in the tissues, renders them soluble, carries them into the circulation and causes their elimination.
It is quickly excreted by the mucus and skin surfaces, but chiefly by the kidneys.
Uses.—Potassium iodide is useful in promoting absorption of enlarged lymphatic glands, and its action should be assisted by the application of iodine or red iodide of mercury externally. Potassium iodide in small doses diminishes congestion and increases the fluidity and amount of secretions in acute laryngitis, acute and subacute bronchitis, and appears to possess an alterative action in improving the condition and nutrition of the bronchial mucous membranes. It is also of some value in asthma, pulmonary emphysema and chronic bronchitis, unassociated with copious secretion. Chronic pleuritis, pericarditis and ascites are treated with potassium iodide, which assists absorption and occasionally exerts a diuretic effect. Tardy resolution of pneumonia consolidation is hastened by potassium iodide. Endocarditis with cardiac hypertrophy is said to be benefited by potassium iodide and digitalis.
Champignon, or scirrhous cord in horses, is sometimes cured by the sorbefacient powers of potassium iodide in full doses. Potassium iodide is of value in goiter of dogs, calves and sheep when tincture of iodine is used externally. “Roaring” and “thick wind” may be cured by the administration of potassium iodide. It is the best medicine known for actinomycosis. Potassium iodide has a clinical reputation for its power to aid absorption andresolution in inflammation or effusions of the brain or spinal cord, in paralysis of the body or limbs and inflammation of the membranes covering the brain.
Doses.—Horses, 2 to 4 dr.; cattle, 3 to 6 dr.; sheep and pigs, 15 to 30 gr.; dogs, 1 to 10 gr.
It should be given to the larger animals in doses of three drachms daily, until iodism appears, which shows itself by loss of appetite, an irritable, catarrhal condition of the mucous membranes of the nostrils, eyes, throat and digestive organs, a vesicular skin eruption, abstinence from water, diminished secretions of urine, temperature elevated and emaciation.
Derivation.—Nitrate of potash may be obtained by purifying crude niter, or by the interaction of sodium nitrate and potassium chloride.
Properties.—Colorless, transparent, six-sided, rhombic prisms, or a crystalline powder, odorless and having a cooling, saline and pungent taste. Permanent in the air. Soluble in water; very sparingly soluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 1 to 2 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 6 dr.; dogs, 5 to 20 gr.
Actions.—Large doses irritate the stomach, bowels and kidneys; medical doses are alterative, febrifuge, diuretic and feebly laxative. Excreted by the bronchial glands, skin and kidneys, increasing secretions of these organs; is a cardiac depressant and mild refrigerant and diaphoretic.
Nitrate of potash is more frequently prescribed than any other potash salt in veterinary medicine, and is commonly considered one of the best febrifuges. Its only service in fevers is as a diuretic.
Uses.—In certain febrile conditions; in oedema of legs should be combined with digitalis and general tonics. For dropsical conditions the acetate and citrate are better.
Nitrate of potash is highly recommended in acute laminitis, two to four ounces once or twice daily is given by some veterinarians.
Derivation.—Pass chlorine into a mixture of potassium carbonate and calcium hydrate; dissolve the result in boiling water and recover the chlorate by crystallization.
Properties.—Colorless, lustrous, monoclinic prisms or plates, or white powder, odorless, having a cooling, saline taste. Permanent in the air. Soluble in water. Insoluble in absolute alcohol, but slightly soluble in mixtures of alcohol and water. Explodes readily when rubbed with sugar, sulphur, charcoal, glycerine and many other substances.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 6 dr.; sheep and pigs,1⁄2to 1 dr.; dogs, 5 to 20 gr.
Action.—Chlorate of potash is antiseptic, antacid, alterative, sialagogue, diuretic, febrifuge, and cardiac depressant; irritant to the gastro-intestinal tract and kidneys. Externally, antiseptic, mild stimulant and refrigerant. Is a protoplasmic poison, as is the nitrate; disintegrates the red blood corpuscles.
Uses.—Chlorate of potash is valuable as a wash or gargle, it stimulates the salivary and buccal glands, moistening the dry, parched mouth. It soothes and heals aphthous eruptions and ulcerations of the mouth and throat; while in catarrh, sore throat and bronchitis it thins the secretions and promotes expectoration. Like other salines, in febrile and inflammatory diseases, whether in horses or cattle, it is believed to lower pulse and temperature, clean the tongue, improve appetite, gently stimulate the bowels and render the evacuations more natural and less coated with mucus. It is frequently prescribed with good results in horses sufferingfrom catarrhal conditions of the bowels. In epizootic catarrh, purpura, it is very beneficial prescribed with iron salts, as it increases the coagulability of the blood. It is also prescribed with other salines, bitter tonics or stimulants. Most animals of their own accord will take an ounce daily, dissolved in their drinking water or gruel. Pine tar is a soothing electuary for sore throat, it is conjoined with camphor, belladonna and treacle.
Derivation.—Obtained from crude tartar deposited on the sides of wine casks during fermentation of grape juice, by purification.
Properties.—Colorless or slightly opaque, rhombic crystals, or a white, somewhat gritty powder; odorless and having a pleasant, acidulous taste. Permanent in the air. Soluble in water; very sparingly soluble in alcohol.
Dose.—Horses and cattle,1⁄2to 1 oz.; sheep and pigs, 2 to 4 dr.; dogs,1⁄2to 1 dr.
Actions.—Potassium bitartrate is a non-irritating purgative in large doses. It is a hydragogue cathartic and has a strong affinity for water; abstracting it from the blood vessels in the bowels, holding the same in solution and thus flushing out the intestines.
Uses.—Is used for liver disease, chronic constipation, skin disease and as a refrigerant in febrile conditions. It should be given in solution and is useful in dropsies, more particularly of renal origin; also in catarrhal jaundice, and as a laxative for foals and calves. In cases where the urine of the horse is thick, stringy and high colored, it will cause it to regain its normal state. It may easily be administered in either food or drinking water, and its diuretic effect is enhanced when given with a large amount of water.
Origin.—Potassium permanganate may be obtained by the interaction of potassium chlorate, potassium hydroxide and manganese dioxide.
Actions.—Potassium permanganate is a powerful oxidizing agent and readily yields up its oxygen in the form of ozone; hence it is an antiseptic and deodorizer. Full strength it is a mild caustic. Diluted it is astringent.
Uses.—Potassium permanganate is advantageously used to deodorize and disinfect foul smelling wounds, the nostrils in eczema, nasal gleet, the mouth in aphthae, throat when ulcerated, diphtheria, the uterus in metritis, retention of placenta and leucorrhoea. It is sometimes given internally in puerperal, erysipelas and septicaemia, also to cleanse hands or instruments. Potassium permanganate is used as a prophylactic in solutions of one in five thousand in poultry.
Potassium permanganate acts as an oxidizant much more freely upon some organic substances than upon others, by virtue of which fact it is a valuable antidote, notably in the treatment of morphine-poisoning and of snake-poisoning. In the former condition it acts only upon the alkaloid in the stomach, but should be given frequently during the continuance of the symptoms in order to destroy any morphine which may have been eliminated from the blood into the stomach. In snake-poisoning a concentrated solution of it should be injected freely and immediately into the part which has been bitten. Potassium permanganate is one of the best medicines with which to sterilize the hands before operating. A saturated solution is used for this purpose and the stains may be removed from the hands by washing them in saturated solution of oxalic acid, or in a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 15 gr. to 1 dr. in one pint of water; sheep and pigs, 5 to 10 gr. in half pint of water;dogs and cats,1⁄2to 11 gr. in capsule with kaolin. For poultry it should be diluted one part to five thousand parts of water.
As an antiseptic and deodorizer for disinfecting newly cut or old foul smelling wounds and for surgical purposes one drachm to half an ounce of the drug to one pint of water.
As an eye wash use about one in two thousand to one in one thousand.
For uterine injections use one in five thousand to one in two thousand.
As an antidote for opium, morphine or weed-poisoning it can be administered by the mouth or hypodermically. When given for these purposes the amount of potassium permanganate should equal that of the poison taken.