The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003332180 Cornell University Library SF 915.D89 1882 Veterinary medicines their actions and 3 1924 003 332 180 Edinhwgh : Printad hy Tliomas and Archibald Go'iistable, FOB DAVID DOUGLAS. LONDON H4MILT0N, ADAMS, AND CO. OAMBB.IDGE MACMILLAN AND BOWES GLASaOW JAMES MAOLEHOSE AND SONS. VETERINARY MEDICIldlS THEIR ACTIONS AND USES BY FINLAY DUN FORMERLY LECTURBR ON MATERIA MBDICA AND DIETETICS AT THE EDINBURGH VETERINARY COLLEGE gtxtk ffiiitiott, '^biezb anb ffinlarpii. EDINBURGH DAVID DOUGLAS 1882 rights reserved.'^ PEEFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION. The First Edition of Veteeinaey Medicines was published in 1854, whilst I was Lecturer on Materia Medica and Dietetics at the Edinburgh Veterinary College. The work continues a Text-book at the Veterinary Colleges, is used by Veterinarians and Agriculturists, and meets with increasing demand both in America and the Colonies. The progress of Pharmacology and Pharmacy since the publication of the Fifth Edition in 1878, has necessitated the rewriting of large portions of the book, and the addition of much new matter. As in previous editions, the general actions and uses of Veterinary Medicines, and the more important principles and practice of Pharmacy, are treated of in the Introduction. The bulk of the volume is occupied with the consideration of the natural history, preparation, and properties of the individual medicines ; their most common impurities and adulterations ; their general action on the various domesticated animals ; and their uses, doses, and medicinal forms. To facilitate reference, the several drugs are discussed in alphabetical order, according to their English names. Earlier editions contained an Appendix, comprising short notices of the nature, causes, symptoms, and treatment of the VI PREFACE. more common diseases of the domestic animals; but sncli matter being somewhat oiit of place in a Text-book of Materia Medica, it has been superseded by an Index of Diseases, in which, under each disease, are set forth appropriate remedies, arranged chiefly in the order of their value, or of their applica- tion in the earlier and later stages of the disorder. This Index of Diseases, .supplemented by a copious Index of Medicines, wiU enhance the usefulness of the book alike to Students and Practitioners. 2 PoBTLAND Place, London, W., October 1882. CONTENTS. PAGE INTEODUOTION, . ... 1-132 I. — The Actions and Uses op Mebicines, . . 2-113 II. — On Vbtebiktaey Phaemact, . . . 114-132 VETBEINAEY MEDICINES (ALPHABETicAtLT Aeranged), 133-637 Index of Diseases, ..... 639-657 Index of Medicines, . .... 658-676 VETERINARY MEDICINES: THEIR ACTIONS AND USES. INTEODUCTIOK Veterinary Materia Medioa, in the extended sense of the term, treats of every agent, material or immaterial, which is used for the cure of disease or injury, or for the preservation of health, among the domesticated animals. The full considera- tion of so large and diversified a subject would, however, fill several volumes, and the present work is devoted to the description of medicines or drugs, their natural history characters, their pharmaceutic preparations, and their actions and uses among the domesticated animals. Medicines, although derived from so many sources through- out the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, possess many actions in common, and are prepared for use by similar phar- maceutical processes. Two preliminary sections will therefore be advantageously occupied with general observations on Pharmacology, which treats of the action of medicines on healthy animals ; on Therapeutics, or their application to the cure of disease ; and on Pharmacy, which deals with the piode of preparing and dispensing medicines. The description of the medicines themselves occupies thebody of the volume. 2 ACTION OF- MEDICINES. SECTION T. THE ACTIONS AND USES OF MEDICINES. The treatment of disease has hitherto been less systematic and has progressed more slowly than diagnosis or morbid anatomy. It has been more empiric than scientific. The actions of medicines have only recently been fully and philo- sophically studied. During the last thirty years more know- ledge has, however, been obtained regarding the effects of medicines, and more skill and care have been employed in their use. This . progress in curative medicine has largely resulted from systematic experiments and trained observations, based upon and aided by recent advancing knowledge of the vital textures and their functions in health and disease. Without accurate and thorough knowledge of these cognate subjects, acquaintance with medicines can only be superficial and empirical. Modern physiology has thrown light especially upon cell- development and nutrition, on the actions of ferments or enzymes in the building up, constant change, and breaking down of living tissue, and on the functions of nerves and nerve centres. Pathology has made clearer the nature and localisa- tion of disease, and the complications and mode of death to be guarded against. Clinical thermometers, auscultation, and other modern means of diagnosis inform the practitioner of the site, nature, extent, and tendency of morbid conditions. Familiar with the disordered conditions to be overcome, the practitioner is in a position to arrest certain disorders, to guide others in their favourable course, and successfully to choose and skilfully to handle his curative weapons. Chemistrj' has proved an essential help in explaining complex living processes ; she has eliminated, from bulky bodies, convenient active prin- ciples ; has supplied antidotes for many poisons ; has dis- covered new remedies ; she changes and compounds medicines varying and intensifying their effects; and now prepares artificially such useful organic bodies as atropine and salicylic ASCERTAINED BY SYSTEMATIC EXPERIiMENT. 3 acid. Guided by such progress in the several departments of practical medicine, important observations have recently been made regarding the actions of remedial agents, and the manner in which these actions are established. Systematic careful experiments on the lower animals and on man, have demonstrated the action of many medicines, both old and new, and have indicated their successful use in the cure of disease. Magendie's experiments with the- Java upas antiar showed its power as an exciter of the motor tract of the spinal chord. Examination of other more readily obtained strychnine-containing plants, of the same natural order, dis- covered similar action in nux vomica. Violently stimulating the spinal chord, and producing tetanic convulsions, it was speedily proved that small doses of nux vomica, or its alkaloid strychnine, counteract paralysis, especially when depending upon imperfect action of the chord, and besides impart general nerve tone. Eepeated experiments on animals demonstrated the action of digitalis as a cardiac stimulant, and hence have led to its use in strengthening and steadying the weak and over- taxed heart. Experiments with ergot of rye, and its active constituent, ergotine, proving their power of contracting arterioles and capillaries, suggested their employment for the arrest of haemorrhage from internal organs. Belladonna, and its active principle atropine, are recognised by experience to quiet irritability both of the heart and lungs — effects which physiological experiments have shown to depend upon stimu- lating the respiratory centre and paralysing the ends of the vagi and sensory nerves, both of the heart and lungs. The precise action and modus operandi of medicines being thus recognised, their practical use is rendered safer and more effective. Carefully devised observations have already multiplied the weapons with which the veterinarian does battle with disease, and taught their more successful employment. The anthrax disorders, splenic apoplexy, blackleg, hog and chicken cholera, hitherto little amenable to either preventive or curative treat- ment, can now be held in check, and perhaps entirely extermin- ated. The rod-like bacilli and spores on which these diseases are shown to depend, can be destroyed and the pabulum 4 ACTION OF MEDICINES present in the blood of healthy but susceptible animals, and on which they fasten, grow, and multiply, can be broken up or removed by introducing into the system a minute portion of benignant matter. Effects are produced nearly resembling that of the vaccine lymph, in protecting human patients from small-pox. The unregenerate anthrax virus is fitted for its beneficent protective power, by passing it through a series of five or six mice or guinea-pigs. Thus attenuated, it loses its deadly virulence, produces only dulness or slight fever, but the inoculated subject is proof against the particular anthrax, with the poison of which it has been vaccinated, and with impunity may be exposed either to its ordinary causes, or inoculated with its virus taken direct from a fatal case. Further advances are destined to be made in the treatment of other classes of disease. Medicinal antiseptics may yet be dis- covered, which shall check the multiplication of septic germs in the blood and tissues as they now do in a wound or external to the body. Medicines will doubtless be found which shall increase, control, or arrest the formation of these ubiquitous ferments which preside over nutrition, and which become sources of disorder when in undue or inadequate amount, or of faulty quality. Eecent researches have discovered substances which act very variously on different parts of the nervous system ; but as physiology allocates special functions to their particular location in the brain or chord, agents will unques- tionably be found which will exert direct effect on these parts, and hence control their abnormal functions. Better knowledge of the sympathetic nervous system, of the functions of its vaso- motor centres, and of its trophic nerves, encourage the belief that remedies may be found to regulate most secretions, and even to control nutritive processes. The increasing number of medi- cines, the more precise knowledge of their actions, and the more skilful manner of handling them, with the better under- standing of the morbid processes they are used to control, give great promise of more system and success in the cure of disease. The veterinarian who rationally treats disease, must be con- versant with the actions of the remedies he employs. Every medicine is endowed with certain dynamical effects on the living animal which distinguish it as decidedly as its physical DETERMINED BY ELECTIVE AFFINITY. 5 and chemical properties. Most medicines when they enter the living body, by a species of elective affinity are attracted to particular organs. Often they are determined to one particular tissue or class of tissues. Eecent observation lias determined tolerably accurately the precise spots on which many medicines act, and often the manner in which such action is established. Thus, aconite is attracted to the sensory and motor tracts of the spinal chord, paralyses them, but does not affect the brain. Chloral hydrate is shown to act primarily on the brain and motor centres. Calabar bean proves to be a depressor of the spinal chord and a paralyser of the cardiac sympathetic. Even the familiar purgatives are shown to exert their effects on different parts of the alimentary canal, to operate in different ways, and hence to present special fitness for particular purposes. To facilitate discussion of the actions and uses of medicines, this section is divided into the following heads : — I. The manner in which medicines establish their actions. II. The manner in which medicines are believed to cure disease. III. The arrangement of medicines according to their physio- logical actions. IV. The circumstances which modify the actions of medi- cines. I. — THE MANNER IN WHICH MEDICINES ESTABLISH THEIE, ACTIONS. Some medicines, as demulcents, caustics, and astringents, have mainly a local or topical action — soothing, torroding, constringing, or altering the animal tissues, but not necessarily extending their influence beyond the part to which they are first applied. Others, either with or without such local effects, have remote or indirect actions on organs at a distance from the petrt with which they are first brought in contact. Eecent observations render it possible to describe with tolerable accuracy the journey of some medicines through the animal body, to indicate their treatment by the various alimen- tary secretions, to follow their transit through the circulation. 6 ACTION OF MEDICINES. to note the manner in which they operate on nutrition, modify -or antagonise morbid processes, or in poisonous doses dejange or arrest vital functions, and finally to trace their excretion, often in altered condition, through some of the emunctories. There is a wide choice of channels by which medicines are introduced into the body. They may be injected directly into either veins or arteries — a method only adopted in extreme cases. Inhaled through the pulmonary mucous membrane, volatile agents or finely divided substances suspended in aqueous or other vapour are quickly carried into the blood. Soluble medicines can be readily introduced through the broken or unbroken skin. Injection is occasion- ally made into a gland or muscle, and frequently into the sub- cutaneous areolar tissue, whence the medicine is absorbed by blood-vessels or lymphatics. Drugs as well as food also some- times find entrance by the rectum. But the mouth is the most common and generally con- venient channel by which medicines make their way into the body. Crystallisable substances in solution undergo early and rapid absorption chiefly through the capillary vessels in the upper part of the alimentary canal. Colloidal substances, like most articles of food, are prepared for absorption by the ferment-containing secretions of the canal. The alkaline saliva mechanically moistens solid bodies, its ptyalin cracks starch granules and renders them soluble. The acid pepsin- containing gastric juice dissolves albuminoids, iron, mercurial and other salts. The alkaline bile emulsionises fats and resins. The pancreatic fluid, combiniug the properties of saliva, gastric juice, and bile, digests starch, albumin, and fats. The intestinal juices finish the solvent process, and convert cane into grape sugar. The alkaline blood, flowing rapidly and with a specific gravity of 1050, which is higher than that of the other animal fluids, presents conditions eminently favourable for the absorp- tion or endosmose of medicines. Different substances act differently upon the moist digestive membrane, and in various ways make their entrance into the circulation. Through the capillary vessels and absorbents which ramify on the surface of the stomach and intestines, the dissolved medicines aene- rally enter the circulation by the mesenteric and portal vessels. ABSOEPTION AND DISTRIBUTION. 7 Many substances are absorbed and make the round of the circulation with almost incredible rapidity. Professor Hering, of the Veterinary College, Stuttgardt, found that yelEw prus- siate of potash injected into one of the jugu-lar veins t)f a horse appeared in the other in twenty-five seconds, and was exhaled from the mucous and serous membranes in a few minutes ; a;nd also that barium chloride injected into the jugular vein of a dog reached the carotid artery in seven seconds. Dr. A. "Waller, of Geneva, found that when the foot of an albino rat was immersed even for a few seconds in a solution of one per cent, of atropine in chloroform, absorption occurred, and the pupil of the eye became dilated in from two to five minutes. Dr. Blake observed that barium chloride and nitrate traversed the whole circulation, of a dog in nine seconds, and that of a horse in twenty seconds ; and a similar rapidity of distribution doubtless obtains with substances which cannot easily be detected in the blood. Eeaching the general circulation, medicines are attracted, as already stated, to particular parts. Their full and character- istic effects are not produced until they reach the organ or tissue on which they specially operate. Magendie found that strychnine does not excite its notable tetanic convulsions until it is in contact with the spinal cho'rd. Nay more, when a frog or other small animal, immediately after receiving a full dose of strychnine, has the spinal chord broken down by a piece of whalebone, or removed, the tetanic symptoms are not exhibited. As appropriate elements of food are taken by each tissue from the common nutrient stream, so by similar affinity cells and aggregations of cells appear to arrest and take up particular medicines. Lead, various mineral salts, and a few compara- tively stable organic bodies, are found in the textures on which they act. On the parts to which they are first applied, or on the remoter spots to which they are subsequently carried, most medicines exert their effects, stimulating, paralysing, or other- wise altering natural functions. These altered conditions, by direct or reflex action, often modify the vital processes of remote organs. After a variable sojourn, and after producing more or less pronounced effects on one or more parts of the body, contributing to the construction of tissue, or hastening 8 ACTION OF MEDICINES. its disintegration, stimulating, altering, or depressing, medicines are removed by one or by several of the great excreting channels sometimes unchanged, often altered by oxidation or broken into simpler forms. Digitalis, for example, after ex- pending its force mainly on the heart and arterioles, is removed by the kidneys. Alcohol and its analogues are got rid of by the skin and. kidneys, and also pass away through the respira- tory mucous membrane. In their excretion some medicines increase the activity of the excretory organ. This is the important function of a large class of remedial agents. Thus aloes and full doses of oils and neutral salts excreted through the bowels cause purgation. Nitre, small doses of salines, and ethers, chiefly removed through the kidneys, produce diuresis. 11. — THE MANNER IN WHICH MEDICINES AE£ BELIEVED TO CUEE DISEASE. Every medicine, as already stated, is possessed of certain inherent and distinctive dynamic effects, which are exerted both in health and disease, and are termed its physiological actions. When, however, appropriate medicines are admin- istered for the treatment of any curable disease, they are said to call forth another and secondary series of actions, more variable, uncertain, and limited than the physiological, but springing from them, and leading directly to the mitigation or cure of disease. These are usually called therapeutic or cfwrative actions. It is unnecessary, however, to regard these effects as twofold; for a physiological action, more or less obvious, is the source and origin of every cure, while the so-called therapeutic action is merely the physiological action exercised in or modified by disease, and specially applied to its alleviation or removal. Many hypotheses have been propounded in explanation of the manner in which medicines cure disease. Before much was known of chemistiy and physiology, the diverse actions of medicines were thought to result from their variously-shaped particles producing diverse mechanical effects on the body. Since the times of the alchemists, the action of medicines has CURE OF DISEASE. 9 frequently been ascribed to purely chemical agency ; but this, although accounting for some of the effects of such medicines as caustics and astringents, cannot alone explain the general effects of most remedies. The living animal body is much more than a machine or a laboratory; and mechanical and chemical laws are here modified by more complex and less understood vital principles. Such vital laws receiving recog- nition about the beginning of the present century, it was taught that health depended upon nicely balanced "excit- ability," which when disturbed was to be regulated either by stimulants or cbntra-stimulants. Another school ascribed disorders mainly to morbid matters which required to be cast out by eliminatives. Acquiring greater definiteness regarding the location and nature of disease, more recent observations propounded the doctrine of abnormal nutrition and its treat- ment by alteratives, stimulants, and sedatives. The complex vital processes regulated in health and disease by laws at present imperfectly understood, when irregular or disturbed, evidently cannot be brought back to their normal state by any one or two modes of cure. No procrustean system or definite formula can be expected to explain the' actions of all medicines. The late Professor Headland has lucidly remarked that "the only general explanation we can give of the modus operaoidi of medicines in the cure of diseases is to say that they operate by various counteractions." — (Actions of Medicines, third edition.) Two of these systems of counter- action, accounting for the actions of the majority of medicines, are, 1st, the antipathic, and 2d, the allopathic mode of cure. A third system professes to cure homceopathically, by the administration of small doses of those medicines which, given in larger amount, produce symptoms similar to the disease to be cured; but this doctrine is illogical, unsupported by evidence, and, when legitimately carried out, is not successful in practice.'' 1 The system of homoeopathy (o/xotos, homoios, like or similar; and wdBos, pathos), was propouaded about eighty years ago by the German physician Hahnemann, who taught that the cure of a disease is effected by intinitesimal doses of such medicines as would induce, if given to a healthy subject in large quantity, symptoms similar to the disease. The doctrine is enunciated in the aphorism, similia similibus curantur. According to homceo- 10' ACTION OF MEDICINES. Is;;, Medicines act antipathically {avrl, anti, opposite ; and Tra^o?, ipathos, a disease) ; or, in other words, they produce a condition diametrically opposed to the disease in which they are administered. It is thus that astringents are eifectual in diarrhoea ; purgatives in torpidity of the bowels ; and stimu- lants in depressed states of the system. In these, and in all other cases where an antipathic cure is effected, the physio- pathy, cinchona cures ague and intermittents, because it produces such lebi'ile symptoins when given to healthy individuals in considerable doses ; aconite is the appropriate remedy for reducing inflammatory fever, because in large doses it produces symptoms which are thought to resemble inflam- mation ; and stry ch nine is the best remedy for palsy, because in large doses it appears to produce paralytic symptoms. This doctrine certainly appears strange and unnatural, and, if sound, would stamp most disorders as hope- lessly incurable ; for it is only in a few exceptional cases that any similarity can be detected between the symptoms produced by large doses of the remedy and those of the disease for which it is given. No known medicines, for example, are capable of developing symptoms such as those of thick- wind, roaring, pleurisy, strangles, distemper, or hydrophobia, yet iifteeu or twenty remedies are prescribed for each of these diseases. Glanders, farcy, and consumption are treated by aurum, arsenicum, and bromine ; but none of these medipines develop symptoms similar to the diseases for which they are used. Again, the disciples of Hahnemann treat diseases the most dis- similar in their nature and symptoms by the same remedy. Thus Mr. Haycock, in his Elements of Homoeopathy, employs arsenic as the appropriate remedy in mange, bronchitis, enteritis, diabetes, strangles, tetanus, rheuma- tism, ophthalmia, poll-evil, glanders, and thirty other diseases ; whilst he prescribes aconite in thirty-two diseases, beginning with papular eruptions, including most affections of the respiratory and digestive organs, and ending with ophthalmia and glanders. An " accurate similarity " between the symptoms of the disease and those of the remedy is, however, regarded aa essential to the success of the homoeopathic treatment ; but where is the similarity between the eflfects of arsenic and these forty diseases for which it is prescribed, or between those of aconite and the thirty-two diseases in which it ia considered so efiBcacious ? These and many other such instances cannot be established without straining similarities which, to ordinary eyes, are imperceptible, or at beat but very remote. Hahnemann, in his Organon of Medicine, translated by Mr. Dudgeon of London, and accepted by English homoeopathists aa their standard authority, states, that " the symptoms of each individual case of disease must be the sole indication, the aole guide to direct us in the choice of a curative remedy" (p. 120). Now symptoms, although sometimes requiring special treatment, are but the visible signs and results of derangement and disease ; whilst their removal, which is all that ia aimed at in homoeopathic treat- ment, does not always insure the removal of the conditions on which they depend. Thus rheumatism, pleurisy, enteritia, worms, and many other dis- orders, frequently remain unchecked after their symptoms have been relieved. Instead of thus vainly attempting the removal of symptoms it were, therefore, more rational at once to remove, aa is attempted by allo- pathiats, the morbid condition— the source of the evil. Oamd euUatct, iollitur effectus. No curative system directing its efforts, as homoeopathy does merely against the symptoms of disease, can ever rest upon a safe or ALLOPATHY AND HOMCEOPATHY. 11 logical action of the medicine overcomes the morbid condition, because it counteracts it by a superior and directly antagonistic force. This mode of cure is specially adapted to the treatment of symptoms and local diseases. 2d, Medicines act allopathically (SxXo?, alios, another ; and irddo^, pathos), or produce effects which, though in themselves unnatural, overcome the disease to be cured; or, in other scientific basis ; for it is notorious that, under varying modifying influences, the same diseases sometimes induce very dissimilar symptoms, and would consequently, according to this system, require dissimilar treatment. On the other hand, diseases essentially different sometimes manifest similar symptoms. Thus stupor and vertigo result sometimes from an excessive and sometimes from a deficient quantity of blood sent to the brain ; diffi- culty of breathing from too much as well as from too little blood circulating through the lungs ; vomiting from irritation of the stomach, or from irrita- tion of the vomiting centre ; diarrhoea from crudities in the alimentary canal, or irritant matters in the blood. Now, in these cases, similar symptoms, although depending upon unlike morbid conditions, must, acoord- iug to homoeopathy, be combated by the same remedies ; for, it is written, ' ' Diseases are cured by such medicines as have the power of producing, in healthy individuals, symptoms similar to those which characterise the diseases themselves" (Haycock's Elements, p. 20). No provision, be it remarked, is here made for cases in which the same symptoms result from different or opposite conditions ; and yet we not only find the same sym- ptoms produced by very different diseases, but also by the most opposite remedies. Strychnine and prussio acid, for example, although totally dis- similar in their modus operandi and general action, both induce convulsions, and should therefore, according to the tenets of homoeopathy, be equally suitable for the cure of the same convulsive diseases. If the principles or foundations of honioeopathy be false and imperfect as I have endeavoured to show, the superstructure based on such a founda- tion cannot be otherwise than weak and tottering. The following impor- tant facts and doctrines of homoeopathy exhibit, perhaps more clearly than any arguments, the extravagances and inconsistencies of the system : — The homoeopathic doses are so small, that they are often incapable of detection either by the microscope or by chemical analysis, and are sometimes so inconceivably minute, that the mind can form no idea of them. It is admitted, even by homoeopathists, that millions of such doses may be swallowed by a healthy individual without inconvenience ; but in disease, the system, according to homoeopathists, is believed to become so susceptible of their action, that much risk is incurred by their insufficient dilution. Medicines, such as charcoal, sand, and calcium carbonate, which, in doses of several drachms, have only a slight mechanical effect, when given in fractional parts of a grain are thought to produce very powerful effects, and cause many hundred symptoms. Charcoal, for example, is said, when given to human patients in very minute doses, to produce 930 distinct symptoms ; oyster shell, 1090 symptoms ; and the ink of the cuttle-fish, 1242 symptoms. The extraordinary powers supposed to be conferred on these and other medicines, even when given in doses of inconceivable minuteness, are chiefly ascribed to the magic influence of careful and continued triturations and often-repeated shakings, performed according to most precise directions. Some homoeopathic authorities declare that there is little difference of 12 ACTION OF MEDICINES words, they occasion a short, simple, and manageahle disease, which subdues that which originally existed. Nature herself frequently removes maladies in this way. Thus spontaneous diarrhoea often relieves internal congestion ; and copious per- spiration febrile attacks. In similar manner blisters relieve pleurisy, purgatives alleviate local inflammation, and diuretics activity between different dilutions of the same medicine ; and it is said that, if the medicine be well selected, it matters little whether the tenth, hundredth, or thousandth of a grain be used (Gunther and Haycock). There is probably some truth in this observation, for, with most medicines, especi- ally when administered to the lower animals, all the dilutions mentioned would be equally harmless. The admixture of different medicines with one another is said to neutralise the effect of all ; but if this be the case, homoeo- pathic drugs must always be without effect (which is very probable), for all medicines contain adulterations and impurities which, though small in amount, must of course acquire great potency by the triturations above mentioned. But homceopathists assert that, in spite of the errors which their opponents discover in the system, it is nevertheless very successful in the cure of disease. In judging, however, of homoeopathy as a system of practical medicine, it must ever be regarded as made up of two distinct parts : — 1st, The original and peculiar part of the system, consisting in the use of medicines selected in accordance with a law embodied in the axiom similia similibus curantur, and administered in infinitesimal doses, usually varying from one grain to one-millionth of a grain, and carefully prepared according to certain precise directions ; and 2d, Attention to diet and regimen — the only effectual and rational part of homoeopathy, the true source of all its boasted cures, and that very department of medical treatment which has been insisted upon from the most ancient times by all scientific and successful practitioners, both of human and veterinary medicine. The value of medicines given homoeopathically has never been satisfactorily shown, and never can be so until two series of cases, as nearly as possible alike, be treated — the one in the usual homoeopathic fashion, the other with the same attention to diet and regimen, but without the globules. In comparative experiments made at the Edinburgh Veterinary College as to the treatment of pleuro-pneumonia and other diseases, it appeared that those cases treated by diet and regimen alone were as speedily and effectually cured as those treated with the globules in addition, so long as these globules were given only in homceo- pathic doses. But though the principles of homoeopathy are unsound, and though its practice among the low^er animals has not been more successful than that of many more modest modes of treatment, still it has done some service to the cause of practical medicine by demonstrating the great power of the vis medicatrlx nattirce, and the inestimable importance of regimen and diet as auxiliaries to the medical treatment of disease. Eurther, it has aided in the advancement of a more rational system of veterinary practice by discoun- tenancing those copious and repeated bleedings, and large and reiterated physickings, which were often indiscriminately prescribed for all patients ; while it has also acted beneficially in elucidating various subjects connected with therapeutics, and in inducing the opponents as well as the supporters of homoeopathy to institute mimerous and careful observations on the actions of remedies both on man and the lower animals. ON BLOOD AND NERVES. 13 remove oedema or dropsy. Those numerous and important zymotic diseases which result from the maturation of a poison within the body, or its introduction from without, according to allopathy, are cured by another and more healthy action being established In the sick body, the special poison being checked in its formation, or destroyed and cast out, by rousing to increased activity those natural purifying emunctories — the skin, bowels, and kidneys. III. — THE ARRANGEMENT OF MEDICINES ACCORDING TO THEIR PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIONS. Grouping together medicines which have similar actions proves a help to the student and also to the practitioner. Such classiiications are not, however, so accurate and satisfactory as could be desired. Many medicines, such as mercury and opium, have numerous and complex actions, and reappear in many groups ; others differ considerably in their effects accord- ing to their dose and mode of administration; some exhibit variety of action on different species of patients. But increas- ing knowledge will gradually discover those laws which regulate the actions of medicines, and will insure their more philosophical arrangement. The late Professor Headland made a comprehensive serviceable classification of the articles of the materia medica under the four following heads : — I. Heematics, or medicines acting on the blood. They re- store some of its wanting or deficient constituents, destroy mor- bid matters circulating in it, are most valuable in constitutional disorders, are tolerably permanent in their action, and include all true restoratives, tonics, and alteratives. Albumin, iron, and many salines, having a resemblance to or identity with the constituents of the body, are assimilated as food or restoratives. Certain salines exert a solvent effect on the fibrin and lessen the tendency to aggregation amongst the red corpuscles of the blood. Antiseptics within or without the body retard or arrest destructive changes. Acids neutralise excess of alkalinity, whilst alkalies conversely neutralise acidity. Most haematics which are unnatural or foreign to the body, having 14 ACTION OF MEDICINES. acted as antiseptics, catalytics, specifics,' or vital antidotes, are more or less rapidly expelled. II. Neurotics are medicines acting upon the nervous system, exciting, depressing, or otherwise altering its tone, usually prompt but temporary in their effects, and useful in remedying symptoms. They include most stimxilants, narcotics, and sedatives. Regarding these neurotics, Dr. John Harley, in the last edition of Eoyle's Materia Medica, 1876, thus writes: — " It is on the nervous system that the effects of medicines are most conspicuously displayed, while their modes of action are altogether obscure. We must look upon the nervous system collectively as a compound voltaic battery and the nerve force as electricity ; we may indeed safely assume so much. Eeduced to this simple view, we may suppose that neurotic medicines act by exciting or depressing the chemical reaction, on which the development of the nerve force depends, and, by increasing or diminishing the conducting power of the nerve fibres, may cause spasm or palsy accordingly. The electrolytic actions which generate nerve force are probably induced by the de- composition of complex organic substances as albumin, and it is possible that the presence of such similarly constituted bodies as strychnine, quinine, morphine, and the like — all of which significantly contain nitrogen — in the central nervous system, may have a similar effect upon the changes going on in the nerve cells, as the addition of sulphuric acid or neutral oxalate of potash to a cell of Daniells' battery would have on the current proceeding from it." III. Astringents cause contraction of both voluntary and involuntary muscular fibre, and especially of the latter, and thus arrest secretion and bleeding. IV. Eliminatives are irritant medicines, unnatural to the blood, which are expelled from it through the various excret- ing organs, and in their passage heighten the activity of these organs, increase their discharges, and thus carry noxious matters out of the system. Purgatives, diuretics, and diaphoretics are examples of this class. PHYSIOLOGICAL CLASSrFlCATION. 15 TABLE OP DIFFERENT CLASSES OF MEDICINES, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THEIR PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTIONS. J. — MEDICINES WHICH ACT CHIEFLY AS MECHANICAL AGENTS. Demulcents. Diluents. Soothe, soften, and sheath. Dilute the fluids. Examples : Solutions of gum, albumin, milk, and oils. Water, and watery fluids. n. — MEDICINES WHICH ACT CHIEFLY AS CHEMICAL AGENTS. Antiseptics. Disinfectants. Deodorisers. Antidotes. Caustics. Acids. Antacids. frevent or arrest putre- faction. Absorb, alter, or destroy contagious matters. Disguise or destroy odours. Counteract poisons. Destroy the animal solids, and decompose the fluids. Counteract alkalinity. Counteract acidity. Examples : Common salt, tar acids, zinc and iron chlorides. Tar acids, sulphurous acid, lime chloride. Bleaching powder, tar acids and dry sodium sulphite, Condy's fluid. Dilute alkalies for acids. Hydrated ironsesquioxide for arsenic. Strong acids, metallic salts, as silver nitrate, butter of antimony. Sulphuric, nitric, and hydro- chloric acids. Alkalies, andalkalineearths, with their carbonates. III. — MEDICINES WHICH ACT CHIEFLY AS VITAL AGENTS. Rubefacients. Vesicants. Suppurants. Errhines. Stomachics. Emetics. Ecbolios. Aphrodisiacs. Anthelmintics or vermifuges. Vermicides. Parasiticides. Cause redness of the skin. Cause discharge of serum from the skin. Cause discharge of pus from the skin. Irritate the mucous mem- brane of the nostrils. Promote digestion. Cause vomiting. Induce contractions of the uterus, and expulsion of its contents. Stimulate the generative organs and the venereal appetite. Remove intestinal worms. Kill worms. Destroy parasites. Examples : Alcohol, turpentine. Cantharides, boiling water. Croton oil, tartarised anti- mony. Veratrum album, euphor- bium. Ginger, cardamoms, vola- tile oils. Tartarised antimony, zinc and copper sulphates, mustard, salt. Ergot of rye, savin, can- tharides. > Phosphorus, peppers. cantharides. Purgatives, suitable dietary. Turpentine, areca nut, many antiseptics. Carbolic acid, tobacco, many antiseptics. 16 ACTION OF MEDICINES. si ■=2-2 Purgatives. Cholagogues. Expectorants. Diaphoretics. Diuretics. Sialagogues. ^ Mo ■§ So g g « ^1 C Restoratives. Tonics. Stimulants. ■ „ 6 Alteratives. ri Astringents. Emollients. Refrigerants. ■ Sedatives. Narcotics. Ansesthetics. Evacuate the bowels. Promote secretion of bile. Increase secretions of re- spiratory membrane. Increase perspiration. Increase secretion of urine. Increase saUvary secre- tions. Supply materials for growth and repair. Gradually but perma,n- ently improve appetite and increase vigour. Promptly but temporarily increase nervous vigour, and thus exalt action of the heart and other functions. Correct morbid conditions without causing marked physiological effects. Contra6t living tissues. Soften, soothe, and relax. Lower animal heat. Depress both the nervous and circulatory systems. Pass from the blood to the nerves and nervous cen- tres, and act so as first to exalt nervous force and then to depress it ; and have also a special action on the intellectual part of the brain. {Headland. ) Diminish sensibility to pain, and to external impressions. Examples : Aloes, croton, oils, jalap, neutral salts. Podophyllin, aloes, jalap. Ipecacuan, balsams, gum- resins. Warm clothing, ammonia acetate, ethers. Turpentine, resin, nitre. Mercurials, iodine, pungent- tasted bodies. Food, air, salines, iron, phosphates. Cinchona, quinine, iron and copper sulphates. Ammonia, alcohol, ethers, volatile oils. Mercury, iodine, arsenic, salines, and alkalies. Oak bark, tannin, alum, and other metallic salts. Poultices, fomentations, moistened spongiopiline. Cold air, cold water, ice, salines, and ethers. Aconite, prussic acid, blood- letting. Opium, Indian hemp, bella- donna. Chloroform, ether, naphtha, coal gas, nitrous oxide. . CLASSIPICAtlONS OF MEDICINES. 17 Dr. John Haiiey states that the fundamental action of drugs is fourfold— first, they may retard or accelerate osmose; secondly, they may alter the condition of the blood ; thirdly, they may increase or diminish those changes in the nerve cells which result in the generation of nerve force ; and lastly, by virtue of similar influences, they may increase or diminish the conductivity of the nerve fibres. — (Eoyle's Materia Medica, sixth edition.) Professor Bartholow of Philadelphia, in his Treatise on Materia Medica and Therapeutics (1882), classifies remedies under the six following heads : — Promoters of constructive metamorphosis. Promoters of destructive metamorphosis. Modifiers of nervous function. Preventers of septic decomposition. Evacuants. Topical remedies. On the two previous pages is presented a tabular view of a classification which I adopted in my lectures, and in which are grouped medicines, classed and denominated according to their physiological actions, into three great divisions of mechanical, chemical, and vital agents — a plan followed by Dr. A. T. Thomson and several other authors. To familiarise the student with the names, general actions, and therapeutic applications of these different classes of medi- cines, I shall briefly notice them in the order in which they occur in the above table. Demulcents. Demulcents {demulceo, I soften) soothe, soften, and sheath parts with which they come in contact. They are sometimes defined as internal emollients. They include gums/ mucilage, sugar, starch, gelatin, albumin, fats, oils, and milk. They take the place of such natural demulcents as the tears or mucus, where these are defective or wanting; lubricate and defend irritable parts from injurious action of air, of acrid secretions, B 18 ACTION OF MEDICINES. or of irritating and poisonous matters; when absorbed un- changed, they exert a general demulcent effect or act as diluents. They are chiefly prescribed to relieve dry, irritable, and inflamed states of the respiratory, digestive, and urino- genital mucous membranes. Diluents. Diluents (diluo, I dilute) consist of bland watery fluids which (as the name indicates) dilute the blood and the watery secretions. They include water and such simple drinks as linseed and hay tea, barley and treacle water. In febrile and inflammatory attacks they assuage thirst, counteract torpor of the digestive organs, favour activity of the several secreting channels, and in their removal from the body carry with them waste or deleterious matters. They hasten and increase the action of purgatives, diuretics, and other evacuants; and in irritation of the urinary organs, augment the quantity and lessen acridity of the urine. In febrile cases they were wont to be prescribed in a tepid state, or "with the cold air off;" but are generally more palatable and refreshing when cold ; and, if small quantities only are given at a time, no harm results even from ice-cold drinks. Horses working hard, and kept mostly on dry food, often suffer from the want of diluents, which, if more freely and frequently supplied, not only ward off trying thirst, but help to prevent indigestion, skin irritation, febrile attacks, and even farcy. Antiseptics — Antiputrescents — Antizymotics. Antiseptics (avri, anti, against; and arj7rTiK6 which is one-eighth of the avoirdupois ounce, or contains 54*6875 grains. PHAEMACOPCEIA. MEASURE OF WEIGHT. 1 Grain, gr.j. 1 Ounce, oz.j. §j. = 437"5 grains. 1 Pound,lb.j = 16 ounces = 7000 grains. As some veterinarians for a time may still hold to the abolished apothecaries' weight, its denominations with their appropriate signs are appended, and it may be recollected that the grain is one-eleventh more than that of the Brit. Phar. APOTHECAEIES' MEASURE OF WEIGHT. 1 Grain, gr.j. 1 Scruple, 9j = 20 grains. 1 Drachni,5j = 3 scruples = 60 grs. 1 Ounce, gj = 8 drachms = 480 grs; 1 Pound, Ib.j = 12 ounces =5760 grs. ■ The measures of the Brit. Phar. are those in former use. The fluid ounce of distilled water, although weighing 437-5 grains, is still divided into 480 minims. MEASURE OF CAPACITY. 1 Minim, min. TTLJ. 1 Fluid drachm, fgj = 60 minims. 1 Fluid ounce, f gj = 8 fluid drachms. 1 Pint, Oj = 20 fluid ounces. 1 Quart, Qt.j = 2 pints. 1 Gallon, O.j = 4 quarts. It is often useful to recollect the weight of different I 130 ACTION OP MEDICINES. measures. Of water, one minim (tl^j.) weighs nine-tenths of a grain ; a fluid ounce at 60° weighs exactly an ounce avoirdu- pois ; hence a pint is equal to a pound and a quarter, and a gallon to ten pounds avoirdupois. Every practitioner must, of course, be provided with proper balances of different sizes, legibly marked weights of different denominations, and gradu- ated measures, which, for the sake of cleanliness, should be made of glass or earthenware rather than of metaL Much time is saved both to himself and his employers by having the bottles in which he dispenses his medicines graduated to ounces ; and such bottles may now be purchased at prices very little above those given for the ordinary sorts. To prevent mistakes, medicines alike for external and internal use should be sent out in differently shaped and differently coloured bottles, properly labelled, while all potent preparations should further be labelled " Poison." When standard measures cannot be obtained, the practi- tioner has often occasion to use some of the ordinary domestic utensils, with the capacity of vfhich he ought therefore to be familiar. Common tumblers contain from eight to ten fluid ounces ; tea-cups, five to seven fluid ounces ; breakfast-cups about eight fluid ounces ; wine-glasses, two to two and a half fluid ounces ; table-spoons, half a fluid ounce ; dessert-spoons, two fluid drachms ; and tea-spoons, one fluid drachm of sixty minims. Such measurements, however, are merely approxi- mative. The pint and quart bottles, subdivisions of the old wine measure now disused, contain respectively about 13 and ■27 fluid ounces, and not, as their names might indicate, 20 and 40 fluid ounces. A Scotch pint contains 60 fluid ounces. Medicines are sometimes measured by the drop, which varies, however, exceedingly with the density and viscidity of the fluid, and the form and size of the vessel from which it falls. The metric system of weights and measures is now legalised in this country ; is everywhere extensively used in scientific observations ; and, from the simplicity of its decimal grada- tions, is certain to become general for all purposes. The metric tables of, weight, capacity, and length, with their re- lations to the corresponding tables of the Brit. Phar., are •appended : — METRIC WEIGHTS AND MEASUEES. 131 MEASUEES OF WEIGHT. 1 Milligramme = O'OOl gramme = 0-015432 grains. 1 Centigramme = 0-01 )> = 0-15432 1 Decigramme = 0-1 i> = 1-5432 1 Gramme — 1-0 J) = 15-432 1 Decagramme = 100 = 0-022046 lbs. 1 Hectogramme = 1000 ?) = 0-22046 1 Kilogramme — 1000-0 ji = 2-2046 The grainme, taken as "the unit of -weight, is a cubic centi- metre of -water at 4° C. or 39-2° Fahr. MEASURES OE CAPACITY. 1 Millitre = 1 Centilitre = 10 1 Decilitre = 100 1 Litre = 1000 1 gramme of -water = 0-0610 cubic in. 0-610 6-10 61-0 A litre is a cubic decimetre, equal to one kilogramme, or 1-76 pint. MEASURES OF LENGTH. 1 Millimetre = 0-001 metre — 0-03937 English in. 1 Centimetre •=:■ 0-01 „ = 0-3937 1 Decimetre = 0-1 = 3-937 1 Metre = 1"0 — 39-37 1 Decametre = 10-0 = 32-80 English ft. 1 Hectometre = loo'-o = 328-08 A metre is equal to the ten-millionth part of a quarter of the meridian of the earth. It is equal to 3-28 English feet. ■ The Pahrenheit thermometer being the measure of temper- ature still retained by the Brit. Phar., and in most -works on human Materia Medica, is again adopted in this book. As the Centigrade scale is no-w so extensively used, it is, ho-wever, desirable to note the folio-wing rule for converting Centigrade 132 ACTION OF MEDICINES. degrees into Fahrenheit degrees, — 100° Centigrade being equal to 180° Fahr., 10° Centigrade = 18 Fahr., or 5° Centigrade =9° Fahr. ; hence any number of Centigrade degrees, if multiplied by 9, divided by 5, and 32 added, are converted into Fahrenheit degrees. By the reverse process, Fahrenheit degrees are of course converted into Centigrade. VETEEINARY MEDICINES. ACETIC ACID. The British Pharmacopoeia recognises the following varieties of acetic acid, namely : Glacial acetic acid, containing . 84 per cent, of anhydrous acid. Acetic acid of chemistry and the shops 28 „ „ Diluted acetic acid . . . 3'63 „ „ British, French, and distilled vinegars 4"5 „ „ Glacial acetic acid is prepared by heating sodium acetate with sulphuric acid. When rectified it contains one per cent, of water, and corresponds to 84 per cent, of acetic anhydride — a colourless volatile pungent liquid (HCj Hg O2) or (CH g CO2 H). The glacial acid is mobile, oily, and colourless, with a pungent acetous odour and taste, a corrosive action upon organised tissues, and a specific gravity of 1-065. It boils at 243° Fahr., distils unchanged, is combustible, miscible in all proportions with water and alcohol, crystallises at 34° into radiating pearly plates, hence its title of glacial acetic acid. Sixty grains mixed with a fluid ounce of water require for neutralisation 990 grain measures of the volumetric solution of soda. Acetic acid, even when considerably diluted, reddens litmus, dissolves volatile oils, resins, camphor, and vegetable alkaloids, and unites with bases to form the ciystallisable and soluble acetates, which are distinguished by the acetous odour they emit when heated with sulphuric acid; the pleasant odour of acetic ether they evolve when heated with alcohol and sulphuric acid ; and the red-brown colour they produce in neutral solu- tion when treated with iron perchloride — a colour which changes on boiling to a brown precipitate of basic acetate of iron. 134 AQETIC ACID — ^VINEGAR Acetic Acid (acidum acetimovi) contains 28 parts of acetic anhydride, is one-third the strength of the glacial acid, is colourless, strongly acid, with a pungent odour, and a specific gravity of 1-044:. It is usually prepared from the destructive distillation of such hard woods as oak, ash, or beech, exposed to a red heat in iron retorts. Combustible gases are given off, charcoal remains in the retorts, and there distils over a dark brown tarry acid liquid, which, when it stands, deposits tar. The lighter liquor, which contains 2 to 4 per cent, of acetic acid, is decanted and distilled; wood spirit and acetone are first given off, and subsequently the impure acid, which is neutralised usually with sodium carbonate. The resulting acetate is dried and roasted to remove tar and creasote, and re-dissolved and distilled with sulphuric acid. An imperfectly purified acid still containing some residual tarry matters is sold as pyroligneous acid. The diluted pyroligneous acid of the Brit. Phar. is made by mixing one volume of this com- mercial acid with seven of water, has the specific gravity r006, and corresponds in strength with vinegar. Vinegar (acetum) is diluted acetic acid, containing traces of .colouring matter, mucilage, alcohol, ethers, sulphuric acid, and calcium sulphate. It is got by the destructive distillation of wood, as described above; and more commonly by the oxidation of alcohol, by exposing it to the air, at a temperature of about 80°, and in contact with a ferment. In this way most vinegars are manufactured in this country, from malt, grain, cider, or solutions of sugar or spirit ; in France, by exposing some of the poorer wines in half-filled casks ; and in Germany, by what is termed the quick or improved method of vinegar- making, from diluted alcohol, which is mixed with about one 1000th part of yeast, honey, vinegar, or other fermentescible body, and allowed slowly to trickle at a temperature of from 75° to 80°, over a large surface of wood-shavings previously soaked in vinegar. After a few days there is formed on the surface of the shavings a gelatinous mould — the mycoderma aceti — which favours attraction of oxygen from the air, sup- plies it to the alcohol, and hastens its conversion into acetic acid, as shown by the formula — CaHjO (alcohol) -l-Os (oxygen) =0,11402 (acetic acid)-f-H»0 (water). IRRITANT, STIMULANT, AND REFRIGERANT. 135 Britisli vinegar is colourless, or nearly so, has an acid taste and reaction, and a refreshing acetous odour, depending upon traces of acetic ether. Prench champagne or white wine vinegars are distinguished by their ethereal acetous odour and high density ;. those made from the red wines yield, when treated with ammonia, a purple colour and a purple flaky sediment. Impurities. — The most common adulterations of vinegar are water and sulphuric acid. Water is discoverable by its diminishing density and power of neutralising crystallised sodium carbonate. The British vinegars should have the density 1-017 to 1-019 ; the French, 1-014 to 1-022. Accord- ing to the British Pharmacopoeia one fluid ounce of vinegar requires to neutralise it at least 402 grain measures of the volumetric solution of soda, and corresponds to 4-6 per cent, of anhydrous acid. The following ready method of estimating the strength of any sample of vinegar or acetic acid was com- municated to me by Dr. Murray Thomson : — Take a measured quantity (say 100 tl]^ of vinegar) and a weighed amount (say 100 grains of prepared chalk), or any other convenient form of calcium carbonate. Add the chalk to the vinegar cautiously, until no more is dissolved. The equivalent of dry acetic acid and chalk being nearly alike, the number of grains of chalk taken up (which is, of course, easily discovered by weighing the quantity left) will therefore indicate almost exactly the number of grains. of real acetic acid present in the sample. The addition of 1000th part of sulphuric acid is allowed by the excise, in the belief that it prevents spoiling. But the legal proportion is often exceeded. All the sulphuric acid in one fluid ounce of vinegar should be precipitated by ten minims of Phar. solution of barium chloride. Any traces of copper or lead are detected by their precipitating hydrogen sulphide. Actions and Uses. — Acetic acid is irritant, corrosive, and vesicant. It is not used internally. Diluted usually in the form of vinegar, it is applied externally as a stimulant and refrigerant, and is employed pharmaceutically as a solvent and antiseptic. Like the mineral acids, strong acetic acid has great affinity for the water and bases of the tissues ; has active powers of diffusion ; poisonous doses cause uneasiness abdominal pain, 136 ACETIC ACID — VINEGAR in carnivora vomiting, weakness of the hind extremities, and prostration. An ounce of acetic acid destroyed a medium- sized dog in an hour ; a quarter of an ounce in five to nine hours ; four or five ounces of vinegar in ten or fifteen hours (Christison on Poisons). Horses take six to twelve ounces of vinegar, and cattle three or four pounds, without apparent injury (Hertwig). Once in high repute as an antidote for almost every sort of poisoning, vinegar is now employed only in the case of the alkalies and alkaline carbonates. For human patients diluted solutions prove refrigerant, and stimulate digestion ; but large amounts, or prolonged use, retard both digestion and assimilation, and diminish the number of the red globules, and it has hence been sometimes foolishly used to reduce corpulence ; this, however, can only be done at the sacrifice of health. Eubbed into the skin, acetic acid speedily causes redness, and eruption of large blisters resembling those produced by boiling water; but as a vesicant, mustard or cantharides is preferable. As an astringent styptic or caustic it is rarely used. Dissolving albumin, fibrin, and gelatine, it removes warts as well as corns in the human subject, softens scurf, destroys cryptogamic parasites and acari, and hence is occa- sionally applied in cases of mallenders and saUenders, ring- worm, scab, and mange. In such cases, impure pyroligneous acid is preferable, on account of its creasote and similar empyreumatic bodies. Equal parts of glacial acetic acid and chloroform, mixed in a thin flask, produce vapour which induces local anaesthesia in five minutes. Vinegar, along with either hot or cold water, is a convenient stimulant for super- ficial inflammation, strains, and bruises, and a refreshing acid antiseptic for sponging the skin in febrile disorders. For fumigating stables or cowhouses, it does more harm than good, inasmuch as it disguises those noxious effluvia which it neither removes nor destroys, and may thus prevent due attention to thorough ventilation, and the use of effectual disinfectants. It dissolves the active principles of many medicines, and enters into the composition of vinegars of cantharides and colchicum, spirit of Mindererus and oxymel. Oxymel is made by heating together forty ounces of sugar or honey, and five each of acetic ANTISEPTIC AND SOLVENT. 137 acid and distilled water. The antiseptic properties of vinegar recommend it for preserving various vegetables. Doses, etc. — Diluted with water or any simple iluid, acetic acid is given in the same doses as the mineral acids, namely, fSss. to 5j- for horses or cattle; TIL v. '° Tl^xv. for sheep and pigs ; and V^ ij. to ITL v. for dogs. ACONITE. Monkshood. Wolfsbane. Blue Eocket. Aconitum. Tubers, leaves, and flowering tops of Aconitum Napellus, A. ferox, and other varieties. Nat, Ord. — Eanunculacese. Sex, Syst. — Polyamdria Trigynia. Botanists have numbered twenty-two species and upwards of a hundred varieties of aconite, which are common throughout the cooler mountainous districts of both hemispheres. Some species are inert, or nearly so ; but others, as the Aconitum ferox, Sinense, and Napellus, are very active. The last of these, the common officinal species, is a doubtful native of Britain, but often grown in gardens and shrubberies on account of its' flowers. The cultivated are said, however, to be less active than the wild plants. Its several varieties are herbaceous, with tapering, carrot-shaped, brown roots, from which, alter the first year's growth, are formed one or more oval tubers, which are at first nourished by the decaying parent root; several annual erect stems two to five feet high ; dark green leaves with five wedge-shaped deeply divided lobes; long- stalked, helmet-shaped blue or purple flowers, which form dense spikes, and appear in June or July ; and dry, black, shrivelled seeds, which ripen about the end of August. The dried roots, imported from Germany or cultivated in Britain, are two to four inches long, and from half an inch to an inch thick at the crown, which is knotty ; are brown externally but white within, conical, rapidly tapering, prominently marked with the bases of the rootlets, of an earthy odour, — characters which should distinguish them from the larger, longer, more uniformly cylindrical, white, pungent, bittSr root of horse-radish, for which it has sometimes been fatally mistaken. According to Pro- 138 ACONITE — A RESPIRATORY, fessor Schroff, of Vienna, the root is six times as active as the other parts, and is consequently most valued, should be taken up after the plant has flowered in autumn, or, before the new- stem rises in spring, cut into small pieces, and dried at a low temperature. The seeds are said to be specially potent (Eoyle). The leaves are less active than the root, but more so than the flowers, fruit, or stem, and, with the flowering tops of plants cultivated in Britain, are directed by the Pharmacopoeia to be gathered in July, when about one-third of the flowers are expanded, and when the leaves have matured their special properties. They should be rapidly dried, and at once used for making the preparation desired. Any part of an active or poisonous aconite, when slowly chewed, produces a peculiar acridity, numbness, and tingling of the lips and tongue, unac- companied by irritation or inflammation. This, besides being a test of aconite, is most observable in those varieties and parts of the plant, and in those preparations which are most potent, and hence roughly gauges the activity of any specimen or preparation. The root and leaves, when powdered, have a dirty grey colour, and a strong earthy odour ; yield their active principles readily to alcohol ; and owe their poisonous and medicinal actions to an alkaloid termed aconitine or aconitia. This cryifcalline base (C33 H43 N O12) is the chief active constituent of A. Napelkis, but one batch of roots, probably belonging partly to an unknown species of Aconitum, gave a non- crystallisable alkaloid, picraconitine (C31 H45 N Ou), possessing a bitter taste, but very feeble physiological activity (Groves and Wright). Both these alkaloids form crystalline salts, and yield benzoic acid on saponification. The roots of Aconitum ferox contain a third alkaloid, pseudaconitine (Cgg H49 N Ojj), which is crystalline, and highly active. Other non-crystal- lisable alkaloids usually mixed with these are probably not present in the plants, but are produced by decomposition of the original bases during the process of extraction. Aconitine is generally obtained from the root of any active variety grown in this country or imported from India, by maceration with rectified spirit, saturating* with milk of lime, removing the lime by sulphuric acid, recovering the spirit by distilla- CARDIAC, AND VASO-MOTOE SEDATIVE. 139 tion, dissolving the residue in water, separating the alkaloid from its sulphate by precipitating with carhonate of potash, • and purifying. •, About 12 to 60 grains are extracted from 1 lb. of well-preserved dried roots. _ The ferox, grown in the sub- alpine Himalayas, produces the largest percentage. The activity of aconitine, or what is sold as such, varies materially. The crystalline is purer than the amorphous. Morson's preparation is more potent than the aconitine sold on the Continent. These diversities probably depend upon some of the aconitines consisting of only one of the alkaloids, while others contain several. The subject requires fuller in- vestigation. As prepared by the Phar., aconitine is a trans- parent, colourless, or pale yellow powder ; bitter ; crystallisable with some difficulty in right rhombic prisms; soluble in 150 parts of cold water, 50 of hot water, and more readily soluble in alcohol and ether. It is distinguished by producing, even when in very diluted solution, peculiar tingling and numbness. Actions and Uses. — Aconite depresses, and in large doses paralyses the sensory and motor tracts of the medulla and spinal cord, causes spasm of the muscles of inspiration, and death from asphyxia. It is a sedative notably of the respira- tory, cardiac, and vaso-motor systems. It is prescribed as a sedative, antipyi-etic, and anodyne. When chewed, or rubbed on mucous or cutaneous surfaces, it causes a peculiar tingling and numbness, accompanied by no irritation, vascular excite- ment, or visible alteration of structure, and depending on paralysis of the sensory nerves. General Actions. — Dr. Sidney Einger describes aconite as " a protoplasmic poison, which destroys the functions of all nitro- genous tissues ; first of the central nervous system, next of the nerves, and last of the muscles ; but it has an especial affinity for the sensory apparatus, paralysing first the sensory percep- tive centre." It affects, he believes, all the structures of the heart, — first its ganglia, next its nerves, and last its muscular substance. Its action on respiration is stated to depend upon its influence on the respiratory centres {Hand-Booh of Thera- peutics, Ninth Edition). Eecent observations indicate that moderate doses attack first the end organs, next the nerve trunks, and eventually the centres ; sensory centres and nerves 140 ACONITE are earlier implicated than motor; local numbness, the charac- teristic insalivation, and diaphoresis, precede the champing of the jaws, the peculiar suffocative bronchial spasms, the loss of voluntary power, and the notable dragging of the hind extremities. Neither brain nor special senses, excepting per- haps taste, are affected. Death chiefly results from asphyxia, depending upon paralysis of the muscles of mspiration, par- ticularly of the diaphragm, and spasmodic closure of the glottis. The right side of the heart becomes greatly engorged, whilst the left is nearly empty. When large doses are given the obstructed respiration is probably so extreme that the heart suddenly stops, and asphyxia and syncope concur. The poison is retained in the body in an active form, often for upwards of twelve hours. Its free use at short intervals hence demands caution ; it is excreted chiefly by the kidneys, producing in- creased discharge both of water and solids. Aconite has a very uniform effect on all animals, from earth- worms to man himself. Horses receiving an over-dose, such as one to two drachms of the Brit. Phar. tincture, tremble vio- lently, lose the power of supporting themselves, become slightly convulsed, froth at mouth, perspire freely, appear much nauseated, and make efforts as if about to vomit ; the breathing in half an hour becomes slower and feebler, the pulse is reduced in strength, and usually in number ; six or eight hours elapse before the breathing and pulse become normal. Impaired appetite and more or less nausea occasionally remain for one or even two days. Viborg mentions that a horse, after receiving eight ounces of the root and lower leaves of Aconitum Napellus, became very uneasy, breathed slowly and with difiBculty, attempted to vomit, had a depressed, irregular, intermittent pulse, and looked round at his flanks, as if suffering pain ; but he gradually recovered in about six hours. Next day he got three-quarters of a pound of aconite, which induced similar symptoms, and death in about twelve hours (Hertwig). Similar symptoms have been observed in the followiug experiments, made at the Edinburgh Veterinary College by my lamented friend Mr. Barlow and myself : — A black mare, 15 J hands high, previously used for slow work, and in good health, got, at 12.40 p.m. (27th September KILLS BY EESPIEATOEY AEEEST. 141 1852), one fluid drachm of Fleming's tincture of aconite. At 1 she was nauseated, had eructations of frothy mucus, with attempts to vomit, which increased till 1.30, when she went down. The pulse, which was 35 before the administration of the poison, was now 60, and very weak ; she continued down till 7 P.M., when she was destroyed in consequence of being unable to stand. On 24th September 1852, an aged chestnut cab horse, 16 hands high, and useless from a bad quitter, was tied up by the head for ten minutes, to insure perfect quietude. The pulse was then found to be 56, and the respirations 12. The animal had a good appetite and regular evacuations. At ten o'clock he got ninety minims of Fleming's tincture of aconite in a linseed-meal ball, the head being stiE kept tied up for fifteen minutes. In half an hour he fed greedily on potatoes and beans, but no change was observable. At 1 p.m. he got fifty minims of the same tincture in four ounces of water. At 1.15 he appeared to be making continual efforts to swallow some- thing ; his mouth was closed ; and after such attempts at swallowing, air and fluid were regurgitated up the gullet, causing a rattling noise, as of air-bubbles mixed with water. At 1.20 the pulse was 50 ; symptoms of actual nausea ap- peared ; the muscles on the side of the neck and throat were contracted; the muzzle brought near to the breast; the lips retracted ; and the mouth slightly opened. Fits of retching came on every two minutes, and increased in violence during the next ten or fifteen minutes. 1.30. — During each paroxysm of retching the mouth was opened, the lips widely retracted, and four or five ounces of frothy mucus discharged on the ground. The pulse had fallen to 40, and become weak. On account of the retching, the respirations could not be counted. Copious perspiration broke out over the body, and increasing distress was shown in the quivering surface and pallid mucous membrane of the mouth, nose, and eyes. 2 p.m.— Pulse 38, and weak ; the respirations not easily counted, but probably about nine ; in other respects no change. The animal passed feeces and urine freely ; and shortly after getting a pint of cold water, lay down somewhat relieved, with the retching scarcely so frequent. At 2.30 the pulse was weaker than ever; the 142 ACONITE. breathing irregular, interrupted, and sighing ; and the animal unable to rise. The labial and nasal muscles were contracted, causing retraction of the lips, and disclosing the gums blanched, and the teeth covered with frothy mucus. Two bottles of strong ale were given, with half an ounce of spirit of ammonia. At 3 P.M. the pulse was 35, and still weaker than before ; respiration \vas somewhat accelerated, probably owing to the animal's being down; perspiration continued to stream from every part ; and the retching, though somewhat subsided, still came on about every ten minutes. The animal remained down without much change until about 6, when the nausea was somewhat diminished, but the pulse so weak as to be scarcely perceptible. He was raised with difficulty, and stood blowing much for fifteen minutes. At seven there was little change, the pulse remained imperceptible, the respirations about 20, and there was no appetite for food or drink. He was left with the expectation of finding him dead next morning ; but at 7 A.M. (25th) he was up and eating. His pulse was 65, his respirations 10, and his appearance very haggard and reduced. October 1st. — Since last date he has never regained his former look or appetite ; for two days been unable to rise or stand ; and has become much wasted. He was destroyed by six drachms of prussic acid ; but, on post-mortem exami- nation, every part except the lungs seemed healthy. These organs, more especially the right one, were extensively studded with patches of extravasated blood about the size of walnuts, which, in those parts connected with the pulmonary tissue, were more or less softened, and emitted an odour characteristic of heated decomposed blood. The rusty fluid produced from the softening had in various places passed into the bronchi, imparting to their frothy mucus a brown colour. Among carnivorous animals the poisonous effects of aconite are exhibited in the following experiments made at the Veteri- nary College. A cat of average size got seven minims of Fleming's tincture of aconite. In two minutes severe retching came on, with a copious flow of saliva, probably arising from paralysis of the fauces ; and in five minutes painful vomiting and involuntary muscular contractions of a most active kind, with perverted action of the voluntary muscles, causing the POST-MORTEM APPEARANCES. 143 animal to leap up the wall and turn somersaults backwards. In this, as in most bther cases, the pupil, at first somewhat contracted, ultimately became dilated. The pulse was reduced in volume and strength, shortly becoming very weak ; the breathing was gasping. The vomiting and inordinate muscular action continued until within two or three minutes of death, which took place twenty minutes after the administration of the poison. No morbid or peculiar post-mortem appearances were observable. A medium-sized Scotch terrier got thirty minims of Fleming's tincture. In five minutes painful and active vomiting came on, which must have effectually emptied the stomach. The retching and vomiting continued, however, for half an hour, when the animal was so exhausted and paralysed in its hind extremities as to be unable to walk except by supporting itself on its fore limbs and dragging the hind after it. It gradually recovered, however, in about two hours. In some other cases a drachm of Fleming's tincture has destroyed dogs with as much rapidity as an equal quantity of medicinal prussic acid. The lungs after death are found to be shrunk, and contain little blood ; the trachea and bronchi contain excess of frothy mucus, accumulating owing to paralysis of the respiratory muscles and glottis; the cavities of the right heart are greatly distended with blood ; the left side is nearly empty; but nothing abnormal is noticed about the digestive organs. In ruminants aconite, introduced into the stomach, is rather less prompt and powerful than in horses and dogs ; and the late Professor Fleming found its activity was diminished by digesting it with the gastric secretions either of rabbits or calves. But when injected into the veins or placed in the areolar tissues, it develops its poisonous effects as readily in ruminants as in other animals. In poisoning by aconite, finely powdered animal charcoal, mixed with a little water, is given in the hope of its absorbing the poison. A prompt active emetic or the stomach-pump must be used to remove any poison that still remains un- absorbed. The only chemical antidote of value is tannic acid, which forms an insoluble compound with the aconitine ; but to be of service it must be used very promptly. By move- 144 ACONITE ments of the limbs and ribs, and by gentle magneto- electric currents down the back of the neck and round the ribs, Dr. John Harley endeavours to combat the respiratory paralysis. Brandy and ammonia should be cautiously given. The lung congestion may be somewhat relieved by moderate bleeding from the jugular. Medicinal Uses. — For all the domestic animals aconite is a prompt and effectual sedative and antipyretic. Its power of controlling and cutting short inflammation and fever depend upon its slowing the action of the heart, and movement of blood through the vessels. "Within ten or fifteen minutes after a medicinal dose is administered the pulse-beats are often lowered by one-fourth, and their force is likewise re- duced. Tissue metamorphoses is hence retarded. Troiu paralysis of vaso-motor centres the arterioles, according to Dr. Fothergill, are dilated, the capacity of the vascular system is consequently increased, the patient, as it were, " bleeds into his own vessels," and congestion of limited inflamed parts is thus further abated. Increased perspiration, moreover, helps to reduce elevated temperature. Whether used internally or externally, it lessens perception of pain, and sometimes removes the conditions on which it depends. These physiological actions explain the efficacy of a few properly regulated doses of aconite in the earlier stages of pleurisy, enteritis, peritonitis, mammitis, lymphangitis, laminitis, acute rheumatism, or in- deed in any cases where persistent high temperature indicates the presence of acute inflammation. Acute sore throat in horses, accompanied by high fever, is often controlled by one full dose, followed at intervals of an hour by half-doses, until five or six are given, or, until insalivation, champing of the jaws, or profuse perspiration, indicate that physiological effects are established. Aconite, however, is useless — indeed usually injurious — in the common epizootic sore throat, accompanied by weakness. It is more serviceable in acute sore throat, laryn- gitis, and pleurisy than in bronchitis and pneumonia. Mr. Balfour of Kirkcaldy for twenty-five years has advantageously used aconite in the treatment of contagious pleuro-pneumonia in cattle. In enteritis in horses, Mr. Hill of "Wolverhampton stated that within five minutes after aconite tincture is swal- A SEDATIVE AND AKTI-PYKETIC. 145 lowed he has repofitedly found the pulse fall from 100 to 70 beats per minute, and this notable effect is usually succeeded by gradual abatement of fever and pain. — (Veterinarian for July 1871.) Combined with a purgative, aconite often exerts sedative and anti-spasmodic effects in colic. In acute rheuma- tism it usually relieves constitutional fever and probably also allays local pain. Mr. Connochie, Selkirk, in the treatment of acute rheumatism, after a dose of physic conjoined with opium, recommends thrice daily, for either horses or cattle, 10 mins. of Fleming's tincture and a drachm of nitre. Eepeated small doses are beneficial in the outset of puerperal peritonitis in cattle ; and some flockmasters now use it with success during the lambing season, giving it with gruel to all ewes which have a hard time, begin to blow, or show symptoms of fever. Conjoined with perfect quiet and a dose of physic, aconite is successfully used in the earlier stages of tetanus by Mr. Tliomas Dollar, London, by Mr. Hill, Wolverhampton, and Mr. Macgillivray, BanK-^^Veterinarian, 1871.) In small, frequently repeated doses, either alone or with hemlock, it usually controls and steadies excessive or irregular action of the hypertrophied heart, especially in plethoric patients. Ansesthesing superficial sensory nerves, aconite is often useful as a local anodyne in neuralgic or rheumatic affections, painful wounds, or swellings of a chronic or non-inflammatory kind ; and in such cases not only allays pain, like opium or belladonna, but also sometimes removes its cause. Like other local ansesthetics, it is more effective in combating irritative than inflammatory pain. Diluted with fifteen or twenty parts of water, and used cautiously, Fleming's tincture often re- lieves the itching, and hastens the cure of grease and other eczematous eruptions in borses or dogs. A serviceable lotion for such purposes consists of an ounce each of tinctures of aconite and arnica dissolved in a quart of water. A still more soothing and diffusible application is made by substituting chloroform fpr the arnica. Doses, eic. — The plant is not used in the crude state. The extract, unless very carefully prepared from an alcoholic solu- tion, is apt to be of defective or irregular strength. The tine- ture, the simplest and best preparation both for internal a.nd K 146 ACONITE. external use, is sometimes of uncertain and insufficient strength; and, to prevent disappointment, should be obtained only from reliable sources. Its preparation is thus ordered by the Brit. Phar.: Macerate 2 J ounces of aconite root in coarse powder for forty-eight hours in fifteen fluid ounces of rectified spirit in a close vessel, agitating occasionally; then transfer to a percolator, and, when the fluid ceases to pass, pour into the percolator five fluid ounces of spirit. As soon as percolation is completed, subject the contents of the percolator to pressure, filter the product, mix the liquids, and add sufficient rectified spirit to make one pint. It is beautifully transparent, the colour of sherry, with a slightly bitter taste, followed by the characteristic sensation of tingling and numbness. For horses the dose varies from 7TL xxx. to TIlxl. ; for cattle about f gi- ; for sheep and pigs, 7H_vi. to TTLx. ; for dogs, Tf^iv. to 1T[vi. Flemings, Tinctv,re, still much used in veterinary practice, about four times as strong as the Pharmacopoeia tincture, and, on account of its concentration, requiring to be used most carefully, is made as follows :— Take of root of Aconitum mpellus, care- fully dried and finely powdered, sixteen ounces troy ; rectified spirit, sixteen fluid ounces ; macerate for four days ; then pack into a percolator ; add rectified spirit until twenty- four ounces of tincture are obtained. The dose for horses is from 11|^vi. to nj^x.; for cattle, from ni^x. totll^xv.; for sheep, m^ij. or Tt^^iij.; and for dogs, from TIL J to \^^- Whichever tincture is used should be given in water or gruel ; it may be repeated in half doses at intervals of one or two hours. The effects of full doses some- times continue for twelve or fifteen hours ; repeated doses at short intervals are therefore to be given with much caution. Used hypodermically, less than half the above quantities sufiice. Professor Walley finds that the activity of aconite is increased by giving it in combination with alkaline csx- honaies.— {Veterinarian's Pocket Conspectus^ ACONITINE is one of the most potent of sedative poisons. Dr. Headland {The Action of Medicines) records that ^^^th of a grain in solution in water suffices to destroy a mouse; i^th of a grain, kills a small bird after a few minutes, and -^yh almost instantaneously ; -^ih. to ^th kills cats, the latter quantity in twenty minutes or half an hour ; i grain, ALCOHOL. 147 given to a shepherd's dog weighing 30 lbs., began to operate in three or four minutes, and proved fatal in sixty-five minutes ; ■g'jyth grain subcutaneously injected over the scapula of a horse caused in a few minutes champing of the teeth, salivation, fits of retching, reduced number and force of the heart's action (Mavor and Burness on Action of Medicines) ; -^^th. of a grain would probably suffice to cause the death of an adult man. Used subcutaneously, especial caution must be had, as it acts even more rapidly and powerfully than when given by the mouth. The symptoms and post-mortem appearances are the same as in poisoning with the crude drug, the extract, or the tincture. In human practice, the alkaloid is used chiefly externally, in the forms of alcoholic solution and ointment. ALCOHOL. Ethyl Alcohol. Spirit of Wine. Eectified, Proof, and other Spirit, obtained by fermentation of Sugar. Alcohol is represented in the Pharmacopoeia in several dis- tinct forms — as absolute alcohol, rectified spirit, proof spirit, and methylated alcohol ; and is, moreover, extensively used in the forms of wines, beer, and spirits. The various alcoholic fluids are obtained, either directly or indirectly, from fermentation of saccharine solutions ; in this country, from infusions of malt ; in many parts of the Continent, from the juice of the grape ; in Germany, from potatoes ; throughout the United States, from Indian corn ; in Jamaica and other rum-producing countries, from molasses. In these processes saccharine matter, ultimately converted into grape sugar, is dissolved and exposed at a tem- perature generally about 65° or 70° to the action of a ferment, usually the yeast fungus — the Torula cerevisise — which breaks ;t up, probably by a somewhat complicated reaction, into alcohol and carbonic acid, as set forth in the following formula : — 1 Equiv. of Grape Sugar _ f 2 Cg H5 HO (Alcohol). Ce H12 Og "12 CO2 (Carbonic Acid). Alcohol is believed to be the hydrate of a basylous radical ethyl (C2 H5), and is hence sometimes termed ethylic alcohol (CH3 CH2 OH). Ethyl forms various other compounds of 148 ALCOHOL. medicinal value — namely, ethyl oxide (Cj Hj) 2O, or common ether ; ethyl nitrite, Cj Hj NOj, the etherous principle of sweet spirit of nitre ; ethyl acetate; Cj Hj, Cj Hg Oj, or acetic ether. When a fermented saccharine solution is exposed to a high temperature, the alcohol distils over — mixed, however, with ■water and various impurities ; if distillation be several times repeated, the fluid at 60° reaches the specific gravity -825, ■which, according to British excise standard, constitutes alcohol or pure spirit. It still, however, contains seven to ten per cent, of ■water, which, though inseparable by distillation, may be removed by such water-absorbing bodies as potassium carbonate and quicklime. Absolute or real alcohol thus obtained is a mobile, colourless fluid, with a spirituous odour, an iatensely fiery taste, and a specific gravity of -7938. It is entirely volatile, boils at 173°, burns -without producing smoke, becomes . viscid at — 166°, but has never been frozen; has great affinity for -water, absorbing it readily from the atmosphere, and mixing ■with it in all proportions. Next after water it is the most universal solvent, and readily dissolves chloroform, ethers, essential and concrete volatile oils, resins, most tar products, and many other medicinal substances. When oxidised, it yields aldehyde and acetic acid ; distilled with sulphuric acid, it produces ether ; with nitric acid, nitrous ether ; treated -with chlorine, chloral is formed. Bectified Spirit, spiritus rectificatus, or spirit of wine, are the terms applied to the alcohol obtained from distillation of fermented saccharine fluids, containing 16 per cent, by -weight, or 11 per cent, by measure, of -water, with the specific gravity ■838. To absolute alcohol it bears general resemblance, but has less pungency and volatility, and a higher boiling point. It is used for making all the spirits and many of the tinctures and extracts of the Pharmacopoeia. Proof Spirit, the spiritus tenuior of the Phar., is directed to be made by mixing five pints of rectified spirit -with three pints of water. Thus prepared, it is freer from impurity than the -weak, imperfectly rectified spirit of the shops ; it contains 49 per cent, by -weight, or 42 per cent, by volume, of -water, has the specific gravity "920, and is used for the preparation of many tinctures. METHYLATED AKD OTHER SPIRITS. 149 Methylated Sfpirit is a mixture of alcohol of specific gravity "830, with 10 per cent, of the pungent disagreeable-flavoured, impure methylic alcohol, CH^ 0, obtained from the distillation of wood. (See Methylic Alcohol) This mixture, sold under the name of methylated spirit, proves an immense boon to phar- maceutical chemists and many other manufacturers; for the addition of the pungent methylic spirit, although it prevents the mixture being used for drinking, does not interfere with its value in pharmacy or the arts. , The following alcoholic fluids, employed both dietetically and medicinally for man, are occasionally also prescribed for the lower animals : — Wine, the fermented juice of the grape, contains from 5 to 1 7 per cent, of excise alcohol (specific gravity ■825), and owes its peculiar bouquet to oenanthic ether ; Brandy, prepared by distillation of the weaker wines, contains about 53 per cent, of excise alcohol ; Rum, a fluid of about the same strength, is made by distillation of a fermented solution of molasses ; Whisky, of similar strength, is obtained by distilling a thoroughly fermented solution of malt, or of malt and raw grain ; whilst Hollands, Geneva, and Gin, a little weaker than these, are prepared from fermented malt, with a small quantity of juniper berries. Ales and Porter, convenient stimulants in almost everyday use, are made by infusing malt in water at about 180°; allowing it to stand for a few hours until the starch is in great part converted into dextrine and sugar ; boil- ing the solution with the requisite hops ; adding yeast to cause fermentation, which, however, must be carefully prevented from going too far. The dark colour of porter depends on a part of the malt being roasted. Porter and ales contain between 4 and 8 per cent, of excise alcohol (spec. grav. -825). Impurities. — ^Excess of water, the common sophistication , of alcoholic fluids, increases the specific gravity, which is ascertained either with a hydrometer or with marked beads. Commercial spirits are apt to be contaminated by ill-flavoured, pungent volatile oils, and especially by fusel or grain oil, also called amylic alcohol or potato spirit. The presence of this fusel oil imparts an empyreumatic burning flavour ; produces a yellow coloration when shaken in a test tube with a fragment of potassium iodide, and causes blackening on addition of 150 ALCOHOL sulphuric acid, or by exposure to the aclion of silver nitrate and light. To remove grain oil, the rectifier, previous to each distillation, mixes the spirit with water, or di"ests it with animal charcoal ; but neither of these processes is very effectual, while admixture before distillation of burnt alum, calcium chloride, potassium permanganate, or the addition of •silver nitrate, although greatly better, are not available on the large scale. Actions and Uses. — ^Alcohol is a narcotic poison of the in- ebriant class ; it first stimulates, then deranges, and subsequently depresses and paralyses the functions of the brain and spinal cord ; it kills usually by paralysis of respiration. Medicinal doses are diffusible stimulants, anti-spasmodics, cardiac tonics, and antiseptics. Properly regulated doses are readily assimil- ated and are convertible into nervous, muscular, or gland force. The unconsumed excess, during excretion, exerts diuretic, diaphoretic, and expectorant effects. Locally applied alcohol is irritant, refrigerant, and antiseptic. Its solvent and anti- septic properties lead to its extensive use in pharmacy. General Actions. — Strong spirit, applied to the skin or to a mucous surface, abstracts water, coagulates albumin, and increases topical heat, redness, and irritability; but these primary stimulant effects soon give place to diminished vascularity and sensibility. Similar opposing effects occur when alcohol is taken in full doses internally; the general excitement first observed is followed by deranged and depressed action. Alcohol exerts similar effects by whatever channel it enters the body. Moderate doses, given by the mouth, induce superficial congestion of the parts with which they come in contact, and cause increased gastric secretion and improved digestion. But large doses and strong solutions irritate and inflame the mucous surfaces and interfere with absorption; they moreover precipitate pepsin, diminish its activity, and arrest its secretion. Alcohol has a high diffusive power, and is speedily absorbed through the veins of the stomach and duodenum. Occasional moderate doses, carried direct by the portal vein, increase activity of the liver cells ; but continuous excessive doses, by over-stimulation, lead to faulty secretion of bile, and atrophic, and fatty degeneration — results which are. AN INEBRIANT NARCOTIC. 151 however, less common in veterinary than in human patients. While in the circulation, it appears to diminish the capacity of the red globules to give off oxygen ; it retards combustion both of albuminoids and starch, and hence lowers temperature. Its prominent distinctive action is, however, its affinity for arid power over nervous matter, and especially that of the cerebro- spinal system. In cases of poisoning, relatively larger amounts of alcohol have been extracted from the cerebro-spinal axis than from other tissues. On these nerve centres, it exerts its primary stimulant and secondary sedative actions. By them its effects are propagated, exciting, deranging, or depress- ing according to dose or modifying conditions, the various bodily functions. Moderate doses in health give fulness and quickened movement to the circulation ; but in debilitating disorders and cohvalescence from acute disease, the weak heart is strengthened and dilated arterioles are contracted. Poison- ous doses, after a brief stage of excitement, cause imperfect automatic control, muscular relaxation, unconsciousness, gradual faUure of the heart, and paralysis of respiration. The treatment of such poisoning consists in emptying the stomach by emetics or the stomach-pump, and warding off deadly stupor by keeping the patient moving, by cold affusion, ammonia, and hot coffee, and by the f aradism of the muscles of respiration. There has been much controversy as to the dietetic value of alcohol. It contains no nitrogen, and hence it is not available for building up albuminoid coUoidial structures. But, like sugar, starch, or fat, it undergoes oxidation or combustion, supplies force and heat, maintains or increases the weight of the body, although, when used in excess, it sometimes causes accumulation of fat or fatty degeneration. Men and animals kept on somewhat deficient diet,, on which weight would be lost, maintain their weight when receiving in addition daily small doses of alcohol. In health, alcohol can readily be dis- pensed with as an article of food alike for men and animals ; it has the disadvantage of diminishing oxidation. But through- out many typhoid complaints, and during convalescence from reducing disease, alcohol judiciously administered conjoins the good effects of food and medicine. Entering the circulation by simple osmosis, its heat and fprce producing powers are quickly 152 ALCOHOL I and readily available, digestion is improved, tissue waste is diminished, and moderate doses are almost wholly consumed within the body. On animal temperature, as in so many other of its effects, the action of alcohol is not unifonn. Moderate doses in healthy subjects cause inappreciable change. But full doses given either to men or animals, concurrently with excitement, whilst the heart's action is increased, the capillary vessels are relaxed, and blood is driven to the surface, have been shown by Professor Binz of Bonn, Dr. B. W. Eichardson, and other physiologists, to produce a rise of external temperature, some- times amounting to one degree. But this temporary surface glow is accompanied with diminished tonicity of the surface capillaries, increased radiation results, and the cooling process is hastened. In the second stage of alcoholism, marked by excitement, with some muscular inability and deficient auto- matic control, temperature goes steadily down, the decline is quickened and increased if the animal is in a cold atmosphere, and an undue interval has elapsed since food has been taken. When the advanced stage of unconsciousness is reached, a dangerous reduction takes place, amounting in birds to fully five degrees, in dogs and other animals to three degrees, in rabbits to upwards of ten degrees, in man himself to two or three degrees. (Dr. B. "W. Eichardson's Cantor Lecture for 1 874.) Interesting differences occur in the effects produced by full doses on different animals. On man, with his highly developed . cerebral hemispheres, alcohol acts promptly, disturbing and perverting the intellectual functions ; but five times the dose is requisite to disturb the motor functions which are presided over by about one-eighth part of the human brain. Alcohol in amount corresponding to 0-4 to the 1000 of the total weight of the body, disturbs human intelligence ; whilst 2-40 per 1000 of weight are needed to disturb his motor functions. In pro- portion to their weight, dogs take larger doses without being affected; 1-5 part to 1000 of body weight is required before notable effects occur, and then instead of perversion of the brain proper, which is as five to one of the dog's motor centres, there is perversion of motor functions. A like prominent motor disturbance— the prancing, striking with the feet, the KILLS BY PAEALYSIS OF RESPIRATION. 153 unsteady gait, loss of co'- ordination, dragging of the hinder ex- tremities — is observed in horses and other lower animals. In fatal cases the stupor is sometimes broken by convulsions. The effects of alcohol vary greatly, according to dose and degree of concentration. "While full doses produce primary excitement, with increased action of the heart and per- verted motor function, followed by perverted and depressed reflex action, stUl larger doses exert very rapid narcotic" and sedative effects, with little or no excitation or inebriation. Four or five ounces of whisky quickly swallowed by dogs of about 20 lbs. weight, if not got rid of by vomiting, produce rapid depression, coma, and death within several minutes, and without any appreciable excitement; and cases of this kind occurring in man are recorded in Christison's Poisons. Hert- wig gave an old but sound horse eight ounces of alcohol, of specific gravity about '825. He became much excited and uneasy, pranced, staggered, and after two minutes fell, struck out vehemently with his feet, rolled his eyes ; the pupils at first were contracted, and latterly dilated ; he rapidly became in- sensible, and died in about ten minutes. The pulse was little altered, and the heart continued to beat for ten minutes after death. Paralysis of the muscles of respiration, or closure of the glottis, is stated by Dr. Pereira to be the immediate cause of death. (Pereira's Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, abridged edition, 1872.) Between four and six ounces pro- duced similar symptoms, but did not prove fatal. One to two ounces destroyed dogs in periods varying between a quarter and half an hour, with similar symptoms, and great inclination to vomit. One or two drachms induced in dogs reeling and stupor, which continued for about half an hour. Dr. Percy injected strong alcohol into the empty stomachs of dogs, which immediately fell over insensible ; respiratory and cardiac movements ceased within two minutes ; the blood was found highly charged with alcohol. Cattle, sheep,' and indeed all ruminants, are less susceptible of its influence than dogs, or even horses ; and Hertwig mentions that, when given in the form of brandy to sheep and goats, they soon become very fond of it, taking six to ten ounces at a time, and gradually becoming less easily affected by it. 154 ALCOHOL Chronic poisoning by alcohol, with impaired nervous power and fatty degeneration, common enough in the human subject, is unknown in the lower animals ; but Professor John Gamgee describes {Domestic Animals in Health and. Disease) a form°af encephalitis in cattle, resulting from alcoholism, due to the practice " prevalent in some parts of Scotland, of giving ' burnt ale ' to cows in the neighbourhood of distilleries. The ale is given by steeping straw in it, and the animals wiU also drink it freely. They often sleep soundly after such a beverage, and sometimes symptoms of intoxication are manifest. The symp- toms are as follows .-—The head is turned singularly to the side, and is slightly elevated. The pupils are widely dilated, and the eyes have a remarkably wild appearance. On approaching the animals, they wink rapidly and tremble. There is marked lieat of head, horns, and ears. AVhen pressed with the finger in the axilla, they fall instantly, and when pulled by the head, they incline to turn over. The pulse is about seventy or eighty per minute. After death all the organs are found healthy, except the nervous centres, and both the brain and its mem- branes are found congested. This congestion often extends into the spinal canal, and the pia mater over both brain and cord is the seat of red spots ; the redness is either ramified, or is obviously due to blood extravasation. Clots of blood have been found in the lateral ventricles, and around the spinal marrow in the cervical region. There is evidently softening of the brain substance, as a direct result of this condition." At distilleries, where the live stock are freely supplied with the dreg or wash and other refuse containing spirit, pigs, as well as cattle, are frequently intoxicated, exhibit symptoms similar to those described, and are sometimes fatally affected. As a diffusible stimulant alcohol resembles ether and am- monia, but is not so evanescent. Compared with ether and chloroform it is less volatile, incapable of administration by the lungs, and hence has no general anaesthetic action ; its primary stimulant stage is more marked and prolonged ; while its secondary stage of unconsciousness is usually more slowly produced, is caused only by dangerously large doses, and is apt to prove fatal from paralysis of the heart and respiratory move- ments. Wines containing cenanthic ether differ from spirits A STIMULANT AND HEAUT TO^'IC. 155 in having part of their alcohol combined with their saline and organic constituents. They are hence less rapidly absorbed ; their stimulating effects, consequently, are more slowly pro- duced, and are also more lasting. Whisky and gin containing traces of volatile oil slightly differ from brandy, rectified and proof spirits, in their more rapid removal from the body, and their causing more notable diuresis. Medicinal Uses. — Few remedies are more frequently and extensively used. Its great function is to rouse and regulate weak or deranged nervous power. In atonic indigestion it stimulates gastric secretion,' and improves appetite ; in colic it controls spasm ; in chills it equalises irregular circulation ; in shock, poisoning by sedatives, and prostration from debilitating disease it sustains the flagging action of the heart. In many cases of epizootic catarrh and sore throat amongst hard-worked horses, when the pulse is quick and weak, the breathing ac- celerated and embarrassed, the temperature ranging from 102° to 105°, no treatment is more successful than a saline draught, a dressing of mustard to the throat, and a couple of ounces of spirits diluted with gruel or water, and repeated every two hours. In one or other of its several forms it proves useful in most typhoid and epizootic diseases, and in chronic com- plaints connected with or leading to mal- assimilation. With iron salts it improves appetite and assimilation in ansemia. It sustains the powers of life, notably the action of the heart, during the critical and exhausting stages of strangles, typhoid fever, purpura, and occasionally of tetanus. In young and weakly patients, which are readily pulled down by disease, the early use of alcohol is specially advantageous. In pneumonia in horses, towards the third or fourth day, when the earlier -acute symptoms are passed, alcohol frequently answers well. Sometimes it is advantageously given earlier. A case of double pneumonia communicated to me by Mr. Israel Print of Clapham illustrates this restorative sustaining power. The horse was seen after twenty-four hours' illness, his pulse 100, scarcely perceptible, his respirations 52, his temperature 106°. He was ordered a wineglassful of whisky in a few ounces of water every two hours ; he got a quart in twenty- four hours. His pulse had then fallen to 84, his respiration,s to 46, his 156 ALCOHOL temperature to 104°. The readily assimilated spirit was per- severed with for another twenty-four hours, with continued abatement of fever and distress, and the animal made a steady recovery. In farcy cases, where appetite is indifferent and temperature 105°, a pint of ale or a glass of spirits thrice a day, in conjunction with full doses of iron sulphate, improves appetite, and abates fever. Cows suffering from puerperal apoplexy, after a full dose of physic, and if the heart is weak and irregular and the surface cold, are often benefited by five or six ounces of whisky, given at intervals of one and a half to two hours ; congestion and paralysis of the nerve centres are usually thus relieved. Young cattle, as well as other animals wasting from anaemia, are often successfully treated by ale, conjoined with iron salts. Delicate dogs suffering from distemper, chorea, and other exhausting disorders have their appetite, pulse, and strength improved by small doses of wine, or spirits and water. In their removal from the body by the kidneys, skin, and lungs, spirituous fluids stimulate these secreting organs, and increase their watery discharges. To maintain their curative benefits, and prevent the secondary depression apt to ensue from occasional infrequent administration, repeated doses at intervals of two to three hours are generally required. Of the efficacy of the remedy no doubt need be entertained if the weak pulse be- comes firmer, and the dry tongue and skin are rendered moist. Given too frequently or in undue amount, whether in health or disease, alcohol depresses and exhausts nerve force, hinders oxidation, retards excretion of morbid matters, and causes dryness of the skin and mucous surfaces. In a state of concentration, when rubbed-into delicate parts of the skin, alcohol acts as a rubefacient, but is seldom used for this purpose among the lower animals. Coagulating albumin and contracting capillary vessels, strong spirit is occasionally applied to arrest bleeding. As a refrigerant and antiseptic it is employed for surgical purposes. Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson keeps amputations, compound fractures, and other wounds moist with six parts absolute alcohol, half a part liquor plumbi, and sixteen parts distilled water. As a stimu- lant and refrigerant for bruises, wounds, and strains, it is AN ANTISEPIIC AND EEFRIGEBANT. lo t popularly used throughout Scotland in the familiar form of whisky-and- water. A cooling lotion is made with an ounce each of rectified spirit, vinegar, and ammonium chloride, dis- solved in a quart of water. As a refrigerant, however, ice is generally more convenient and effective. Spirit beat up with white of egg is used in veterinary as well as in human practice, to prevent excoriation of parts exposed to pressure. An ad- mirable and well-keeping solvent for the active, principles of many drugs, alcohol is largely used for making tinctures, extracts, and ethers. Doses, etc. — Of rectified spirit horses take about fgi. ; cattle, fgj. to fgiij. ; sheep, fgss. ; pigs, i^ij. ; and dogs, about f3J. To the larger veterinary patients alcohol is frequently pre- scribed in the form of spirits, ale, and stout ; to the smaller, in the shape of wine. The doses are mainly determined by the condition of the patient, and the purpose they are given to serve ; they should be administered in moderate quantity, tolerably diluted, at intervals of one or two hours, and are less apt to flush or disagree with the patient if administered along with food. Properly diluted, they are readily drunk of their own accord by most patients. Mixed with linseed gruel there is little risk of their misappropriation. To determine or intensify one or other of the effects of alcohol it is usually conjoined with other medicines — with ether where more prompt and powerful stimulation is desired, with opium or chloral hydrate where spasms are to be combated, with digitalis where the full effects of a cardiac tonic and stimulant are sought, with ammonium acetate where diaphoresis is to be encouraged. ALOES. Aloe. Inspissated juice of the leaves of various species of Aloe. J^at Ori.— Liliaoece. Sex. Syst. — Hexandria Monogynia. The several species of ^ foe, which yield the various commer- cial aloes, are succulent liliaceous plants, having short woody stems ;, strong, thick, fleshy, amplexicaul light-green leaves, with sharp serrated edges, and a stout spine projecting at the apex; and yellow or white spiked tubular flowers. Under- 158 ALOES ueatli the leathery cuticle and thick cortical epidermis of the aloe leaf, and exterior to the loose mucilaginous pulp, lie elongated thin walled cells which contain the yellow, bitter purgative juice. Somewhat different processes are pursued in extracting and concentrating this juice. The better qualities are allowed to exude spontaneously from incisions made in the leaf. Inferior results are obtained when the leaves are exposed to pressure or heat, which mix the mucilaginous sap of the mass of the leaf with the cathartic juice, while many specimens are deteriorated in the process of concentration by carelessness in separating impurities and exposure to a high temperature. Varieties. — The most important varieties of aloes met with in commerce and used in medicine are Barbadoes, East Indian, Socotrine, Cape, and Caballine. Baebadoes Aloes {Aloe Barhadensis), the variety of aloes most extensively used in veterinary practice, is produced chiefly by the Aloe vulgaris, which has a short cylindrical woody stem ; curved sword-shaped leaves, with hard reddish spines, a tough and leathery cuticle, with a light-brown paren- chyma ; a branched scape, a cylindrical ovate spike, and tubular yellow flowers, at first erect, afterwards spreading. Its pre- paration is not confined to the island of Barbadoes, but is also carried on in Jamaica and most of the West Indian Islands. A dwarf variety is cultivated ; the plants are set out six inches from each other in rows, twelve to eighteen inches apart ; the leaves, one to two feet long, are cut off in March or April, in the heat of the day ; under good cultivation the plants last for several years. The leaves are chopped off close to the stem, and placed for about twelve to twenty hours in tubs with their cut ends down ; from the longitudinal vessels the juice trickles out, is collected in casks, and at convenience is concentrated by boiling for four or five hours, sediment and impurities being carefully kept back. When sufficiently concentrated, the juice is poured into gourd shells, and the opening closed by a portion of shell let in, and secured in its place by a piece of coarse cloth nailed over it. The gourds, when filled, usually weigh from 10 to 40 lbs. ; and fully a 000 of these, with a quantity of the drug in boxes, are annually exported from Barbadoes alone. The total export exceeds 1000 cwts., most BARBADOES, EAST INDIAN, AND SOCOTKINE. 159 of which comes to Great Britain. The price varies according to quality, from £4 to £9, 10s. per cwt. Barbadoes aloes has a dark or liver- brown colour j a brown, opaque, earthy fracture ; a disagreeable, bitter, persistent taste, and a strong and disagree- able odour, especially when breathed upon— an odour generally likened to that of the human axilla. It is tough, hard, and difficult to pulverise ; small fragments are translucent, and of an orange-brown hue; its powder i? olive- green, and, darker than that of the other commercial varieties. The dark colour, dulness, and opacity of Barbadoes aloes are generally stated to depend upon the presence of water, but may also.be owing to the condition of the aloin. When dissolved in weak spirits it leaves an abundant flocculent residue. East Indian, Bombay, or Zanzibae Aloes, is brought from Arabia, and the coasts of the Eed Sea and Persian Gulf, to Bombay and other Indian ports, and thence exported to Europe. It is supposed to be obtained from the Aloe Socotrina, and perhaps from other undetermined species. The manner of extraction and purifying is unknown. It comes to the London market in kegs, tin-lined boxes holding 56 lbs., or in skins, of which several are packed into casks or firkins. The quality and the appearance of East Indian aloes are very variable. Superior qualities are brown-red, small fragments are red, sparkling, and tolerably transparent ; the powder is red-brown ; compared with either Baibadoes or Cape aloes, the fracture is more shining, and odour less disagreeable ; the taste, like that of other varieties, is bitter and nauseous. Spirit of the strength of sherry does not fully dissolve it, but leaves a floccu- lent residue. Aloes native to India is mostly of inferior quality, and is rarely exported. Hepatic Aloes is the name usually i given to a second-rate opaque, liver-coloured. East Indian aloes. A variety termed Mocha Aloes, occasionally met M?ith in drug warehouses, is dark-coloured, fetid, and of inferior quality. SocoTEiNE Aloes {Aloe Socotrina) is of very : fine quality, comes in quantities of a few, tons annually from the islands of Socotra, and Madagascar, is ■uiid.erstood to be the produce of the Aloe Socotrina, and is imported in skins, kegs, casks, and , chests. The juice is allowed to exude spontaneously, or with only gentle pressure, from the freshly- separated lea,Yes, and is 160 ALOES. then evaporated by exposure to the heat of the sun. Much of the aloes sold as Socotrine is stated to consist either of selected portions of East Indian aloes, or of a purified extract of that variety. According to Christison and Pereira, Socotrine aloes occurs in red-brown pieces, of variable size, and of a garnet-red translucency when thin. Its fracture is generally smooth, glassy, and conchoidal, but occasionally rough, and resembling that of a tear of myrrh. It has a fragrant agreeable odour, which is increased if the specimen be breathed upon or heated. It is brittle and easily reduced to a golden yellow powder, almost entirely soluble in spirit of the specific gravity •950. It is quoted at £6 to £13 per cwt. From East Indian it is distinguished by its redder colour, greater lustre, transparency, and solubility. The finer varieties of Socotrine are sometimes called aloes humida, lucida, or clear aloes, which appear also to have been the names applied to varieties now extinct. The late Professor Pereira described, in the Pharmaceutical Journal for April 1852, a soft semi-fluid Socotrine aloes, re- cently imported in casks containing 6 cwt. by way of Madras, considered to be the raw or unboiled juice of the plant. This Socotrine aloe juice has the consistence of thin honey, a deep orange colour, the strong fragrant odour of Socotrine aloes, and deposits on standing a small quantity of minute prismatic crystals, analogous with the aloin obtained by Messrs. Smith from Barbadoes aloes. Cape Aloes {Aloe Capensis) is brought from the Cape of Good Hope, and is chiefly got from the Aloeferox, Africana, or spicata, or from hybrids obtained by crossing these and other varieties. Within the last few years increasing quantities of carefully prepared grey -brown opaque aloes have been imported from Natal in wooden boxes. The extraction of the juice, as described by Mr. Lyell in Christison's Dispensatory, begins during September and October. The leaves, cut from the plant close to the stalk, are pUed, with the cut ends inwards, on sheep-skins or ox-hides .spread in holes dug in the ground. The juice slowly drains out, is evaporated in large caldrons, and exported either in chests or skins — the latter generally containing the better qualities. It is sold at the Cape at 2:|d. to Sjd. per lb. Cape aloes is often of very inferior quality, CAPE AND CABALLINE ALOES. 161 being black, opaque, vesicular, and of little activity. Those who have seen its preparation are, however, of opinion that this inferiority is not owing to the species cultivated, to the climate or other natural causes, but to carelessness in the extraction and evaporation of the juice, and especially to the commencement of operations before the termination of the wet season. Although sold at less than half the price of average samples of Barbadoes aloes, the better qualities of Cape aloes are little, if at all, inferior to them or to East Indian. Mr. Joseph Gamgee, after comparative experiments, declares a preference for Cape, and adds that, side by side with Barbadoes, they cause equally copious but less watery discharges, while their action was not quite so long kept up. — {Veterinarian, April 1856.) The better qualities have a dark-brown or olive- green resinous appearance, a compact structure, a vitreous, conchoidal, dark-green fracture, and a strong and rather dis- agreeable sour odour. They are very brittle, and easily reduced to a gamboge-yellow powder. Caballinb or HoESE Aloes is inferior to the varieties previously noticed, and often consists of the residue or sedi- ment left from the purification of more valuable sorts. It varies considerably in colour, opacity, and general appearance ; is black, vesicular, and bituminous, and lacks the compact structure of the better kinds ; has a strong and disagreeably foetid odour ; usually contains such impurities as straw, bark, stones, and sand ; and should be discarded from veterinary practice. Properties. — Aloes is the inspissated concrete juice of the leaves of certain species of Aloe. The several varieties, although varying in special characters, are amorphous, waxy, somewhat resinous, with a specific gravity when dried of TSGi, are rather brittle, their external surface duller and darker than a freshly-made fracture, with an intensely bitter and persistent taste, and a strong and more or less disagreeable odour, always much increased when the specimen is breathed on or heated. When held in the hand for some minutes aloes softens and becomes adhesive. At a low red heat it is partially fused, froths up, chars, and burns. Exposure to temperatures exceed- ing 150° alters its composition and impairs its purgative pro- L 162 ALOES perty. It is almost entirely soluble in boiling water, whicl however, deposits, as it cools, from 60 to 80 per cent, of brown substance, the so-called resin of aloes. Most specimer are entirely soluble in proof spirit. The watery and alcoholi solutions of the several commercial varieties vary somewha in colour, those of Cape aloes having the lightest colour, thos of Barbadoes the darkest. The watery solution, when cole reddens litmus, is deepened in colour by alkalies, blackenei by iron sesquichloride, and yields a yellow-grey precipitat with lead acetate. Composition.— The Messrs. T. and H. Smith of Edinburgl who have thoroughly investigated the composition of aloe have isolated from 25 to 30 per cent, of an active yello\ crystalline, neutral bitter principle — aloin, which is notice more in detail at the end of this article ; about the same pre portion of an equally active, soluble, uncrystallisable aloin ini which the crystallisable form is convertible by heat, much i the same way as uncrystallisable treacle is formed during tt careless manufacture of crystallisable cane sugar. A pah yellow, mobile, mint- flavoured volatile oil, of which an ounc only is obtained from 400 lbs. of aloes, imparts its characteristi odour. Besides mineral matters and albumin, aloes furthe contains about 30 per cent, of a transparent brown resin, whic' is deposited from watery decoctions as they cool, and is solubl in rectified spirit to the extent of about 85 per cent. Thi resin occurs in unusual amount in inferior samples, bein formed at the expense of the aloin usually by exposure of tb juice during inspissation to high temperatures, and has bee found by Dr. William Craig of Edinburgh to possess litt purgative activity. Eecent investigations fail to discover tl aloesic and gallic acids which figured in older analyses. Impurities. — The adulteration of aloes is chiefly confined 1 the substitution of one variety for another, or to the mixtui of an inferior with a more Valuable sort. Such frauds may i general be detected by a knowledge of the characters of tl several varieties, and especially by noting their colour, lustr odour, and solubility. The admixture of stones, earth, stra\ and the like must be detected by close inspection. Actions and Uses. — Considerable doses are purgative ; n PURGATIVE, FEBRIFUGE, AND TONIC. 163 peated small doses, insufficient sensibly to increase the action of the bowels, are tonic; applied externally, it is stimulant and desiccant. General Actions. — Aloes in the solid form, when given by the mouth, is emulsionised and saponified chiefly by the bile and pancreatic fluids, and then in great part absorbed. The rapidity with which a properly compounded ball is dissolved in the horse's stomach is shown by an interesting experiment made by Mr. Joseph Gamgee, sen. Seven drachms of Cape aloes made into a ball with sixty minims of glycerine, and rolled in white tissue paper, were given to a horse, which, thirty-three minutes later, was killed by dividing the carotid artery. Ex- amination being made an hour after, the ball was found entirely dissolved ; the distinct odour of aloes in the stomach and duo- denum had not, however, extended to the large intestines. Aloes has not as yet been detected in the blood; but its dis- appearance from the part to which it is applied, its impregnat- ing the milk and other secretions, and its frequently acting on the kidneys, are certain evidences of its entering the circula- tion, whence it is, however, speedily excreted. Insoluble in air, it is not removable by the skin or lungs ; in full medicinal doses it is not easily separable by the kidneys, but is specially attracted to the posterior part of the smaller intestines and to the colon, provoking augmented peristaltic movements and increased secretion of the mucous glands and follicles, through which it is eliminated along with the abundant fluid discharges. Compared with some other purgatives, aloes is rather tardy in its action, and apt to be uncertain when the bowels are irregular or loaded with hard dry food. It is generally, how- ever, a safe and sure purgative for horses. Unlike many other cathartics, and excepting in inflammation of the alimentary mucous membrane, it is not in large' amount an irritant poison. Unless given in very large doses, it does not render the de- jections so fluid as saline purgatives, but appears to increase in greater degree the peristaltic movements. It increases the secretion of bUe. Professor Eutherford introduced aloes into the duodenum of a fasting dog, and found that although only slight purgation ensued, all the bile constituents were in- creased. It is said to produce evacuations which possess a 164 ALOES peculiar disagreeable odour (Hertwig). The cathartic action of aloes, like that of most purgatives, is produced with nearly equal facility by whatever channel it finds access to the blood; by placing the aloes in sufficient quantity in the areolar tissue, applying it to any mucous membrane or other absorbing sur- face, or injecting it in solution into the veins. Six drachms of Barbadoes aloes, dissolved in twenty-four ounces of water, and injected into the jugular vein of a horse, caused nausea, frequent straining and efforts to dung, colic — which, however, was only of short duration — and after, twelve hours' purgation. When injected into the veins, it sometimes acts on the kidneys rather than the bowels. Moiroud injected four drachms, dis- solved in diluted alcohol, into the veins of a horse, and next day eight drachms, dissolved in a similar manner ; but instead of catharsis, observed only diuresis. The several varieties of aloes differ somewhat in the degree of their action : Barbadoes is regarded as most energetic. East Indian less so, and Cape the weakest and most liable to cause diuresis. Socotrine is stated by Pereira to have the best tonic effect. In veterinary practice, preference has long been given to Barbadoes aloes — perhaps, however, without sufficient reason ; for the better qualties of East Indian or Cape, when given in slightly larger doses, are quite as effectual, and have the advantage of being considerably cheaper. The Caballine, and other inferior kinds, being very uncertain and irregular in their composition, should not be used. Every sort is most effective when freshly powdered ; and hence, except for im- mediate use, should be kept in pieces, preserved from moisture in oiled silk or in tin canisters. A temperature approaching 160°, applied, whether in- the extraction of the juice, or in making it up for use, impairs activity by converting the active aloin into inert resin. The purgative effect is materially accelerated and increased by giving it in solution, and also to a lesser degree by combining it with iron sulphate, vegetable tonics or bitters. The irritant effect on the rectum, sometimes an objection to its use, especially in the dog, may be mitigated by prescribing it in solution, and prevented by combining it with other purgatives. In the horse, a cathartic dose of aloes generally causes in THE MOST EFFECTUAL PUEGE FOR HORSES. 165 a few hours dryness and increased warmtli of the mouth, an advance of one or even two degrees in temperature, a some- what quickened pulse, and occasionally nausea, colic, and copious secretion of urine. This diuretic effect sometimes occurs even with good Barbadoes aloes, especially when the bowels have been constipated, or otherwise out of order; whilst it is still more common with inferior specimens of Cape and other kinds, in which the aloin has been converted into resin. Combination with jalap, calbmel, or other purgatives, usually counteracts this diuretic tendency. Combination with ginger or other aromatics, or with hyoscyamus or belladonna, helps to ward off nausea and tenesmus. The time required for the operation of aloes differs much in different horses, and is modified by various circumstances, especially by the dietary. A dose of four to six drachms generally operates in sixteen to twenty-four hours. The degree and continuance of the action are liable to considerable variation. In some horses, purging is over in two or three hours; in others, it extends over twenty-four hours. In ruminants, aloes is neither a prompt nor a powerful purgative. When given to cattle, even in the fluid state and in doses of several ounces, it fails to produce copious evacua- tions, such as are obtained in the horse. Hertwig mentions that, in an experiment made at the Veterinary School of Lyons, a cow got six ounces of aloes, partly in solution, partly in electuary ; but, although uneasiness and loss of appetite were observed, the bowels remained unmoved. Gilbert also gave six ounces, with an infusion of four ounces of senna leaves, without effect. Sheep and goats take doses varying from two drachms to an ounce, without being speedily or certainly purged. This tardiness and uncertainty in the purgative effect of aloes on ruminants mainly depends on the small effect which it has on the stomach and anterior parts of the alimen- tary canal ; on its acting particularly on the great intestines, which in such animals are not so largely developed as in horses; and on its chiefly operating by increasing the peristaltic move- ments, which are difficult to excite in ruminants. As a purgative for the dog, when given alone, it is neither so speedy nor so safe as calomel and jalap, or castor oil. It 166 ALOES. has also the disadvantage of occasionally producing irritation of the rectum ; but, as already stated, this may in great part be overcome by combining it with other purgatives. The dose required to purge a dog is unusually large as compared with that administered either to human patients or to horses. In the case of many medicines, the doses suitable for the dog and for man are very similar ; but in this instance the dog requires eight or ten times the quantity given to man. Aloes is a good purge for swine, but usually takes about twelve or fifteen hours to operate. Medicinal Uses. — There are few equine ailments in which aloes is not administered. It is given in constipation, indi- gestion, and colic, and for the expulsion from the intestines of concretions, foreign substances, and worms. In obstinate con- stipation it is best used in solution, and along with calomel, frequent clysters, hand-rubbing, and fomentations. In atonic torpid states of the bowels it is advantageously conjoined with gentian and strychnine. In indigestion it is prescribed in smaller doses, along with or followed by vegetable bitters and antacids. In the earlier stages of diarrhoea, small doses, con- trolled in their effect by combination with gentian, and occa- sionally with hyoscyamus and opium, prove useful in getting rid of irritants, whether lodged in the bowels or in the blood. As a vermifuge, it should be given after a considerable fast, in the fluid state, and with oil of turpentine ; whilst, in addition to its exhibition by the mouth, a diluted solution in- jected into the rectum often destroys ascarides lodged in the lower bowels. I"or colic in the heavier descriptions of horses, Professor Dick was wont to recommend four or five drachms of aloes rubbed down with a quart of hot water, and given with an ounce each of oil of turpentine and laudanum. Some bad colic cases are relieved by conjoining with the aloes in solution thirty to forty minims of Phar. tincture of aconite. When accompanied with abundant evolution of gas, colic is often successfully overcome by giving with the aloes two ounces of ammonia spirit, or an ounce each of medicinal solu- tion of ammonia and ether. The unloading of the bowels overgorged with bulky food is usually more safely effected by linseed oil and calomel than by aloes, which cannot be given MEDICINAL USES. 167 in large or repeated doses without causing dangerous irritation. In jaundice and congested states of the liver and spleen, aloes is usually selected in preference to other purgatives. In the treatment of febrile attacks in horses, it sometimes supersedes the need of blood-letting and sedative medicines, frequently purging away deleterious matters alike from the bowels and blood. A dose of aloes often allays the irritation of wounds • and lamenesses. It is a valuable auxiliary in the treatment of most acute inflammatory and many febrile diseases, and owes its efficacy to its clearing the intestines of undigested food and other crudities, which often occasion much uneasiness, and aggravate the original disease ; to its removing from the blood noxious matters which have been developed by disease, or accumulated there during its existence ; and to its establishing extensive counter-irritation. Aloes is usually effectual in removing cedematous enlargements and dropsies, when they do not depend on, debility or disease of important internal organs. Eepeated doses lessen the formation of superfluous blood and fat, are given both professionally and empirically to promote condition ; an object which is usually, however, more safely and effectually secured by judicious feeding and well-regulated exercise. Among cattle and sheep, in constipation and indigestion as well as in febrile and inflammatory complaints, aloes is occa- sionally given ; but, as already stated, it is less reliable than for horses. If used for ruminants, it should be combined with salines, gamboge, or croton, and given in the fluid form. For dogs it is sometimes prescribed in the same class of cases in which it is given to horses, but is generally superseded by calomel and jalap, or some of the oils, which have the advan- tage of acting more speedily and surely. Aloes should be avoided in irritation or inflammation of the alimentary canal, and in piles or haemorrhage from the rectum. In bronchitis and other inflammatory affections of the mucous membranes or skin, in inflammation of the kidneys, and in influenza and typhoid, complaints generally, it must be used with great caution, and in very small doses ; for in such cases the intestinal mucous membrane is unusually irritable, and superpurgation and inflammation are readily induced. During 168 ALOES. pregnancy, both in the mare and bitch, the violent operation of aloes must be carefully avoided. Some practitioners give it both to foals and calves, but for these young animals linseed or castor oil is more suitable. As a tonic, aloes is little used. Like other bitters, it is occasionally prescribed in weak and relaxed conditions of the alimentary canal, where there is impaired secretion of bile, or suspicion of intestinal worms. It is sometimes applied exter- nally, as a gentle stimulant and desiccant, to suppurating wounds and soft flabby granulations, and is an ingredient of the once famous Friars' balsam. (See Benzoin.) Doses, etc. — Horses receive 3ij- to 5^> ^^^ but it is ineffectual in arresting constitutional symptoms. Any unabsorbed acid should be got rid of by emptying the stomach by an emetic or the stomach-pump. Topical irrita- tion is combated by white of egg, mucilaginous drinks, and glycerine, and by inhalation of steam medicated with a little laudanum. Elimination of the poison is hastened by stimu- lating the functions of the skin and kidneys. Dr. A. C. Post, of New York, has demoiistrated by experiment that atropine antagonises the systemic symptoms of carbolic acid. A great proportion of the manifold uses of carbolic acid depend upon its destroying the living cells which excite and maintain fermentation and putrefaction. It readily kills the germs of yeast and mould. One part added to 200 or 250 parts of vegetable solutions arrests growth of germs. Serum, blood, milk, and other albuminoids require, however, larger proportions of carbolic acid to prevent their molecular change. Milk is maintained unchanged by -^ part of acid, (Antiseptic Storgery, by W. W. Cheyne). Meat steeped for an hour in a one per cent, solution is eifectually preserved ; a sparrow suspended in a corked bottle wetted with the acid remained sound for a month, the feathers showing no disposi- tion to separate. Not only does carbolic acid destroy^ the minute cells or germs which excite fermentation and decay, but oats, barley, beans, and lentils, when soaked in a one per cent, solution, do not germinate ; plants watered by it die, the flowers suffering before the leaves. The vapour or solution promptly poisons not only bacteria, and micrococci, but such creatures as fleas, moths, ticks, earth-worms, ascarides, and lumbrici. Sprinkled on the doorway, it alarms and turns aside the advancing armies of ants which in Mexico and other parts of America sometimes cause much annoyance and destruction. On the threshold of wounds it is equally effectual in warning off and killing those ubiquitous germs, which, floating in the atmosphere, are ever ready to drop upon, irritate, and dis- organise surfaces deprived of their protecting covering. A minute amount mixed with vaccine lymph deprives its granu- 264 CARBOLIC ACID. lar matter of its characteristic activity. Mr. W. Crookes's experiments indicate that the virus of cattle plague loses its reproductive powers when exposed to carbolic vapours (Report to Cattle Plague Commissioners). The subtle, actively-repro- ducing germs given off during the progress of other catching diseases, are also destroyed when brought into contact with carbolic acid ; indeed, no substance proves so generally service- able as a disinfectant. Medicinal Uses. — The administration of carbolic acid is indicated in those diseases characterised by the production of specific germs, and in which tissue-change is unduly violent. It has proved of value in cattle plague, lowering advancing temperature, and prolonging even where it did not actually save life. One hundred and five grains of acid in six ounces of water were injected by Mr. William Crookes into the blood of a cow suffering from cattle plague, with little apparent injury beyond what might have been expected from any simple fluid ; the patient gradually recovered. M. Bouley, president of the commission appointed by the French Academy of Sciences to investigate malignant pustule, reports that in attacks pro- duced by inoculation every patient died; but when cattle, inoculated in the same 'manner, were dosed with two or three drachms daily of carbolic acid, four out of five animals re- covered. A like favourable result also followed the use of the acid in horses and sheep inoculated with pustule. In the Texas cattle-fever the remedy most relied on has been twelve ounces each of carbolic acid and sodium bicarbonate, mixed with four fluid ounces of glycerine ; the dose of the mixture being two table-spoonfuls thrice daily in a quart of water. In the malarial fevers of man its value has been tolerably con- clusively established. In tedious malignant cases of strangles and putrid sore throat, in typhoid fever, purpura hsemorrhagica, and farcy amongst horses, carbolic acid has been used with success. In some of these cases it has been advantageously conjoined with equal quantities of iodine. Two drachms of carbolic acid given thrice daily to horses with farcy and glanders afforded only temporary benefits. It deserves further trial in checking hectic fever, septicaemia, and pyaemia, and allaying the fever and pain of weed. By Mr. Priestman and MEDICINAL AND SURGICAL USES. 265 others, it has been used with some benefit in the treatment of the contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle. In black quarter in young cattle it appears to stave off a fatal issue, and, given to subjects breeding the disease, it should operate as a preven- tive. It mitigates the severity of mouth-and-foot disease, and, when given in this and other contagious diseases, it pro- bably checks reproduction of the specific virus, and thus prevents or reduces its risk of spreading. In all animals it is effectual in counteracting dyspepsia and flatulence, especially when depending upon atony and liability to fermentative changes. A few drops added to the ordinary prescriptions used in diarrhoea and dysentery help to arrest undue secretion, and further deprive the excreta of their acridity and fcetor. Inhaled, diluted with air or steam, it diminishes excessive secretion and reflex irritability in chronic bronchitis, folicular pharyngitis, and even in phthisis, and in such cases probably kills sepftic germs, or deprives them of their reproductive powers. Caution must, however, be exercised in using carbolic acid, whether by inhaling, injection, or as an external dressing, for it is liable, as above mentioned, to become absorbed and develop its irritant narcotic properties. Surgical Uses. — Professor Lister has inaugurated the suc- cessful use of carbolic acid and other antiseptics in surgery. He has demonstrated that no wound or injury exhibits irrita- tion and suppuration, that blood-clot and exudate undergo no putrefaction until exposed to the dust particles bearing the particulate micro-organisms constantly present in the atmo- sphere, but especially abundant and of an unusually injurious character in the neighbourhood of putrefying remains and septic wounds. While the skin continues unbroken, as in simple fractures of bones, and in muscular and ligamentous strains, or in abscesses carefully opened antiseptically with the canula and trocar, wounds are unaccompanied by noisome discharges or wasteful suppuration, septicaemia is unknown, and even erysi- pelas is very rare. Not only is the comfort and health of the individual promoted, but annoyance and injury to adjacent animals are also prevented. Professor Lister's great aim is to bring all wounds into these favourable conditiqns of protection from septic materials and perfect rest. Surgical wounds in 266 CAKBOLIC ACID. human patients, made with fitting precautions from the first,' can be maintained aseptic, with the beneficent results of obvi- ating pain, hastening convalescence, and reducing the mortality of capital operations by greatly more than one-half. The fullest benefits of antiseptic treatment are, however, secured only when it is adopted so soon as the surface skin is broken. Within twenty-four hours, often in much less time, the irritating aerial germs will have found entrance into the wound, their work of disintegration will have begun, preservation of blood- clot and serum will be impracticable, and mischief ensues which, although comparatively easy to prevent, is not always easy of cure. Even in such cases antiseptics afford the best prospect of limiting the evil. The multiplying organisms which irritate and soften the granulations, which provoke suppuration, and are, moreover, liable to become absorbed, producing constitu- tional mischief, are destroyed by thoroughly cleansing the wound with a one to twenty solution of carbolic acid, or with a solution containing two or three grains of zinc chloride to the ounce of water. When thus rendered aseptic, the wound must be kept so by the careful systematic use of antiseptics. An aseptic wound is, however, maintained in its healthful state by comparatively weak antiseptics. Micro-organisms cannot survive in carbolic vapour or penetrate through car- bolised dressings. Following Professor Lister's instructions, a wound, whether incised, lacerated, punctured, or contused, whether made by accident or by the surgeon's knife, should, if possible, be main- tained in the aseptic state, and at once protected from the ubiquitous contaminating organisms. If it has been exposed, even for a few minutes, organisms will already have got access, and, even at the risk of adding to the irritation, it should be washed with a watery solution containing one part of acid to twenty of water. Any lacerated or envenomed portions should be irrigated with an oUy or glycerine solution of double this strength, or with a strong zinc chloride solution. Where the wound cannot be effectually covered up, it should be kept constantly wetted with a two or three per cent, solution. Where strappings can be kept on — not always an easy matter ANTISEPTIC TREATMEKT OF WOUNDS. 267 ■with veterinary patients — and where the wound is extensive, and likely to be irritated by continuous contact of considerable amounts of carbolic acid, there is first applied a protective of oiled silk varnished with copal and coated with dextrine, which allows the silk to be uniformly wetted with the antiseptic solution. Over this protective, or in ordinary cases directly upon the wound, is laid six or eight folds of carbolic lint, made of coarse unbleached gauze or muslin, which has been thoroughly impregnated by prolonged soaking with a mixture of one part of crystallised carbolic acid, four of resin, and seven of paraffin. Throwgh these dressings, the air, before reaching the raw surface, is filtered and deprived of those organisms which produ-ce putrefaction. To retard undue evaporation of the volatile antiseptic, and prevent discharges soaking through the dressing, a piece of macintosh cloth is then applied with the india-rubber coating next the wound, and wetted with the carbolic solution. Over this, and under- neath the appropriate strappings, are placed, as required, folds of carbolised lint tow or oakum. During surgical operations to insure the wound being kept aseptic, Professor Lister has a steam spray-producer continually directing carbolic spray over the wound and dressings. The spray- producer is again used when the dressings require renewal, which is needful after one or more days, and is indicated by irritation and pain of the injured part, or by discharge having extended beyond the gauze. Anything brought in contact with a wound may introduce the ubiquitous destructive organisms, hence the hands of the operator and of his assistants, before commencing, must be thoroughly washed with a one to forty carbolic solution, while instruments, the sUk, horse-hair, catgut, or wire for sutures, the tow, sponges, etc., shotild be kept close at hand in a vessel containing a one to twenty carbolic solution. With these precautions to maintain wounds in an aseptic state, various operations on the lower animals, previously unjusti- fiable, may now be undertaken with greatly improved prospects of success. -Such are the opening of the horse's abdominal parietes for the reduction of strangulation and intussusception of the bowels, or even for the removal of enoi-mous masses of ingesta, the removal of hydatid and other tumours from 268 CAEBOLIC ACID the liver aad other internal organs, the opening of joints and bursse, and the removal therefrom of lymph or faulty synovia. Carbolic acid is in daily use for many purposes amongst all classes of patients. It is used, as already indicated, for all wounds from which the injurious micro-organisms are to be removed, or from the attacks of which they are to be protected. Badly broken knees and open joints, unless perfectly recent, require thorough washing, not only of the injured part, but of the surrounding skin, with a saturated watery solution, while the antiseptic dressings, applied as above described, are usually kept irrigated with weaker solutions. So effectual is the preservative, power of carbolic acid that portions of damaged or dead muscle, tendon, or bone, if they cannot be safely separated, when kept wet with carbolic solution, and drainage is provided for discharges, are frequently absorbed, or when large become mummified and cease to irritate. Fistulse of the poll, withers, or lateral cartilages, cleansed of micro-organisms, provided with a dependent opening, and protected from fresh incursions of the irritating organisms, are often radically cured = without operation. Serous abscesses and bursal enlargements opened with antiseptic precautions, and at once covered in by J antiseptic dressings, heal up usually by first intention. Tuber- !^ culous deposits are shown by Koch to contain specific bacilli, ^ and cancerous and melanotic tumours, tfoubtless connected | with analogous organisms, where they cannot be dissected out, may be injected with strong carbolic solutions, which will destroy these as they do other lowly organisms. Farcy buds and ulcers are often stimulated, and healing promoted by thorough soaking with strong carbolic. The noisome ecze- matous eruption known as grease is often benefited by a daily dressing of strong acid, repeated for several days, when the improvement thus induced is usually further promoted by solution of zinc sulphate, or ointment of zinc oxide. A one to two per cent, carbolic oil solution, with a little acetate of lead lotion, constantly applied, allays pain and prevents or limits suppuration of burns and scalds, and is usually followed up by dressing the abraded surface with the bland, unirritating boracic ointment. Over-reaches and other serious bruises. A STIMULANT AND ANTISEPTIC. 269 after being drenched with a watery solution, are covered with a few folds of carbolised lint or oakum ; and, when paiufu], enveloped in a large bran poultice, which may be left undis- turbed for a couple of days. Similar treatment is serviceable in carbuncle of the cornory band occurring in hard-worked horses in wet, cold weather. A saturated watery solution answers well in foot-rot amongst sheep, but in chronic cases, and where reparative power is deficient, it is usefully alternated with turpentine and oil, or, where granulations are superabun- dant, by copper sulphate ointment. The impure brown carbolic acid, or a strong solution con- taining more than one part of acid to eight of oil, glycerine, or diluted acetic acid, is an active stimulant and superficial caustic, and is occasionally used as a rubefacient in sore throalt and scrofulous swellings of joints, and further exerts a be- numbing or local anaesthetic effect sufiBcient to abate topical irritation. A ten per cent, solution, which some practitioners prefer to make with diluted acetic acid, destroys the epiphytic growths of ringworm, and is also suitable for certain cases of psoriasis and prurigo, and for chronic eczema. The applica- tion of carbolic solution speedily removes the itching and swelling occasioned by stings of bees, wasps, and scorpions, and, promptly used, prevents mischief from dissection and post- mortem wounds. Diluted solutions, such as that known as M'Dougall's Sheep Dipping Composition, is used for destroying ticks and the acari of scab and mange, and has been favourably reported on by the Australian Government Commissioner ap- pointed to inquire into the spread and cure of scab in that colony. After thorough scrubbing with soap and water, pre- ceded (where the hair is thick or matted) by shaving, one part to twenty of oil is with care used for mangy dogs, but to avoid dangerous absorption too large a surface must not be dressed at a time. Injections or spray prove useful in atonic conditions of the fauces, and urino-genital mucous membrane, especially when accompanied by noisome discharges. In injury of the uterus or vagina during parturition in any veterinary patients, carbolic injections are very valuable. A saturated watery solution seldom causes undue irritation, and generally arrests bleeding, straining, and fulsome discharges, mainly by de- 270 CAEBOLIC ACID stroying, as they do elsewhere, the special organisms, and exerting also topical anaesthetic action. No treatment is so effectual in metritis in ewes. Such cases, however, would be much less common if shepherds would observe greater clean- liness, and thoroughly cleanse their hands with carbolic solution before rendering assistance in lambing. Such .pre- cautions are doubly needful where post-mortem examinations have been engaged "in, where dead lambs, which have lain about for some days, have been skinned, or where cases of metritis have been handled. No one who has beeu in contact with such a contagious complaint can enter the lambing pens without much risk of distributing the specific bacteria. The prevailing error in the surgical employment of carbolic acid is its use in too concentrated form. This is specially injurious when application is made of the impure acid, which contains the more irritating cr.esylic acid. But even pure carbolic, dissolved in 10 to 15 parts of oil, or 20 to 25 of water, is too strong for continued use. One or two dressings of any such solutions sometimes encourage reparative hypersemia, but if persisted with, and more particularly if applied without some oiled silk kept over the wound, they excite undue irritation, repress gi'anulations, prevent skin growth, and are liable to become absorbed. When wounds or ulcers for ten days or a fortnight have been regularly dressed with the more penetrating and volatile carbolic solutions, it is usually desirable to change the application, and healing is then often hastened by milder dressings of sulphurous, -boracic, or salicylic acids, of sanitas, or eucalyptus oil. The volatility and ready absorption of carbolic acid necessitates the substitution of other antiseptics, or its being used with great caution in extensive wounds, such as large burns, or where, as in wide-spread mange, a large surface has to be dressed with the antiparasitic. As a disinfectant, carbolic acid is extensively used for the purification of stables, cowhouses, piggeries, and poultry pens, of railway horse-boxes, : cattle-trucks, and loading-places, and of cattle-vessels and landing-stages. Tor such purposes it is often conveniently used in the form of M'Dougall's or Calvert's disinfecting powders, which are sprinkled daily throughout the stables of some of the extensive omnibus, cab, and carrying A MOST EFFECTUAL DISINFECTANT. 271 establishments of London, Liverpool, and other large towns, at an annual cost of 5s. for each horse. Carbolic acid, when thus employed, is not injurious or distasteful either to the animals or their attendants : it drives away ilies and fleas ; arresting decomposition, it prevents unpleasant smells ; conserving and fixing ammonia, it increases the value of manure with which it has been mixed ; with other germs it destroys those given off from cases of contagious disease. ~To insure thorough purification of infected premises, the antiseptic nfust be -freely and frequently used in the condition of powder, fluid, spray, or vapour, or in several -of these forms. The vapour is readily got by sprinkling the acid on live coals or on a hot metal plate. Besides smearing the walls and woodwork with the crude brown acid, during the prevalence of infectious and zymotic diseases, sheets wetted with it should be suspended here and there to catch floating particulate germs. Along with carbolic acid, sulphurous acid or sulphites may be fittingly used. To destroy the germs so soon as they are formed, or if possible limit their formation, animals infected with contagious dis- orders should have the acid given internally, and may also be lightly sponged over daily with a solution containing not more than one per cent. The daily use of the antiseptic, both in- ternally and ex.ternally, prevents, with tolerable certainty, healthy animals in near proximity to those diseased from absorbing or suffering from any infecting particles which may happen to reach them. For preserving sewage or other fermentescible matters, when freely mixed with water, carbolic acid is not so effec- tual as copper sulphate or zinc- chloride; for arresting the decomposition of night-soil, it is proved by Mr. W. Crookes's experiments to be inferior to common salt ; for neutralising or destroying offensive gases, it is not nearly so effectual as chlorine bleaching-powder or potassium permanganate. 'So other antiseptic is, however, so effectual in preserving or dis- infecting hides, skins, or wool, or subjects for anatomical examination, which keep for two months if injected and sub- sequently occasionally wetted with a solution containing one per cent. A similar solution preserves natural history speci- mens from mildew and moths. Mixed with the earth of vine 272 SULPHO- CARBOLIC ACID. borders it prevents oidium. Boned meat is brought in good condition from Monte Video and elsewhere, compressed and packed in canvas bags wetted with carbolic solution, and sub- sequently coated over with tar oil. Doses, etc. — Horses and cattle take Til ^^- *o 'Hlxl.; sheep and pigs, ni^ v. to m viii. ; dogs, TI^ i. to TTL ii. The crystallised acid is best for internal use. It is made into bolus with meal; but is more readily absorbed, more regular in its effects, and less likely to develop local irritation, when given dissolved either in water or glycerine. One part by weight of acid rubbed in a mortar with four of glycerine forms a convenient compound readily miscible with water or other solvents. An ointment is made by rubbing in a mortar fifteen to twenty grains of acid with an ounce of benzoated lard. The liniment usually contains one part of acid shaken up with twenty of rapeseed oil, which is preferable to the drying linseed oil. For external purposes it is often useful mixed with soap. Watery solutions are most penetrating and best fitted for cleansing wounds or skin surfaces; but simple watery solutions, on account of comparative insolubility in water, do not contain more than five per cent, of acid. Tor dusting over irritable surfaces it is mixed with starch, lycopodium, and occasionally with charcoal and plaster of Paris. M'Dougall's Disinfecting Powder, much used for cleansing and purifying, contains 33 per cent, calcium carbolate, 59 per cent, magnesium sulphate and water. Calvert's Powder, also a valuable antiseptic, con- sists of 20 per cent, carbolic acid, mixed with the powdered refuse of alum works. Calvert's No. 5 Carbolised Fluid con- tains 80 per cent, carbolic and cresylic acids, and, like all other carbolic solutions, loses strength unless kept in stop- pered bottles. Sulpho-Caebolic or Sulpho-phenic Acid (H,C6H^0,HS03) is prepared by mixing, with the aid of heat, equivalent propor- tions of carbolic and sulphuric acids. When slowly crystal- lised, it forms thin, colourless, deliquescent needles; it has less odour than carbolic acid ; at 400° it becomes red; at 540° it boils. It is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. When the acid in solution is saturated with the oxides or carbonates of the alkalies, earths, or metals, there are obtained crystalline. ANTISEPTIC SULPHO-CAEBOLATES. 273 soluble, almost odourless, usually colourless, stable sulpho- carbolates, which possess in mild degree the actions of carbolic acid, and have been examined chiefly by Dr. A. E. Sansom {Antiseptic System, 1871). The sodium salt (Na Cg H5 SO4) is a tasteless antiseptic and alterative, given to horses and cattle several times daily, in doses of grs. xx. to grs. Ix., and to dogs in grs. V. to grs. xv. The lime salt has been used in human practice in indigestion, diarrhoea, and dysentery. The iron salt is tonic and antiseptic. The zinc and copper salts conjoin the antiseptic and astringent properties of their components. These sulpho-carbolates are excreted by the kidneys in great part unaltered, and Dr. Sansom records that so effectual are their antiseptic properties that the urine of animals receiving medi- cinal doses has been kept for six months without undergoing putrefaction. But although useful for topical purposes, they probably do not readily give up their carbolic acid in the body, and certainly have not fulfilled the expectations formed of them as internal antiseptics. CASCAEILLA BAEK. Cascarillae Cortex. The Bark of Croton Eleuteria. Nat. Ord. — Euphorbiacese. Sex. Sys. — Monoecia Monad'elphia. Cascarilla Bark is principally imported from the Bahama Islands in quilled pieces about the size of a drawing pencil, and varying from two to four inches in length. Its structure is dense and brittle; its outer surface fissured, and usually covered with a light- coloured lichen ; its inner surface smooth and light brown. Its powder has the same colour, with a strong, pungent, but not disagreeable taste, and a peculiar aromatic odour, which is increased by heat, and recommends it as a constituent of fumigatory pastilles. Besides woody fibre, gum, and tannin, it contains 15 per cent, of two descriptions of resin; 1-5 of a pungent volatile oil isomeric with oil of turpentine ; and the neutral crystalline bitter cascarillin (Ce H, 0,). Actions and Uses. — Cascarilla is an aromatic and bitter 274 CASTOR OIL tonic, allied to chiretta and resembling cinchona, but less active, and occasionally used in indigestion, diarrhoea, and convalescence from exhausting diseases. Doses, efc.— For horses, 5ij. to 5iv.; for cattle, §i. ; for sheep and swine, 5 i. to 5 ij. ; and for dogs, grs. x. to grs. xl, given as bolus, infusion, or tincture. CASTOK OIL. Ricini Oleum. The oil expressed from the seeds of Eicinus communis. Imported chiefly from Calcutta. {Brit. Phar) Nat. Ord. — Euphorbiacese. Sex. Sys. — Monoecia Monadelpliia. The Castor Oil plant, or Pahna Christi, generally considered to be Jonah's gourd, is indigenous to various parts of the world. Cultivated in the colder parts of Europe, it is an annual shrub four or five feet high ; in Spain and Sicily it reaches a height of twenty feet ; in the southern latitudes of India, Central Africa, and various parts of North and South America, it becomes a large tree. The Euphorbiacess, besides the castor oil and croton plants, include a tail Brazilian tree, the coco-purgatif, which yields the oil of Danda or assu juice, resembling castor oil, but greatly more active, and devoid of colour and taste. The officinal part of the castor oil plant are the seeds, three of which are contained in each capsule. Two varieties are met with, the one the size of beans ; the other and commoner, some- what smaller. Both have the shining yellow-white epidermis, mottled with red-brown streaks and spots. The seeds comprise about one-fourth of their weight of ligneous husk, 8 per cent, of moisture, and nearly 70 per cent, of kernel, which contains about 50 per cent, of a fixed oil — the castor oil — associated with 20 of albumen, 18 of celLulin, 2 '4 of sugar and mucilage, traces ■of cenanthic aldehyde, and a small quantity of an acrid pur- gative principle, which has not been isolated, and mostly remains after expression of the oil. Professor Tuson, of the Eoyal Veterinary College, London, exhausting the seeds with boiling water, extracted a crystalline alkaloid, devoid of active pur- gative property, which he named ricinine. Castor oil is manufactured in London, largely imported from EXTRACTION AND PURIFICATION. 275 the East Indies and America, and in smaller quantities from Italy, the West Indies, and Australia. Various modes of extraction and purification are adopted. In London the care- fully shelled seeds are crushed in a screw or hydraulic press, the oil purified by rest, filtration, and bleaching. In the East Indies mucilage and albumen are got rid of by heating the expressed oil with boiling water, and straining it through flan- nel. In America, the seeds, deprived of husk, are exposed to gentle heat, in order that the oil may be more readily expressed ; the crude oil is freed from mucilage and albumen by boiling with water until perfectly transparent when cool ; 25 per cent, of best oil is thus got. In Jamaica the bruised seeds are boiled with water, and the oil skimmed off as it rises to the surface, — a process which, however, yields an inferior and dark-coloured specimen. The Continental plan of extracting the oil by alcohol or carbon bisulphide is expensive and inconvenient. Properties. — Oil obtained by these various methods differs slightly in activity,. but considerably in colour, flavour, solu- bility, and keeping properties. The English castor oil, prepared by expression alone, is usually rather dark ; the East Indian, principally imported from Calcutta, is of superior quality and moderate price ; the American-or United States oil is very free of taste, but at low temperatures deposits margarin ; the Italian, imported since the Exhibition of 1862, commands the highest price (Pereira, 1872). Cold drawn castor oils, prepared by expression alone, or with only a very slight degree of heat, are generally preferred ; for when a high temperature is employed, either in roasting the seeds or boiling the oil, the purgative principle is volatilised or acrid matters are developed. Castor oil, when fresh and well prepared, is viscid, almost colourless, and of a faint oily odour and taste. Although lighter than water, it is one of the heaviest of the fixed oils, its specific gravity at 60° being -964:. Exposed in a thin layer it thickens, gets rancid, and after a time entirely dries into a varnish-like film. Castor oil and alcohol exert a mutually- solvent action on each other ; the oil is soluble in two parts of rectified spirit and in ether, but not in water ; is easily miscible with other oils; saponifies with alkalies, yielding glycerine, palmitic, and other fatty acids, and the special ricinoleic acid 276 CASTOE OIL (HCjg H34 Og). It also contains oenanthic aldehyde, and ricinine, believed by Professor Tuson to be an alkaloid, but possessed of little if any purgative activity. Impurities. — Castor oil is adulterated -witli croton oil to increase its activity, with lard and suet oils to reduce its cost. Pure oil is distinguished by entirely dissolving in its own weight of alcohol, and in two of rectified spirit. {Brit Phar.) Inferior sorts are dark coloured, but become translucent by exposure to sunlight, and filtration through animal charcoal ; whilst disagreeable acrid taste and odour may be in great part removed by repeated agitation with water containing calcined magnesia and coarse animal charcoal. Actions and Uses. — Castor oil seeds are irritant and purga- tive, and have repeatedly caused fatal gastro-enteritis in man. They appear to be more powerfully irritant than the oil ex- tracted from them. When crushed, they form an Indian cure for mange. A decoction of the leaves is applied by the women of South Africa to their breasts to increase the secretion of milk. The oil is a mild purgative, closely resembling linseed and the other fixed oils. It .is emulsionised by the alkaline bile; a proportion undergoes absorption, but the greater amount,, little changed and occasioning slight irritation, passes through the bowels. Although it increases the peristaltic motions more than the secretions, it rarely causes griping ; when excreted, its oily flakes give the dejections a glazed appearance. When injected into the veins of man, it causes catharsis, and pro- duces in the mouth the same disagreeable oily taste as when swallowed. In horses, castor oil, like other oleaginous substances, is a mild cathartic ; full or repeated doses fail to produce the dangerous irritation or superpurgation resulting from overdoses of aloes or salts ; it is accordingly valuable for young and delicate subjects, and where the bowels or urino- genital organs are irritable. It is more used for cattle and sheep than for horses. In cattle practice, however, it is often superseded by the less expensive rape or linseed oil. In the dog it is more active than in man, and, for delicate subjects, a mixture of equal quantities of castor and olive oils is often used. Its occasional activity as an emetic in dogs results not A GENTLE PUEGATIVE. 277 from any specific emetic action, but merely from its nauseous oleaginous taste, and is obviated by giving the oil free of rancidity, and beat up with an egg, with mucilage, a little spirit, ether, or some aromatic. Acting with little irritation or griping, it is useful in young animals in irritation and inflammation of the digestive organs, as in diarrhoea, dysentery, enteritis, and peritonitis, in hernia, advanced pregnancy, affections of the kidneys and bladder, wherever more drastic purgatives might unduly irritate, and where reiterated doses require to be given. Its anthelmintic effects have sometimes been over-estimated, are in reality slight, and entirely dependent upon its purgative action. In cattle practice it proves useful in diarrhoea and inflammation of the digestive organs, and, united with Epsom salt in doses of half or three quarters of a pound of each, produces prompt and certain effects. For young calves it is the best of pur- gatives, it proves a safe and easy purge for pigs. The bruised seeds are much used by the native Indian farriers for the cure of mange ; and Mr. Thomas Pritchard, V.S., of Madras, informs me that two or three dressings usually suffice to remove the disease. As a clyster, it is generally superseded by rape or linseed oil. As an external demulcent, it is unsuitable on account of its tendency to become rancid. Doses, etc. — Castor oil seeds are conveniently given to the dog or pig to the number of six or eight, triturated with linseed mealy made into bolus, or rolled in a piece of meat. The dose of oil for the larger quadrupeds is about a pint; for sheep and pigs, f gij. to f §iv. ; for dogs, f §i, or f §ij., for cats, about f g i. It may be given alone or mixed with linseed oil, with gruel, milk, or aromatics ; to increase its activity, it is combined with small quantities of oil of turpentine or of croton ; to control undue irritation, as in diarrhoea and dysen- tery, it is conjoined with laudanum and warm starch gruel. For delicate or pampered dogs, a good laxative consists of an ounce each of castor oil and syrup of buckthorn, and a few minims of nitric ether, which, when shaken together, form a palatable emulsion. 278 CATECHU CATECHU. Black or Brown Catechu. Catechu Nigrum. Cutch or Terra- Japonica ; the aqueous extract of the wood of Acacia Catechu, and of Acacia Suma. Grey Catechu ; Catechu Palidum ; Gamhier ; the aqueous extract of the leaves and young shoots of TJncaria Gambler. The Acacia Catechu is a leguminous East Indian tree, found also in Africa ; the wood is used for domestic purposes and for making charcoal, the bark for tanning. The Acacia Suma, a large tree growing in Bengal, Burmah, and Southern India, has a white bark used for tanning, and red heart wood from which catechu is made. The wood of these trees, cut into chips, is boiled with water ; the decoction concentrated either by fire or the heat of the sun; and the extract cut into square cakes or run into clay moulds. The brown or black catechu {cate, a tree, cKu, juice) comes chiefly from Bengal and Burmah, in masses sometimes weighing half a hundredweight, packed in mats, bags, or boxes. The TJncaria Gambler, producing the pale catechus, is a stout climbing shrub, of the natural order Eubiacese, inhabiting the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and cultivated in plantations for its astringent juice. A decoction made of the leaves and young roots is evaporated, worked into light brown earthy- looking masses, and is made up of cubes with surfaces about an inch square. Both the brown and pale catechus are porous and opaque ; brittle, breaking with a granular fracture; under the microscope, are seen to contain minute needle-like crystals ; they are without odour, but have a sweet astringent taste, and are free from grittiness. They are soluble in alcohol and ether, par- tially soluble in cold water, almost entirely dissolved by boiling water, with which they form red-brown solutions. They con- sist of about equal portions of catechu-tannic acid, soluble in cold water, and of catechin or catechuic acid (Cjg Hig Og), deposited from a boiling watery solution in acicular crystals, (^19 Hjg Og 3H2 0), soluble in ether, and decomposed by AN ASTRINGENT., 279 fusion with potash into proto-catechuic acid and phloroglucin. Solutions of catechin give a green colour with ferie salts. Catechu further contains traces of quercetin (C27 Hjg O12). Actions and Uses. — Catechu is astringent. Like other tannin- containing substances, it combines with the gelatine and albumen of the tissues, lessens their calibre, and diminishes their solubility and tendency to putrefaction. Hence its value in the preparation of tanno-gelatine or leather. Catechu, being less astringent than oak-bark or galls, is more suitable for some internal uses. It is given to the several domestic animals in excessive mucous discharges from the alimentary canal ; is combined with aromatics, to remove flatulence ; with opium to relieve irritability; with chalk, magnesia, or an alkali, to counteract acidity. A convenient mixture for diarrhoea, is made with three ounces each of catechu, prepared chalk, and ginger, and six drachms of opium, made into mass with treacle and linseed flour. This will make six doses for a horse, four for a cow, and eight or nine for a calf or sheep. For these ruminants the dose is conveniently given suspended in starch gruel. Catechu is occasionally applied to sluggish sores and ulcers, to excoriations on the udder of cattle, and for the ordinary purposes of a vegetable astringent. It nearly resembles, but is more powerful than kino, the inspissated juice of an East Indian tree, the Pterocarpus Marsupium, and other leguminous and myrtaceous trees ; than rhatany, the dried root of a Peruvian shrub, the Krameria triandra ; and than logwood, the heartwood of the Hsematoxylon cam- pechianum. JDoses, etc. — For horses, 31- to 5iij- ; for cattle, 5ij- to 3vi. ; for sheep and swine, 3i- to 3ij- ; Eind for dogs, grs. iv. to grs. XX. These doses are administered three or four times a day, with sufficiency of mucilage or gruel to cover their astringent taste. An infusion is readily prepared for veterinary purposes, by pouring boiling water over coarsely powdered catechu, digesting by the fire for an hour, and straining. Flavouring ingredients may be added as required. A good tincture is made by the following Pharmacopoeia process: — "Take of catechu, in coarse powder, two ounces and a half ; cinnamon bark bruised, one ounce ; proof spirit, : one pint ; macerate, 280 CHAMOMILE FLOWERS. with occasional shakings, for seven days in a closed vessel ; strain, press, iilter, and add proof spirit to make one pint." For external purposes, the powder infusion, and an ointment are used. CHAMOMILE FLOWEES. Anthemidis Flores. The dried single and double flowers of the Anthemis nobilis, wild and cultivated. {Brit. Phar.) Nat. Ord. — Compositas. Sex. Syst. — Syngenesia, Polygamia superflua. Chamomile flowers are extensively cultivated in the warmer parts of England ; are gathered during dry weather ; exposed for a short time on trays in a shady place ; and carefully stored and kept very dry. The large-sized double white flowers are preferred, and have a hot, bitter taste, and a strong aromatic odour. They contain bitter extractive matter, soluble both in water and alcohol ; a small quantity of tannin ; and 0-60 to 0'80 per cent of volatile oil, usually got by distillation of the whole plant, of a pale blue or green colour, gradually becoming yellow-brown, and containing a hydrocarbon iso- meric with oil of turpentine, present in cardamom, caraway, and other aromatics, capric acid (Cjo H20 O2), and an azure blue liquid polymeric with camphor. Actions and Uses. — Chamomile flowers are mildly stimu- lant, aromatic, stomachic, and tonic ; full doses produce emesis in dogs. They are occasionally given to horses and cattle in doses of one to two ounces ; to calves, sheep, and swine, in doses of a drachm ; are sometimes used as fomentations and poultices ; but as external applications they are little better than linseed or oatmeal. CHAECOAL. Two varieties of charcoal, or carbon, are used in medicine and pharmacy — wood charcoal, or carbo ligni, and animal charcoal, or cdrio animalis. The former is prepared by piling pieces of the harder woods into heaps, covering them with turf and sand, and leaving a few apertures for admission of air. The pile is ignited; after the flame has risen through the ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE CHARCOAL. 281 whole mass, the openings are closed, and combustion proceeds slowly without access of air. The moisture of the wood, its oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are dissipated ; it is reduced to about one -fifth of its original weight. Carbon and mineral matters remain. The charcoal varies in composition with the wood from which it is prepared, but contains, on an average, about 87 per cent, of chemically- pure carbon, 2 of ashes, and 11 of volatile matters. Oils or resins, when burned in a deficiency of air, produce lamp-black — a finely divided amorphous carbon. Animal charcoal, also known as bone or ivory black, is chiefly prepared from bones, which are first boiled to separate fatty matters, and then heated in close vessels until vapours cease to be disengaged. The fixed residue, besides carbon, contains about 80 per cent, of calcium phosphate and car- bonate (Graham), and 2 per cent, of iron carbide and silicide — mineral matters, which separate the particles of the char- coal, and greatly enhance its value for the removal either of colours or odours. For some pharmaceutic purposes the mineral ingredients are got rid of by digesting the commercial article, at a moderate heat, with hydrochloric acid, collecting the undissolved carbon, thoroughly washing it, and heating it to redness in. a covered crucible. {Brit. Phar.) Both vegetable and animal charcoal are of a brown-black colour, are insoluble and inodorous, readily absorb moisture, gases, and most vegetable jcolouring matters. Animal char- coal is the more valuable, and may be distinguished by its greater density, its incombustibility, its bitter taste, and its large proportion of phosphates. Actions and Uses. — Charcoal is a desiccant, antiseptic, dis- infectant, and deodorant, and is used as a decoloriser in pharmacy, sugar-refining, and other arts. So great is its absorbing power, that one volume of good boxwood charcoal takes up 100 volumes of ammoniacal gas, 55 of hydrogen sul- phide, and lO'of oxygen. This retained oxygen decomposes and deodorises noxious gases which come into contact with the charcoal. Air from sewers, or that has been in contact with the bodies of patients affected with noisome or contagious disease, if passed over trays of charcoal, is occasionally deprived 282 CHARCOAL — CAKBON. of odour, and also of contagious germs. The colouring par- ticles of brown sugar and other organic solutions are absorbed when filtered through charcoal or boiled with it. Drinkin^ water, filtered through it, is deprived of organic impurities. Urine, heated with it, parts with colouring matters, urea, and uric acid, but not with any sugar it may contain. Vegetable acids, alkaloids, and their salts, are sometimes purified by charcoal; but for these pharmaceutic purposes it has the disadvantage of retaining, not only colouring particles, but portions of the medicine — a property which, however, renders it serviceable as an antidote in poisoning with arsenic, aconite, strychnine, and even prussic acid. The charcoal mechanically . envelops and combines witli the poisonous particles ; half an ounce neutralises a grain of morphine or strychnine ; but, like other insoluble substances, it is effectual as an antidote only when given promptly, and before the poison has been absorbed. Sprinkled over meat or game, or in barrels of water intended for long keeping, it attracts and retains septic matters and hence retards putrefaction. Unlike carbolic acid, zinc chloride, or other powerful antiseptics, it does not, however, attack or destroy organised germs. Lacking volatility, its usefulness as a deodoris,er or disinfectant is greatly more limited than that of chlorine, sulphurous, or carbolic acids. Being insoluble in water, charcoal, when swallowed, exerts chiefly topical effects; only very minute quantities enter the blood. Whilst passing through the intestines it checks, however, fermentative changes, and lessens acrimony and fcetor of the faeces. It is not now used as ah anthelmintic. In a finely divided state it is some- times applied as an absorbent and deodoriser to suppurating noisome sores, being sprinkled by a dredger directly on the unhealthy surface, or mingled with poultices. Doses, etc. — For the horse, 5iv. to gi. ; for cattle, §i. ; for sheep and pigs, 3i. to 5iij- '> and for dogs, grs. x. to grs. Ix. It is usually given suspended in gruel or other mucilaginous fluid. Its absorbing powers are increased by raising it to a low red heat shortly before it is used, whilst by exposure to a high temperature, entangled organic matters are burned out of its pores, and the charcoal fouled in sugar-refining and other processes is thus again cleansed for use. CHLORAL HYDRATE A CBREBEO- SPINAL DEPEESSOE. 283 CHLOEAL— CHLOEAL HYDEATE. Chloral was discovered by Baron Liebig in 1832, but con- tinued for many years merely a chemical curiosity. Its hydrate was first introduced into English medicar practice, as a soother of pain and producer of rest, in August 1869. Chloral is prepared by passing dried chlorine gas into absolute alcohol so long as the spirit will absorb it. The oily-looking, pungent, liquid chloral, or trichlorinated alde- hyde, (Cj HCI3 0) is purified by distillation with sulphuric acid, and when mixed with water becomes the solid hydrate (C2 HCl^ OII2 0), which occurs in colourless crystals, is trans- parent, aromatic, bitter, pungent, permanent in air, melts at about 133°, and boils at 206°. It is soluble in less than its own weight of water, and in alcohol, ether, petroleum, and oil of turpentine. The caustic alkalies, with ammonia, and in a less degree the alkaline carbonates, decompose it with formation of chloro- form. 100 grains dissolved in an ounce of distilled water, and mixed with 30 grains of slaked lime, submitted to careful distillation, should yield not less than 70 grains of chloroform. {Brit. Phar.) Besides being of imperfect strength, inferior specimens are apt to contain chlorinated organic impurities, which render them yellow and cloudy, acrid and irritating, imperfectly soluble, and forming oily drops with water, whilst instead of hypnosis they produce nervous excitement. Actions and Uses. — Chloral hydrate is a depressor of the cranio-spinal axis ; it acts primarily on the brain and motor centres; large doses destroy life, as chloroform does, by paralysis of the motor tract of the medulla. Medicinal doses are anodyne and hypnotic, lessen reflex spinal action, and thus resemble opium and bromide of potassium. Applied locally, it is irritant ; hence, when swallowed, it sometimes causes vomiting and purging ; but properly regulated diluted doses are anodyne. It is an effectual antiseptic. General Actions.- — ^Dr. B. W. Eichardson has made with it an extended series of experiments on the lower animals ; fishes and pigeons were narcotised by 1| to 2 grains; mice by one- third of a grain; rabbits, weighing 85 ounces, by 30 grains 284 CHLORAL HYDRATE {Medical Times and Gazette, vol. xi. 1869). 180 grains pro- duce fatal effects in man, but dangerous symptoms have occa- sionally been developed by one-fourth of that amount. Mr. T. A. Dollar, of New Bond Street, gave a horse suffering from spasmodic colic two ounces in water ; the spasms were speedily removed, but for twelve hours the patient remained very dull and stupid. Mr. F. J. Mavor, of Mayfair, gave a horse four ounces of chloral hydrate in water ; in five minutes he fell down insensible, perspired freely, his muscles relaxed, his pupils dilated ; his pulse, at first accelerated, gradually became normal, respirations were quickened, until in an hour they numbered 36. The temperature from 100° Fahr. fell in two hours to 95^, but two hours later rose to 97-|^. In half an hour he was in a quiet sleep, lasting one and a half hour, when he attempted but failed to rise, and shortly again slept, the breathing being slow and heavy, the skin cold, the sphincters relaxed. Four hours after receiving the draught he was restless, shivering, but disposed to feed, continued in this state for several hours, and suffered next day from bron- chitis, from which he gradually recovered. Mr. Mavor gave a healthy horse four ounces in ten ounces of water ; in half an hour he was restless, but drowsy, passing faeces frequently ; his pupils dilated . He continued in this state for fully three hours, when he was slightly delirious, but gradually became more quiet. Eight hours later the effects had passed away (Mavor and Burness, Actions of Medicines). Chloral hydrate is readily absorbed, and quickly diffuses itself throughout all parts of the body. It is given off un- changed chiefly by the lungs — a proof that its effects are not dependent, as was once supposed, on its conversion into chloroform, which is not found in the blood or excreta of animals poisoned by chloral hydrate, although readily dis- covered when animals are poisoned by chloroform itself. It resembles chloroform, however, in contracting the red globules, causing their difHuence, and giving the plasma a red colour (Dr. Harley). All doses, however administered, act primarily on the brain and motor centres. Moderate doses, after brief cerebral congestion, cause anaemia, and hence sleep. Some- what larger doses, with occasional and slight excitement. A CEREBEO-SPINAL DEPRESSOR. 285 depress the cerebro-spinal functions ; they depress the respira- tory centre, slowing breathing, the cardiac ganglia weakening, heart action, the vaso-motor centres relaxing arterioles and lowering temperature sometimes to the extent of several degrees. In a rabbit Dr. Richardson observed a depression of 6°. This fall of temperature Dr. Lauder Brunton considers sufficient to account for death. Poisonous doses cause besides narcosis and anaesthesia, paralyse the respiratory centre, and arrest the heart in diastole. Chloral hydrate resembles opium in its hypnotic and an- odyne properties. Although more effectual in paralysing in- voluntary muscular fibre, it has less action on sensory nerves, and hence is less valuable in antagonising pain resulting either from nervous irritation or from inflammation. In its power of relaxing spasm, lowering animal temperature, and diminishing arterial pressure, it resembles amyl nitrite. Its solid form prevents its being inhaled, and its anaesthetic pro- perties are developed only when dangerous doses are swallowed. Even as a local anaesthetic it is less effectual than chloroform or ether. Bromal hydrate is more active and more irritating than chloral hydrate ; four grains kill a 4 lb. rabbit, which would take twenty grains of chloral. The bromine constituent appears to assert its irritant action, and, according to Dr. Dougall's experiments, there are induced restlessness, dif&cult breathing, imperfect sleep, and finally coma, broken by con- vulsions. Croton chloral hydrate is prepared by passing a stream of chlorine for twenty-four hours through acetic aldehyde, separat- ing and purifying the dense oily liquid, and converting it into the solid, bitter, crystalline hydrate (C4 H3 CI3 0, Hj 0). It paralyses the spinal sensory nerves and the sensitive branches of the fifth nerve (Liebreich), but does not, like chloroform and ether, produce hypnosis or anaesthesia. Its effects on the pulse and respiration are less marked than those caused by corre- sponding doses of chloral hydrate. It kills, however, like it, by paralysis of respiration. It is prescribed in human medicine in neuralgia, megrims, and cough (British Medical Joiirnal, 1873 and 1874). 286 CHLORAL HYDRATE Medicinal Uses. — Chloral hydrate is given to quiet general irritability and produce sleep. Small repeated doses, especially if conjoined with morphine, allay pain, lower temperature, and sometimes save life in those deadly cases of muco-enteritis in heavy draught horses. I have had good results from the hypodermic injection of forty grains chloral hydrate, im- mediately followed by three grains morphine, and repeating both injections in about an hour. Colic in horses is generally removed by chloral. Small doses benefit asthma in dogs, and violent paroxysmal coughing either in dogs or horses. It antagonises the spasms of chorea and epilepsy, and temporarily relieves those of tetanus and hydrophobia, especially when used hypodermically. Mr. Eobert Littler of Long Clawson gives it with benefit in the outset of those cases of parturient apoplexy in cows, in which there is intense nervous excitement and violent cramp of the muscles of the hind extremities. Having notable effect in soothing irritability, and quieting maniacal tendencies in man, it may prove useful in chronic phrenitis of horses. It is the best antidote for strychnine, when promptly given arresting both the force and frequency of the tetanic convulsions, and sometimes saving life; but conversely, strychnine is not so certain an antidote for chloral hydrate, for, although it antagonises the depressed state of the spinal cord, it does not relieve the comatose brain (Report of Edinburgh Commission of British Association on Antagonism of Medicines). Chloral is likewise antagonistic to Calabar bean, and also to picrotoxine; but to act as an effectual antidote, the slower acting chloral must be given before, at the same time, or within two minutes after the quicker acting Calabar bean. For allaying the intolerable itching sometimes affect- ing horses' eczematous limbs, and depending upon irritation of the peripheral terminations of the spinal cutaneous nerves, few dressings are so effectual as one part each of camphor and chloral hydrate diluted with two of oil or vaseline. A ten per cent, aqueous solution of chloral hydrate, besides rehev- ing itching, removes scurf, and favours growth of hair. For combating straining depending upon irritation, whether of the lower intestines or the urino-genital organs, injections and suppositories of cMoral hydrate are often serviceable, especially QUIETS IREITABILITY AND PJRODUCES SLEEP. 287 ■when conjoined with opium. As an antiseptic, dissolved in spirit and water, it is recommended by Dr. William Craig for preserving natural history specimens and subjects for dissec- tion, and as an antiseptic and anodyne dressing for wounds. Chloral hydrate is contra-indicated in typhoid cases on account of its causing vascular excitement, impairing oxygenation, and lowering temperature. Doses, etc. — For horses and cattle, §i. to §ij. ; for sheep and pigs, 5i- to 3iij- ; for dogs, grs. x. to grs. xx. ; repeated every two hours, or even oftener, and conveniently administered in syrup. It is more effectual when the animal has been fasting for two or three hours. For clysters and for hypodermic in- jections about half the dose given by the mouth suf&ces, and in animals there is little risk of producing the erysipelatous inflammation which has sometimes followed its hypodermic injection in human patients. The narcotic paralysing effects of overdoses are combated by free use of ammonia and alcohol, by hypodermic injection of strychnine and atropine, and by warmth. CHLOEINE. Chlorine is prepared by heating sulphuric acid with com- mon salt and manganese black oxide. For fumigating the MiUbank Penitentiary, Professor Faraday used one part of salt intimately mixed with one part of manganese black oxide, and two parts of oil of vitriol, previously diluted with two measures of water. The ingredients were stirred together in shallow earthenware vessels, and where slow evolution of gas was desired, heart was not used. For gradual evolution, Dr. Angus Smith advises admixture of one pound bleaching powder with one and a quarter pound of potash alum. Chlorine is a chemi- cal eleihent (CI), a yellow-green gas, with a peculiar suffocating odour, an astringent taste, two and a half times as heavy as air, soluble in less than half its volume of water at 60°. Under a pressure of four atmospheres it forms a bright yellow liquid. For nearly a century moist chlorine has been used for bleaching. Water charged with two volumes of chlorine gas constitutes '288 CHLORINE the liquor chlori — a yellow-green, chlorine-smelling liquid, readily decomposed by air and sunshine. Actions and Uses. — Chlorine, whether as gas or in solution, is irritant, antiseptic, deodorant, and disinfectant. Applied to the skin or mucous surfaces, it causes redness and eruption, relieved by lime-water, white of egg, soap, or diluents. Irri- tation of the imperfectly diluted gas is counteracted by inhalino- ether, weak ammonia, the vapour of warm water or of alcohol. Cautious inhalation usually abates sore throat in horses, the cough, difficult breathing, and fcetor of the breath in contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle, and destroys bronchial filaria in calves and lambs. "When a considerable quantity of the gas is to be cheaply evolved for breathing by a number of animals, salt, manganese black oxide, and diluted sulphuric acid are mixed, in the proportions above recommended by Professor Faraday, gentle heat applied, and the fumigation effected in a box or closed shed, much care being taken that the gas before it is breathed be sufficiently diluted. Destruction of these bronchial parasites is however as effectually accomplished by the less irritant sulphurous acid gas, or by oil of turpentine drenches. The liquor chlori diluted is occasionally applied to wounds as a stimulant, antiseptic, and deodorant. Its uses are the same as those of chlorinated soda and lime. The bleaching and antiseptic properties of chlorine chiefly depend upon its affinity for hydrogen. Seizing the hydrogen which vegetable colouring matters contain, it breaks them up, the resulting chlorinous compounds being colourless; decompos- ing water, it produces hydrochloric acid and nascent oxygen or ozone, which attack organic particles. Colour, smell, and septic power are thus destroyed. Fresh meat bottled with chlorine gas was found by Dr. Angus Smith to be bleached' externally, but continued red within and unchanged, at the end of twenty- eight days. Dr. C. Calvert's careful comparative experiments with various antiseptics demonstrate, however, that albuminous solutions are not so long or so effectually preserved by chlorine solution as by zinc or mercury chlorides, or by the tar acids. Dr. Angus Smith, in his cattle-plague reports, speaks favourably of chlorine as a preventive of cattle plague. Used daily through- out premises adjacent to those infected by mouth and foot A GOOD DEODOEISER BUT A POOR DISINFECTANT. 289 disease, it has apparently arrested extension of the disorder. Cholera and erysipelas in man' are stated, however, on the authority of Dr. Pereira, to propagate themselves readily even when the patients were kept almost constantly surrounded with fumes of chlorine. Although a good deodoriser, it is inferior as a disinfectant either to sulphurous or the tar acids. It has the practical disadvantages of being somewhat trouble- some to evolve in unskilled hands ; overdoses are dangerously irritant; combining with the ammonia so often present in farm premises, it produces nitrogen chloride, a very irritant gas ; attacking other amfnoniacal compounds, it reduces the value of the manure heaps ; lime-washed walls are further rendered uncomfortably moist by it. Where chlorine is used for thorough disinfection, the buildings must be cleared of animals ; large volumes of gas liberated ; sunlight admitted to intensify the action of the chlorine ; the walls and woodwork washed with a strong watery solution. It may be fittingly used in conjunction with the. tar acids, but is incompatible with sulphurous acid. CHLOEOFOEM. Chloroformum. Trichloromethane. C H Clg.^ Chloroform was discovered in 1832, about the same time, by Soubeiran and Liebig ; its effects on the lower animals were described by Dr. Glover in 1842 ; while its valuable ansesthetic properties were first discovered and applied by the late Sir James Y. Simpson in November 1847. Since then it has been largely and successfully used for the alleviation of human suffering during surgical operations, parturition, and various diseases, and has also been applied to similar purposes in veterinary practice. K ,' Preparation. — Chloroform is prepared by distilling together ' either rectified or methylic spirit, bleaching powder, and water, and washing the crude product to free it of deleterious matters. The Brit. Phar. gives the following explicit directions for making and purifying : — Mix thirty fluid ounces of rectified spirit with three gallons of distilled water in a capacious stiU ; T \ 290 CHLOROFORM. add ten pounds chlorinated lime thoroughly mixed with five pounds of slaked lime. Let the condenser terminate in a narrow-necked receiver, and apply heat so as to cause distilla- tion, taking care to withdraw the iire the moment the process is well established. When the distilled product measures fifty ounces, remove the receiver and pour its contents into a gallon bottle half filled with water ; shake well together, and set at rest for a few minutes, when the chloroform will subside- pour off the water, and thrice wash the chloroform in a smaller vessel, with successive portions of three ounces of water. Agitate the washed chloroform for five minutes with an equal volume of sulphuric acid, then, after subsidence of the latter, transfer the chloroform to a flask containing two ounces of chloride of calcium in small fragments, mixed with half an ounce of perfectly dry slaked lime. Mix well by agitation. After the lapse of an hour, connect the flask with a Liebig's condenser, and distil the pure chloroform by means of a water bath. Preserve the product in a cool place, in a well-stoppered bottle. The lighter liquid which floats on the crude chloroform after its agitation with water, and the washings with distilled water, should be preserved and employed in a subsequent operation. In this process the chief changes which occur are — (1) evolution of oxygen and chlorine from the chlorinated hme ; and the reduction of alcohol into aldehyde ; (2) formation of hydrochloric acid and trichloraldehyde or chloral, by the action of the chlorine ; and (3) decomposition of the chloral by the caustic lime with evolution of crude chloroform, calcium formiate and chloride remaining in the retorts. These three stages are thus formulated : — (l.)C, H, 0-fO =H, 0-1- C,H,0 (Aldehyde). (2.) C, H^ -f- Cle -3 H CH- C, H Cla O (Chloral). (3.) 2 Cj H CIs -I- Ca H^ O^ =Ca 2 QHOj +2 CH CI, (Chlorofonn). As to the purification: repeated agitation with water washes away saline acid and organic impurities; shaking with sulphuric acid, which must be scrupulously free from nitric acid, chars and removes the last traces of organic oUs ; admixture with slaked lime and calcium chloride gets rid of acid and watflr. Properties. — Chloroform is a transparent, colourless, neutral, PROPERTIES AND IMPURITIES. 291 » oily-looking, mobile fluid, with a density of ViQ, a sweet taste, and a fragrant, ethereal, and apple-like odour. At ordinary temp&ratures it volatilises entirely, and boils at 140°. Though not spontaneously inflammable, it can be burned around a wick saturated with alcohol, forms a green, sooty flame, and evolves hydrochloric acid. Alcohol, ethers, oil of turpentine, and carbon bisulphide dissolve it readily, but water scarcely takes up more than -^^ part, a pint only holding sixty minims in solution. It readily dissolves volatile oils, wax, resin, and alkaloids. Chloroform^ to the extent of five per cent., added to fresh-drawn blood, renders it liquid, and imparts a bright arterial hue ; crystals form after a time ; the amount of oxygen is augmented, that of carbonic acid diminished ; the red blood discs are shrunk, their power of absorbing oxygen is impaired, they deliquesce and disintegrate. OhlOToform^sinarsl^a^^m^than^CT '('■^tfae jitoms of hy drogen h ave been replaced"l)y chlorirTe^rCH CI3J .I Ee^meatom only is so repla Sea" m Tth vl'^hldride^fCHo CIl iS proaucea -when th e clilbrine is replaced by hvdroxyl. the resm t IS met hylic or wood spirit, ^he h ydrate OT_al^cohQl_(ff teTlffsTIKes'''liave''alfeady been referred to (p. 101). Iodoform (C H Ig) is a yellow solid, prepared by adding to an alcoholic solution of iodine an alcoholic solution of potash, until. the mixture is yellow, and distilling to dryness. Free solution limits its topical irritant effects, and in all animals it causes narcosis ; toxic doses induce paresis of respiration and circu- lation ; although producing only imperfect ausesthesia, when swallowed or inhaled it is a tolerably effectual topical ansesthetic. Pulvis iodoform compos, is recommended as an alterative and antiseptic in nasal catarrh, and, mixed with vaseline or cocoa butter, as dressing for fistulas. (Veterinarian, May 1881.) Impurities. — Chloroform carelessly prepared or imperfectly purified contains volatile organic oils, which, if inhaled, induce nausea and headache. Such specimens have an unpleasant pungent odour when evaporated from the back of the hand, and are blackened by agitation with sulphuric acid. Samples containing alcohol have a low specific gravity and lose bulki, when shaken with water. The presence of water, besides 292 CHLOROFORM affecting the specific gravity, causes cloudiness at temperatures approaching 32°. Traces of sulphuric acid are discovered by the usual barium test; chlorine and hydrochloric acid by silver nitrate. The purity of chloroform is judged by its odour when evaporated, its behaviour when agitated with sulphuric acid, its reaction on litmus, and its specific gravity, which is lowered by the ordinary adulterations. Actions and Uses. — Full doses, by whatever channel they enter the body, paralyse and narcotise the cerebro-spinal nervous system ; death results from asphyxia, chiefly depend- ing upon respiratory arrest. The vapour inhaled speedily causes anaesthesia. Swallowed in medicinal doses, it is stimu- lant, antispasmodic and anodyne. Undiluted it is a topical irritant. According to the manner of its application, it is a topical rubefacient, refrigerant, anodyne, and local aniesthetic. General Actions. — Paralysing narcotic effects, very analogous to those of alcohol or ether, are readUy caused by large doses introduced into the stomach, or quickly inhaled without suffi- cient admixture of air. An ounce rapidly swallowed by a dog 15 lbs. weight, or half an ounce injected into the pleural cavity, causes a sudden cry, gasping respiration, a run of feeble pulsations, and death in 70 to 80 seconds. Similarly rapid fatal effects result when small animals are introduced into a large glass jar containing seven per cent, of vapour (Dr. Anstie, Stimulants and Narcotics). Although not very soluble, it possesses a high diffusive power, and rapidly enters the hlood. The changes it produces there, are, however, at present unknown. Dr. Harley believes that it acts specially upon the blood globules, interferes with their absorption of oxygen, pro- duces their partial deliquescence and disintegration, hence follow sluggish capillary circulation and impaired function of the brain and nervous centres (Eoyle's Materia Medica, sixth edition). It is removed from the body mostly by the lungs, but in smaller amount by the skin and kidneys. Its effects, according to the late Dr. Snow, are observable so soon as the blood takes up ^Ig-th part of the amount it is capable of dis- solving. It acts directly on the brain and nervous centres, briefly exciting and perverting, and then paralysing and ex- tinguishing, their several functions. Its influence extends ANJSSTHETIC ACTION. 293 from the periphery to the centre ; from the hind extremities forwards. An ordinary anaesthetic dose affects these centres in tolerably regular order ; involving first those presiding over special sense and volition ; next, those of motion and common sensation ; and lastly, where the influence is unduly prolonged, those of the sympathetic system. The action of the heart, at first quickened, is subsequently steadily depressed ; the pulse eventually becomes rapid and weak ; the respirations, at first retarded, become quicker, but, as narcosis increases, are more slow, shallow, and irregular. The pupils, at first contracted, gradually dilate. In dogs, cats, and rabbits, as in man, apparently from paralysis of the sympathetic, the functions of the liver are deranged, and sugar is found in the urine — an effect also occurring with alcohol and ether. In these and other effects of chloroform, functional activity is succeeded by functional paralysis. The symptoms of anaesthesia having been described in detail in a preliminary section (p. 98), it may suf&ce here to mention that chloroform produces first temporary excitement, with many of the symptoms of inebriation, succeeded by gradually diminishing consciousness of external objects, weaker and less regular respiration, diminution of animal temperature, muscular relaxation, and insensibility to pain. This stage of anaesthesia, usually produced within five minutes, is that required for the performance of serious operations, and may with caution be safely maintained for an hour or even longer. Danger, however, is to be anticipated whenever the breathing becomes slow, shallow, or noisy ; the pulse slow, weak, or suddenly irregular ; the pupils dilated ; the conjunctiva, if touched, provoking no reflex movement. With such warnings, artificial respiration must be instantly resorted to, great care being used to prevent any rough handling, which might entirely paralyse the weakened heart. Cold water should be thrown over the head and neck ; windows or doors opened to secure fresh air ; the tongue drawn forward, lest it interfere with inspira- tion ; the head thrown a little back, so that access of air to the lungs be left unimpeded. The galvanic current applied over the phrenic nerve has been advised ; but, if used at all, it must be with the greatest caution. 294 CHLOROFORM Death results usually from chloroform being given too rapidly, from insufficient dilution with air, which should always constitute nineteen-twentieths of the safe mixture, or, where cumbrous apparatus is used, from actual suffocation. Chloroform usually kills animals by arresting respiration ; but, if given rapidly and in large amount, the cardiac sympathetic ganglia are paralysed, and arrest of the heart precedes arrest of respiration. Post-mortem examinations discover that the blood coagulates normally ; the lungs are not usually much congested ; the heart continues to beat for a considerable time after respiration has ceased, its left side being nearly empty, but its right filled with semi- solid, dark-coloured blood. The veins of the head, neck, and chest are distended with black fluid venous blood ; the membranes of the brain are sometimes congested. Between chloroform, ether, and chloral there are many points of resemblance, some of difference, studied by M. Arloing, and communicated in 1879 to the Academic des Sciences. Injected into the veins of horses and dogs, moderate doses of the three anaesthetics accelerate cardiac pulsations, but this is most promptly effected by chloroform. The force of the heart's contractions are augmented by ether and chloro- form, but lessened by chloral. Pulmonary circulation is reported to be quickened by chloral and ether, but retarded by chloroform. Capillary circulation, scarcely affected by chloro- form, is first lessened and then increased by chloral and ether. The sleep of chloroform is stated to be accompanied by ansemia, that of ether and chloral by hyperaemia of the brain. {Lancet, September 6, 1879). Chloroform bears favourable comparison with other anses- thetics in being more pleasant and less irritating to inhale, more powerful and regular in. its action, and less apt to cause preliminary exrcitement, or leave unpleasant efi'ects. Compared with ether, smaller quantities are required. Owing, however, to its depressing the functions of the heart, chloroform is dangerous whenever there is weak or imperfect action of the heart. In such cases, in virtue of its stimulating instead of depressing the cardiac ganglia, ether is preferable. The anses- thetic efifeets of chloroform are not so alarmingly rapid as USES IN SUKGEEY AND PARTURITION. 295 those of methyl bichloride, which anfesthises a man in two minutes ; it is more manageable, and does not require the cumbrous apparatus requisite for nitrous oxide. Sir James Y. Simpson considered that chloroform saves the life of six per- sons in every hundred subjected to surgical operations. With proper precautions, it has been used many thousand times in Scotch and English, as well as foreign hospitals, without a single mishap ; during the Crimean war, 30,000 French soldiers inhaled it without a single casualty ; whilst on the English side, with probably 50,000 inhalations, there were but two deaths ; during the American campaign, it was given without accident 22,000 times. The various deaths connected directly and indirectly with its administration do not average more than one in 17,000. In the lower animals it cannot, however, be so conveniently used. During the earlier stages of inhala- tion horses sometimes struggle violently and get excited, and when, to avoid this, the chloroform is given too rapidly, and in concentrated form, fatal effects occur. Similar results are also observable among dogs and rabbits. The author has had little experience of its effects on either cattle or sheep. Bees exposed to it speedily become insensible, and while under its influence may be safely removed from full hives. Plants exposed to its yapour lose their irritability. Medicinal f/ses.— Chloroform is not so extensively used in veterinary as in human medicine. It is occasionally given to horses to procure insensibility during castration, firing, and other painful operations ; but it is wise to warn the owner of the risk attending its administration, to have a competent person to regulate the administration, and to hold in readiness for waste and other contingencies an ample supply of the drug in good condition. Among the lower animals, parturition is usually performed so easily, and with so little apparent pain, that the administration of chloroform, in the great majority of cases, is unnecessary. Where false presentations have to be rectified in the mare, it is sometimes, however impossible, without chloroform, to keep the animal quiet, or to abate violent uterine throes ; whilst in bitches it is also occasion- ally useful when the pups have to be reduced in size before they can be extracted. Amongst cows and ewes, labour pains i96 CHLOROFORM sometimes eoatinue for hours, and other preparations for par- :\;rition appear to be complete ; but the neck of the uterus remains firmly closed, sometimes in spite of medicines and manipulation. Chloroform in such cases often effectually relaxes the rigid muscle, and deliverj'^ is promptly and safely accomplished. In facilitating the reduction of hernia, chloro- form is often invaluable. Besides affording temporary relief, it also occasionally removes strangulation of the bowels in horses. Although its inhalation has been recommended in tetanus, and relief is obtained so long as anaesthesia continues, the spasms speedily return with their former severity, and any benefit derived is usually more than counterbalanced by the disturbed and excited state into which the animal is apt to be thrown by administration of the chloroform. In diseases ac- companied by violent exhausting pain, as in enteritis, peritonitis, and acute rheumatism, as also in the spasms or after-pains of parturition or abortion, a slight degree of anissthesia is of service in all animals in blunting pain, and allowing time for the beneficial operation either of medicines or of the conserva- tive powers of nature. In such cases chloroform may either he inhaled or given in solution by the mouth or rectum. In the form of clysters, in combination with opium, it merits more extended use in internal diseases, in which it often relieves pain, especially of an irritative type. Its inhalation three or four times a day, in quantities sufficient to cause slight anaes- thesia, has little, if any, curative efPect in contagious pleuro- pneumonia of cattle. Small doses, either inhaled or swallowed, frequently arrest violent chorea and epileptic fits in dogs. When swallowed, it proves in all animals a useful anti- spasmodic in colic, asthma, and paroxysmal nervous cough. It is more prompt, but more evanescent, than alcohol. After epizootic sore throat, horses sometimes have violent spasmodic cough, which is benefited by diluted chloroform or chloric ether, given in ounce doses, with a drachm of belladonna extract, or an ounce of laudanum, dissolved in about a pint of cold linseed gruel, and swallowed very slowly, so as to insure more prolonged topical effect on the nerve endings. Its rapid absorption renders it more effectual in removing flatulence and spasm from the anterior than the posterior portions of AN ANTISPASMODIC AND ANODYNE. 297 the alimentaiy canal. Its antispasmodic effects are greatly- increased by combination with opium. In chronic irritability of the bowels in young weakly calves, after castor oil has been given, nothing proves more serviceable than chloric ether and a little laudanum repeated twice or thrice daily in cold starch gruel. Dropped upon a mucous or delicate cutaneous surface, chloroform causes irritation, evaporates rapidly, leaves a sense of coolness, and, where freely used, dulls or removes sensation. For local aneesthesia, ether, being more volatile, is, however, more rapid and effectual. Chloroform often allays neuralgic, rheumatic, and other pains, and is effectually applied either . alone or with other anodynes. ' Diluted with six or eight parts of oil, it abates the irritation of eczema, urticaria, and prurigo ; but such soothing effects are transient, and are usually best secured by frequently changing the remedy. Mixed with a little spirit, it is a ready, cleanly, but somewhat expensive means of removing lice and fleas. Its high diffusion power, which it retains when mixed with spirit, renders it a useful vehicle for the rapid introduction into the system of morphine, atropine, and other such medicines. Chloroform is a solvent for gutta percha, and the solution is occasionally employed as a substitute for collodion. Doses, etc. — It is somewhat difficult to fix the precise quan- tity of chloroform necessary to produce anaesthesia. Three to six ounces are generally effectual for horses or cattle, one to two ounces for sheep and pigs, four drachms to an ounce for dogs. In carnivora, to prevent vomiting, the previous meal, given three or four hours before, should be light and easy of digestion. Inhalation is most simply and safely effected in small animals with a piece of sponge or lint, wetted with the chloroform, and held near the nostrils ; in the larger animals, by placing a saturated sponge in a nose-bag, perforated with holes to admit a sufficiency of air, and attached to the head. Care should be taken previously to secure a strong animal, lest he become unmanageable during the early stages of excitement ; to supply fresh quantities of chloroform by a tube or other means ; and to insure the entrance into the lungs of an adequate supply of air along with the chloroform. Three to five per cent, of 298 CHLOROFORM. chloroform vapour suffices ; upwards of five per cent, is unsafe, being apt, as above stated, to cause death by sudden arrest of the heart. The Medico-Chirurgical Society, in 1864, recom- mended as the best ansesthetic mixture two parts of chloro- form, three of ether, and one of rectified spirit. The Austrian Government more recently advised one part of chloroform and six parts of ether in cold weather, and eight parts of ether in warm weather. C. Bernard has shown that the subcutaneous injection of morphine prolongs and intensifies the action of chloroform, but increases greatly its risks. While anjesthesia continues, respiration, pulse, and reflex sensibility of the conjunctiva must be carefully watched. If undue effects be produced, the inhalation must be immediately stopped, free access of fresh air allowed, water thrown over the head and neck, the tongue drawn forward, and artificial respiration at once adopted. As a stimulant, antispasmodic, and anodyne, the dose of chloroform for horses or cattle is f3i- to f5ij- J foi" sheep and swine, Tll^ xx. to VI xl. ; and for dogs, TT[ v. to l?[ x. These doses are best given in weak spirit, at intervals of one or two hours. Chloric Ether, also called spirit of chloroform, is made by dissolving one fluid ounce of chloroform in nineteen fluid ounces of rectified spirit. It has the specific gravity '871, a warm ethereal odour and taste, proves an effectual stimulant, antispasmodic, and anodyne, and nearly corresponds in its uses and doses to ether and sweet spirit of nitre. Diluted with water, or any bland cold fluid, it is prescribed for horses in doses of f gi. ; for cattle, f §ij. ; for sheep and pigs, f3ij. to f 3vi. ; and for dogs, f 5i- to f 3ij- Conjoined with opium, its effects are intensified and increased, and the mixture con- stitutes one of the most effectual antispasmodics, anodynes, and nerve soothers. Chlorodyne, so popular an anodyne in human medicine, is made from different formulse ; Dr. CoIIis Browne's is stated to contain ten parts each of chloroform, ether, Indian hemp, and morphine; two parts capsicum tincture and prussic acid; three parts aconite and hyoseyamus tinctures ; one part of oil of peppermint; five parts hydrochloric acid, and fifty of simple syrup (New Remedies, October 1877). CINCHONA BARKS. 299 CINCHONA. Baric of different species of Cinchona. Nat. Ord. — CinclionaceEB. Ssx. %s<.— Pentandria Digynia. The Cinchonacese, nearly allied to the Eubiacese, are ever- green treeSj or tall shrubs, with fine foliage and fragrant pink or white flowers. They abound on the slopes and valleys of the Andes ; extend from about 10° N. latittide to 22° S. lati- tude ; occur chiefly in groups or solitary trees; and thrive best with a good deal of moisture, a mean temperature of about 60 , and an elevation of four to ten thousand feet above the sea- level. Of the thirty-six known species, of which there are numerous varieties, about twelve yield the barks of commerce. In 1639 cinchona was brought from Peru to Madrid, distri- buted by the Jesuits, and hence received the vernacular names of Peruvian and Jesuits' bark. It is collected during the dry season from May to November; the outside roug^ cortical bark of full-grown trees is usually first beaten and trimmed off. The inner bark or liber, in which the active bitter prin- ciples reside, is stripped off as high as can be reached, the tree felled, and peeling completed. Trees partially barked, and left standing, have their wood next season covered with an exudate stated to be specially rich in alkaloids (J. E. Howard). The bark is dried in the sun, or on hurdles over fires ; by care- ful stacking and pressure the thick pieces from the trunk are kept flat ; the thinner portions from the branches* curl into single or double rolls or quills. The bark is packed in boxes or serones, formed of hides or coarse cloth, and containing from 70 to 150 pounds. The improvident destruction of the American cinchona forests has diminished the supplies of bark, enhanced the price of quinine, and led to the introduc- tion of the plants in other regions, and especially into India, Ceylon, Java, and Jamaica, where they are now successfully cultivated. Varieties. — The different barks met with in commerce ar& recognised as pale, yellow, and red barks. The Pale Cinchonas (CinchonEe pallidse) are usually in thin fibrous rolls or quills, stripped from branches or young 300 CINCHONA. trees of C. officinalis. One of the best is Crown or Loxa bark from the C. Condaminea, occurring in single or double quills, six to fifteen inches long, about the size of the finder some- what thicker than stout paper; invested with a grey or tawny epidermis, marked with longitudinal furrows aud transverse cracks, and covered with lichens. Its inner surface is orano-e or cinnamon brown, and its powder light brown, slightly bitter, and very astringent, from presence of cincho-tannic acid, of which the pale barks contain more than the yellow or red. The pale barks are further remarkable in containing more cinchonine than quinine. The Yellow Cinchonas (Cinchonse flavae) are mostly obtained from the C. Calisaya, a tree forty feet high, often three feet in diameter, found in the warm climates of Bolivia and South Peru, and distinguished by its stout naked stem and leafy summit overtopping the rest of the forest. They occur occasionally in quills, more commonly in flat pieces, usually eight to fifteen inches long, two to three wide, and two to five lines thick. The brown, rough-fissured periderm is usually removed before importation, and the compact pieces generally consist almost entirely of liber ; are furrowed and brownish-yellow externally ; fibrous and yellow-orange within. The transverse fracture shows numerous short fibres; the powder is cinnamon-brown ; the odour aromatic ; the taste bitter, without astringency. Good specimens yield five to six per cent, of quinine. The EiiD Cinchonas (Cinchonse rubrae) include several com- mercial varieties, are the produce of different species, frequently of the C. succirubra, are collected on the western slopes of Chimborazo, and owe their distinctive colour chiefly to the manner in which they are procured and dried. They are sometimes in quills, but usually in flat, compact, hea\7^ pieces, twelve to twenty inches long, one to three inches wide, two to six lines thick ; made up chiefly of liber ; are red, rough, and wrinkled externally ; finely fibrous, with granular fracture, and red or orange-brown internally ; have an agreeable odour, and a bitter, astringent taste. They yield three to ten per cent, of alkaloids, of which one-third is quinine, with ten per cent, cinchona red — a larger proportion than in other barks. PROPERTIES AND COMPOSITION. 301 Properties. — The cinchona barks have certain common characters. They occur either in quills or flat pieces, have an aromatic odour, and a bitter, usually astringent taste. Their colour varies through the shades of yellow to red, and is deepened by moisture. In full-grown trees, the epidermis is replaced by the corky layer which is often thrown off as bark scales, while strips extend into the inner bark. Outside the liber are peculiar soft, elongated, unbranched lactiferous vessels. The inner bark is of two layers, the parenchyme and liber, the latter traversed by medullary rays, separating it into wedges. The liber fibres are short, in small bundles of three, five, or seven, accounting for the short granular fracture (Fliickiger). They are soluble in cold and hot water, and in alcohol ; their best solvents are proof-spirit and diluted acids. When solutions are exposed to high or prolonged heat, the colouring matter unites with the alkaloids, forming insoluble compounds, and on this account decoctions and extracts are ineligible. The alka- loids, their salts, and any bark containing them, when heated in a test-tube, produce a very characteristic purple tar. For mixing with the superior pale, yellow, and red barks, inferior sorts, such as ash, rusty, and Carthagena bark, are collected. The tests of value are general appearance, fracture, colour, odour, taste, and percentage of the alkaloids, which are the active principles. Composition. — Besides ordinary plant constituents — lignin, starch, gum, resin, and mineral matters — cinchona bark contains a thick, acrid, volatile oil, tannic acid, a saponifiable fat, colour- ing matters, and, deposited in the liber in combination with chinic acid, several alkaloids, quinine and cinchonine being the most important. By digesting the bark with weak hydro- chloric acid, the alkaloids are dissolved, and are precipitated from such solution by an alkali. Their yield is much affected by climate, situation, and cultivation, is greatest in old trees, reaches sometimes to twelve per cent. ; a variable proportion of the several alkaloids is obtained from different barks. Quinine or quina (O20 H24 Nj Og, SHg 0) is most abundant in the yellow barks, which yield five to six per cent. When a solution of the disulphate is treated with ammonia solution, the alkaloid is precipitated as an amorphous white powder. Bv slow evaporation of a concentrated solution, it may be got 302 , CINCHONA ALKALOIDS. in delicate silky prisms. The annual manufacture of quinine is about 240,000 lbs., of which one-fourth is made in America, one-fifth in Germany. It has an intensely bitter taste, per- ceptible even when diluted with 100,000 parts of water; required for solution 350 parts of cold water, 21 of ether, and • still less of absolute alcohol, oils, and diluted acids. It forms colourless, bitter, crystallisable, rather insoluble salts, remark- able, like the alkaloid, for tonic and antiperiodic properties. Aqueous solutions of the alkaloid and its salts acidulated with sulphuric acid exhibit blue fluorescence, even when diluted with 200,000 parts of water ; treated with chlorine gas, the solu- tion passes through various changes of colour, from pink to purple, finishing with dark red ; treated with chlorine water or bromine, and then with a drop of liquor ammonias, a green •coloration is produced ; precipitates are yielded by galls tincture, gallic, tartaric, and oxalic acids, and by silver nitrate. From ■quinine acted on by caustic -potash. Professor M'Kendrick and Dr. Eamsay of Glasgow have recently obtained chinoline, of which three grains hypodermically injected into the body of a rabbit cause anaesthesia in eight minutes {Medical Press and Circular, December, 1877). Chinoline, which is closely related to the hydro-carbon naphthalin in composition, has recently been prepared by artificial means. Quinidine or quinidia (C20 II24 Ng Oj, 2H2O) is isomeric with quinine, is found in most barks, is precipitated from solution, and thus, separated from the other alkaloids by potassium iodide, deposits from an ethereal solution in rhombic efflor- escent prisms ; is less bitter, less soluble, but nearly as powerful .as quinine. An alkaloid has been isolated from C. succirubra, allied to quinine, and termed quinamine (Cjg H24 N2 ^2) Cinchonine or cinchonia (Cj,, II24 1^2 0) is present to the amount of four or five per cent., especially in the pale barks. Its colourless four-sided prisms have a feebly bitter taste. It is distinguished from quinine by being anhydrous, scarcely soluble in ether, but readily dissolved in alkaline solutions ; its acidulated watery solution shows no fluorescence, and no green colour or precipitate with chlorine, whilst it turns a ray of polarised light to the right instead of to the left, as — For horses, 5 iv. to 5vi.; cattle,§i or |.ij.; sheep and swine, 3 ss. to 5 i- J dogs, grs. v. to grs. x. ; cats, gr. i. to grs. iij. The powder is made into bolus, or dissolved in warm water or proof spirit. A tincture, mvtch used as a chemical test, and diluted and sweetened as required for internal administration, is made with 2^ ounces powdered galls and a pint of proof spirit, by maceration and subsequent perco- lation. For external purposes there are used — the simple powder, infusions of various strength, and an ointment made with one part of powdered galls to six of lard, and to which half a part of opium is sometimes advantageously added. TAiOfic Acid, or TiUfNiN (0^ Hjo Og), is the principle to which oak-bark, galls, logwood, and many vegetable astringents owe their properties. The tannic acid from these several sources has, however, somewhat different characteristics, and generally receives such special designations as gallo-tannic. ACTIVE VEGETABLE ASTRINGENTS. 353 cincho-tannic, catechu-tannic acids. Gallo-tamiic acid is pre- pared by softening powdered galls by keeping them for two days in a damp place, mixing with ether, pressing the pasty mixture in a linen cloth; the residue rubbed to powder is again mixed with ether, to which a little water has been added, and pressed as before ; the expressed liquids are slowly evaporated. The resulting tannic acid, when carefully dried, is in pale yellow vesicular masses, or thin glistening scales, with a strongly astringent taste and an acid reaction ; readily soluble in water and dilute alcohol ; very sparingly soluble in ether. The aqueous sqjlution gives a yellow- white precipitate with gelatine, white insoluble precipitates with lead and anti- mony salts; and blue-black precipitates with iron persalts. Tannic acid is also precipitated by, and hence is incompatible with, the alkalies and their carbonates, with most metallic salts, the mineral acids, and the vegetable alkaloids. It leaves no residue when burned with free access of air. Ex- posed to air and moisture, in the presence of a ferment, or boiled with diluted sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, it is decomposed, yielding gallic acid and glucose ; and hence is termed a glucoside. Actions and Uses. — Tannic acid is the active principle of most vegetable astringents ; it is more powerful than oak- bark, galls, or other vegetable astringent. It unites with albumen and gelatine, thus condensing muscular and mem- branous textures, and forming upon them insoluble protecting films. It contracts capillary blood-vessels, and thus relieves hypersemia, and lessens secretion. These effects are most notable when tannic acid is topically applied ; but when swal- lowed, and converted in part into gallic acid, it is gradually absorbed and slowly diffuses into the blood ; its astringency thus widely extended combats fluxes, atony, chronic dis- charges, and haemorrhage. It is excreted by the intestinal canal and kidneys as gaUic and pyrogallic acids. Compared with gallic acid it has more direct and powerful topical effects, but being less soluble is not so successful for systemic pur- poses. In diarrhoea and other excessive discharges, it is conjoined with chalk acids and opium. In haemorrhage it is combined with ergot and digitalis, and alternated with z 354 GALLS — GALLIC ACID metallic salts or mineral acids. Externally it is used as a stimulant and astringent in conjunctivitis, in irritable relaxed sore mouth and throat, in tender cracked teats in cows and ewes, in abating itching and discharge in eczema and impetigo, in drying and healing ilabby ulcers. Doses, etc. — Horses take grs. xx. to 3ij.; cattle, 3 i. to3iij.; sheep and pigs, grs. xv. to grs. xxx.; dogs, grs. ij. to grs. xx.; prescribed in the form of pill, infusion, or tincture, as a draught, clyster, or spray, with starch-gruel, opium, carbolic acid, or glycerine. A drachm each of tannin and opium, with two ounces of lard, makes an excellent ointment for piles in dogs. Glycerine of tannin, a convenient form for keeping or prescrib- ing tannic acid, is prepared by rubbing together in a mortar one part of the acid with four of glycerine, and furthering com- plete solution by gentle heat. It proves a soothing astringent for soft relaxed over-secreting conditions of the throat, for chronic otorrhcea, not uncommon in dogs, and for the weeping stages of eczema, in. which it allays itching and discharge, and promotes desquamation when carbolic and tar dressings be- come appropriate. Styptic colloid is usually prepared with one of tannin and eight of alcohol, mixed with about four of collodion. Gallic Acid (HC7 Hj O5 H O2).— Tannic or digaUic acid, when boiled with diluted sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, or when exposed during six weeks to air and moisture, takes up water, and yields gallic or trioxybenzoic acid. Tannic Acid -f Water = Gallic Acid. C14H10O9 +H2O = 2 0,11,0,. Gallic acid is crystalline, occurs in acicular prisms, or silky needles, sometimes nearly white, generally pale fawn. It requires for solution about 100 parts of cold water and 3 of boiling water ; is soluble in rectified spirit, and sparingly so in ether. Its aqueous solution gives a blue-black precipitate with iron persalts. From tannic acid it is distinguished by not pre- cipitating solutions of albumen or gelatine, and by sulphuric acid giving a crimson instead of a black solution. Lime water browns tannic acid slowly, browns gallic acid immediately, and with pyrogallic acid yields a purple red, which becomes brown GENERAL ASTRINGENTS. 355 as it absorbs oxygen (Attfield). Gallic acid is converted into tannic acid by boiling with dilute arsenic acid (Schiff). The actions, uses, and doses of gallic acid are the same as those of tannic acid ; but it is scarcely so active as a topical astringent, although usually preferred as a general astringent. Solutions of gum or grape sugar increase its effects, probably reconverting it into tannic acid. Three to six grains, with about half that amount of opium, form a useful pill for dogs suffering from chronic diarrhoea or -dysentery. A drachm each of gaUio acid and opium mixed with an ounce of lard soothes and reduces irritable piles in dogs, and may often be advan- tageously varied by a dressing of calomel ointment. Pyro- gallic acid mixed with about eight parts of lard or vaseline and cautiously applied over a limited area, is often effectual in persistent psoriasis, and in tanning, Shrivelling, and crumbling away sarcomatous growths. GAMBOGE. Gambogia. Gamboge. A gum-resin obtained from Garcinia MoreUa, var. pediciHata. Imported from Siam. {Brit. Phar.) Nat. Ord.— Guttiferae. Sex. Syst.—Moncecia, Monadelphia. Gamboge is the produce of a moderate-sized dioecious tropical tree ; is imported from Singapore, Siam, and Ceylon ; is obtained from incisions into the special vessels which run in the middle layer of the bark, or by breaking the leaves and branchlets, when the yellow milky juice exuding is collected in leaves of the tree, in cocoa-nut shells, or in joints of bamboo, is transferred into flat earthen vessels, and dried in the sun. It occurs in cylindrical yellow pieces or rolls, four to eight inches long, two to three inches in diameter, and in cakes ; breaks easily with a smooth conchoidal glistening orange-yellow fracture, is odourless, has little taste, but leaves, when chewed, acridity in the throat. It is feebly soluble in water, but more so in alcohol and ether, consists of 15 to 20 per cent, of soluble gum, and about 80 of an active orange-yellow resin, insoluble 356 GELATINE — GLUE in water, but soluble in alcohol, and still more so in ether and alkalies. It is largely used as a pigment. Actions and Uses.— It is a powerful irritant and purgative, inferior in activity only to croton and elaterium. It undergoes solution in the alkaline intestinal juicesj and in large doses causes gastro-enteritis. Moiroud gave horses six to twelve drachms, and found the dejections frequent and fluid, the pulse irregular, the animal shivering and anxious. Two drachms killed a sheep, two ounces and a half had little effect upon a cow, but five ounces caused dysentery, which continued for seventeen days. Gamboge is too drastic and irregular to be safely given either to horses or dogs. It causes profuse watery discharges and increased peristalsis, and although Professor Eutherford's experiments demonstrate that it has no special stimulant action on the liver, it is, like all purgatives acting on the small intestines, a cholagogue, in the sense that it promptly moves onwards the bile in the duodenum, and thus prevents its reabsorption. It has no direct vermicide effect, but is diu- retic, especially when given in small doses dissolved in alkalies. In ruminants it proves safe, speedy, and manageable when in combination with other purgatives. _ With half a pound each of Epsom and common salt, an ounce of gamboge proves a prompt and effectual purgative in indigestion, fardel-bound, and parturient apoplexy of cattle. Although neither gamboge nor aloes is particularly certain when used alone, an ounce of each, rubbed down and given in solution, proves an effectual purge for ordinary cattle cases. Doses, etc. — For cattle, § ss. to § j. ; for sheep, grs. xx. to grs. XXX. ; given in combination with other purgatives, and in solution. GELATINE— GLUE. Nitrogenous matters extracted by the action of hot water from bones, tendons, and animal membranes. Gelatine is chiefly made from damaged hides and skins, and from their parings ; also occasionally from bones, limed, cleaned, and boiled to remove fatty matters, and then crushed and steamed in a partial vacuum. Glue, a coarse variety of o DEMULCENTS AND ADHESIVES. 357 ffelatine, is made from similar materials less carefully purified ; size is an inferior, weaker variety of glue ; isinglass, a natural colourless gelatine, is the swimming bladder or sound of the sturgeon, and various species of Accipenser, prepared and cut into shreds ; chondrine is the gelatinous matter extracted from cartilage ; osseine, the title given to that obtained from bones. Gelatine, when dried, is hard and tough; varies in colour according to its purity ; forms a viscid tremulous mass, even when one per cent, is dissolved in water and allowed to cool : and is precipitated from watery solutions by tannic acid. Actions and ?7ses.— 'Gelatine, although a product of the disintegration of albuminoid tissues, cannot build up the albuminoid or even the gelatinous tissues ; but being tolerably easily digested and broken up, it appears to economise the more valuable albumen. Men, dogs, and even horses, recover- ing from exhausting disease, in which disintegration and ex- cretion of albuminoids is great, exhibit the dietetic value of gelatine when given as soup, and along with fats or hydro- carbons. As a demulcent it has the disadvantage of becoming hard and dry, and hence is not very suitable as a permanent sheathing for irritable surfaces. Glue is often employed in veterinary practice for securing the broken horns of cattle, and occasionally for making adhesive plasters. For the closing of wounds, two pieces of stout cloth are cut so as to leave a number of tails with uncut margins of several inches, and are smeared with melted glue, usually mixed with pitch, and applied, one on either side of the wound, with the uncut margins towards each other., When the plaster is dry, these approximating uncut margins are sewed together, whilst, to prevent the plaster slipping with the movements of the skin, a few narrow strips of calico may then be applied with the glue in various directions over the injured spot. Large wounds may be thus secured by non-professional persons who cannot use sutures or needles ; and even where a serious wound is properly sewed or sutured, such plasters immediately applied are sometimes useful in keeping the parts in position, givmg support, and preventing the annoyance of flies; a dependent opening must, however, be left for egress of dis- charge. Glue plasters are often effectual in reducing and 358 GENTIAN retaining umbilical hernia, both in calves and foals ; and in these, as in other cases, the chief requisites for their successful application are to cut the cloth into ribbons or tails, to smear both cloth and skin v/ith the melted glue, and keep the plaster smooth and firm until it is thoroughly dry : the admixture with the glue of one-third or one-half of pitch greatly increases adhesiveness. The familiar court sticking-plaster consists of a strong solution of isinglass painted over thin silk. In pharmacy, gelatine is used for clarifying or fining, and as a neat and cleanly envelope for pills and boluses. GENTIAN. Gentianse Eadix. The dried root of Gentiana lutea. Collected in the mountainous districts of Central and Southern Europe. {Brit. Plmr) Nat. Ord. — Gentianaeess. Sex. Syst. — Pentandria Digynia. The Gentiana lutea, or yellow gentian, has a perennial, often forked root, and an annual herbaceous stem, which rises three or four feet high, and bears spikes of yellow flowers. It abounds in most parts of temperate Europe, thrives best between 3000 and 5000 feet above the sea-level, and is exten- sively cultivated in the mountainous districts of the Alps, Vpsges, and Pyrenees. All parts of the plant are bitter and tonic, but the root alone is officinal. It is brought to this country in bales, chiefly from Switzerland, the Tyrol, and Auvergne, usually by way of Marseilles and other Mediter- ranean ports. It occurs in cylindrical, usually more or less branched, often twisted, pieces, marked by transverse annular wrinkles and longitudinal furrows, varying in length from a few inches to a foot, and in thickness from half an inch to an inch. Externally the root is brown, and yellow within; its texture is tough and spongy. It has a peculiar aromatic and rather disagreeable odour; and a taste at first sweet, but afterwards strongly and permanently bitter, but without astringency. When moist, it is tough and flexible ; when dry, brittle and easily pulverised. The powder is yellow, with a A BITTEE STOMACHIC AND TONIC. 359 shade of brown, and readily yields its bitterness to water, alcohol, and ether. Gentian root contains 12 to 15 per cent, of unoiystallisable sugar, which, in Southern Bavaria and Sffifczerland, is fermented into a drinking spirit, a large amount of pectin, a little volatile oil and fat, and two crystalline bodies — gentianin or gentianic acid (C14 Hjo O5), which is inert, and about O'l per cent, of the neutral gentian bitter or gentio- picrin (C20 H30 0^^). Eoots of other Gentianse are frequently mixed with those of G. lutea ; but this is not of much importance, since all are possessed of similar properties. Admixture, however, sometimes occurs of poisonous roots, such as monkshood, belladonna, and white hellebore, which may be distinguished by the absence of the pure bitter taste and bright yellow colour so characteristic of true gentian. Gentian powder, especially that met with abroad, is stated to be occasionally adulterated with yellow ochre, easily detected by heating the suspected specimen with a little sulphuric acid, filtering, and testing for iron. Actions and Uses. — Gentian is the type of a pure and simple bitter, and is prescribed as a stomachic and tonic. It resembles quassia, calumba, chiretta, and the New England gold thread or Coptic. As a tonic it has been considered little inferior to cinchona ; it is devoid of astringency. Gentian stimulates the peripheral filaments of the nerves of the tongue and mouth, increases secretion of gastric juice, but, unlike the volatile oils and gum resins, has no appreciable effect upon the pulmonary mucous membrane. The bitter principle reaches the blood, but whether it acts as a restorative or nerve tonic is not known. It improves the appetite and general tone, especially of the gastric mucous membrane. Amongst horses suffering from febrile catarrhal attacks, few combinations are more effectual than an ounce of powdered gentian, two drachms nitre, with two ounces Epsom salt, dissolved in a pint of water, linseed tea, or ale, and repeated night and morning. In many inflammatory complaints, after the first acute stage is passed, such a prescription also proves serviceable. Where the bowels are constipated or irregular, or febrile symptoms are insufficiently subdued, two drachms of aloes may be advantageously united with the gentian. Where 360 GENTIAN. more general tonic effects are sought, iron sulphate is alternated with the gentian and salines. An ounce of gentian with an ounce of ether or sweet spirit of nitre, given three or four times daily in a bottle of ale, proves an excellent stomachic and stimulating tonic in influenza, and other epizootics. Such a combination hastens recovery from exhausting disorders, and has an almost magical effect in restoring horses that are jaded, overworked, or suffering from loss of appetite or slight cold. In simple indigestion, especially in young animals, it is frequently combined with antacids or aromatics. Half an ounce each of gentian, ginger, and sodium carbonate constitutes a useful stomachic and carminative for horses or cattle, and may be made either into bolus with treacle, or into a drench with gruel or ale. In relaxed and irritable bowels, especially in young animals, it is advantageously conjoined with opium. By promoting a healthy state of the digestive mucous membrane it counteracts the development of worms ; whilst its bitterness and slight laxative tendency sometimes cause their expulsion. Its supposed utility in jaundice is mainly owing to the laxatives with which it is usually combined. For cattle the above formulae are as serviceable as for horses, but require to be given in somewhat larger doses. For sheep, gentian is a most useful stomachic and bitter tonic, and when prescribed with salt arrests, for a time, the progress of liver- rot. Next after quinine it is the best vegetable tonic for dogs prostrated by re- ducing disorders. Like other tonics, gentian is contra-indicated in irritation of the intestines, and in the earlier stages of acute inflammatory diseases. As an infusion, it is occasionally ap- plied externally as a mild stimulant and antiseptic. Doses, etc. — For the horse, §ss. to §i. ; for cattle, §i. to §ij. ; for sheep, 5i. to 5iij. ; for pigs, 3ss. to 3i. ; for dogs, grs. v. to XX., repeated twice or thrice daily. The carefully-prepared Pharmacopoeia extract infusions and tinctures, flavoured with bitter orange-peel and aromatics, are little required in veteri- nary practice. The powdered gentian is prescribed either as a bolus prepared with treacle, glycerine, and meal, or as an infusion made by digesting the powder during several hours in hot water and decanting off the clear fluid. A small addition of proof spirit insures more thorough solution and better GINGER. 361 keeping. Gentian is often given with ginger, cardamoms, antacids, aloollol, ether, and mineral tonics. GINGER Zingiber. The scraped and dried rhizome, or underground stem, of Zingiber officinale, from plants cultivated in India, in the West Indies, and other countries. {Brit. Phar) Nat. Ord.— Zingiberacgffi. Sex. /Sj/si.— Monandria Monogynia. The Zingiber officinale, grown in many tropical countries, has a biennial, creeping, iieshy, and nodulous rhizome, which gives off numerous descending short radicles, with several ascending annual leafy stems, which reach to the height of three or four feet, are invested with smooth sheathing leaves, and terminated by a spike of purple flowers. For making green or preserved ginger, the rhizomes are gathered when about three months old, and while still soft and juicy. For other purposes they are taken up when about a year old, when the aerial stems have withered down, but while the rhizome is still plump and soft. They are scalded to check vegetation, usually scraped to remove the dark-brown wrinkled epidermis, and dried in the sun. Properties.— Seiveml sorts are recognised : — The Jamaica in large plump pieces or races, pale, stripped of epidermis, pro- ducing a light coloured powder, of superior quality ; Malabar, or Cochin China, a little darker, but usually good ; Bengal and African, imported both coated and uncoated, many samples of which are cheap and ex<;ellent ; Barbadoes, in short thick races, retaining its brown corrugated epidermis. The un- stripped descriptions are sometimes termed black gingers. The several varieties are met with in irregular lobed knotted zig- zagged pieces or races, from two to four inches in length, with a marbled soft resinous texture, a strong, agreeable aromatic odour, a warm, pungent taste, and dissolving in water and alcohol. To imitate the finer Jamaica ginger, inferior varieties are exposed to sunlight, to sulphurous acid, or to calx chlorata; but such bleaching or whitewashing cannot impart the soft 362 GINGER. resinous structure, short mealy fracture, aromatic odour, and hot taste, which distinguish good specimens. Besides the usual plant constituents, ginger contains an acrid resin and 2-2 per cent, of volatile oil (Cj Hg), concentrating the aroma, taste, and properties of the medicine. These active principles are chiefly located in the delicate felted layer of skin situated between the starchy mealy parenchyma of the rhizome and the brown horny external covering. As a condiment and medicine. Great Britain annually imports nearly 300 tons of ginger. Actions and Uses. — Ginger is slightly irritant, aromatic, and stomachic. It stimulates the various mucous membranes with which it comes in contact. Blown into the nostrils, it pro- motes nasal discharge; chewed, it augments the flow of saliva; administered internally in repeated doses, it increases gastric , secretion, facilitates digestion, and checks formation of flatus. From these stomachic and carminative properties, as well as from its mild tonic effects, it proves serviceable during con- valescence from debilitating diseases, especially when accom- panied by atony of the digestive organs. It is, besides, a useful adjunct to many medicines, is prescribed with tonics and stimulants ; whilst, conjoined with purgatives, it diminishes their tendency to nauseate and gripe, and also somewhat hastens their effects. To fulfil these purposes, it is nsed for all the domesticated animals, and especially for cattle and sheep. Allied to ginger, and belonging to the same natural family, are turmeric and galangal, the rhizomes of Southern Asiatic flag-like plants, both aromatic and stimulant, — turmeric much used for dyeing. Doses, etc. — For the horse, 3 iv. to § i. ; for cattle, § i. to giij. ; for sheep, 5i- to gij.; for pigs, 3ss. to 3i-; for dogs, grs. X. to grs. xxx. It is given in bolus made with any suitable excipient, or in draught, made with hot water, the infusion being sometimes sweetened with treacle or sugar. The tincture was highly spoken of by the late Mr. Morton, and ordered to be made with two ounces of ginger to the pint of proof spirit. The better-keeping Pharmacopcsia tincture is made with 2^ ounces of coarsely-powdered ginger to a pint of rectified spirit, by the usual process of maceration and subsequent per- colation. GLYCERINE A NUTRIENT, DEMULCENT, AND kSOLVENT. 363 GLYCERINE. Glycerinum. Glyceryl Hydrate. Glyceric Alcohol. A sweet principle, obtained from fats and oil, except spermaceti and wax, by saponification. (Cg H5, 3 HO or Cg H3 O3.) Glycerine was first discovered, in 1789, by Scheele as a product in the manufacture of lead plaster ; it occurs in small amount during the fermentation of sugar ; it is the hydrate of the basylous principle of all oils and fats, and is obtained as a by-product from soap ai!d stearine candle-making. In saponi- fication double decomposition occurs; the fats, consisting of glyceryl stearate, palmitate, or oleate, are broken up; their fatty acids unite with the metal ; the basylous radicle glyceryl (Cg H5), thus liberated, being triatomic, unites with the three radicles of hydroxyl previously held by the caustic soda, thus : — Caustic Soda -f- Vegetable Oil = Hard Soap + Glycerine 3 Na' HO + C3H5,3 G,s^,fi, = 3Na, G,,-ii,,0, + C3H5, 3 HO. Into a distilhng apparatus containing palm oil, steam at a temperature of 550° or 600° is introduced ; the oil and water are decomposed ; and there distil over pure stearic acid and glycerine, which, being the heavier, occupies the lower part of the receiver. For most purposes it is redistilled, reaches a specific gravity of 1-28, and contains 94 per cent, of anhydrous glycerine. It is viscid and colourless, odourless, has a sweet taste ; strongly heated in a capsule, it should, if pure, leave no residue ; it bums with a luminous flame, evolving irritating vapours ; is freely soluble in water and alcohol ; is itself an excellent solvent for vegetable acids and alkaloids, takes up one-third of its weight of quinine sulphate, one-sixth of mor- phine muriate, one-fifth of arsenic. Actions and Uses.— Glycenue is nutrient, demulcent, emol- lient, feebly antiseptic, and a convenient solvent for alkaloids, tannic and gaUic acids. It has some of the nutrient properties of cod-liver oil and other fats, and two or three drachms, repeated twice or thrice daily, have been given to delicate dogs. It has been stated 364 GLYCERmB. that larger doses exert inebriant effects. It is slowly absorbed, but only in limited amount. Small doses are eliminated by the kidneys, large doses by the bowels, producing laxative effects. Amongst calves and dogs troubled with acidity and flatulence, glycerine given before eating is sometimes useful in checking fermentation without interfering with digestion. Added to milk it certainly delays acetic fermentation. Mixed with a little belladonna extract, it is an effectual emollient in the dry stage of catarrh. It proves a capital emollient for cracked heels, mud fever, blistered or burnt surfaces— indeed, wherever the skin is irritable, dry, rough, or scurfy. When undiluted, it is however too heating and irritant for tender or abraded surfaces, and is best used with water, spirit and water, any bland oil, or as glycerine of starch made by heating an ounce of starch with eight ounces of glycerine. This is a cleanly and useful application for many purposes, notably for sore mouths amongst calves and lambs. For cracked heels, and noisome indolent wounds, antiseptic as well as emollient effects are obtained by using glycerine of carbolic acid, made by rubbing together in a mortar one part of carbolic acid and four of glycerine. Ninety -two parts of glycerine, and sixty- two of boracic acid repeatedly heated, form a definite com- poimd of boro-glyceride. Successfully used by Professor Barff for preserving milk, meat, and other perishable sub- stances, and injected into the blood-vessels immediately before the animal is slaughtered, it is stated to preserve the carcase for months. For soothing, astringent, and antiseptic pur- poses, equal parts of glycerine and Goulard's extract are used, diluted as required with water. Somewhat similar effects arc obtained with glycerine of tannin, which is serviceable in the squamous stages of eczema, especially in young and delicate dogs, in aphtha, and in relaxed sore throat. Glycerine is used as a solvent for tannic and gallic acids, and for alkaloids ; as a vehicle for their hypodermic injection; as a preservative of the moisture and soundness of various boluses and masses ; and as a convenient and palatable menstruum for giving nauseous medicines, especially to dogs and cats. GUMS. 365 GUM AEABIC— GUM TEAGACANTH. Gummi Acacia. Gum Arabic. A gummy exudation from the stem of one or more undetermined species of Acacia. Tragacanthse. Gum tragacanth. A gummy exudation from the stems of Astragalus verus, and probably other species, collected in Asia Minor. (Brit. Phar.) Nat. Oi-i.— Leguminosae. Sea;. Syst. — ^Monodelphia, Polyandrk. Gum is largely present in many plants, but for commercial and medicinal purposes is chiefly got from various species of Acacia. These are stunted, ■withered-looking trees, usually of medium size, with a grey bark, oblong linear leaflets arranged along eitlier side of the stalk, and a monUiform fruit resem- bling the laburnum. They abound in dry, warm climates, especially in Nubia and the valley of the Upper Nile, and are most prolific when old and stunted, and during dry, hot seasons. In June and July a viscid juice exudes from natural cracks or artificial incisions in the bark, and concretes by the heat of the sun into round masses or tears, varying in size from a pea to a walnut, brittle, usually shining, when in small fragments of a yellow or brown colour, odourless, and of a bland, sweet taste. Gum dissolves in water, forming an adhesive, viscid fluid or mucilage. The colour and trans- parency of gum are liable to many variations, being sometimes different in specimens obtained from the same tree, and some- times identical in those from different species. Gum Acacia, or Gum Arabic, the most important medicinal variety, does not come from Arabia, as its name might indicate, but is chiefly collected in Kordofan, in Eastern Africa, and forwarded from Alexandria. When imported, it is picked and sorted, usually into three different qualities, distinguished by the size, colour, and transparency of the tears. It is tough and difficult to powder, but must not be triturated in iron mortars, as it is apt thereby to become acid and discoloured. When pure, it is soluble in its own weight alike of hot and Scold water, is insoluble in and incompatible with alcohol, ether, ofls, and most mineral salts. Boiled with dilute sul- phuric acid, it is converted into sugar ; strong nitric acid con- 366 GUMS. verts it into oxalic acid. Gum consists of arabin or arabic acid, which is associated with calcium, magnesium, and potas- sium, and has the formula Cja H22 On, 3 Hj 0. It may be regarded as a calcium magnesium and potassium salt of the feeble arabic acid (Fliickiger). Gum Senegal is similar to gum Arabic, but less brittle, and dissolves only in four or five parts of water. The East Indian gums are generally dark-coloured, more difficult of solution, and less valuable. The gums of Australia and the Cape, now imported in considerable quantity, are also inferior to gum Arabic in colour, transparency, and solubility. Gum Tragacanth, derived from tangled spiny bushes, shrubs, or small trees of the genus Astragalus, is collected in Asia Minor, mostly exported from Smyrna, occurs in thin, semi-transparent, tough, horny lamellae or plates of a white- grey or yellow colour, and marked with concentric ridges ; it is tasteless and odourless. Cold water swells it into a jelly, which readily diffuses through water, and which is tinged violet by iodine tincture, indicating the presence of starch ; boiling water readily dissolves it, forming a dense mucilage. Tragacanth is composed of a soluble gum, resembling arabin, and called tragacanthin, and an insoluble neutral gum, bas- sorin (C12 Hjq Ok,), which, gelatine-like, swells up, but is not dissolved either by hot or cold water, but is soluble in alcohol. British gum or dextrin (Cg Hjo O5), much used in calico- printing, is made by heating starch with dilute nitric acid, by exposing it to a temperature of 400°, or by acting upon it by diastase or other such ferment. Actions and Uses. — Gums are the least nutritive of the hydrocarbons ; when swallowed they are dissolved , by the secretions of the alimentary canal, absorbed, and probably converted into sugar. They are used occasionally as demul- cents and emollients for ensheathing mucous surfaces in catarrh and diarrhoea, and for protecting injections in inflam- mation of the bowels and bladder. "Where there are tender- ness and irritability, mucilage is conjoined with opium or belladonna ; where there is atony, with oak bark, catechu, or tannin. For veterinary purposes mucilage is, however, usually superseded by well-boiled linseed or starch gruels. GDMS AND MUCILAGE. 367 For Biaking emulsions, electuaries, and boluses, gums have :,he disadvantage of speedily drying and hardening. Doses etc. Gums may be taken almost ad libitum. Horses md cattle may have § ij. to § iij. ; foals, calves, and sheep § i. ; md dogs grs. xx. to grs. xl. Mucilage is made by mixing, in I covered earthen jar, four ounces of gum in small pieces, and six fluid ounces of distilled water, stirring, and, if necessary, straining through muslin. (Brit. Phar.) HELLEBOEE. Hellebori Niger Eadix. Black hellebore rhizome. Dried root-stalk and radicles of Helleborus niger. Nat. Ord— JRanuncukceae. Ski. 30 of boiling rectified spirit, in amyl, alcohol, oils, caustic alkalies; and weak acids, with which it forms crystallisable and usually soluble salts. O|,rbonate of soda precipitates morphia from its salts, the precipitate is not' re-dissolved by excess of the reagent. With a neutral 490 OPIUM ALKALOIDS. solution of ferric-chloride it produces a purple-blue solution, which gradually becomes green ; with nitric acid, an orange-red solution ; with iodic acid, a red-brown liquid containing free iodine. Concentrated sulphuric acid and a little molybdic acid give a violet colour, gradually turning brown and finally blue. Its actions and uses are identical with those of its salt^s. (See p. 504.) Apomorphine (Oi7 Hi7 N O2), a crystalKne derivative from morphine, is prepared by heating morphine hydrochlorate for several hours in a hermeti- cally-closed tube, when an atom of water is abstracted. It is amorphous, slightly bitter, moderately soluble in water, more so in alcohol ; exposed to the air it gradually becomes green. It is the most certain and active emetic known ; J grain in solution in water when swallowed, -^ grain injected hypodermically, cause in men and dogs emesis within five or ten minutes, usually recurring several times at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes, causiBg sleep, but occasionally also inducing syncope (Dr. Harley). Meconihb or Opiantl (Om Hm Oj) is neutral, fusible, volatile, mildly bitter, in sUky prisms, resembling quinine sulphate. It constitutes '01 to ■02 per cent, of opium ; is soluble in hot water and chloroform ; in sul- phuric acid it forms a bright amber-coloured solution, which, on heating, passes through green, indigo-blue, and eventually becomes a permanent purple. Dr. Harley, experimenting upon horses, injected subcutaneously grs. xiv., and gave grs. xx. by the mouth, without observing any effect ; but on dogs and mice more decided tranquillising effects were produced than by the less soluble narceine. Naeceinb (O28 H29 N Oj) constitutes O'l to 0'7 per cent, of opium ; occurs as a light, colourless, bitter, asbestos-like body, made up . of soft, needle-like crystals, melting at 293°, soluble in 100 parts of boiling water, 400 of cold, rather more soluble in glycerine and diluted hydrochloric acid. Somewhat contradictory opinions are expressed regarding its actions. In dogs, grs. V. subcutaneously injected produce calmative and slight hyp- notic effects, similar to what are induced by a grain of morphine. Poisonous doses arrest respiratory movements, but do not cause convulsions (Dr. Harley). Papaverine (C21 H21 N 0,) (Fliickiger) is present to the extent of about 1 per cent., is separable in shining prisms, which melt at 297°, is tasteless, sparingly soluble in water, soluble in dilute acetic and hydrochloric acids, forms with cold nitric acid an orange colour, and is a decided but feeble hypnotic. Ortptopine or Crtptopia (Cn Hjs N O5), an alkaloid discovered by Messrs. T. and H. Smith, of Edinburgh, is probably a derivative rather than a natural constituent of opium, of which a ton yields only an ounce. It occurs in colourless six-sided prisms, is more bitter than morphine, and soluble in water acidulated with hydrochloric or acetic acids. One grain injected subcutaneously caused in dogs excitement, dilatation of the pupU, illusion of vision, agitation and frenzy. Its hypnotic action resembles that of meconine and narceine, and is about one-fourth that of morphine. Poison- ous doses destroy life by arresting respiratory movements (Dr. Harley). Narcotine (C22 Hsa N Of) exists in opium in quantities varying firom 2 to 8 per cent., and is got by treating the insoluble residue left in the preparation of morphine with diluted acetic acid, precipitating the solu- tion with ammonia, and purifying the impure narcotine with hot alcohol and animal charcoal. Its colourless rhombic prisms melt at 350°, have an insipid taste, and are soluble in ether, alcohol, and weak acids, but not in cold water. By heating with water narcotine is split up into meconine and cotarnine (Ou Hm N Oa). It is a feeble base, and is distinguished from morphine by having no bitter taste, no reaction on vegetable colouring PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL TESTS. 49 1 matter, and no effect on ferric-chloride. Inappropriately aamed, it is devoid of narcotism ; it is tonic and antiperiodio ; 20-grain doses have been used in India as a substitute for quinine in the treatment of intermittent and remittent fevers ; large doses are convulsant. C0DE7NE or CoDBiA (Cm H31 N Oa), present in the proportion of J to 1 per cent., is a colourless bitter alkaloid, crystallising in rhombic octa- hedra, soluble in 50 parts water at 60°, in 25 parts at 212°, and in less than two parts of alcohol and chloroform. It melts at 300°. Unlike mor- phine, it is insoluble in cold, weak, caustic potash, and unaffected by ferric- chloride. It exhibits, like the other alkaloids, the twofold soporific and excitant action, but the excitant action is stronger; although closely resembling morphine it requires four times the dose to produce its effects ; it causes convulsions, nausea, embarrassed breathing, and cardiac excitement (Dr. Harley). Thebainb or Paramobphia (Cm H21 N Oj) is present to the extent of J per cent., is obtained in mimltte, colourless, rectangular prisms, melting at 380°, has an alkaline taste and reaction, is almost insoluble in water, but soluble in 45 parts of rectified spirit, and still more so in ether and cMoioform. With cold sulphuric acid it forms a blood-red solution. It has very slight hypnotic action, prominently exhibits the excitant effects of opium, stimulates the motor tract of the spinal cord, and causes, like strydmine, muscular rigidity and convulsions. One to two grains injected hypodermicaUy produce fatal tetanus in dogs (Dr. Harley). ' Meconio Acid (Eg, C7 H Oj, SHj 0), found only in opium, in quanti- ties varying from 3 to 6 per cent., forms, along with sulphuric acid, the solvent for the alkaloids. It is obtained as a by-product in the preparia,- tion of morphine muriate by mixing the crude calcium meconate (see p. 503) with ten parts of boiling water and an excess of strong hydro- chloric acid. Separated from csdcium sulphate and colouring matter, it is in' transparent, snow-white, scaly crystals, which are soluble in water and alcohol ; heated above 150°, they are decomposed. It is tribasic ; forms, with neutral solution of ferric-chloride, a blood-red solution ; and with copper ammonia-sulphate, a green precipitate. No effect is produced by eight grains given to dogs, cows, and frogs, or by four and five grains administered to men (Pereira). Physical md Ohemical Tests. — Solid opium is easily identified by its red-brown colour, peculiar odour, and bitter taste ; simple solutions by the last two of these tests, and by the reaction of nitric acid on the morphine, or of neutral solution of ferric-chloride on the meconic acid. Such tests are, however, inapplicable in the contents of the stomach or other complex solutions, until they are freed of colouring matters and impurities. This may be effected as follows :— Reduce the solid parts of the mixture to a state of fine division, add water if necessary, acidulate with acetic acid, t t J ^a^ BTaporate to the consistence of syrup. Eedissolve the concen- trated fluid in alcohol, boil, and filter when cool. Then evaporate the solu- tion, dissolve the semi-solid residue in water, and filter again. The fluid, now tolerably clear, if opium has been present, will contain morphine meconate, and is treated with excess of lead acetate and filtered. The clear solution so got contains morphine acetate ; the solid residue left on the niter is lead meconate ; and both solution and residue afford valuable indica- tions of the presence of opium. Ine clear solution, treated with hydrogen-sulphide to remove any traces 1,- I • '^ ^'^"^ *"^ treated with ammonia to precipitate the morphine, wJuch is washed, purified if necessary by solution in alcohol, and crystallises in colourless rhombic prisms. Nitric acid dissolves these crystals with ettervescence, instantly producing an orange-red colour, which becomes 492 OPItfM CHEMICAL TESTS. yellow when excess of acid is used. This very delicate test is not, alone, certain evidence of the presence of morphine, aa nitric acid produces the same effect on brucine and commercial strychnine. A strong neutral solu- tion of ferric-chloride strikes a dirty-blue colour. A fragment of iodic acid, dropped into a test-tube containing a strong solution of a morphine salt, is decomposed, and the free iodine may be detected by mucilage of starch. This, however, is only a confirmatory test, as iodic acid is similarly decom- posed by various albuminoids. The solid residue left on the filter, containing, as above stated, lead meconate, should also be examined, as the tests for laeconic acid are very delicate, and afford indication of opium even when it is in such minute quantity as to be undetectable by the morphine tests. The meconic acid may be separated from the lead either by hydrogen sulphide or sulphuric acid ; the insoluble salts, thus formed, are got rid of by filtration, leaving the meconic acid in solution, (a.) In considerable quantity it may be puri- fied, when it appears in colourless tabular crystals, which, when aggregated, have an appearance like spermaceti. (6.) Heated in a test-tube, it is partly decomposed, partly sublimed, forming radiated tufts of needle-like crystals of pyromeconic acid, (c.) In aqueous solution, it produces, with copper sulphate, a pale green precipitate, which is dissolved by boiling, but re- appears on cooling, (d.) But its most delicate and characteristic test is the neutral solution of ferric-chloride, which produces an intense blood-red solution of iron meconate. For all practical purposes, this test, along with the reaction '.of nitric acid upon morphine, is conclusive evidence of the presence of opium. Ferric-chloride produces, however, a blood-red solution with acetates, but only in strong solutions, and when the acetic acid can be easily detected by other tests ; and with sulpho-cyanates existing in the saliva, especially of sheep. Two simple tests remove this source of fallacy, and readily distinguish iron sulpho-cyanate from iron meconate. Corrosive sublimate bleaches the sulpho-cyanate, but does not affect the colour of the meconate ; whilst, conversely, hydrochloric acid decolorises the meconate, but does not affect the sulpho-cyanate. Actions and Uses. — Opium containing so many diverse con- stituents exhibits many and diversified actions. It acts both on the cerebro-spinal and sympathetic systems. Full doses cause primary stimulation and secondary depression. Dr. John Harley describes opium and its alkaloids as soporifics which include anaesthesia, and excitants which include cramp and convulsions (Eoyle's Mat. Med., 6th edition.) The promi- nence of one or other of these dissimilar actions varies with the species of patient, his state of health, and the dose ad- ministered. In most horses, receiving full doses, the excitant action predominates ; in most dogs the two antagonising actions are more evenly balanced — there is usually delirium with stupor ; in frogs tetanus without narcosis occurs ; in most men the soporific action speedily obscures the excitant action. Poisonous doses usually prove fatal by arrest of respiratory movements. Small, frequently-repeated doses are stimulants, A PRIMAKY STIMULANT AND SECONDARY DEPRESSANT. 493 restoratives, Idiaphoretics, and cardiac tonics. They reduce sensibility of sensory nerves, hence diminish supplies of blood determined to irritated or inflamed parts, and thus are effectual anodynes. They lower excitability of the respiratory centre, and hence abate cough and bronchial irritability. Fuller doses are narcotic, sedative, antispasmodic, and, in virtue of their paralysing nerve centres and end organs, are anodyne. Digestion and absorption, secretion and excretion, are not retarded by stimulant or feebly soporific doses, but are checked or arrested by full soporific or anaesthetic doses. Applied topically, opium acts as it often does when given internally — it first stimulates, and then soothes and paralyses both sensory and motor nerves. Used, whether externally or internally, it is thus one of the most effectual antidotes for pain, nervous irritability, and spasm. The following are the primary constituents of opium, and its chief secondary or derivative constituents, arranged in the order of their activity as soporifics and sedatives : — Morphine. Narcotine. Meconine. Apomorphine. Narceine. Codeine. Papaverine. Thebaine. Cryptopine. Morphine stands first in this series as the most active soporific and sedative, but the least excitant. Next follow in order alkaloids each less soporific but more excitant, until thebaine is reached, which is the least soporific, but most excitant and convellent of the series. Toxic Effects. — Opium is readily taken up from any of the mucous or serous surfaces, from the skin, or from wounds. Entrance into the blood is essential to the production of its constitutional effects. It is excreted chiefly by the kidneys and skin. From his admirable experiments on various ani- mals, detailed in The Old Vegetable Neurotics, Dr. John Harley concludes that opium and morphia " act both upon the cerebro- spinal and the syiiipathetic nervous systems — the soporific effects resulting from its action on the cerebral hemispheres ; the excitant from excessive stimulation of the corpora striata 494 , OPIUM POISONING and spinal cord; and the acceleration of the heart's action partly to direct stimulation of the sympathetic neryes and partly to an indirect stimulation, of the same centres, resulting from the excitement of muscular movement. How far the muscular movements are due to excitation of the motor centres in the brain is not very evident. That the spinal cord is im- plicated appears to be indicated by the rhythmical character of the movements .; the horse scrapes the ground with the same hoof for hours together, begins and ends with a regular tread from side to side, or goes round and round continuously in the same direction. There is an evident tendency to forward movement, together with inaction of the hind legs. Vascular excitement, if intense and prolonged, ends in dilatation of the capillaries, general congestion, imperfect oxidation of the blood, and weakness of the heart" (p. 105). Dr. Harley further states, that opium diminishes the conductivity of the vaso- motor nerves, deranges and depresses the functions of the vagus, and thus develops the characteristic nausea, retching, cramp of respiratory muscles, and distention of the right heart (p. 121). Dr. Fothergill ascribes the soporific effects of opium to cerebral ansemia and diminished activity of the cerebral cells. Horses, like men, exhibit considerable differences in their susceptibility to the action of opium; excitable, well-bred subjects are more readily brought under the excitant effects ; quiet, phlegmatic individuals under the soporific actions. This difference in temperament accounts for many of the diverse reports concerning the action of opium on horses. Hertwig mentions that two to four drachms have scarcely any other effect than that of a slight stimulant ; and that an ounce in solution caused first increased liveliness, and, after, two hours, duiness, diminished sensibility; slower circulationj less frequent evacuations, and stupor — symptoms which continued for twelve hours, but entirely disappeared the following day. Two ounces and a half induced similar effects, with convulsions and death in about twenty hours. Dr. Harley found that four drachms powdered opium caused little effect for seven hours, and then only acceleration of the pulse. Pour ounces laudanum had no noticeable effect. Some of Dr. Harley's interesting IN HORSES, CATTLE, AND DOGS. 495 expeiimiKits with morphine on horses are detailed below. I gave a strong healthy cart-horse one ounce powdered opium dissolred in water ; the pulse in eight minutes fell from forty- four to thirty-four beats per minute ; the superficial muscles were relaxed, the nasal mucous membrane blanched, and the animal was dull and dejected. From disease of the eyes the condition of the pupil could not be noted. After half an hour, four drachms, also dissolved in water, were given, and increased the dulness and weakness of the pulse, which now numbered thirty-two. Half an hour later the animal, continuing in the same state, was destroyed by cutting the carotid artery. A mare, aged and rather feeble, had drachm doses in solution thrice a day : she exhibited dulness, loss of appetite, torpidity of the bowels, diminished force of the pulse, and died on the fourth day, after the exhibition of nine doses. One drachm given thrice a day to a healthy donkey induced, after six doses, acceleration of the pulse to eighty-eight, restlessness, vertigo, nausea, champing of the teeth, and death on the third day. Euminants are not very susceptible either of the excitant ot soporific effects of opium. Cows take an ounce, and sheep four drachms, without suffering any further effects than dry- ness of the mouth, occasional nausea and restlessness, accelera- tion, and subsequently slight depression of the pulse. Swine, after receiving one or two drachms, become first lively, and then dull and sleepy, their bowels constipated, and their skins hot. Dogs are acted on much in the same way as men. With moderate doses most become stupid and drowsy; but other individuals are rendered delirious, especially by large doses. The pupil is not dilated as in the horse or cat, nor continuously contracted, as in man, but is contracted whilst the dog is asleep or narcotised. One to three drachms usually cause in dogs, within a few minutes, increased force and fre- quency of the circulation; there is nausea, a staggering, unsteady gait; twitching of the limbs, clonic spasms, stertorous breathing, and, as death approaches, stupor — never, however, so deep or lasting as in human patients, and from which the animal may always be easily roused. The symptoms continue from three to fifteen hours ; and most animals which survive the latter period eventually recover. Dr. Harley injected 496 OPIUM ANTIDOTES. twenty minims laudanum under the skin of a bitcli about twenty-five lbs. weigbt ; she was nauseated, in fifteen minutes she vomited, had spasms of the diaphragm, the bowels acted, mucus ran from the mouth ; within an hour the pulse had fallen from 120 to 78, and was irregular ; the animal lay quiet, but did not sleep or show narcotism. Twenty minims more were injected ; the pulse fell to 72 and was regular, respiration 16 and regular ; half an hour later she closed her eyes and was drowsy, continued so for an hour, but did not actually sleep. Dr. Weir Mitchell's experiments show that ducks, chickens, pigeons, and other birds cannot be poisoned by crude opium or any of its preparations given internally; that morphine salts are fatal only when given in enormous doses, and produce convulsions, but neither sleep nor stupor. In animals poisoned by large doses of opium the blood is fluid and dark-coloured from imperfect decarbonisation, but does not yield on analysis any indications of the poison. There is general venous engorgement, and the right cavities of the heart are distended with soft coagula. The subarachnoid spaces and ventricles contain more serum than usual. Opium and its preparations annually destroy in Great Britain upwards of one hundred human lives, three-fourths being children under five years. In the lower animals acci- dental poisoning with opium occurs occasionally, intentional poisoning very rarely. Any unabsorbed poison is to be promptly got rid of either by the stomach-pump or by emetics, but both in men and dogs, so long as the patient can swallow, the latter are most effectual. Mustard and warm applications to the chest counteract cramp of the respiratory muscles, and sustain the action of the heart. Artificial respiration, dashing cold water over the head and neck, and faradizing the muscles of the chest, antagonise paralysis of respiration. Blood drawn from the jugular vein helps to relieve lung congestion. Strong tea and coffee, stimulant clysters, and keeping the patient moving about counteract tendency to stupor. Tincture of galls and other chemical antidotes are of little avail. Strych- nine has a decided antagonising effect, and when used hypodermically, in a few minutes rouses dogs from hopeless stupor. Belladonna, or atropine, given before, along with, or MEDICINAL USES. 497 immediately after, a poisonous dose of opium, exerts partial antagonism, prevents in dogs nausea and vomiting, relieves bronchial spasm, and stimulates the over-taxed heart. But although antagonising some of the actions of opium, neither strychnine nor atropine is, however, available as a safe anti- dote (Dr. Harley). Medicinal Uses. — No . article of the Materia Medica is more frequently and generally prescribed, As a stimulant and restorative it sometimes acts almost like food or alcohol. Cutchie horsemen share their opium with their jaded steeds, and increased activity and capability of endurance with retardation of waste are observed alike in man and beast. In the treatment of inflammation opium is an important remedy ; it*^dulls excessive sensibility and irritability, raises the tonicity of congested or inflamed vessels, thus diminishes the amount of hloodi, determined to irritable or inflamed parts, and hence acts as a true antiphlogistic. In various diseases of the bowels it maintains their quietude ; in many cases it counter- acts exhausting pain. It is more generally serviceable in inflammatiou of serous and fibrous tissues than in inflamma- tion of mucous iriembranes or parenchymatous organs. In gastritis, or gastro-enteritis, whether produced' from disease or from swallowing acrid poisons, opium is of value in allaying irritability, pain, and spasm. Obstinate chronic vomiting, either in dogs or pigs, whether depending upon irritation of the stomach or of the vomiting centre, is generally relieved by a few grains of opium given with chloroform, or chloral hydrate. In gastric irritability it is sometimes pre- scribed with bismuth. When, in weakly, young, growing animals, "food is hurried too rapidly through the digestive canal, opium checks excessive secretion and peristalsis, and, conjomed with mineral acids or arsenic, should be given shortly before feeding. "Whether occurring from congestion of the alimentary mucous membrane, or as a symptom of other ailments, diarrhoea is often removed by a laxative which car- ries away offending matters. Occasionally, however, the in- testines get into an irritable relaxed condition ; opium in such • cases abates.: irritability, diminishes excessive secretion, and IS often advantageously united with acids, bitters, or vegetable 49'8 OPIXIM — MEDICINAL USES. astringents. For such purposes, the following recipes are used alike in horses or cattle : — A drachm each of powdered opium, kino, gentian, and sodium carbonate ; or a drachm of opium, a drachm of powdered galls or half a drachm of tannin, and half an ounce of chalk. These ingredients are either made into bolus with treacle or meal and water, or dissolved in ale or gruel, and given twice daily, or as required. An ounce of laudanum, thirty drops sulphuric acid, two drachms powdered catechu, with an ounce of ginger, aniseed, or fenugreek, make a good astringent anodyne drench for diarrhcBa in the cow, and may be given in gruel, ale, or spirits and water. Another useful prescription for such cases of relaxed bowels consists of an ounce each of laudanum, decoction of oak bark, ginger, and sodium carbonate, given several times daily in gruel or Sie. One-third of this dose sufBces for six-months calves. For dogs, Stonehenge mixes three to eight drachms laudanum, two to three drachms chalk, one drachm aromatic confection, and two drachms gum arabic, dissolved together in seven ounces of water; and of this mixture orders one or two table- spoonfuls every time the bowels are relaxed. In dysentery, whether in horses, cattle, or dogs, opium is of great service in allaying pain and straining, and may usually be freely given both by the mouth and rectum. A drachm each of powdered opium, galls, and copper sulphate, is a good formula, and may be repeated twice a day either for horses or cattle. Whilst febrile symptoms continue, this mixture, or indeed opium itself, must be used cautiously, and an occasional laxative may be necessary. In gastro-intestinal cases opium is generally contra-indicated when secretion is impaired, or the liver or kidneys act imperfectly. Antagonising muscular spasm,- opium is valuable in intes- tinal colic, so common amongst improperly and irregularly fed horses, and is usually conjoined with such stimulants as sulphuric ether, sweet spirit of nitre, chloroform, spirit of ammonia, or oil of turpentine, and such laxatives as aloes in solution and linseed or castor oU. For general service, few colic draughts are more effectual than four or five drachms of aloes rubbed down in a quart of tepid water, with an ounce each of laudanum and ether added when the solution is nearly ^ ANTISPASMODIC AND ANODYNE. 499 cold. As an antispasmodic for the dog, Stonehenge advises half a draohin to a drachm each of laudanum and sulphuric ether, given in an ounce of camphor mixture. In the rapidly- fatal mneo-enteritis, aimongst the heavier descriptions of hard- worked horses, a dose of opium and calomel was wont to be prescribed in the earlier stages, and opium, belladonna, chloral hydrate, and ether in the second stages; but more prompt measures are needful to avert the deadly passive haemorrhage, and the most successful treatment consists in repeated hypodermic injection of morphine, atropine, and ergotine. In peritonitis, whether common or puerperal, the chief hope of cure lies in the early frequent administration of large doses of opium, which control inflammation, exudation, and passive hemorrhage, and lessen irritability and pain. Where acute pain is to be blunted or violent spasm counteracted, large and repeated doses are conjoined with belladonna extract, and given in solution. In such circumstances there is little fear of bad consequences, for the system attains great toleration both of narcotics and stimulants. Obstruction of the bowels from dust ball, strangulation of the intestine, and intussusception, are usually hopeless, but the only treatment which affords much promise of success is the administration of large doses of opium, which combat spasm, irritation, and pain, and may allow time and opportunity for restoration of the parts to a more normal condition. Diseases of the respiratory organs, with shallow embarrassed breathing, are unsuitable cases for full doses of opium, which are apt still further to depress respiratory function, and favour death by apnoea. Pleurisy may be treated by larger and more frequently repeated doses than bronchitis or pneumonia. Opium, however, diminishes excitability of the respiratory- centre, and hence relieves cough irritability and pain of the throat andchest. Belladonna and opium, although in large doses opposed in their effects on the respiratory centre — the former acting as an excitant, the latter as a depressant — are some- tunes advanfegeously conjoined in allaying bronchial irrita- bmty.^ In the catarrhal epizootics of horses, after a few doses of salines, half a drachm each of opium and belladonna ex- tract, conjoined with an ounce of spirit of chloroform, ether, or 500 OPIUM— EXTERNAL USES : sweet spirit of nitre, and repeated two or three times daily, frequently abates vascular congestion and cough, and besides improves appetite and strengthens the pulse. A similar pre- scription answers in cases of asthma — a common complaiat in dogs ; but in this, as in other diseases, more prompt and certain effects are obtained by the hypodermic injection of morphine and atropine. In typhoid fever in horses, especially where the bowels are irritable and relaxed, opium is given in frequent small doses, conjoined with nutrients, salines, mineral acids, or stimulants. Eheumatism is sometimes advantageously treated with opium, used in the earlier and more acute stages with calomel and salines ; and in more chronic cases with turpentine and other stimulants, smart friction, and warm clothing. Neuralgic pains occurring in horses, and causing puzzling, sometimes frequently-shifting lameness, are checked and occasionally cured by opium, or more conveniently by morphine used hypodermically. American practitioners find it effectual in combating the rigidity and pain of spinal meningitis. Tetanus, occurring in young animals from exposure to cold, is often successfully treated by opium, especially when conjoined with chloral hydrate or conium ; whilst in the more serious cases amongst adults, spasms and morbidly acute sensibility have been removed for several hours by the hypodermic injection of morphine, deeply inserted into the tetanised muscles. Com- bined with chloroform, it is of service alike in mares, cows, and bitches, in allaying the irritability atid straining which occasionally follow parturition. Many practitioners recommend it in rabies and chorea, but it is of little use in either. It was once largely used in polyuria amongst horses ; but is less to be depended on than iodine. Although without power to arrest phthisis pulmonaHs, it is often serviceable in relieving the accompanying cough and diarrhoea. Opium is contra-indicated in acute fever, with a hot and dry skin and a full and strong pulse, in congestive and in- flammatory diseases of the brain, and in obstinate constipation. Full doses, depressing respiratory functions, prove injurious where there is tendency to death by apnoea. Externally, opium is used to relieve the pain of wounds, ,.- ALLAYS IKEITABILITY AND PAIN. 501 tauises, toils, blistered and cauterised surfaces, and superficial inflammation of the eye, siin, or joints. For such purposes, ten drops each of laudanum and Goulard's extract may be mixed with an ounce of water. As a topical anodyne, its efficacy is often increased by combination with belladonna, chloral hydrate, or aconite. When the skin is tender or abraded, especially in small and young animals, opium must be applied cautiously, as it is apt to become absorbed and produce constitutional effects. Boils and carbuncles may. sometimes be aborted by freely saturating them with a strong solution or ointment, covering with a piece of oiled silk, and applying a large poultice. For haemorrhoids, opium is conjoined with gall ointment. As a soothing astringent injection, it is used in enteritis, typhoid fever, and dysentery, and to allay pain and spasm in irritation and inflammation of the uterus, kidneys; Madder, and rectum. Such injections have not only beneiicial topical effects, but by reflex action also soothe the organs con- nected with their respective external passages. As a clyster, opium is used in about the same quantities as are given by the mouth. Loses, etc. — The average dose of solid opium for horses is 3i. to 5ij- ; for cattle, 3 ij- to 3 iv. ; for sheep, gr. x. to grs. Ix. ; for pigs, grs. v. to grs. xx. ; for dogs, gr. i. to grs. vj. ; and for cats, gr. ss. to grs. ij. Besides being given alone, it is combined with other medicines, which alter, increase, or repress some of its actions. In suitable cases, sufficient or repeated doses may usually be given until there appear such physiological symp- toms as drowsiness, contraction of the pupil, or arrest of pain. Tolerance alike of opium and morphine is increased by acute pain and continued use. Effects are intensified by prescribing both together, and by introducing them simultaneously by several channels. The cardiac sedative actions of opium are intensified by combination with calomel, aconite, or tartar emetic; its stimulant and antispasmodic effects by admixture with sulphuric, chloric, or nitrous ether ; its anti- spasmodic and anodyne effects by giving it with belladonna; Indian hemp, chloral hydrate, or conium; its anodyne and soporific effects by union with -chloral hydrate, hemlock, or henbane, and by administering it about the times when 502 OPIUM EXTRACTS AND TINCTURES. rest and sleep are usually taken ; its ' diaphoretic effects by conjunction with warm clothing, hand-rubbing, exercise, and diluents, ammonia acetate, sweet spirit of nitre, and ipecacuan. The opium preparations of veterinary practice are less numerous than these of human medicine. Crude opium is given to horses and dogs made into bolus, and no other solid form is necessary. To reduce it to powder, it is first dried in a vapour batb, and its trituration is facilitated by mixture with potassium sulphate, or otber hard salt. The ejc^rocJ, though somewhat less bulky than crude opium, is not a commendable preparation ; for the high temperature at which it is generally made causes the resinous matters to unite with the alkaloids, forming compounds which are insoluble and of diminished activity. Dover's Powder, or rather the pharmaceutical imita- tion of that patent nostrum, consists of one part each of powdered opium and ipecacuan, and eight parts potassium sul- phate, added to facilitate the trituration and intermixture of the vegetable matters. It is given to dogs as a febrifuge, in . doses of grs. iij. to grs. x. A watery solution, made by rubbing'l down opium in hot water, and giving" both dissolved matters and residue, is excellent for veterinary pratctice, being cheaper % than the tincture, and more prompt and effectual than the solid drug. Tinctwre of opium, popularly known as laudanum, is thus prepared by the Brit. Phar. process : — " Take of opium in coarse powder an ounce and a half; proof spirit, one pint; macerate for seven days, strain, press, filter, and add sufficient proof spirit to make one pint." This brown-red tincture has the odour and taste of opium, and the specific gravity -942. It contains the alkaloids, resinous and odorous matters in a convenient and soluble form. An ounce of laudanum contains the solid matters of 33 grains of opium, or 13J minims repre- sent one grain of dry opium The evaporation of a known quantity, and the weighing of the residuum, are the best safe- guards against adulteration. An ounce of good laudanum leaves 17 to 22 grains of residue. For immediate effects laudanum is preferable to solid opium. The dose for horses and cattle is fgi. to fgiij.; for sheep and pigs, fgii to fgvi.; for dogs, \ XV. to •!?[ xL The vinegar and wine of opium are fc HYDROCHLORATE OF MORPHINE. 503 seldom used in veterinary practice. An ammoniated tincture is prepared by digesting for seven days an ounce of opium with four fluid ounces of strong ammonia solution and 16 ounces of rectified spirit. An ethereal tincture is made with one or two ounces of opium to a pint of sweet spirit of nitre. Laudanum and soap liniment, mixed, make an excellent ano- dyne, much used externally, and occasionally added to clysters ; but for this latter purpose the watery solution or tincture is generally preferred. In diarrhoea and dysentery, accompanied by pain and straining, few remedies are more eflectual than injections of opium tincture, mixed with warm, well-boiled starch gruel. MoEPHiNE Hydrochlokate OR MuRiATE. — Hydrochlorate of morphine, or morphise hydrochloras (Cj^ H19 N O3 HCl, 3H2 0), is got by macerating opium in successive portions of water, when the morphine meconate is dissolved. Calcium chloride is added to the solution, mutual decomposition ensues, calcium meconate is precipitated, and morphine muriate remains in solution. The solution is concentrated, the morphine salt is crystallised out, purified by strong pressure in flannel or stout calico, which removes narcotine and colouring matter, and then redissolved in hot water and again crystallised. Several crys- tallisations, with the use of animal charcoal, are necessary to remove the last traces of colour ; whilst, to free it from codeine,, it is dissolved in water, and ammonia added, when pure mor-. phine is precipitated, collected, redissolved in hydrochloric acid, and again crystallised, {firit. Phar.) 1 When the process is carefully managed, good Turkey opium yields 10 to 12 per cent, of morphine hydrochlorate. Properties. — ^A snow-white powder, consisting of broken- down crystals, which, when entire are white, lustrous, flexible, needle-like prisms, clustering in radiated groups, it has no odour, but the intensely bitter taste which characterises mor- phine and all its salts. It is soluble in its own weight of water at 212°; in sixteen parts at 60°; and still more so in spirit. A good keeping solution is made with three parts water, one part rectified spirit, and a few minims hydrochloric acid. With salts of morphine, as with the alkaloid itself, nitric acid pipduces an orange-yellow coloration; strong neutral 504 - OPIUM— MOKPHliE ACETAS solution of ferric-chloride, a greenish-blue coloration; iodic acid, the evolution of iodine, discoverable by the immediate production of the blue compound with mucilage of starch. A trace of colouring matter, narcotine, codeine, or other alkaloids, does not interfere with ordinary medicinal actions. White sugar is sometimes used for adulteration. The Brit. Phar. gives the following purity tests : — Entirely destructible by heat, leaving no residue. Twenty grains of the salt dissolved in' half-an-ounce of warm water, with ammonia added in the slightest possible excess, gives on cooling a crystalline precipi- tate, which, when washed with a little cold water, and dried by exposure to the air, weighs 15'18 grains, the proper pro- portion of morphine. MoEPHiNE Acetate. — Acetate of morphine, or morphise acetas (C17 H^g N O3, C2 H4 O2), is prepared by decomposing a solution Of morphine hydrochlorate by ammonia solution, adding diluted acetic acid to the precipitated morphine, and drying at a gentle heat.- It closely resembles the alkaloid, is snjow-white and obscurely crystalline, with an intensely bitter taste; is decomposed and dissipated by heat ; is almost completely soluble in water, and entirely so in acidulated water and alcohol. It is distinguished from morphine and its other salts by the acetou^ odour it evolves on addition of sulphuric acid. Whilst the hydrochlorate is generally used throughout Scotland, the acetate is often prescribed in England. Actions and Uses. — Morphine, its hydrochlorate, acetate, and meconate, possess, in concentrated form, the several actions of opium. They have the same twofold characters as excitants and soporifics. According to . the dose or species of patient, they destroy life by hypnotism, convulsions, or paralysis of respiration. They derange aiid paralyse the nervous centres, but the nerve-cords retain sensibility and conductivity. They are used to antagonise irritability, spasm, and pain. Compared with opium, morphine and its salts are less stimulant, less convulsant, more anodyne, less diaphoretic, less constipating, but more apt to affect the contractility of the bladder. Dr. Harley and Messrs. Mavor (Old Vegetable Feuroties) found that four grains morphine acetate, subcutaneously in- jected, accelerated the pulse of horses by 20 to 28 beats, and ANTAGONISE lERITABILITY, SPASM, AND PAIN. 505 increased illike its force and volume, produced restlessness, pawing; increased moisture of the mouth, and skin, elevation of temperature, and slight dilatation of the pupils. Mr. F. Mavor, experimenting with a well-bred three-year-old colt, injected sub- ontaneously four grains morphine ; in two hours the pulse had risen from 36 to 64 ; the temperature advanced fully one degree, to 101°; two hours later the pulse was 56, the temperature remained the same, the pupils dilated, the patifent restless, the tongue moist ; the effects gradually abated, and disappeared in twenty-four hours {Veterinanan, January 1874). Twelve grains, dissolved in three drachms of water, injected by three punctures, produced in one horse light drowsiness, giving way, after three hours, to excitement, restlessness, and slight delirium, opntinuing about six hours. Thirty- six grains, dissolved in seven drachms of water, introduced in three junctures, caused, in a seven-year-old hunter, in good condition, drowsiness and stupor, coming on in fifteen minutes, continuing for three hours, slight muscular tremors, awkward staggering gait, leaning against the sides of his box, dilated and fixed pupils, blindness and insensibility to light, respiration, at first slow and sighing, gradually becoming accelerated. The dilatation of the pupil is opposed to the contraction so constantly seen in man. After the third hour restlessness and delirium set in, continuing for seven hours ; he walked rapidly, and even ran round his box ; his pulse was 96, full and thrilling ; the skin damp with perspiration; the membrane of the eyes, nose, and mouth iatensely injected. For twenty-four hours the effects con- tinued ; the secretions were, however, unaffected, but the horse was left exhausted. Twelve grains acetate, dissolved in a pint of water, and swallowed by a horse, had no effect beyond in- creasing the pulsations eight beats {Old Vegetable Neurotics). One hundred grains acetate killed a horse with convulsions in three hours (Dr. H. C. "Wood's Treatise on Therapeutics). A brown bitch, weighing 25 lbs., had half a grain acetate subcutaneously injected by Dr. Harley, and in a few minutes was vomiting and urinating, lay motionless, her nose on the rug, her fore and hind limbs fully extended. For upwards of three hours she was so completely narcotised that the eyes were insensible to light ; the pupils much contracted ; the pulse fell 506 OPIUM — MOEPHINE AND ATROPINE from 120 to 50, and became irregular; the respirations ■went down from 20 to 14, and were shallow; the muscles were flaccid. Two to three grains suhcutaneously injected kill dogs of 12 lbs. to 16 lbs. weight in ten or twelve hours; doses insufficient to kill develop in most dogs excitant instead of soporific effects. The spinal cord is more notably acted on than the brain ; there are vomiting, nausea, restlessness, and delirium. In rabbits the action is also more spinal than cere- bral, death often occurring in convulsions. In mice Dr. Harley records cramp of the spine and restlessness, hypnosis altogether an after affect, narcotism only occurring after a dangerous dose. The antidotes are those of opium. Morphine and atropine are analogous in some of their actions, antagonistic iii others. Morphine acts more notably on the cerebro-spinal system, atropine on the sympathetic. Morphine in full doses causes more or less stupor, cardiac depression, dilatation of arterioles and veins, pallor of the sur- face, reduction of temperature, diminished intestinal move- ments and renal action, usually with contraction of the pupiL Atropine in full doses causes delirium, cardiac and respiratory stimulation, contraction of arterioles, redness of the surface," elevation of temperature, increased intestinal movements and renal action, with dilatation of the pupil. Its effects are more persistent than those of morphine. The Edinburgh Committee of the British Association, appointed to investigate the antagonism of medicines, demonstrate that within a limited degree atropine and morphine are antagonistic. In dogs receiving poisonous doses of morphine meconate, suhcutane- ously injected, and at once followed by atropine sulphate, the symptoms are diminished; the respiro-cardiac functions, de- pressed by large doses of morphine, are stimulated by atropine, and life is saved. But the two narcotics are mutually helpful in controlling irritability, pain, and spasm. Dr. Harley found that four grains morphine acetate, with two grains atropine sulphate, swallowed by a horse, increase restlessness and delirium, rapidity and force of the pulse, diaphoresis and diuresis, and further induce sleep, which neither drug alone Teadily produces. When morphine and atropine are given simultaneously to dogs, the nausea and vomiting caused by full ANODYNES HYPODEEMICALLY INJECTED. 507 opiates are checked; antispasmodic and anodyne effects are increased ; while narcotism, so rarely produced by either drug alone, is'sometimes developed {Old Vegetable Neurotics). Medicinal Uses. — Morphine hydrochlorate and acetate are serviceable in the various cases in which opium, as above indicated, is prescribed. They are specially suitable where the medicine is required in concentrated form, and particu- larly for endermic or hypodermic use. Irritability and pain, unaffected or only slightly amended by opium, or even by morphine when administered by the mouth, are often abated or entirely removed by hypodermic injection of the alkaloid. The medicine, brought nearer to the abnormal condition, acts more speedUy and certainly; a smaller dose suffices. Morphine hypodermic injections have been successfully used by various veterinarians, especially in neuralgia, acute rheumatism, spas- modic cough, hsemorrhage and muco-enteritis in horses ; and in combating neuralgic and spasmodic pains, notably good effects result from conjoining with the morphine about one- twentieth to one-tenth of atropine. Mr. A. E. Macgillivray of Banff, has for several years used morphine muriate hypo- dermically, especially in colic, superpurgation, acute indiges- tion, inflammation of the bowels, post-partum haemorrhage pains and straining, as well as in tetanus and hysteria. In tetanus he conjoins morphine with atropine, in hysteria he also prescribes full doses of bromide of potassium. He has sometimes advantageously kept up the action of the opiate by repeated injections for several days, insuring desirable quiet in cases of obstruction and twisting of the bowels. Mr. Mac- gillivray uses grs. iij. to grs. iv., and prefers a watery solution containing 32 grains to the ounce. Full doses in susceptible patients are occasionally found to induce staring eyes, restless- ness, prancing round the box, increased rapidity and threadiness of the pulse, — symptoms which sometimes continue three to five hours {The Veterinarian, March 1881). Doses, ere— The hydrochlorate and acetate have fully six ■times the activity of. solid opium. Horses and cattle take grs. iij. to grs. x. ; sheep and pigs, gr. ss. to grs. ij. ; dogs, gr. ^ ■to gr- h given in bolus, or dissolved in diluted spirit, slightly acidulated either with hydrochloric or acetic acid. For hypo- 508 PEPPERMINT dermic injection, not more than the minimum doses mentioned should in the first instance be used. For such purposes, the salt, freshly prepared, is dissolved as required in 10 to 20 parts of water. PEPPERMINT. Mentha piperita. Oleum Menthse piperitse. The oil distilled in Britain from fresh-flowering peppermint tops. Nat. Ord. — Latiatse. Sex. %s<.— Didynamia Gynmospermia. The natural family Labiatse furnishes mint, lavender, rose- mary, marjoram, and thyme, the leaves of which contain aromatic volatile oils. Similar essential oils are extracted by distillation, chiefly from the leaves of various myrtacese, from -the petals of rosacese, from the flowers and fruit of aurantiacese, and from the seeds of umbelliferae. The presence of such volatile oils confer on these several plants aromatic antiseptic stimulant properties. Peppermint is the most frequently used of the Labiatae aromatics. It is herbaceous, grows wild in damp situations in many parts of Britain, is cultivated largely both in this country and abroad, has a smooth annual stem three to four feet high, and stalked ovate lanceolate smooth leaves. The herb, and especially the leaves, have an agreeable aromatic odour, and a warm aromatic taste, followed by a sensation of coldness, the result of the evaporation of the volatile oil of which the fresh leaves yield 1 to r25 per cent. It is levigose, and remark- able for the varied and beautiful colorations and fluorescence produced when it is acted upon by nitric acid and other reagents. At 24° Fahr. the oil deposits crystals of menthol or peppermint camphor (Cjo Hig, Hg 0) which, if distilled with phosphoric acid, produces menthene (Cjo H^g). Actions and Uses. — Oleum menthse piperitse like oil of turpentine and other volatile oils, is antiseptic, stimulant, and a paralyser of the ends of the sensory nerves with which it is brought in contact. It is hence stomachic and carminative; after local stimulation it exerts reflex actions and sedative effects, often beneficial in gastric discomfort and flatulence. The changes it undergoes when it quickly reaches the blood ANTISEPTIC AKD STIMULANT. 509 are unknown. It checks the fungous growth of favus, destroys most bacteria, and- kills skin parasites. Tor such antiseptic purposes, both menthol and menthene have also been used. The oil is besides much used for flavouring and preventing the nausea of unpalatable drugs. Doses, etc. — For horses and cattle. Til xx. to TTL xxx ; for dogs, tl^iij. to n^v., given on a piece of sugar or in spirit and water, Peppermint water is prepared by distilling the fresh- flowering herb with water and a little rectified spirit, or, accord- ing to the Brit. Phar., by distilling 1^ fluid drachm volatile oil with 1} gallon water, and collecting a gallon. A strong spirit or essence, very suitable' either for medicinal or pharma- ceutical purposes, is prepared by dissolving one part of the volatile oil in four parts of rectified spirit. The M. viridis, or spearmint, and the M. Pulegium, or penny-royal, are scarcely so powerful as peppermint. PEPPERS. The black and white peppers in daily domestic use are obtained from the brown wrinkled berries of an East Indian perennial climbing plant — the Piper nigrum, of the natural order Piperacece. They are imported from the Malabar Coast, tlie islands of the Indian Archipelago, and the "West Indies. The pendulous spike, bearing 20 to 30 berries, is gathered as it begins to redden shortly before ripening, and is dried in the sun. The berries rubbed off, and ground without separating their outer covering, yield black pepper. To prepare the milder white pepper, the best and soundest ripe berries are steeped in water, and stripped of their pungent outer covering before they are ground. Long pepper, the produce of P. offici- narum and P. longum, is brought from Singapore and Batavia, and consists of small, closely-attached berries, arranged on cylindrical grey spadices one or two inches long. Cubebs, or Cubeba, are the dried partially ripened fruit of the Cubeba officinalis, cultivated in Java and other islands of the Indian Archipelago. The berries are stalked and lighter coloured than those of common pepper, are globular, rough, wrinkled, 51t PEPPEES With a strong odour, and pungent, aromatic, bitter taste. Peppers when ground have a hot, pungent, spicy taste, and owe their properties to 1"6 to 2-2 per cent, of a volatile oil — isomeric with oil of turpentine (Cjo H^), a soft, pungent resin, and 2 to 3 per cent, of the colourless, crystallisable, neutral piperiu, which is isomeric with morphine (O17 H19 N Oj), and is resolved by nitric acid into piperic acid (Cu Hm O4), and an active oily alkaloid piperidine (Cj Hu N). P. angustifolium, a shrub found in moist regions through- out Brazil and Peru, yields the matico leaves, much used in America as a styptic, and also prescribed for the arrest of internal hsemorrhage. Jamaica pepper, pimento, or allspice, closely resembles the true peppers ; is the dried unripe berry of Eugenia pimenta, an evergreen West Indian tree of the natural family Myrtacese. The berries, -|-th of an inch in diameter, about the size of those of the Piper nigrum, have the same penetrating aromatic odour, and hot, pungent taste, but are more truly aromatic and less acrid. They contain, besides fixed oil and starch, 3 to 4 per cent, of volatile oil, nearly resembling oil of cloves, tannic acid, and traces of an alkaloid with the odour of coneine (Fliickiger). Capsicum — the dried ripe fruit of Capsicum fastigiatum and annuum — is also known as Chili pepper, chilies, Guinea or pod pepper, and, although originally from America, British supplies are now chiefly brought from Zanzibar. The several varieties differ in shape and size, are of a red colour, and filled with numerous red-brown, pungent seeds. The fruit is seldom used whole, but, when dried and ground, constitutes the familiar' Cayenne pepper, which has a reddish-yellow colour, a faint disagreeable odour, and an acrid pungent taste. Prom its alcoholic extract is got capsicine, a yellow-red irritating liquid, slightly soluble in water, and consisting of resin and fatty matters. An extract of Cayenne pepper, made with petroleum, yields well-defined, volatile, intensely acrid crystals of capsaicin (C9 Hj^ O2), of which half a grain, volatilised in a ilarge room, renders the air very irritating. Actions and Uses. — The peppers are irritant, stomachic, and rubefacient. Large doses, especially in carnivora and omni- IREITANT, STOMACHIC, AND RUBEFACIENT. 511 vora, are irritant poisons, causing inflammation of the alimentary- canal, and sometimes also of the urino-genital organs, with general vascular excitement. That they are especially poisonous to pigs is a popular error. Properly regulated doses as they are swallowed excite the nerves of common sensation and of taste ; are stomachic and carminative ; act as general nerve stimulants; are excreted by the kidneys, increasing their secretions, and sometimes beneficially stimulating the urino- genital mucous membrane. Eubbed into the skin they cause redness, irritation, swelling, and sometimes suppuration. The several peppers differ in the intensity of their action. The black is more active than the white and long peppers, which are of nearly equal strength. Cubebs is less irritant and stimulant, but has special power of arresting excessive mucous discharges. Pimento is less active than the common peppers, is'^ccasionally used as a carminative and a flavouring aromatic; while capsicum and Cayenne are more irritant than black pepper Black pepper, the variety chiefly used in veterinary practice, is administered in simple indigestion, and for obviating the disagreeable taste and nausea of various drugs. It is not now given as a sialogogue, nor for the irritational object of increasing sexual appetite, which, when defective,, may usually be restored, not by irritating drugs, but by measures which improve general vigour. It ought not to be used for blistering ointments, or for smearing setons ; nor introduced into the rectum of horses exposed for sale — a barbarous practice, apt to induce serious intestinal irritation. Doses, etc. — Of black pepper, as a stomachic and carminative, horses take about 3 i ; cattle, 3 ij. ; sheep and swine, grs. x. to 3 ss. ; dogs, grs. v. to grs. x. ; repeated two or three times a day, given in bolus, dissolved in water or spirit, or suspended in ■weU-boiled gruel. An ointment made with one or two drachms of ground pepper to the ounce of lard was formerly used ex- ternally. 512 PETROLEUM AND ROCK OILS. PETEOLEUM— BAEBADOES TAE— NAPHTHAS. Petroleum is a somewhat vague term, applied to a class of bitumens usually found in the tertiary strata ; produced during the formation of vegetable matters into coal, and varying in density and solidity from the hard brittle asphalt and mineral pitch to the viscid mineral tar and fluid naphthas. They closely resemble the artificia.lly produced coal-tar, obtained from distillation of coal in the manufacture of gas. Coal-tar, the refuse of the gas-works, when distilled in an iron retort, gives off first ammonia, then about 10 per cent, of light oils, which, when purified by agitation with sulphuric acid, yield rectified coal naphtha, which, according to the mode of pre- paration, has the formula— Cjs Hjj, Cj^ Hj^, or Cig Hjs- The remaining heavier, or dead coal-tar, contains denser, less in- flammable oils with higher boiling points, and is the source of carbolic acid. The natural petroleum, brought from Eangoon, is obtained in unlimited quantity by digging wells about sixty feet deep, is of the consistence of paste, of a greenish-brown colour, and an agreeable bituminous odour. Barbadoes, or mineral tar, found in the island of Barbadoes floating on the surface of springs or pools, and in Trinidad, forming extensive beds or lakes, is of the consistence of treacle, of a dull, green- brown colour, with a strong, disagreeable, persistent pitchy odour, and a bitter taste. Like other allied substances, it is not miscible with water, becomes hard and pitch-like when exposed to the air ; when heated it liquefies, evolves volatile naphthas, and burns with a dense sooty flame. During the last thirty years enormous quantities of petroleum or rock oil have been brought from the oil springs or wells of Canada and the North American States, and used for illuminating and lubricating purposes. The petroleums and rock oils consist of a solid residue of bitumen or pitch, which, in Eangoon tar, Teaches four per cent. ; a crystalline spermaceti-like parafEne, the same as is obtained from cannel coal, and used instead of wax in candle-making ; and a series of more volatile hydro- carbons or naphthas, chiefly belonging to the marsh gas series, STIMULANT, ANTISEPTIC, AND ANTHELMINTIC. 513 easily separated by distiUation, varying in volatility and boil- ing point, excellent solvents for indiarubber, resins, fats, and sulphur, burning readily like alcohol ; the source of aniline and other dyes ; and under the several names of paraffine oils, petroleum spirits, benzole (Cg Hg), or naphthas, used for burn- ing, for singeing horses, and as antiseptics and stimulants. Actions and Uses. — ^The petroleums are irritant, stimulant, diuretic, anthelmintic, and antiseptic. The more fluid and active naphthas in large doses are inebriant narcotics, and feeble auDesthetics, allied in physiological effect to the members of the alcohol series. Professor "Williams records {Principles and Practice of Medicine) the chronic poisoning of cattle from their drinking water contaminated by the oils from paraffine works. The animals had diarrhcea, wasted, became ansemic ; the oil was found to have saturated and darkened the in- testinal glands, preventing their absorbing. Benzole and naphthas, in virtue of their penetrating solvent powers, are useful in getting rid of thickened skin scales, dissolve and remove condensed sebaceous matter, stimulate the dermis, j)enetrate to the hair roots, especially when rubbed in, promote their growth, are effectual in destroying the cryptogamic growths of ringworm, and are fatal to the several skin parasites. In the cure of mange and scab, they are advan- tageously added to or alternated with the ordinary sulphur, iodine, tobacco, or stavesacre dressings. Eangoon tar and the more solid petroleums were once prescribed as specifics in chest diseases, and as anti-emetics ; but as internal remedies they are now little used. Barbadoes tar is still, however, applied externally for the same purposes as wood tar, par- ticularly for the cure of skin complaints, thrush, canker, and other diseases of the feet. Coal-tar differs from Barbadoes tar chieiy in having a stronger, more offensive smell, and well deserves its popular credit as an antiseptic and stimulant ■adhesive particularly useful in diseases of the feet. ' 2k 514 ' PODOPHYLLUM PODOPHYLLUM— PODOPHYLLIN. Dried ihizome and rootlets of Podophyllum peltatum, from which the resin Podophyllin is extracted by rectified spirit. ifat. Ord. — Berberidese. Sex. Syst. — ^Pdlyandria Polygynia. The Podophyllum, or May apple, a perennial herbaceous plant, grows abundantly in the Northern States of America, ■where its subacid fruit is eaten under the name of ml4 lemons. The root is imported in pieces of variable length, about two lines thick ; mostly wrinkled longitudinally ; dark reddish brown externally, whitish within; breaking with a short fracture ; accompanied by pale brown rootlets. The powder has a yellowish grey colour, a narcotic disagreeable odour, a bitter, sub-acrid, nauseous taste. (Brit. Phar.) The dried, coarsely-powdered root, by re-percolation with rectified spirit, yields three to five per cent, of the active resin or podophyllin, a pale, greenish-brown, amorphous powder; almost entirely soluble in pure ether, and quite soluble in rectified spirit and ammonia; precipitated from the former solution by water, from the latter by acids. The amorphous alkaloid berberine, devoid of irritant properties, also present in various plants of the Berbery tribe and in calumba root, an odoriferous principle and saponin formerly reported to be associated with the resin, have not been found in recent in- vestigations (Fllickiger). Actions and Uses. — Podophyllum has long been used by the American Indians as an anthelmintic and emetic, and from its supposed resemblance to calomel has been styled vegetable mercury. Both the root and extracted resin are irritants. When swallowed they stimulate the mucous membrane and glands, particularly of the duodenum and small intestines; they stimulate the hepatic ceUs, are hence cathartics and cholagogues ; while full or repeated doses are nauseants and sedatives. FuU doses cause emesis in carnivora. General Actions. — The late Dr. F. G. Anstie made, in 1863, a series of experiments with an alcoholic solution of podo- lEKITANT, CATHARTIC, AND CHOLAGOGUE. 515 phyllin, which he injected into the peritoneum of dogs, cats, and rats. With dogs about eighteen inches high, the solution, containing one to two grains of podophyllin, caused no un- easiness or moTement of the bowels until ten or fifteen hours after injection, when vomiting and purging were set up, the frequently-passed dejections became very fluid, freely mixed with mucus, usually tinged with blood, and passed with much pain ; breathing became shallow and hurried ; the pulse feeble, at first rapid, but after a few hours very slow ; insensibility, disturbed by occasional . convulsions, continued for several hours before death, which ocQurred in twenty-two hours after the injection. There was no inflammation of the peritoneum, the stomach was perfectly healthy ; but the small intestines, and especially the duodenum, were intensely reddened and inflamed; and where two grains had been injected, ulcers, of somewhat smaller size than a threepenny piece, were also found in the duodenum. The large intestines were healthy ; there was no unusual amount of bile in the bowels, and no congestion or inflammation of the liver; the kidneys and mucous membrane of the urinary passages were slightly con- gested. Similar results were noticeable in cats, which, for the development of these poisonous effects, are stated to require doses fuUy larger than those which destroyed dogs. {Medical Times and Gazette, March and May 1863.) Mr. D. B. Howell, of Eeading, reports podophyllin to be a prompt and effectual purge for dogs, acting usually in four hours. One drachm to one drachm and a half, with two drachms ginger, he states, moved the bowels of horses in six or eight hours. Not only was the action prompt and certain, but there was no griping, even when the resin was given without preparation, and water allowed ad libitum. About a drachm is recorded to have purged a cow in nine hours {Veterinarian, August, 1865). I have not been able to obtain anything like such marked results. I find that one grain podophyllin, bolted in a piece of meat by an English terrier weighing twenty pounds, produced no notable effect upon the bowels ; and that two grains acted as a gentle laxative, but only eight hours after exhibition. My friend, Mr. Thomas A. Dollar, of New Bond 516 PODOPHYLLIN Street, London, has used the drug frequently, hoth in dogs and horses, and has kindly placed at my disposal his notes of the following cases : — To a Scotch terrier, eight months old, Mr. Dollar adminis- tered half a grain of podophyUin in a piU, without any apparent eJBfect ; and on the following day a grain, which in the course of an hour caused nausea and vomiting : considerable dulness remained for twenty-four hours. A buU terrier bitch, of thirty-six lbs. live weight, received four grains in a pill, without showing any notable symptoms ; and on the following day got a further dose of six grains, which "in twelve hours produced great uneasiness and griping, and gentle catharsis. During the two following days the bitch refused food, and for a week continued dull and listless. A French poodle, suffering from mange and constipation, had a pill, containing two grains podophyUin, half a grain calo- mel, and a scruple of jalap. No effect was observable at the end of twelve hours, when the dose was repeated, and after eight hours the dog was briskly purged. Half the above dose was repeated every second day for a fortnight, with the result of gently moving the bowels. In all these cases the pulse was reduced in number and in strength; the urinary secre- tion was unchanged; the fseces we're little altered in colour; there were no indications of any special action upon the liver. PodophyUin has less effect on cattle and horses than on men and dogs. To three healthy shorthorn cows I gave three drachms each, and to another cow half an ounce, without observing any laxative effect. I have repeatedly given healthy horses, prepared by mash diet, two drachms podophyUin without perceiving any increased action of the bowels. Two drachms, even when united with one or two drachms of aloes, added, to determine, if possible, its action on the bowels, pro- duced only slight softening of the dung, such as might be expected from the aloes alone. I am again indebted to Mr. Dollar for the following interesting experiments : — V A thorough-bred horse, well prepared by mashes, had two drachms podophyUin without its producing the slightest purga- EXPEEIMENTS ON HOESES. 517 tive effect. Two days later he again received two drachms, with a drachm of aloes, stiU without any noticeable action on the bowels. Four hours after the second dose, the pulse, how- ever, was observed to have fallen from 44 to 34 beats per minute. During three days this horse ate nothing but bran ; getting tired of this, he had for two days hay and a little corn ; for twenty-four hours he was again restricted to bran mashes, and then received two drachms each of podophyUin and aloes, which, even after this careful preparation, only produced slight laxative effects. To a well-bred hunter, nearly sixteen hands high, under treatment for injury of the psose muscles, and fed for twenty- four hours on bran, Mr. DoUar administered two drachms podophyllin in a baU, and two ounces Epsom salt in solution. Scarcely any perceptible action was observed on the bowels ; and two days later two drachms podophyllin and one drachm calomel were given, also without purgative effect, but with a reduction, as in the last case, of nearly ten beats per minute in the pulse. A powerful cart-horse, under treatment for sand-crack, and previously restricted for twenty-four hours to a mash diet, got four drachms podophyllin in a ball. Although no purgation followed, there was much nausea, and in two hours the pulse became soft and somewhat weakened, fell from 36 to 24 beats per minute, and did not recover its natural force or number until next day. The appetite continued impaired for a week. A thorough- bred mare, 14^ hands high, under treatment for abscess from speedy cut, was placed on mash diet for twenty- four hours, and then received two drachms podophyllin in a ball, but without showing increased action of the bowels. For four consecutive days the mashes were continued, and two drachms of the drug repeated daily until ten drachms had been taken, still without any purgative effect. The pulse, however, which at first was 44, had gradually fallen a few beats daily, until on the fifth day it was 30. By the end of the experiment, the coat stared, all food was refused during nearly two days, and a fortnight elapsed before the mare recovered her usual appetite and appearance. 518 PODOPHYLLUM — PODOPHYLLIN. Medicinal Uses. — The cholagogue actions of podophyllm have been thoroughly investigated by Professor Eutherford of EdinbuTgh. He finds that moderate doses of the resin, intro- duced into the duodenum, whether of fasting or of recently fed dogs, become absorbed, and increase secretion both of the fluid and solid constituents of the bile. He believes that it directly stimulates the hepatic cells, but does not increase the blood supply of the liver, • Excessive doses are imperfectly absorbed, and do not increase biliary secretion. This special stimulation of the liver is shared by aloes, rhubarb, colcMcum, and croton oil. Like other purgatives, acting upon the small intestines, it moreover sweeps out food, which when absorbed stimulates the liver; while, in virtue of the catharsis pro- duced, it carries away bile poured into the canal, and thus prevents its reabsorption. Although possessed of vermifuge powers, depending upon its purgative effect, it does not appear to have any special vermicide action. For human patients it is prescribed both in this country and America in habitual constipation, congested states of the liver, in some forms of sick headache, and in smaller doses as an alterative in skin diseases and rheumatism. Half a grain to a grain of theresin slowly empties the human bowels. Mr. Dollar's experiments demonstrate that amongst veterinary patients it is a tardy and uncertain purgative, especially when used alone. In combina- tion however with aloes, jalap, or calomel, it certainly relieves torpidity or congestion of the liver ; while its nauseant and sedative effects may sometimes be available in lowering inor- dinate action of the heart in acute diseases of the respiratory organs, rheumatism, laminitis, and other inflammatory dis- orders. Doses, etc. — For cholagogue or sedative purposes, horses and cattle take 5j- to 3y- of podophyllin, united with aloes or calomel, with nitre or Epsom salt. Tor dogs, gr. j. to grs. ij. may be conjoined with calomel gr. j., grey powder grs. v. to grs. X., or the same quantity of ipecacuan. SALTS OF POTASH. 519 POTASSIUM AND ITS MEDICINAL COMPOUNDS. Potassium salts are obtained chiefly from the mineral car- nallite found in Saxony, and containing 50 per cent, potassium chloride, from sea water, or from the crude potashes got by dissolving the ashes of plants in water, evaporating the solution, and fusing the residue. They are identified in solution by their negative reaction with the several group tests for the metals, and their concentrated solution gives with platinum chloride a yellow crystalline precipitate of platinum and potassium chloride (2 KCl, Pt Cl^) ; and with excess of tar- taric acid a white granular precipitate of cream of tartar (KH, Gi H4 Oj), soluble in excess of alkali Evaporated to dryness, and ignited with alcohol, they produce a faint, violet- coloured flame — the spectrum of which is distinguished by two bright lines, one in the red, the other in the violet General Actions. — Potassium salts are two or three times more powerful than the corresponding sodium salts. Dr. Paul Guttmann states that poisonous doses paralyse the spinal cord and heart, depress or destroy first the functions of afferent nerves, lower blood pressure and temperature, and cause muscular weakness, affecting first the hind extremities. There are dyspnoea and convulsions, diminished frequency and force of the heart-beats, sometimes causing irregularity and in poisonous doses arrest of the action of the heart, which ceases to act in diastole — an effect which, as it follows even when the vagi are divided and the medulla removed, indicates a direct depressant action either on the heart itself or on its ganglia. They do not appear to act upon the muscles or peripheries of nerves. (Einger's Handbook of Therapenitics) Potassium salts are constituents of the blood and all animal textures ; abound especially in the juice of flesh and m milk ; their excess or deficiency appears curiously to pro- duce the same scorbutic effects. They are as essential for plant as for animal growth; are present in most land plants; various salts, notably the chloride, occur in the Australian salt hush countries, and are stated to be the source of the health and size of the stock grown and their freedom from 520 POTASH SALTS parasites. Potassium salts are very soluble. Like other alkalies, the hydrate and carbonates aid digestion of fatty matters. Given after eating, they neutralise undue acidity; but seldom permanently remove the cause of acid dyspepsia, which is usually best treated by acids given before meals. Small doses increase the gastric and other acid secretions ; but diminish the alkaline secretions of the salivary glands, liver, and pancreas. They have a high diffusion power, rapidly enter the blood, increase its alkalinity, promote oxidation and tissue metamorphosis, are solvents of albuminoids, and thus in inflammation counteract deposition of exudate. Too long persisted with, or in large doses, they deteriorate the blood, and reduce bodily weight. They are excreted from the body mainly by the kidneys, increase chiefly the watery parts of the urine, neutralise its acidity, and often exert soothing effects on the urino-genital mucous surfaces. In febrile complaints they are eliminated in larger amount than soda salts, which are excreted more largely during convalescence. It simplifies the understanding of the potassium salts to divide them into three groups : — 1st, Those which are corrosive, antacid, and antUithic — such as the hydrate and carbonates, The salts of the weaker vegetable acids — tartrates and citrates — in their passage through the body are decomposed into car- bonates, rendering the urine alkaline. 2d, Those which are irritant, cathartic, diuretic, alterative, febrifuge, and refrigerant; — such as the sulphate, acetate, tartrate, nitrate, chlorate, and permanganate. 3d, Salts which show prominently the actions of their acid, or salt radical constituent — such as potassium sulphuretum, iodide, bromide, and cyanide. Potassium Hydeate. Potassa caustica. Potassa fusa. Potas- sic hydrate. Hydrate of potash. Caustic potash. K HO. Potassium Hydrate Solution. Liquor Potassse. Solution of potash, containing 5 '84 per cent, by weight of hydrate. Crude potashes, obtained by dissolving the ashes of land plants, calcined until white, yield pearl ashes or potassium carbonate, which, when boUed with freshly slaked lime, pro- duce by double decomposition liquor potassse, of which one ALKALINE, FEBRIFUGE, AND DIUEETIC. 62l fluid ounce contains 27 grains of potassium hydrate (K HO or Ka 0, Hj 0). It is a dense, oily-like fluid, of specific gravity 1-058, colourless and odourless, with an intensely acrid, alka- line, soapy taste, aad an alkaline reaction on colouring matter. Boiled with oils and fats, it forms soaps ; mixed with acids, it forms neutral, soluble, crystallisable salts. It softens and dissolves soft animal and vegetable tissues. Although little used in medicine, it is of much importance in chemistry, phar- macy, and other arts. The concentrated oily liquid, when boiled until a drop removed on a stirrer becomes hard on cool- ing, and poured into pemcil-like moulds, forms the grey or white deliquescent, hard, crystalline sticks of caustic potash. Actions and Uses. — Large doses of potassic hydrate, whether solid or in concentrated solution, are irritant, corrosive, and cardiac sedatives. Medicinal doses are antacid, febrifuge, and diuretic. Externally they are used as active penetrating caustics. Excessive doses, when swallowed, soften, corrode, and inflame the oesophagus and stomach, sometimes so severely as to cause perforation; while, accompanying the local lesions, are great depression, with paralysis of the extremities and heart. Hertwig records that two drachms of caustic potash, dissolved in six ounces water, killed a horse, with symptoms of colic, in thirty-two hours. Orfila gave a dog thirty- two grains, which caused violent vomiting, restlessness, and death in three days. Post-mortem examination dis- covered the mucous coat of the oesophagus and stomach red and black from extravasation of blood, with a perforation measuring three-quarters of an inch near the pylorus, sur- rounded by a hard thickened margin (Christison on Poisons). The blood, although dark-coloured, owing to the solvent action of the alkali, is generally fluid. Smaller or more diluted doses gradually impair digestion and assimilation, and destroy Ufa by inanition. The fitting antidotes are diluted acids, which form mild salts, and oils which produce soaps — themselves of service as demulcents, and in men and dogs as auxiliary emetics, with milk gruel or other demulcents. Dr. John Shortt, of Madras, finds the solution an effectual, antidote for the poison of snakes and vipers. H9,lf a drachm, repeated twice daily, has been prescribed for feeding sheep affected 522 • POTASSIUM CARBONATES. with vesical and urethal calculi ; but t^e carbonate is milder and equally efPectual. Caustic potash is used for eradicating warts and fungous growths, and making issues. Being very deliquescent and apt to spread, and penetrating, it must be applied cautiously, and any excess of alkali neutralised by subsequent washing with a weak acid. Mixed with lime, con- stituting Vienna paste, it is less deliquescent, and hence more safe and manaareable. PoTASsmM Caebonate. Potassse Carbonas. Potassic Carbo- nate. Carbonate of Potash. (Kj CO3). Potassium Bioaebonate. Potassse Bicarbonas. Bicarbonate of Potash. (KH CO3). The American pot or wood ashes, in their partially purified condition of pearl ashes, contain about 80 per cent, of potas- sium carbonate, with 20 per cent, of potassium sulphate and chloride, which, being less soluble, are got rid of by dissolving the pearl ashes, with brisk agitation, in an equal weight of water, pouring off the solution, and evaporating it to dryness.' A pure carbonate is got by burning together equal parts of potassium bitartrate and nitre, adding water, filtering and evaporating the solution. The carbonate occurs in crystals as a crystalline powder, but more generally in grains ; is white, opaque, and inodorous, with a strong alkaline taste, and an alkaline reaction on test-paper. It is soluble in its own weight of water at 60°, deliquesces rapidly in the air ; but as it f gradually absorbs carbonic acid, it again slowly dries up. jjExposed to a red heat, it loses water of crystallisation to the amount of 1 6 per cent. Potassium bicarbonate, or acid carbonate of potash, is pre- pared by passing a current of carbonic acid through a strong solution of the neutral or mono-carbonate. It occurs in trans- fciparent, colourless, right rhombic prisms; has a mild, saline, ; and slightly alkaline taste ; dissolves in about four time's its ""own weight of water at 60°; when heated to redness, it gives off Carbonic acid, and becomes converted into the neutral car- bonate, from which it, is distinguished by its mUder non-acrid ANTACID, ALTERATIVE, AKB^ DIURETIC. 523 taste, by its more abundant effervescence with hydrochloric acid, by its not deliquescing when exposed to the air, and by its giving, in diluted solution, no precipitate with Epsom salt or corrosive sublimate. The hypothetical hydrio carbonate (H2 CO3) being dibasic, is capable of exchanging either one or both of its atoms of hydrogen for the same number of atoms of the monovalent potassium, forming in the first case the bicarbonate (KH CO3), and in the second the carbonate (K2 CO3). Actions and Uses.— The two carbonates differ only in the degree of their action. Both resemble the hydrate, .but have their activity tempered and diminished by combination with carbonic acid. The bicarbonate has no irritant or corrosive action, is preferred as an antacid, and in virtue of its liberating carbonic acid exerts soothing effects on the irritable gastric membrane. The neutral carbonate, in concentrated solution, has much of the coiTosiveness of the hydrate. Two drachms given to a dog caused vomiting, great agony, and death in twenty-five minutes (Orfila). Its antidotes are the same as those of caustic potash. Both carbonates are antacid, anti- dotes for overdoses of acids, alteratives, and diuretics. Medicinal Uses. — Potassium bicarbonate is occasionally substituted for sodium bicarbonate to aid the emulsionising of fats, and, on account of the evolution of carbonic anhydride, to exert gently sedative effects on the irritable stomach. Pre- scribed, usually with a bitter, and before meals, it increases secretion of gastric juice; given after meals, it neutralises excess of acid, resulting from undue secretion of gastric fluid or from acid fermentation of starch, sugar, or fats — cases common amongst carelessly fed calves. The precise pathology of rheumatism is not yet clearly made out ; but small repeated doses of alkaline bicarbonates often prove beneficial, appar- ently by promoting metamorphosis of albuminoids, neutralising excess of lactic acid, and encouraging the action of the kidneys. In such cases it is often conjoined with oil of turpentine, quinine, or potassium iodide. Similar antacid treatment is 'also successful in nettle rash, liphen, and occasionally in eczema ; th^bicarbonate being also applied externally to raw, weeping, painful, or itching surfaces. In antagonising lithic 524 POTASSIUM SULPHUEET acid deposits, potassium bicarbonate is specially suitable ; for the potassium lithate is much more soluble than the sodium lithate. For calculi of the bladder and urethra, common in highly-fed rams and wethers, and largely made up of ammonio- magnesian-phosphate, Mr. Litt of Shrewsbury, with exercise and laxative diet, recommends castor oil, f §ij. to f §viij., with belladonna extract, grs. viij. to grs. xvj., followed by potassium bicarbonate, 5 ss. to 5 j-j repeated thrice daily, freely dissolved in water or other dUuents. As diuretics, the carbonates are less certain than the nitrate or acetate. Professor Walley finds that both the carbonates and hydrate, as well as the cor- responding sodium salts, increase the activity of aconite when given along with it. Pearl ashes are sometimes applied exter- nally as a stimulant and detergent. In the Cape Colony, a ley made from wood ashes is used successfully as a remedy for scab, either alone or mixed with sulphur. Diluted with 80 to 100 parts of water, the bicarbonate forms a soothing dressing for the earlier weeping stages of eczema, especially in dogs, and also proves a serviceable injection in leucorrhcea in all patients. Doses, etc. — Of either carbonate, horses and cattle take §ss. to §j. ; sheep and pigs, 5ss. to 3j- ; dogs, grs. x. to grs. xl., re- peated several times a day, liberally diluted with water. For stimulating gastric secretion, they should be given half an hour before eating; but in most dyspeptic cases acids are moie permanently effectual. Potassium Sdlphueetum. Potassa Sulphurata. Sulphurated Potash. One part of sulphur and two of potassium carbonate are mixed and heated until fusion occurs, poured on a stone slab and cooled. -There is produced a liver-brown, bitter, acrid, soluble, alkaline substance, which is odourless when dry, but when moistened smells of hydrogen sulphide. Eecently pre- pared, it is a mixture of potassium polysulphides and hypo- sulphite ; but as it oxidises and becomes lighter coloured, it contains besides potassium sulphite and sulphate. Actions and Uses. — Large doses are narcotic and irritant; medicinal doses are stiniulant and. alterative. Externally, lEEITAKT, STIMULANT, AKD ALTERATIVE. 525 it is occasionally applied as a stimulaut in chronic skin diseases. Two ounces are stated to have destroyed a horse (Bouchardat) ; six drachms and a half, introduced into the stomach of a dog, and retained by ligature on the oesophagus, occasioned death with tetanic symptoms in seven minutes; a drachm and a half in small fragments, introduced into the subcutaneous areolar tissue of dogs, caused extensive inflam- mation, coma, and death in thirteen hours (Christison). Ko very obvious morbid appearances remain after death, and the compound has hence been supposed to act chemically; on the blood in the same manner as hydrogen sulphide. Its an- tidote is chlorinated lime. It has been used in chronic cough, rheumatism, and skin diseases, in doses of one to three drachms for horses and cattle, and two to ten grains for dogs. Like sodium and calcium sulphides, when given several times daily, it hastens maturation of indolent boils and abscesses, and prevents further formation of pus (Einger). Once a panacea for all kinds of poisoning, it is now used only in poisoning by lead, which it converts into a black insoluble and almost inert sulphide. Potassium Stjlphatk. Potassse Sulphas. Sulphate of Potash (K^ SO,.) Potassium Bisulphate. Hydropotassic Sulphate. Bisulphate of Potash. (KH SO,.) The residue left in the preparation of nitric acid from equal .parts of sulphuric acid and nitre consists of potassium sulphate, with some excess of sulphuric acid, which may be got rid of by adding to the solution potassium or calcium carbonate, fil- tering and evaporating the mixture, when potassium sulphate ciystallises in transparent, colourless, six-sided .prisms, termi- nated by six-sided pyramids, which have a sharp, saline, bitter taste, are hard and dif&cult to powder, and dissolve in four parts; of water at 212°, and in sixteen parts at 60°. The tisulphate is prepared, by adding to the neutral sul- phate Its, own weight of sulphuric acid, dissolving and crystal- lising. It is colourless, crystalline, and .soluble, with an acid taste, and ai|acid reaction on colouring matter. .It is distin- 526 POTASSIUM IODIDE guished from the neutral sulphate by its small flat prisms, its greater solubility, its acid taste and reaction, and its decompos- ing carbonates with effervescence — a property which has led to its being occasionally substituted for tartaric acid in making effervescent powders. Actions and Uses. — In human patients large doses of sul- phate (in one case two ounces, in another ten drachms) are said to have proved fatal. Both sulphates are cathartic, chola- gogue, and diuretic. Neither, however, passes readily through animal membranes ; they cling to the fluid which they meet in the bowels ; like Epsom salt they cause osmosis and secre- tion from the surface, especially of the small intestine ; and by their irritation also provoke increased peristalsis. But, as cathartics, they are less prompt and certain than the sodium and magnesium sulphates ; and as diuretics, are less to be depended on than the potassium nitrate or acetate. Professor Eutherford found that it has a distinct stimulant effect on the liver, shared by sodium sulphate, but not by magnesium sulphate. On account of its hardness and inaptness to absorb moisture, the sulphate is used for facilitating trituration of such tough vegetable substances as opium, ipecacuan and jalap. -y Potassium Iodide. Potassii lodidum. Potassic Iodide. Hydriodate of Potash. (KI.) The iodide is conveniently prepared by decomposing a solution of iron iodide with potassium carbonate. The Brit. Phar. recommends the following process : — " Place a gallon of solution of potash in a glass or porcelain vessel, and add twenty-nine ounces, or a sufficiency of iodine, in small quantities at a time, with constant stirring, until the solution acquires a permanent brown tint. Evaporate the whole to dryness in a porcelain dish, pulverise the residue, and mix this intimately with three ounces wood charcoal in fine powder. Throw the mixture, in small quantities at a time, into a red-hot iron crucible ; and when the whole has been brought into a state of fusion, remove the crucible from the fire, and pour out its contents. When the fused mass has cooled, dissolve it ALTEEATIVE, DEOBSTETJENT, AND DIURETIC. 527 in two pints of boiling distilled water, filter, wash the filter with a little boiling distilled water, unite the liquids, and evaporate until a film forms on the surface ; then set the liquid aside to cool and crystallise. Drain the crystals, and dry them quickly with a gentle heat. Evaporate the mother liquor, and get another crop of crystals. Preserve the salt in a stoppered bottle." In this detailed process, potassium iodide and iodate are first produced. Fusion with charcoal deoxidises the iodate, converting it into iodide. The subjoined equations indicate the two stages in the process : — Potassium Hydrate. Iodine? Potass. Iodide. Potass. Iodate. Water. 6 KHO, + 61 = 5 KI, + KIO3, + 3 H^O. Potassium Iodate. Charcoal. Potassium Iodide. Carbonic Oxide. KIO3, + C3 = • KI, + 3 CO. Properties. — Cubical crystals, colourless, generally opaque, with a faint odour of iodine, a saline taste, decrepitating when heated, fusing at a red heat, at a higher temperature volatilis- ing unchanged, dissolving in two-thirds of its weight of water at 60°, and in half its weight of boiling spirit. Both aqueous and alcoholic solutions dissolve iodine freely, and are hence useful vehi(3les for its exhibition. The following tests of the Brit. Phar. guard against the common impurities : — " The addition of tartaric acid and mucilage of starch to its watery solution does not develop a blue colour. Solution of nitrate of silver, added in excess, forms a yellowish- white precipitate, which, when agitated with ammonia, yields by subsidence a clear liquid, in which excess of nitric acid causes no turbidity. Its aqueous solution is only faintly precipitated by the addi- tion of saccharated solution of lime." Actions and Uses. — Potassium iodide closely resembles iodine, but is less powerful, and devoid of local irritant action. Medicinal doses are alterative, antiseptic, deobstruent, and diuretic. A solvent of mercury and lead salts, it helps their removal from the body. It is rapidly absorbed, permeates the textures, and is excreted through the mucous surfaces, and still more notably through the kidneys. In the blood it is converted into iodides and iodates of ammonium and sodium ; during its elimination ozone is liberated (Bucheim), lymphatics 528 POTASSIUM IODIDE, are stimulated, tissue metamorphosis is increased, and waste products got rid of. Two or three drachms dissolved in water, and given to dogs, caused vomiting, great depression, and death in a few days ; oue drachm had a similar effect on rabbits ; three drachms injected beneath the skin of the back of a dog caused extensive subcutaneous inflammation, and death in three days. Iodine was detected after death in the blood and urine, in the brain and spinal cord, in most of the internal organs, and even in the muscles and bones (Cogswell). Maillet (quoted by Ta- bourin) states that two or three drachms given to horses act as an irritant poison, and that three or four drachms cause fatal intestinal haemorrhage. But this must be a mistake. I have many times given horses and cattle half an ounce to an ounce without any other effect than slight diuresis and occasional catharsis. Such doses continued twice daily for a week do not produce in horses any irritation or symptoms of iodism such as occasionally follow its use in human patients. Medicinal Uses. — For arresting discharge of chronic bron- chial catarrh, hastening absorption of exudate remaining from lymphangitis in horses, and dispersing other exudates and effusions, it is conjoined with tonics or stimulants, and is used both internally and externally. In such cases horses and cattle frequently receive a drachm each of potassium iodide and ammonium carbonate, and half an ounce of gentian, given twice daily, either in ball or solution. It is also prescribed in scrofulous glandular enlargements, and in chronic rheuma- tism ; aids removal of lead n^ercury and other metals from the body, apparently causing their re-solution and expulsion in the urine. It is applied externally for the reduction of tumors, and is constantly employed for increasing the solubility of iodine, both in water and alcohol. Doses, etc. — Horses and cattle take 5ij- to 5vj. ; sheep and pigs, grs. XX. to grs. Ix. ; dogs, grs. v. to gr^, xv. ; repeated three times a day, and given either in bolus^.solution, in water or sphit. Dr. Lauder Brunton suggests that its effects are in- creased when it is given with common salt, more iodine being thus liberated {The Practitioner, September 1876). BROMIDE, AND NITRATE. 529 Potassium Beomide. Bromide of Potassium. K Br. The Bromide is prepared from the mother liquors of the salt-works at Stassfurth, and from salt-springs in the United States (Bloxam). When purified, it occurs in colourless cubical crystals, soluble in water, but insoluble in spirit, odourless, but with a pungent saline taste. "When chlorine is added to the aqueous solution, bromine is liberated, identified by its distinc- tive yellow-brown colour, and, when in considerable amount, by its suffocating odour. , Actions and Uses. — It is a direct sedative of the cerebro- spinal system, both central and peripheral, and a paralyser of vaso-motor centres. Full doses produce anaemia of the brain and cord, impair reflex action, and subsequently cerebral func- tion, and partially paralyse the hind limbs. Pulse respiration and arterial tension are lowered. It is rapidly excreted un- changed in the urine. In human patients it is prescribed to control reflex and cerebral excitability. In all animals it abates convulsions whether depending upon centric or eccentric causes. In dogs it is useful in convulsive epilepsy, especially when recent. Wiip apparent benefit it has been given to horses suffering from tetanus in ounce doses twicer daily. In horses in an irritable excited state from weakness, shock, or fright, it is advantageously Conjoined with alcohol, chloral, or opium. Like the corresponding iodine salt it has been reputed to be deobstruent. Brown- S^quard conjoins the ammonium and potassium bromide, both of which are more active than the sodium salt, and advises their being intermitted after a week, but resumed again in a few days. Doses, etc. — Horses and cattle, §ss. to §j. ; dogs, grs. v. to grs. XX., either of the potassium or mixed bromides, given in piU or solution, prescribed with anodynes or sedatives. ^ Potassium Nitkate. •. Potassse Nitras. Nitrate of Potash. Nitre. Salpetre. (KNO3 or K^O, N2O5). In the East Indies, Persia, Egypt, Spain, and other warm climates, a brown incrustation of nitre covers considerable tracts of country. Nitric acid is formed by oxidation of the ammonia 2 L 530 POTASSI0M NITRATE alike of the soil and atmosphere, and also by direct union of the nitrogen and oxygen of the air under influence of electricity. Potassium is liberated from disintegration of felspar and mica rocks and from plant remains. The resulting saline efflor- escence, consisting of sodium chloride and sulphate, and potas- sium and calcium nitrates, is gathered towards the end of summer ; in India, about November. It is dissolved in water, and mixed with impure potassium carbonate ; the insoluble calcium carbonate is allowed to settle, and the potassium nitrate poured off in solution, and purified by repeated solutio^i and crystallisation. In France and other continental countries, nitre for gunpowder and other purposes is prepared artificially by collecting into large heaps animal and vegetable refuse, with old plaster and other calcareous matter. The heaps are sheltered from rain, but freely exposed to the air, frequently watered with urine, and occasionally turned. After about two years the whole is lixiviated, and purified by a process similar to that followed with the natural nitre. Properties. — White, opaque, crystalline masses, or trans- parent, colourless, anhydrous, slender, six-sided prisms, with a sharp, cooling, saline taste, undergoing no alteration in the air, deflagrating when thrown on flame. It is soluble in 3| parts of cold water, and one-third of its weight of boiling water ; during solution much heat is abstracted ; it is insoluble in alcohol. Warmed in a test-tube, with sulphuric acid and copper filings, it evolves ruddy fumes of nitric peroxide; heated to fusion, the melted mass forms, on cooling, the hard, white, fibrous, sal-pruneUe. None of its common impurities interfere with its medicinal actions. Actions and Uses.—Lwcge doses are irritant and feebly cathartic. Medicinal doses are alterative, antiseptic, febrifuge, and refrigerant. It is excreted from the bronchial glands, the skin and kidneys increasing the secretions of these organs. Used externally, nitre is stimulant and refrigerant. An ounce has proved fatal in human patients, but very large doses are required to cause serious effects either in horses or cattle. Mr. Morton gave a healthy horse two pounds, dissolved in six pounds of water, and found that it acted both on the kidneys and bowels, but that its effects ceased in twenty- FEBEIFUGE AND DIURETIC, 531 four hours {yetmnarian, 1837). Moiroud, however, reports that half a pound given to horses, , and two or three drachms to dogs, inflame the alimentary canal and urinary organs, causing depression and death, usually within twenty-four hours. Several ounces usually purge horses and cattle, and cause vomiting in dogs, accompanied by irritation of the kid- neys and hladder. Dr. Paul Guttmann states that poisonous doses paralyse the spinal cord, cause dyspnoea and occasionally convulsions, and muscular weakness, first overtaking the hind extremities ; they lessen the frequency and force of the heart's action, which in fatal dpses ceases to act in the diastole. Medicinal Uses. — Unless in very large doses, nitre does not, like other less soluble salts, remain long enough in the bowels to cause purgation. It has a high diffusion power, and rapidly enters the blood ; it appears to counteract adhesion of the red globules, and diminish their power of carrying oxygen ; it is not administered in quantity sufficient to exert any solvent action on fibrine. It appears to promote osmosis, and favours secre- tion of the bronchial, cutaneous, and notably of the urinary organs. Waste products are thus removed, pulse and tem- perature loyered, febrile and inflammatory conditions relieved. In the earlier and acute stages of disease nitre is conjoined with other salines, antiseptics, and sedatives; in the second stages, with alteratives, stimulants, and tonics. Mr. Alexander Lockhart, of New York, and other American practitioners, give two ounces dissolved in a pint of water, repeated thrice daily, and assure me that they find nothing so effectual in abating acute fever and pain, and controlling exudation in laminitis, which, owing to careless feeding and long fasts, is still common in America. These large doses probably impair the oxygen car- rying power of the hsemato-globulin, and thus check destruc- tive tissue metamorphosis. Small frequently repeated doses are sometimes given in purpura, and occasionally are service- able in cases in which iron and turpentine have proved ineffectual. Eepeated doses, especially when conjoined with ammonium acetate solution, are excreted by the bronchial membrane increasing its secretions, and affording relief in laryngitis and bronchitis. Many agriculturists give their horses, whilst on hard food, an ounce of nitre with a mash 532 POTASSIUM NITRATE every Saturday night ; bowels, kidneys, and skin are thus kept in good order ; and attacks of swelled legs and weed, so com- mon when hard- worked horses stand idle, are warded off. Nitre, dissolving in water, abstracts heat, and is hence some- times used as an external refrigerant ; its cooling effects are increased by admixture of sal-ammoniac. Five ounces each of nitre and sal-ammoniac, dissolved in sixteen of water, reduce the temperature from 50° to 10°, or through 40° (Pereira). For such refrigerant purposes, however, ice is cheaper, and more convenient. Doses, etc. — As a diuretic, horses take § ss. to § j. ; cattle, g j. to § ij. ; sheep, 3 j. to 5 ij. ; pigs, 5 ss. to 3 j. ; dogs, grs. x. to grs. XXX. Soap, resin, with other diuretics, and free solution in water, hasten and increase the action of nitre on the kidneys. The common diuretic mass of the Edinburgh Veterinary Col- lege is thus made :-^Take soap and nitre, of each lbs. ij.; resin, lbs. iij. ; Venice turpentine, lbs. ij. ; oil of turpentine, fgviij. Melt the soap and resin over a slow fire ; remove the mixture from the heat ; and when it has somewhat cooled, stir in the other constituents. The dose of this mass is § ij. The balls are made up with a little linseed meal or flour. As an altera- tive and febrifuge, nitre is given in about half the doses used to cause diuresis, is repeated every two or three hours, and is generally conjoined with other medicines. A sedative febri- fuge and laxative ball for the horse is made with an ounce nitre, a drachm aloes, and twenty grains calomel, made with simple syrup, or linseed meal and water. Where the horse has cold, fever, and impaired appetite, a useful draught is made with Epsom salt two ounces, and nitre, powdered gentian, and ammonia acetate solution, of each an ounce, dissolved in gruel or ale. Catarrhal symptoms and sore-throat are oftep relieved by four drachms nitre and one drachm each, of ipecacuan, camphor, and belladonna extract, made into bolus, and repeated every two houars. An ounce each of potassium carbonate and nitrate, with two drachms iodide, are useful in rheumatism. Similar combinations are serviceable amongst cattle. For them a convenient alterative is made with two ounces each of nitre, sulphur, and ginger, given in treacle and water or in ale. A good febrifuge for the dog consists of five grains each of FEBRIFUGE AND REFEIGEEANT. 533 nitre and Dover's powder, and one grain calomel, either placed upon the tongue, bolted in a piece of meat, or made into pill with syrup, or lig^uorice powder and water. Mr. Mayhew recommends three to eight grains nitre, one to four grains James's powder, and the same quantity of heUadonna extract, made into pill with confection of roses. Gats take about half the doses requisite for dogs. Potassium Chlorate. Potassse Chloras. Chlorate of Potash. , (K CI Os.) Chlorine gas, evolved from manganese black oxide and hydrochloric acid, is conducted into a large carboy containing a mixture of potassium carbonate and calcium hydrate. The mass, when charged with chlorine, as indicated by its acquiring a pink colour, is boiled, and the crystals formed in cooling are purified by re-solution in boiling water. Potassium chlorate occurs in colourless rhomboidal plates, has a cool saline taste, is soluble in sixteen parts of cold water, and in two parts at 212°. It readily parts with its large amount of oxygen; thrown on red-hot coal it deflagrates ; triturated with sulphur or phosphorus, it explodes. Explosive gases are also evolved when it is heated with sulphuric or hydrochloric acids. It is distinguished by its negative reaction with silver nitrate solu- tion, by a crystal evolving oxygen when heated, and by the residue boiled with a few drops of water, giving, with silver nitrate, the white precipitate of chloride. Actiom and Uses. — Potassium chlorate is antiseptic, febri- fuge, alterative, refrigerant, sialogoguOj and diuretic; used externally, it is stimulant and refrigerant. It is less soluble than nitre or than sodium chlorate, both of which it closely resembles. Poisonous doses like those of the nitrate decom- pose iiEemato-globulin, the blood becomes dark coloured, and broken down corpuscles accumulate in the spleen. Medicinal Uses. — Antiseptic actions probably determine most of its curative effects. The coagulability and keeping properties of s recently drawn blood are greatly increased by addition of a small amount of the salt. The large amount of contained oxygen does not explain its therapeutic value, for it 534 POTASSIUM CHLORATE is excreted unchanged, small doses mostly by the kidneys, larger by the bowels. During its topical application, as well as during its excretion by the salivary and buccal glands, it acts as a ciliary excitant, and exerts besides, some unexplained alterative effects. It is serviceable in aphthous ulceration of the mouth, in soothing and healing the eruptions of foot and mouth complaint, and as a gargle in catarrh and sore throat. While usually diminishing excessive secretion, it increases defective secretion — a twofold action observed not only when the salt is used as a wash or gargle, but also repeated more generally when it has been swallowed. Like some other salines, in febrile and inflammatory cases, whether in horses or cattle, it lowers pulse and temperature, cleans the tongue, improves appetite, gently stimulates the bowels, and renders their evacuations more natural and less coated with mucus. It is usually pre- scribed with Epsom salt, gentian, or ether. In hard- worked horses, overdone or suffering from cold, half an ounce night and morning, with gentian and ether, usually acts admirably. Mr. Thomas A. Dollar, of New Bond Street, who uses it largely, considers that in such cases its regular use during a week or two sometimes wards off attacks of farcy. In the catarrhal epizootics of horses. Principal Eobertson orders it with sweet spirit of nitre and camphor. Where turpentine and iron salts, usually the most effectual treatment for purpura, do not succeed. Pro- fessor Williams recommends potassium chlorate, believes that it increases, as it does outside the body, the coagulability of the blood liable to extravasation, and orders, first, several doses of half an ounce to an ounce, but finds that two to three drachms repeated thrice daily then sufifice. Given twice a week, in quarter or half ounce doses, to calves and young cattle, it seems to prevent attacks of quarter-evil, and other congestive disorders. Solutions of six to twenty grains to the ounce of water are used as antiseptic gentle stimulants for unhealthy wounds. Dos«s, efc.— Horses take 3j. to 3iv., cattle, 3ij. to 5vj.; sheep and pigs, grs. xx. to grs. Ix. ; dogs, grs. v. to grs. xv! given either in bolus or solution, alone or conjoined with bitters, tonics, or stimulants. Most horses will take an ounce daily, dissolved in their water or gruel. Conjoined with AN ANTISEPTIC AND FEBRIFUGE. 535 camphor, belladonna extract, and treacle, a soothing electuary- is made for sore throat. Potassium Permanganate. Potassse Permanganas. Condy's Fluid. (K Mn 0„ or K^ O, Mn^ 0^.) When manganese black oxide is fused with potassium hydrate and chlorate, a green mass, or, with addition of water, a green solution, is formed of potassium manganate. When this oxidises slowly by exposure to the air, or more rapidly by- addition of a little sulphuric acid, the permanganate is formed. It may be crystallised in dark-purple slender prisms, but is more generally used in the deep crimson or purple solution known as " Condy's Fluid," — a mixture of manganates and permanganates of potassium and sodium. The Pharmacopoeia Liquor potassse permanganas is about double the strength of Condy's Fluid, and contains four grains permanganate to the ounce. Actions and Uses. — The manganates and permanganates are deodorisers and mild stimulants, adapted for external use. They are of no value as internal remedies, for when swallowed they are rapidly decomposed, manganese black oxide being evolved. They are used to cleanse the water supplies both of men and animals. Four ounces Condy's Fluid, stirred amongst a hundred gallons of stale- smelling, unsightly rain water, left too long in a foul cistern, usually precipitates all impurities, and after a few hours renders the clarified water sweet and fit for use. The rapidity with which a known quantity of the per- manganate solution parts with oxygen, and loses its purple or pink colour, is a handy indication of the amount of organic contamination in the water, other fluids, or even in the air, experimented with. In virtue of this oxidising power, per- manganates attack and break up those gases and organic particles on which bad smells depend. Portions of sacking wetted with solutions of one part of Condy's Fluid to fifty or sixty of water, are suspended about the premises to be deodo- rised, or shallow vessels containing such solutions are placed about the building. But, although removing smeUs, they cannot, like the tar or sulphurous acids, arrest the causes on which 536 POTASSIUM ACETATE AND TARTRATE. sucli smells depend ; they have little antiseptic power ; half a grain potassium permanganate is less effectual in preventing fermentation of saccharine solutions than one-thirtieth of a grain of corrosive sublimate, or one-tenth of a grain of sul- phuric acid ; whilst Dr. C. Calvert found that meat soaked in permanganate solution, and placed in closed bottles, became tainted in two days, and putrefied in four, although, when simi- larly treated with carbolic acid, it dried up and was effectually preserved. Thus deficient in antiseptic power, and, moreover, not being volatile, permanganates are not to be depended upon as disinfectants. Potassium permanganate has been given to horses as an alterative and febrifuge in drachm doses ; but observation does not justify its preference to the nitrate or chlorate. Dissolved in fifty to a hundred parts of water, Condy's Fluid proves ser- viceable for cleansing and deodorising the mouth in febrile cases, in aphtha, ozcena, and ulceration of the fauces, as a refreshing wash in typhoid fever, and as a mUdly stimulating deodorising lotion for offensive wounds. Potassium Acetate. Potassse Acetas. Acetate of Potash. (K C, H3 0,.) When potassium carbonate is neutralised by acetic acid, the white, asbestos-like, soluble, deliquescent acetate is pro- duced. It closely resembles the nitrate in its actions and uses, is prized in human medicine as a diuretic, and is given to animals in the same or somewhat larger doses. Like other alkaline salts containing a vegetable acid, it, is mainly converted in the system into a bicarbonate, and as such is excreted in the urine. Potassium Acid Taeteate. Potassae Tartras Acida. Potassse Bitartras. Acid Tartrate of Potash. Cream of Tartar (K H, C4 H, Oe.) The crude' tartar or argol, obtained in an impure state from the interior of wine casks, when purified by solution and crys- tallisation, occurs in white, hard, crystalline masses, with a PE.USSIC ACID. 537 sharp acid taste. Lai-ge quantities cause in all animals in- flammation of the alimentary canal. Several ounces operate on horses and cattle as a mild laxative ; lesser doses act, like nitre, as alteratives and febrifuges, are converted in the body into the carbonate, and excreted mostly in the urine, causing diuresis. PEUSSIC OE HYDEOCYANIC ACID. Acidum Hydrocyanicum. (H CN or H Cy.) Prussic acid is so called from having been iirst obtained from Prussian blue. Its title of hydrocyanic acid is derived from its being composed of hydrogen and the compound radical cyanogen (CN or Cy). It may be extracted from the leaves and seeds of various plants of the apple and almond tribes, by crushing and moistening them with water, when their albumi- noid emulsin excites in the amygdalin a species of ferment- ation, from which are evolved hydrocyanic acid, benzoic aldehyde, and sugar. Amygdalin. Water. Prussic Acid. Benzaldehyde. Sugar. O20 Haj, N Oil -I- 2 H2O = HCN + C^HeO -I- 2 CeHi^Oe. The diluted medicinal solutions usually contain 1 to 5 per cent, of anhydrous acid. Anhydeous Peussic Acid, one of the most active of poisons, is^prepared by decomposing any metallic cyanide with a strong acid, or by treating dry mercuric cyanide with hydro- gen sulphide, and collecting the vapour evolved in a receiver kept cold by a mixture of ice and salt. It is a colourless, very volatile liquid, with a specific gravity of 7, is devoid of acidity, has a strong pungent bitter taste, and produces a peculiar sen- sation in the back of the throat. Its odour, generally likened to that of bitter almonds, or cherry-laurel water, is perceptibly different from either, and entirely devoid of ratafia aroma. It unites both with alcohol and water, with the latter produces cold, accompanied, curiously enough, by diminution of volume. It is inflammable, boils at 80°, and when dropped on the skin produces a sensation of coldness and numbness. Medicinal or Diluted Acid may be obtained by decom- posing the cyanides of potassium, mercury, or silver ; but the 538 pkussicacid: most convenient and economical method is by the action of sulphuric acid on potassium ferrocyanide, which is thus pre- pared :— Azotised animal refuse, such as scrapings of hides, cuttings of hoofs and horns, are fused in an iron retort with potassium carbonate and iron filings. The carbon and nitrogen of the organic matters at the high temperature, and in presence of the potassium salt, unite to form the volatile radical cyanogen (CN or Cy), which is fixed by the potassium forming potassium cyanide (K Cy). But iron being also present, a double cyanide of iron and potassium is formed. The ferro- cyanide of potassium, or yellow prussiate of potash, which crystallises in four-sided tabular yellow prisms, gives with iron protosalts a grey precipitate, speedily becoming blue from ab- sorption of oxygen, and with iron persalts a deep Prussian blue at once. It is tetrabasic, with the formula K4 Fe Cy^, SHj 0. When chlorine is passed through a solution of this ferrocyanide an equivalent of potassium is removed, and there is produced the ferricyanide of potassium or red prussiate of potash, which crystallises in bold red right rhombic prisms, is distinguished from the yellow prussiate by giving no precipitate, but only au olive green coloration, with iron persalts, but a brilliant deep blue at once with protosalts. It is tribasic, and has the formula K3 Fe Cyg, or K3 Fdcy. For the making of medicinal prussic acid the Brit. Phar. gives the following directions : — "Dissolve 2^ ounces of ferro- cyanide of potassium in 10 ounces of water. Dilute 1 ounce of sulphuric acid with 4 ounces of water, and when the mixture is cold, add it to the solution of prussiate of potash in a flask arranged with a suitable condenser and a receiver for distilla- tion. Put 8 ounces of water into the receiver, apply heat to the flask, until by slow distillation the liquid in the receiver is increased to 17 fluid ounces. Add to this 3 ounces of water, or as much as may be sufiicient to bring the acid to the required strength, viz. that 100 grains (or 110 minims) of it, precipi- tated with a solution of nitrate of silver, shall yield 10 grains of dry cyanide of silver." In this process the sulphuric acid and the potassium ferro- cyanide undergo mutual decomposition, cyanogen is evolved, combines with hydrogen, and comes over as hydrocyanic acid. PREPARATION, PROPERTIES, AND TESTS. 539 There remains an insoluble double cyanide of iron and potas- sium -with hydro-potassic sulphate. The changes, probably somewhat complex, are formulised as follows : — Potassium Sulphuric Potassium Iron and Potass, Hydrocyanic ferrocyanide. acid, acid sulphate. cyanide. acid. 2K,Pe Cye + 6 H^SO^ = 2 K HSO, + 3 K^Ye^ Cyg + 6 H Cy. Prussia acid, even when carefully made by the same pro- cess, is liable to variation of strength, and is, moreover, apt to volatilise and diminish in activity. Determination of the strength is, however, easy. Silver nitrate throws down a white precipitate of silver cyanide, every five grains of which represent one grain of anhydrous acid. Thus 100 grains of Pharma- copoeia acid should yield ten grains of silver cyanide, or con- tain, in other words, two per cent, of anhydrous acid. Scheele's acid is usually uncertain in strength, containing one to four per cent, of anhydrous acid. Properties. — The medicinal acid has most of the properties of the anhydrous, exhibits the same distinctive penetrating diffusible odour, causes similar numbness of the parts on which it is dropped, is volatile, and rapidly diminishes in strength, unless kept in well-stoppered bottles protected from light. It has the specific gravity '997 ; reddens litmus only very slightly and transiently ; evaporated on a platinum capsule, it leaves no residue. It is generally very pure ; its price, of about a halfpenny per ounce, affords no temptation for intentional adulteration. A trace of sulphuric, or of other mineral acid, is said to improve its keeping properties.- Tests. — Prussic acid is easily identified, even in small quantity and diluted solution.- (a) Its odour is strong, diffus- ible, and .penetrating ; and, as above stated, readily distin- guished from that of cherry-laurel water and bitter almonds by the absence of ratafia aroma. (&) Scheele's test, or the ■ production of Prussian blue, is very delicate and characteristic. The acid solution, rendered alkaline by potash solution, is treated with iron sulphate solution; a greyish green- precipitate is thrown down ; the solution is then boiled, and, on addition of a little hydrochloric acid to re -dissolve the ferrous oxide, assumes, after a few minutes' exposure, a deep Prussian blue 540 PRUSSIC ACID colour, (c) Silver nitrate produces a white precipitate of silver cyanide, resembling the white chloride by being soluble in ammonia and in hot dilute nitric acid, but insoluble in cold concentrated nitric acid, but differing from the chloride by evolving, when heated, the heavy, strong-smelling cyanogen gas, which, if kindled as it passes from a narrow tube, burns with a rose-coloured flame edged with green, (d) Boiled with ammonium hydro-salphide, previously boiled with sulphur, and with ammonia solution, sulpho-cyanic acid (H Cy S) is produced, and the liquid, when acidified with hydrochloric acid, gives a blood-red solution with ferric- chloride solution, (e) Schonbein's test is thus given by Professor Attfield:— "Filtering-paper is soaked in a solution of three parts of guaiacum resin in 100 of alcohol. A strip of this paper is dipped in a solution of one part of sulphate of copper in 50 of water, a little of the suspected solution is placed on this paper and exposed to the air, when it immediately turns blue." Complex liquids, such as the contents of the stomach, are filtered, neutralised with sulphuric acid, cautiously distilled, and the clear liquid which first comes over tested in the usual way. A still simpler and more direct plan is to place a portion of the suspected fluid in a porcelain crucible, a wide-mouthed bottle or beaker, add a few drops of strong sulphuric acid, gently stir with a glass rod ; if needful, the vessel may be placed in a basin of warm water, but the acid added usually evolves heat sufficient to volatilise any prussic acid, which condenses on a watch-glass inverted over the crucible or bottle, and moistened with silver nitrate, produces silver cyanide. If the watch- glass is moistened with potash solution, and any prussic acid is given off, potassium cyanide is formed, detectable by adding to it a drop of iron sulphate and perchloride, or any other mixed ferrous and ferric salt, and then a drop of hydrochloric acid, when Prussian blue is developed. As hydrocyanic acid is readily volatilised and decomposed by many organic substances, it can seldom be detected in the bodies of animals poisoned by it, unless examination is made within four or five days after death. It sometimes disappears even in less time, especially if the body has been exposed to the weather. Actions and Uses. — Prussic acid is equally fatal to vegetable PARALYSES THE CEREBRO-SPINAL AXIS. 541 and animal life. Poisonous doses paralyse the cerebro-spinal axis, act most notably on the medulla and respiratory centre, and destroy life chiefly by paralysis of respiration, in very large doses also by cardiac paralysis. Medicinal doses are sedative, anodyne, and antispasmodic. Topically applied, it paralyses the ends of sensory nerves, and hence allays irritability and itching in urticaria, eczema, and other skin complaints. Toxic Effects. — No poison is more active than anhydrous prussic acid (Christison on Poisons.) Injected into the jugular vein of the dog, it causes death within a minute. One to four drops, placed on the tongue or within the eyelids, of dogs, cats, rabbits, or such smaU animals, begin to operate in ten to thirty seconds; three or four rapid laboured inspirations, a hurried convulsive expiration, and a general tetanic seizure precede death. Guinea-pigs inhaling it for one second die in fifteen seconds; strong rabbits inhaling it for three seconds, die in thirty seconds ; but frogs are less sensitive. Air saturated' with it killed one dog in ten seconds, another in five, a cat in two seconds. Ten to twenty drops produce similar effects in horses. The two per cent, medicinal acid, given to dogs and cats in doses of forty to sixty minims, some- times acts with a rapidity^ scarcely inferior to the anhydrous acid; more commonly, however, life is prolonged for several minutes, and death is preceded by giddiness, profuse salivation, dilatation of the pupil, impaired voluntary movement, slowing of the pulse, a slight rise and subsequent fall of blood pressure, rapid failure of respiration, and tetanic convulsions. The heart continues to pulsate for several minutes after respiration has ceased. Asphyxia probably results from spasm of the pulmonary arterioles and paresis of the muscles of respira- tion. Eecent observations disprove any special action on the vagus (Dr. Bochin, Practitioner, September, 1 8 7 4). Convulsions depend upon paralysis of the spinal cord, and not, as with strychnine, on stimul5,tion. When life is prolonged beyond a fevf minutes, the general sedative effect of the drug is demon- strated; there is paralysis of motility, sensibility, and reflex irritability, muscular tremblings and convulsions. This general paralysis affords the key to the medicinal uses of prussic acid. It is excreted partially by the kidneys, chiefly by the lungs ; 542 PRUSSIC ACID : POST MORTEM APPEARANCES, non-poisonous doses are got rid of in an hour, and if an animal poisoned lives for half an hour, recovery may be expected. Professor Coleman gave an aged horse repeatedly, at intervals of several days, one to three drachms of Scheele's acid, containing about 4 per cent, of anhydrous acid, and noted much excitement, the pulse raised to 100, and in one experi- ment to 160, laboured breathing and tetanic contractions of the muscles; but the effects gradually passed away. Six ounces of medicinal acid given to Wombwell's old elephant, killed at Birmingham in 1855, caused only slightly laboured breathing. In experiments made by direction of the Messrs. Young, of Leith, two ounces were found to cause rapid death of Greenland whales when discharged by an ingenious device into the wound made by the harpoon. Direct application of the acid to the medulla of an alligator, which had been im- perfectly affected by doses internally administered, caused a long deep expiration, collapse of the lungs, and fatal tetanic contraction of the respiratory muscles (Jones and Bartholow). Poisonous effects are observed in all animals, and by whatever channel prussic acid enters the body. It is absorbed and diffused with great rapidity in whatever condition- it is ad- ministered, but, as above remarked, is especially active in the state of vapour. In combination with bases, it manifests the same tremendous energy, the cyanides being very poisonous ; but the ferrocyanides are harmless. As with many other medicines, the precise mode in which it establishes its effects is unknown. It may act directly on the nerve ceUs, arrest- ing generation of force, interfering with conductivity, or less directly by checking oxygenation. The post-mortem appearances vary with the dose and concentration of the poison. When death occurs within two or three minutes the heart contains black blood, its right cavities are gorged. In less acute cases there is, besides, congestion of the cerebral membranes and nervous centres, and engorgement of the large venous trunks ; the blood every- where is fluid, of a blue appearance, and evolves the peculiar odour of the acid, which is sometimes also perceptible in the contents of the stomach, in the serous cavities, and in most of the secretions. Owing to the volatility of the poison, its ANTIDOTES, AND MEDICINAL USES. 543 odour can seldom, however, be detected where life has been prolonged for an hour, or the body has lain exposed for two or three days. The voluntary muscles and those of the intestines lose their contractility, and become flaccid; the villous coat of the intestines is sometimes red, shrivelled, and easily removed. Prussia acid is so rapidly fatal that the animal is often dead before any remedial measures can be adopted. Ammonia counteracts the mortally sedative effects, is given internally, ' and also inhaled ; care being taken that it be not so strong as to irritate the fauces and other parts with which it comes in contact. Inhalation of chlorine gas also acts beneficially. Cold affusion is sometimes effectual ; should be applied only to the head and neck, and continued at short intervals. Artificial .respiration greatly prolongs life, and saves animals that have had lethal doses ; it directly antagonises the notable want of oxygen and excess of carbonic anhydride in the blood. Bleeding from the jugular relieves congestion of the lungs, and right side of the heart, which are the immediate causes of death. Atropine stimulates the cardiac and respiratory centres, and its hypodermic injection has therefore been advised (Preyer); but more recent observations throw douhts on the antagonism of atropine and prussic acid {The Practitioner, September 1874). The only reliable chemical antidote is solution of potassium carbonate, followed immediately by a mixture in solution of a ferric and ferrous salt, which converts the acid into the insoluble and inert Prussian blue. Messrs. T. and H. Smith, of Edinburgh, who proposed this antidote, advise potassium carbonate grs. xx. dissolved in an ounce of water ; and immediately after this is swallowed, ferrous sul- phate grs. X., and ferric chloride tincture f 5 j-> dissolved in an ounce of water. These quantities should neutralise nearly two grains of prussic acid. Unless swallowed before the poioon is absorbed, such a slowly acting antidote cannot, how- ever, arrest the effects of such a quickly acting poison. Medicinal Uses. — As a calmative and antispasmodic, prussic acid is occasionally prescribed in paroxysmal cough, where there is no organic disease. For such cases in horses, twenty minims of acid, with a drachm each of camphor and opium. 544 QUASSIA are made into bolus with liquorice powder or linseed meal, and repeated twice or thrice a day. In gastrodynia and obstinate vomiting in dogs it is sometimes also given. Mild cases of tetanus, especially in young animals, are sometimes benefited ; but it is of little use in aggravated cases, or in aged animals. Paralysing the end organs of sensory nerves, it allays the irritation of urticaria, eczema, and prurigo, and, for such purposes, two drachms of medicinal acid and a drachm corrosive sublimate are dissolved in a pint of water or vaseline. Doses, etc. — Of the Pharmacopoeia acid horses and cattle take iTLxx. to f 3 j. ; sheep and pigs, TI[x. to TI^xx, ; dogs, tii^ij. to ITL v., given in water sweetened with simple syrup. As the soothing effects are transient, doses should be repeated three or four times a day ; until perfectly regulated, their effects must be carefully watched. It does not appear to be cumula- tive, so that well-regulated doses may be given with perfect safety for many weeks. With a fresh sample of the medicine, to guard against variation in strength, the dose should at first be considerably reduced. To prevent the mistakes apt to arise with a colourless liquid, it is often made up with compound tincture of cardamoms. Used externally, it should be largely diluted with water, and as it undergoes absorption it must be applied with caution, especially when the skin is abraded. Cyanide of potassium nearly resembles prussic acid, but is less powerful. For human patients a solution containing one grain to the drachm of water is used externally to relieve headache, depending upon reflex irritability, and to abate the itching of eczema and other skin complaints. QUASSIA WOOD. Quassise Lignum. The wood of Picrsena escelsa— the Jamaica quassia or bitter wood tree — imported from Jamaica. Nat. Ord. — Simarubacese. Sex. Syst. — Decandria Monogynia. The dense, tough, white quassia wood, the produce of a handsome tree, is imported from Jamaica and other West India islands in billets one to two feet in length, and is met with in A BITTER TONIC AND ANTHELMINTIC. 545 the. shops in yellow- white chips or raspings. The wood of the Quassia amara from Surinam has similar properties, and is much used in France and Germany. Quassia has no odour, but a purely bitter taste dependent on a yellow resin and, according to Wiggers, on y^th per cent, of a neutral crystalline principle, termed quassiin, which recent investigators have, however, failed to find. Actions and Uses. — Quassia is a bitter stomachic, tonic, and anthelmintic. It nearly resembles gentian, calumba, and cin- chona. ■ It is prescribed for the several domestic animals in dyspepsia, loss of appetite, convalescence from debilitating disorders, and for the destruction of lumbrici and ascarides. For removing ascarides the iafusion is used both by the mouth and rectum. It acts as a narcotic poison for flies and other insects, and is said also to kill fish. (Eoyle's Mat. Med.) For the destruction of flies the infusion is placed in shallow vessels about the premises. Doses, etc. — The infusion prepared by macerating the chips for an hour with cold water is the most convenient preparation, is administered alone or conjoined with salines, acids, or iron salts, with which, unlike most vegetable bitters, it mixes with- out decomposition or discoloration. Of the infusion horses and cattle take f § ij. to f § iv. ; sheep and pigs, f 3 iv. ; dogs, f 5 j- Neither the extract nor tincture is used by veterinarians. EHUBAEB EOOT. Ehei Eadix. The dried root deprived of the bark from one or more undetermined species of Eheum. From China, Chinese Tartary, and Thibet. Imported from Shanghai and Canton, and brought overland by way of Moscow. — Brit Phar. Nat. Ord. — Polygonacese. Sex. Syst. — ^Enneandria Monogynia. Central Asia is the habitat of the perennial herbaceous plants yielding medicinal rhubarb, of which the finest, coming from Siberia, is stated to be produced by Eheum palmatum, var. tpguticum- (Eoyle's Mat. Med.), or by E. officinale (Fliickiger). The root, collected in summer from the mountain 2 M 546 rhubarb: stomachic, ranges of the interior of China, Chinese Tartary, and Thibet, from plants six years old, is cleaned, peeled, cut into trapez- oidal, round, cylindrical, or flat reddish-yellow pieces, and bored with a hole,. through which a cord is run to hang it in the sun. Internally it is marbled with greyish-white lines. The powder is bright, has a strong peculiar aromatic odour, with a bitter astringent taste, and is gritty when chewed, owing to the presence of crystals of calcium oxalate. The East Indian rhubarb is coarser and less aromatic. English rhubarb, so generally cultivated for its familiar leaf-stalks, of which the pleasant acid taste is due to the presence of malic and oxalic acids, is from E. raponticum, is grown extensively for its roots near Banbury, Oxfordshire, and is mixed with or substituted for the Chinese, but is softer and more mucilaginous, has less aroma and grittiness, contains fewer crystals of calcium oxalate, and is deficient probably to the extent of one-third in purgative power. The several varieties are readily dissolved by ether, rectified, and proof spirit ; and less readily by cold and hot water, with the latter of which it forms an orange-coloured solution. Ehubarb consists of a bitter extract, probably its chief active constituent, starch, cellulose and sugar, three aromatic resins, the golden yellow, odourless, tasteless, feeble crystalline, chrysophanic acid, or methyldioxyanthraquinone, rheotannic, cathartic, and arable acids, calcium oxalate, with 13 to 20 per cent, of ash. Good qualities are free from decay, not worm-eaten; boracic acid does not turn the yellow exterior brown— a test showing the absence of turmeric, which, with wheat flour, is often mixed with rhubarb powder. Actions and Uses. — Ehubarb is stomachic, tonic, astringent, mildly cathartic and cholagogue. Small and repeated doses improve the appetite ; correct slight gastric derangements ; in virtue of their tannin, diminish secretion and peristalsis ; by their colouring matter impart to the faeces a yellow-brown hue, and may be detected in the blood, urine, and occasionally in the milk. Larger doses, in human patients, dogs, and cats, are mild cathartics, stimulate the secretions and movements, especially of the stomach and small intestines, and increase secretion of bile. Even small doses insuflacient to purge fasting dogs, or purging only very slightly, increase 'all the LAXATIVE, CHOLAGOGUE, AND ASTRINGENT. 547 constituents of the bile (Professor Eutherford). In horses and cattle it has scarcely any purgative effect ; a pound has been given to cattle without moving the bowels ; whilst half a pound to a pound caused in the horse only slight laxative effects after thirty-six hours (Moiroud). On skin or mucous surfaces it acts as a mild astringent. Doses, etc. — As a stomachic and tonic, repeated several times a day, horses have §j.; cattle, §ij.; sheep, 3 j.; dogs and cats, grs. X. to grs. xxx. As a laxative, dogs take 3 j. to 3 iij., usually combined with one or two grains of calomel, or with "twenty grains of jalap., Ehubarb is used in the form of simple powder, occasionally as an infusion or tincture. The com- pound powder, or Gregory's mixture, prepared by mixing thoroughly a pound of magnesia, two ounces of ginger, and four ounces of rhubarb — all in fine powder — is an excellent stomachic and antacid, given in doses twice as large as those of the simple rhubarb. In chronic diarrhoea and dysentery in calves and foals it has the advantage of clearing the canal of indigestible matters, and subsequently exerting wholesome astringency. For such corrective purposes two drachms each of rhubarb and magnesia, with half a drachm of opium, are also given several times a day in weU-boiled wheat or flour gruel, with a table-spoonful or two of spirits or sweet spirit of nitre. One-third or one-half this quantity answers for diarrhoea amongst lambs. SALICYLIC ACID. OxYBENzoic Acid (H CgH^ OH CO^, or H C^ Hg O3). This valuable antiseptic can be procured by fusing potas- sium hydrate with salicine— the crystalline bitter principle extracted from wiUow bark. In needle-like crystals a very pure acid is prepared from oil of spirea or of winter green. The acid of commerce, much of it made in Germany, is commonly obtained by passing dry carbonic anhydride through dry sodium phenol at a temperature over 212°. The resulting di-sodium salicylate is dissolved in water, de- composed by hydrochloric acid, and purified by subsequent 548 SALICYEIC ACID washing and recrystallisation. It occurs as a soft, light, white powder of minute acicular crystals, odourless, with a sweet, dry, somewhat acrid taste, soluble in 400 parts of water at 60°; very soluble in hot water, alcohol, and ether; its solu- bility being increased by admixture with borax or sodium phosphate. The acid prepared from phenol frequently retains traces of it. With iron perchloride solution salicylic acid and salicylates strike a deep indigo blue. Actions and Uses. — Salicylic acid is an antiseptic, and is used in surgery in the same class of cases as boracic, benzoic, and carbolic acids. Poisonous doses cause cardiac paralysis. Full and repeated doses are cardiac and vaso-motor sedatives ; they are febrifuge and antipyretic ; promote excretion of urea ; have been vaunted as specifics in acute rheumatism, and are quickly excreted, chiefly by the kidneys. Like its analogues, benzoic and phenic acids, it arrests fermentation and putrefaction. A watery solution containing one per cent, of acid, dissolved with the aid of a little borax, preserved effectually blood, pus, and urine. Such solutions, freely or frequently applied, dry or shrivel mucous surfaces, but are devoid of irritant effect. Freedom from odour and almost from taste as well as from irritant property, recommend salicylic acid as an internal antiseptic. Sodium salicylate, which has exactly the same effect as the acid, persistently j administered to dogs, asses, and horses, in doses of one gramme daily to each kilogramme of body weight, induces rapid emaciation and death from cardiac paralysis. Moderate doses of the acid are soluble in the stomach, and enter the blood as sodium salicylate. Although producing slight effects on healthy subjects, fifteen to twenty grains administered to human patients ; one to two drachms to horses ; in febrile attacks, repeated at intervals of one or two hours, after slight stimulation, depress the cardiac and vaso-motor ganglia, lower the force and frequency of the pulse, reduce blood-pressure and temperature, and promote perspiration ;' these effects are usually maintained both in men and animals for several hours (Bartholow). Medicinal Uses.— These, physiological actions are benefi- cially exerted in rheumatic fever especially of an articular ANTISEPTIC AND ANTIPYBETIC. 549 character. In human patients it has been shown to abate pain, lower temperature three or four degrees, and shorten attacks. In febrile cases it further exerts an antiseptic action on the alimentary mucous membrane and deodorises foul excretions. It is surmised that in the rheumatic textures the lactic acid liberates the antiseptic salicylic acid, which directly antagonises excessive tissue metamorphoses. In veterinary practice it deserves further trial in rheumatic and typhoid fevers, in strangles and purpura in horses; and in metro- peritonitis in cows and ewes. Mr. Dollar of New Bond Street, and Mr. I. Print of Clapham, without any curative results, have, however, given drachm doses twice a day to horses affected by farcy and nasal gleet. The antipyretic actions of salicylic acid ally it to quinine, which, however, exerts its notable effects in half the doses, and is more widely applicable to typhoid and zymotic cases. .As a febrifuge, the acid is more active and certain than salicine, and rather more active than sodium salicylate. In all animals it preserves wounds in an aseptic state ; in those which have been neglected and peopled with bacteria, it destroys these parasites ; it counteracts foetor and suppura- tion, abates pain, and hastens healing. It is especially appli- cable in serious wounds that through their sloughing stages have been treated with carbolic or other more irritant dressings, and in which both granulation and epithelium growth require to be encouraged simultaneously. This important two-fold service is usually better done by sanitas, boracic, or salicylic acids than by carbolic acid. Being non- irritant it is suitable as an injection into open joints and serous ca,vities, and Mr. C. Gresswell of Nottingham reports his thus using it successfully in open hock joint (Veterinarian, January 1882). It abates the itching, discharge, and smell of eczema in horses' heels. Doses, «fc.^Horses and cattle take 3 j- to 3 ij-. sheep and dogs grs. X. to grS. xv. every hour or two hours, mixed with a httle borax to insure solubility, and administered in mucilage, . or glycerine. Sodium salicylate may be used in somewhat larger doses than the acid.. For surgical- purposes a convenient solution of medium strength is made with eight grains each of 550 SANITAS PREPAKED BY salicylic acid and borax to the ounce of water. An ointment is prepared with one part of acid mixed in a heated mortar with six or eight of vaseline or lard. This may he got as a handy paste by addition of one part of parafi&ne. Lint, cotton- wool, or jute, soaked in a strong, hot, watery solution, made as above with borax to insure solubility, absorbs the acid, and may be used as an antiseptic covering for wounds and burns in the same manner as carbolic, boracic, or sanitas lint. Being unirritating, it may be applied directly to abraded surfaces without the intervention of any protective. Iron salicylate is both antiseptic and astringent, and has been used as a styptic. SANITAS. Oily and watery fluids prepared by oxidation of oil of turpen- tine, and containing camphoraceous bodies and hydrogen peroxide. " Sanitas " has recently come into use as an antiseptic, dis- infectant, deodoriser, and air purifier. It is prepared by peroxidation of oil of turpentine. A current of air is driven by an engine for about 120 hours through a series of Doulton .stoneware receivers, surrounded by vats of water maintained by steam at a temperature of 140° Fahr. In each receiver are placed 30 gallons of Eussian or Swedish oil of turpentine, and about twice that amount of water. The oil gradually becomes darker in colour, increased in specific gravity, raised in its boiling-point, and acquires a balsamic odour resembling cam- phor and peppermint. As the process continues, the turpen- tine (Cjo Hjg) is oxidised, producing camphoric peroxide (C'lo Hi4 OJ, which the careful investigations of Mr. C. T. Kingzett, F.C.S. (Managing Director of the Sanitas Company) demonstrates to be gradually converted into camphoric acid (Cio Hi5 O4), another antiseptic camphoric substance (CioHigOg), and the soluble hydrogen peroxide which remains chiefly in the water. Mr. Kingzett has shown that all essential oils containing true terpenes (Cjo H15), cymene (Cio H14), and menthene (Cjo Hjg) undergo similar peroxidation, and evolve PEROXIDATION OF OIL OF TUEPENTINE. 551 camphoraceous and allied acids and hydrogen peroxide as natural disinfectants. In this way pine-forests, especially during sunshine following rain, render the atmosphere not only pleasantly balsamic hut antiseptic, more highly oxygen- ated, and curative for chronic bronchitis. The Eucalyptus globulus in like manner pours forth antiseptic and highly oxygenated volatile products, which are antidotes for malaria, and even, it is said, for consumption; while on a smaller scale every plant or flower producing an essential oil exerts the same purifying and oxygenating effects. — (Nature's Hygiene, by C. T. Kingzett, F.O.S« London and Berlin.) Sanitas is the active constituent of various useful bodies. When the manufacture is finished there floats on the surface of the aqueous solution a yellow brown dense oxidized oil of turpentine, containing thymol, an organic peroxide, and other camphoraceous principles. Mixed with lime this sanitas oil is used as a disinfecting and deodorant powder. United with ordinary fatty matters it is made into antiseptic soaps, and with vaseline and paraffine wax produces ointments. Heated with Dammar resin and paraffine wax a mixture is obtained which is used to impregnate muslin, converting it into anti- septic gauze. Soothing emulsions are formed with gum- arabic, and antiseptic and deodorant emulsions with iodoform. Antiseptic desiccants result from admixture with chalk or starch. The watery solution rendered clear by filtration con- tains thymol and, in lesser amount, the camphoraceous consti- tuents which characterise the oil, and is specially rich in the oxidising hydrogen peroxide or hydroxyl, which contains 94 per cent, by weight of oxygen, and gives off 475 times its volume of that element (Pelouze). Hydroxyl effectually prevents the fermentation of grape sugar, and preserves for long periods meat infusions, milk, and wine from putrefaction. It has been favourably reported on by Dr. Day of Geelong, and others, as destroying the poisons of small-pox, scarlet fever, and typhoid fever. Actions and iTses.— Sanitas oil and fluids are effectual volatile, non-poisonous, antiseptics, disinfectants, and deodo- rants. They contain several active volatile constituents capable of operating on ferments, and probably also on con- .552 S ANITAS tagiiim from several different points of attack. The fluids give off oxygen freely. The various preparations have an agreeable aromatic odour, are not corrosive, and do not stain or injure organised substances. Their volatility and peroxidis- ing powers entitle them to the highest position as deodorants. They can attack smells which the non-volatile permanganates cannot get at ; while their freedom from irritation, their not attacking clothing, and their agreeable balsamic odour, in certain cases justify their being preferred to carbolic or sul- phurous acids or chlorine preparations. Experiments show that a small percentage of sanitas fluid arrests fermentation of grape juice, prevents putrefaction of solution of white of egg, preserves milk for a length of time," and wine for still longer periods, and also arrests putrefaction in fish and meat, destroying their putrescent odours, and pre^ venting the recommencement of decay. To calves receiving milk and suffering from dyspepsia, I have given ounce doses of sanitas fluid after each meal, with the result of checking undue fermentation and consequent diarrhoea. It deserves more extended trial as an antiseptic stomachic. Experiments are also wanting to determine what antiseptic and antipyretic powers it possesses when administered internally. Eecent envenomed wounds, or those which have been neglected and become offensive, are usually washed with zinc chloride solution, but the undiluted sanitas oil also appears in many cases to answer. Diluted according to circumstances with one to ten parts of water, the sanitas fluids are useful antiseptic lotions for wounds, ulcers, and bruises. Where serious wounds for a week or longer have been treated with carbolic or other more irritating dressings, granulation and skin growth often proceed more satisfactorily with the substitution of the milder sanitas. Sore throat, nasal gleet, aphthae, and foot and mouth complaint, in all animals, are beneficially treated with sanitas solution or spray. Being devoid of irritant effects it answers well for antiseptic injections into the rectum, uterus, or bladder,; Sanitas gently stimulates the skin textures ; and hence the solutions and soaps rubbed in are useful in prurigo, chronic eczema, and other scaly cutaneous complaints. Along with vinegar or other acid, sanitas fluid diluted with twenty to fifty AN UNIREITATING ANTISEPTIC AND DEODORANT. 553 arts of tepid water is serviceable for sponging febrUe patients, romoting comfortable perspiration, and also destroying any oritagious matters. Sanitas, even in the form of oil, does not ppear to h'ave the potent poisoning effect of carbolic acid on erm parasites, but it effectually destroys the skin parasites of cab and mange, as well as lice, fleas, and maggots. The ryptogamic parasite of tinea tonsurans is killed by soaking ieveral times with the oil. Even in concentrated form there s no risk of exciting undue irritation, or induciag from its Ibsorption constitutional -results, such as follow the free use of itrong carbolic preparations. Sanitas powder, made by ad- mixture of the oil with lime, is used with good effect as a disinfectant and deodoriser in stables, kermels, cow-houses, and p^geiies ; it purifies the air in exhibitions of animals, in manu- factories where fermentescible materials are employed, and on shipboard 'destroys unpleasant odours and substitutes its own camphoraceous aroma. SAVIN. ■Sabina. Fresh and dried tops of Juniperus Sabina, collected in spring from plants cultivated in Britain. (Brit. Phar.) Nat. Ord— ConiferBe. iSea;. Syst. — Dioecia Monad elphia. Juniperus Sabina is a shrubby evergreen plant, common throughout Middle and Southern Europe, and cultivated in this country. The tops or young branches, with their attached leaves, when fresh are green, but become yellow when kept ; liave a strong, heavy disagreeable odour, and a bitter, acrid, resinous taste. They communicate their properties to water, spirit, and the fixed oils, and owe their activity to about three per ceiit. of a colourless or pale yellow volatile oil, prepared 'rom the fresh tops by distillation, stated to be isomeric with )il of turpentine (Cjo Hig), although recent researches of Tilden 18 7 7) give the formula (Cio Hje 0). The brown empyreumatic )il of cade, imported from the Continent, and in growing ■epute as an insecticide, is obtained from the dry distillation if the brown-berried juniper — the Juniperus Oxycedrus — a. native of countries bordering the Mediterranean, and from 554 SAVIN other coniferEe. It resembles Swedish tar, often substituted for it, but is thinner, transparent, and devoid of crystals. Actions and C/s«s.— Savin applied externally is rubefacient and vesicant ; moderate doses are stimulant, anthelmintic, and diuretic; they stimulate especially the urino-genital organs, are allied to the turpentines, and in large doses produce gastro- enteritis. In its stimulation of the uterus it resembles rue and ergot. Excretion occurs by the skin, pulmonary membrane, and kidneys. Hertwig has given horses half a pound twice daily for six or eight days, without effect ; Professor Sick continued it with little effect for half a year ; but these observations probably underrate its activity. Mr. Eose records the poisoning of five horses, of which one died immediately, and two after five days;. the others recovered, after suffering from diarrhoea, intense thirst, quickened pulse and breathing, with great prostration {Veterina,ry Record for 1850). In carnivora it is still more irritant. Four drachms, according to Qrfila, destroyed a dog in thirteen hours, when the gullet was tied to prevent vomiting ; and similar effects follow when powdered savin is applied to a wound or introduced underneath the skin. The stomach is found reddened, and the rectum inflamed. Large doses likewise irritate the kidneys and bladder, often causing copious discharge of bloody urine. The irritation extends to the uterus, and savin on this account is occasionally ignorantly used to produce abortion or hasten parturition. Two cases of abortion in mares heavy in foal are recorded by Mr. Mellet of Henley-on-Thames, in the Veterinarian for 1855. In these cases, the continued use of savin destroyed both foals, and, being still persevered with, caused their expulsion apparently ten or twelve days later. No judicious practitioner will, how- ever, use savin to produce abortion ; for this result is only attained when poisonous doses are given sufficient to produce violent intestinal irritation. It is occasionally used chopped with fodder for the destruction of intestinal worms, but is neither so safe nor so certain as oil of turpentine. If used at all, the best form is the essential oil. Decoction of the tops in an alkaline ley and the essential oil are occasionally applied as antiseptics and -stimulants for indolent wounds and warts. . STIMULANT, ANTHELMINTIC, AND DIURETIC. 555 Doses, etc. — As an anthelmintic, the chief purpose for which mm is administered, fSiij- to f3iv. of the volatile oil is ;iven to horses or cattle ; TK^ iij. to n]^ v. to dogs, dissolved in ,ny fixed oil or in mucilage. For external application, a iecoGtion is usually made with one part of fresh tops to six ir eight of water and two of spirit. The ointment, light green lud smelling of savin, is thiis prepared : — Melt sixteen ounces prepared lard (or vaseline) and three ounces yellow wax together on a water bath, add eight ounces fresh savin tops, and digest for twenty minutes ; then remove the mixture, and strain through calico! (Brit. Phar.) A mixture of equal parts of savin and of verdigris ointments is occasionally used as a stimulant dressing for foot-root, and other indolent sores. SILVER AND ITS MEDICINAL COMPOUNDS. Silver Nitrate, Argenti Nitras. Lunar Caustic. Lapis Infernalis. (Ag NO3.) When metallic silver is heated with diluted nitric acid, nitric oxide gas is evolved, and when the solution is evapo- rated, silver nitrate crystallises in colourless right rhombic prisms. To form the familiar sticks or pencils, the salt is fused and run into moulds. It is devoid of odour, has a dis- agreeable, caustic, metallic taste, remains permanent in the lir, but blackens on exposure to light or in contact with organic natters. It is soluble in its own weight of temperate water, ffld in four parts of boiling rectified spirit. It blackens the mticle, and corrodes soft animal tissues. Like other silver lalts, it is distinguished by giving, with hydrochloric acid, a phite precipitate of chloride (Ag CI), insoluble in nitric acid, )ut soluble in ammonia. Hydrogen sulphide and ammonium lydro-sulphide yield black precipitates of sulphide (Agg S), nsoluble in alkalies. Potash and soda solutions throw down he brown oxide (Agj 0). Actions and fJses.— Large doses, besides topical irritation md corrosion, stimulate the spinal cord producing convulsions md paralysis with death from respiratory arrest. Chronic poisoning, as with arsenic and antimony, is accompanied by 556 - SILVER NITRATE fatty degeneration. Medicinal doses are tonic, stimulant, and astringent, and are excreted chiefly by the intestines and liver. Applied externally it is caustic, stimulant, and astringent. Salts of silver closely resemble those of copper and zinc. Toxic Effects. — Eosenstern, experimenting on the vessels of the mesentery of' frogs with weak solutions of various astringents found silver nitrate most powerful; lead acetate followed next in order, requiring to produce a given effect a solution five times as strong ; ferric-chloride acted only feebly ; alum caused dilatation {The Practitioner, September 1876). Silver nitrate, given to dogs in doses of thirty to sixty grains, acts as a topical irritant, causing fatal gastro-enteritis. It is most powerful when in concentrated solution. Eouget found that small doses given to various mammalia caused excitement almost like that produced by strychnine, while toxic doses induced convulsions and asphyxia. With hypodermic injec- tions of silver hypo-sulphite, Curci induced in various animals primary stimulation of the sensory columns of the cord, while later and less notably the motor column became affected (Phillips's Materia Medica, 1882). Frequent full doses are stated to alter the outlines and pale the colour of the blood globules and convert hsemoto-globulin into hsematin. The metal is discovered in the liver and spleen, and in the structure of the skin, where it produces a black stain ; it induces fatty degeneration, especially of the kidneys, liver, and heart ; ehmi- nation occurs slowly chiefly, by the intestines and liver. Medicinal Uses. — Moderate doses are absorbed as double chloride of sodium and silver, as albuminates and peptonates. As a tonic, it is prescribed in chorea, and epilepsy, especially amongst dogs. Like arsenic it is sometimes used to check chronic gastric irritation. Along with opium half a grain is given several times daily in chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, and chol.era in dogs ; whilst enemeta of flve to ten grains to the ounce of distilled water, or of starch gruel, are occasionally also used. Its external applications are numerous and important. Applied to irritable, relaxed, abraded skin or mucous surfaces, it constringes dilated vessels, coagulates mucus and albumen, produces a white film of chloride, which gradually deepens in colour, owing to the salt being reduced to the sulphide and STIMULANT AND ASTEINGENT. 557 letallic states. The solid nitrate or strong solution rubbed Qto the skin raises blisters. The eschar remaining, after a cee dressing, gradually cracks and peels off, leaving usually , healthy surface beneath. The solid nitrate acting super- Lcially, and readily localised, is for many purposes preferable fluid caustics, or to the deliquescent caustic potash. It is ised to remove fungus grbwths, warts, and angleberries ; to liter the condition of indolent wounds ; to heal callous ulcers ; to circumscribe patches of lichen, and promote a healthier action in the scaly stages of eczema. A crystal rolled in a piece of tissue paper is sometimes substituted for corrosive sublimate in fistulse, and a few days after its introduction causes slough- ing of the hard walls of the canal, and leaves a healthy granu- lating surface. It is an excellent dressing for obstinately sore teats in cows. Mr. Eobert Littler of Long Clawson regards it as one of the most effectual remedies for the interdigital inflammation and discharge which constitute one of the familiar forms of foot- rot in sheep. A solution, containing two to five grains to an ounce of water, abates the pain and congestion of conjunctivitis, and stimulates and heals the inflamed suppu- rating eyelids of weakly dogs. It removes specks and opacity of the cornea, if of recent origin and produced by acidents, but is of little avail in cloudiness in the cornea resulting in horses from repeated attacks of periodic ophthalmia. A strong solu- tion of 20 grains to the ounce of water, or of ether, is some- times applied in the same manner as collodion, to arrest inflammation in the early papular stages of boils, or in circum- scribed erysipelas, and synovitis. A weak solution relieves pain and hastens healing of scalds and burns, and is applied either immediately after the accident, or so long as pain and undue discharge continue. A solution of three to five grains to the ounce of water, conveniently blown from a spray-producer, is sometimes used to control congestion, suppuration, and sloughing of the fauces and throat ; but for relaxed sore throat and ulcers, glycerine of tannin, ice, and potassium chlorate are safer and equally effectual Solutions of ten to twenty grains to the ounce destroy the parasites of mange,^ scab, and ringworm ; and weaker fjolutions are sometimes used as clysters to bring away ascarides from the rectum of horses and dogs ; but for 558 SOAPS this latter purpose many other remedies are preferable. • It is occasionally employed as a hair-dye, uniting with the sulphur of the hair to form the black sulphide. Where too ■ freely used, whether internally or externally, injurious consequences are best controlled by solution of common salt, which forms the insoluble and inert chloride. Doses, etc. — Horses and cattle, grs. v. to grs. x. ; sheep, grs. ij. to grs. iv. ; pigs, gr. ss. to gr. j. ; dogs, gr. ^ to gr. ss. It is repeated two or three times a day, and on account of disagree- able taste, is given in bolus, made with meal, bread crumb, or other convenient excipient. For external purposes the little sticks are sometimes coated with wax to preserve them from decomposing action of air and light, and held in quills or forceps to prevent their blackening the fingers. An ointment is occasionally made with grs. v. to grs. viij. to the ounce of vaseline or lard. Solutions, protected from light and kept in bottles with glass stoppers, vary in strength with the uses to which they are applied. SOAPS. Potassium or Soft Soap. Sapo mollis. Sodium or Hard Soap. Sapo durus. Oils "and fats consist of fatty acids — the oleic (HCu Ngg Oj), palmitic (HCje H31 Og), and stearic (HCig H35 O2), united with glycerine (C3 Hj O3) (p. 363). These fats when boiled with solutions of potash, soda, or ammonia, are decomposed. The alkali displacing the glycerine unites with the fatty acids forming soaps, which chemically are oleates, palmitates, and stearates. Of the alkalies. The process is similar to that occur- ring in the making of lead plaster (p. 418), in which lead oxide takes the place of the alkali. Soft soap is usually made by boiling crude potashes with seal or whale oil, excess of water being got rid of by evaporation. Hard soap is prepared by boiling carbonate or caustic soda with tallow, palm oil, cocoa- nut oil, or other fatty matters. The commoner sorts are run at once into moulds. To get the better qualities, the boiling gelatinous solution is treated with common salt, when the soap, in flakes,, separates from the alkaliae impurities, and glycerine ANTACID, DETERGENT, AND LUBRICANT. 559 aoats to the top, is ladled off, and transferred to moulds. Hard soap is a mixture of sodium stearate with about one- third of oleate, and 20 to thirty per cent, of water. Yellow soap, whilst being concentrated, is treated with considerable quantities of resin. Many soaps are now made with a large percentage of silicates. Mottled and marbled soaps owe their colour to the presence of a little iron. Castile soap is made from olive oil. Glycerine soap is got by heating the soap ley with ■water for two or three hours at 400° ; the mass run into ■moulds contains a mixture of soap and glycerine. The Phar- macopoeia soaps are dire(jted to be made with olive oil, which is, however, much too expensive for ordinary soap-making. Soaps have an alkaline acrid taste, dissolve readily in water and spirit, but ought not to impart an oily stain to paper. "When heated they fuse, swell up, and leave charcoal and carbonate of their alkalies. Lime and magnesia in solution, as in hard water, displace the alkali and combine with the fatty acids, forming insoluble flakes. This property has led to the use of soap as a test for the hardness of water. Actions and Uses. — Soaps are mildly laxative, diuretic, emetic, and antacid ; are used externally as stimulants, deter- gents, and lubricants ; and in pharmacy as excipients. They form convenient adjuncts to more active laxatives or diuretics, and an excellent addition to laxative clysters. With warm water they are in every-day use for cleansing the skin, remov- ing acrid fatty matters, keeping open the orifices of sebaceous glands, and aiding the action of blisters and other medicinal appUcatioEs. They abate erythema and intertrigo from friction of badly fitting harness or other causes, the irritable parts being subsequently dressed with vaseline, with vaseline and sugar of lead lotion, or dusted with sanitas or other soothing antiseptic powder. Gently rubbed over slight burns or scalds, soap pre- vents access of air and relieves irritation. A thorough washing night and morning is often useful in eczema, removes the scales of psoriasis, and with smart friction breaks up the burrows of mange or scab acari, and prepares fra the effectual use of special insecticides. , Por eczema and other itching skin diseases,, Dr. M'Call Anderson prescribes equal parts of soft soap, oil of cade, and rectified spirit. As a stimulant for bruises and strains, to 560 SODIUM MEDICINAL COMPOUNDS. warm horses' chilled legs, and produce counter-irritation in 'cold and sore throat, six ounces of hard soap, cut into small pieces, are macerated with six fluid ounces of dilute liquor ammonise and one pint each of proof spirit and linseefi oil. To this are sometimes added two or three ounces of camphor. Soap and water is much used for laxative clysters ; a cone of hard soap inserted into the anus helps to evoke tardy action of the bowels in young animals. As internal antacids they are less effectual than the alkaline carbonates or bicarbonates, hut are occasionally administered in poisoning by acids and metallic salts. Soap and water causes emesis in dogs as well as men. Soaps are used for making boluses, liniments, and occasionally ointments. SODIUM AND ITS MEDICINAL COMPOUNDS. Sodium salts abound in the ashes of marine and maritime plants, but sea-water is the source of the chloride from which most of the other salts are obtained. They are soluble, with the single exception of the antimoniate, which goes down very slowly from solution. They are distinguished by their nega- tive reaction with the several group tests, and by their com- municating to the flame of burning alcohol a bright yellow colour. Actions and Uses. — Sodium salts, as albuminates, chlorides, and phosphates, are constituents of the blood, bile, and serous fluids, indeed of all animal secretions and textures. They are soluble and readily diffusible, furnish the soda which is drained away rapidly, especially during convalescence from acute disease; promote osmosis and oxidation; many are ant- acids, are solvents of albuminoids, hasten tissue metamorphosis, increase both the solids and water of the urine, with which the more soluble salts in small doses are chiefly excreted, ^hile the less soluble in larger doses are removed by the bowels. Like potassium salts, they may be grouped as follows : 1. The hydrate carbonates and salts of organic acids, which in the body are readily convertible into carbonates, are antacid, alterative, and diuretic. The alkali and monocarbonate are caustics. CARBONATES OF SODA. 561 2. The chloride, sulphate, nitrate, and permanganate are stimulants, most of them antiseptics, refrigerants, febrifuges, in small doses diuretic, in large doses cathartic. 3. The borate, hjrposulphite, and chlorate resemble their acid or salt radical portion rather than their base. Sodium salts are less diffusible and irritant than the cor- responding potash salts ; they have no sedative effect on the heart, muscle, or arterioles ; doses two or three times greater than those of the corresponding and more deadly potash salt produce only passing weakness. Sodium Caebonate. Sodse Carbonas. Carbonate of Soda. Na^ CO3 IOH2 0. Sodium BiCAEBONATE. Sodse Bicarbonas. Bicarbonate of Soda. NaH COj. Sodium hydrate or caustic soda (Na HO) and solution of soda resemble in their preparation and general properties the corresponding potassium compounds, but are little used in veterinary practice. The carbonate was formerly prepared by lixiviating the ashes of marine or maritime plants, and from the native ses- quicarbonate or natron found as an eflorescence on the margins of lakes in warm climates. To the extent of about 200,000 tons annually, it is now obtained from common salt by heating it in furnaces with sulphuric acid ; the sulphate thus obtained is converted into sulphide, and thence into carbonate, by roast- ing with coal or slack and limestone; lixiviating, calcining,, and crystallising. From a saturated solution of this soda ash there separate large transparent rhombic crystals of hydrated. carbonate used for washing purposes. The water may be driven off by heat, when the dried Pharmacopoeia sodium carbonate remains. The carbonate in any of its forms is alkaline, efflor- escent, and soluble in water. The bicarbonate, produced when the carbonate is exposed to carbonic acid, is a white crystalline powder, or aggregation of irregular opaque scales, has a saline, slightly alkaline taste,. is soluble in about ten parts of cold water, and is distinguished from the carbonate by its feeble alkalinity, and its giving a 2n 562 SODIUM CARBONATES colourless instead of a coloured precipitate witli corrosive sub- limate. Soda water, as ordinarily sold, is simply aerated water; but the officraal article contains in every pint 30 grains of bicarbonate, and is saturated with carbonic acid gas, dissolved under pressure of seven atmospheres. Actions and f7s«s.— Sodium carbonate and bicarbonate are antacids and alteratives. They differ only in the degree of their action, closely resemble the corresponding potassium salts, but are less penetrating and irritant, and, containing a higher percentage of alkali, have a greater neutralising power. Medicinal Uses. — Small doses given half-an-hour before meals increase secretion of gastric juice. Given with meals or after feeding they aid emulsionising and digestion of fats and neutralise the acid of the gastric juice, and any acid pro- duced by excessive fermentation of food. They are hence serviceable in relieving occasional cases of indigestion and flatulence, their efficacy being increased by administration with an aromatic or stimulant. Young calves too freely fed on stale skim milk, and suffering from atonic dyspepsia are often re- lieved by solution of three or four drachms of bicarbonate in each meal of mUk. Soda carbonates are antidotes for poisoning by mineral and other acids. Being less irritant than the corresponding potassium salts, they are preferred for stimulating secretion of gastric juice and neutralising acids in the alimentary canal, while potassium carbonates are preferable | for promoting oxidation, tissue metamorphosis, and alkalinity of the urine. They are dissolved and readily absorbed chiefly as chloride. They stimulate vibratUe movements of ciliated epithelium. They restore any deficiency of soda salts which are apt to be passed out of the body in abnormal amount during convalescence from acute disease. They increase oxidation and tissue metamorphosis, hence reduce excessive obesity of pampered show animals, aid removal of waste and excremen- titious substances, and are thus febrifuge. They maintain and increase the alkalinity of the blood, and are hence believed to antagonise the rheumatic diathesis. Their effect on the blood is not, however, very considerable or permanent, for they are speedily eliminated chiefly by the kidneys, rendering the urine alkaline, and increasing solubility of uric acid. As anti- * ANTACIDS AND ALTERATIVES. 563 lithics they are, however, less active than the potassium carbonates. ' Carbonate solutions lessen the irritation of urticaria of Hchen and other eruptions, but potassium cyanide is still more effective. The alkaline secretion and itching of the weeping stages of eczema are abated by carbonate solutions ; half a drachm to the pint is most generally suitable ; weak are pre- ferable to strong solutions ; lint well soaked is applied to the irritable surface, and evaporation checked by a piece of oil-skin laid over. To prevent brittleness and tenderness of skin it should subsequently be moistened with vaseline or glycerine and water, and in more chronic cases the alkaline dressing should be alternated with tar or oil of cade. The simple white non-puriform leucorrhcea is usually arrested by two or three injections. A strong solution of bicarbonate greatly checks the pain of burns. Doses, etc. — Of the carbonate horses and cattle take 5 ij- to 3vj.; sheep and pigs, grs. xx. to grs. Ix.; dogs, grs. x. to grs. xx. The bicarbonate, although about half the activity of the car- 'bonate, is more convenient for general use, and is given in double these doses. Both salts are used in bolus and solution. Sodium Borate. Soda Biborate. Borax. Naj 0, 2B2 O3, IOH2 0. Borate of soda occurs native in certain Austrian mineral waters, and as an incrustation on the edges of various lakes in Thibet and Persia. As crude borax or tincal, it is imported from Calcutta in greenish pieces covered with a greasy deposit, to prevent efflorescence. It is purified by calcining and recrys- taUising. Borax is also readily got by boning, or calcining together boracic acid and sodium carbonate. Its colourless, oblique, six-sided prisms speedily effloresce and become opaque, have a saline cooling taste, are soluble in twelve parts of cold, and two of hot, water, and are still more soluble in glycerine, which is hence a capital vehicle for applying it. Heated, it melts in its water of crystallisation, and swells into the porous borax usta ; at a red heat it becomes the transparent glass or anhydrous borax (N^ 0, aBj O3), much used as a flux. A hot 564 SODIUM SULPHATE saturated solution, treated with a mineral acid, deposits the crystalline scales of boracic acid. Actions and Uses. — Borax resembles tbe carbonate and bicarbonate, is feebly irritant, antacid, and detergent; is an effectual antiseptic destroying yeast diastase and other parti- culate ferments; and is excreted by the kidneys unchanged. The powder or strong solution is a useful dressing for the small, round, superficial ulcers of aphtha, occurring especially in calves and lambs, removes the curdy exudation of thrush, checks diphtheritic sore throat, abates irritation of skin abrasions, and allays itching of eczematous eruptions, especially in dogs, when it is best alternated with zinc oxide. It is occasionally prescribed, in the same doses as the bicarbonate, to combat gastric irritation, fermentation, and fulsome discharges. Its soothing effects are increased by conjoining it with glycerine. In America it is prized for the destruction of cockroaches. Sodium Sulphate. Sodse Sulphas. Sulphate of Soda. Glauber's Salt. Nag SO4, lOHg 0. The sulphate effloresces on the surface of the soil in various parts of India, occurs in masses in Spain, and is a constituent of sea-water, of many aperient mineral waters, of various plants, and of several animal secretions. It is a by-product in the preparation of chlorinated lime and of sodium carbonate, but is usually got when hydrochloric acid is made from sulphuric acid and common salt, by adding sodium carbonate to the acid sodium carbonate (Na H SO^ left in the retorts. It occurs in large rhombic or in needle-like crystals, is colourless, transparent, efflorescent, of a saline, bitter taste, and soluble in three parts of water at 60°. Actions and JJses.~lt is cathartic, diuretic, alterative, and febrifuge. It has a low diffusion power; like magnesium sulphate it retains the water with which it is usually admini- stered, attracts fluids present in the intestines, is slowly and only very partiaUy absorbed, but moderate doses provoke both osmosis and secretion, slightly increase peristalsis, and augment the quantity and fluidity of the dejections. Not only does it carry away bHe lodged in the duodenum, and thus prevent its AND PHOSPHATE MODERATE CHOLAGOGUES. 565 reabsorption, but unlike the magnesian sulphate, Professor Eutherford's experiments on fasting dogs demonstrate that apting upon the secreting cells it augments secretion of bile. The phosphate has a similar moderate cholagogue action.' As with other salines, although large doses are removed by the bowels, small doses freely diluted are given off, in great part unchanged, by the kidneys. Although seldom used for horses, it is stiU occasionally prescribed for cattle and sheep, for the same purposes as Epsom salt, with which it is sometimes con- joined. In dogs it acts both as an emetic and purgative. Doses, etc. — As a purgative, cattle take lb. j. to lb. jss ; sheep, § ij. to § iv. ; given with ginger and treacle, and succeeded by liberal supplies of chilled water. Sodium Sulphite. J^eutral or Normal sulphite. Na^ SO3, 10 H2O. Sodium Thiosulphitb. Hyposulphite of Soda. ISTaj Sj O3 5 H2O. The sulphite is manufactured chiefly for the dyer. By passing sulphurous acid gas through a concentrated solution of sodium carbonate, four-sided crystals of sulphite are deposited, acid in taste and reaction, and with an odour of sulphurous acid. Wheu this acid salt is saturated with sodium carbonate, the normal or neutral sulphite is obtained. This salt, gently heated with sulphur, yields sodium hyposulphite, which is largely used in photography and in paper-making as an anti- chlore. Exposed to the air, the sulphites absorb oxygen, and are converted into sulphates ; the hyposulphites are more per- manent ; but all are decomposed by mineral acids, yielding the active sulphurous acid. Actions and Uses. — The sodium sulphites and hyposulphite are antiseptics, deodorisers, alteratives, and insecticides. In the presence of acids, and in the stomach,, they give off sul- phurous acid, which they therefore resemble. They kill bacteria, destroy septic germs, arrest fernientations, and re- move offensive smells— properties greatly increased when they :r|Sp~tised along with carbolic or cresylic acids. When standing 566 SODIUM SULPHITE long in contact with water, the sulphite has the disadvantage of decomposing, and gives off hydrogen sulphide. The sulphites and hyposulphites, when swallowed, are ab- sorbed, retard molecular change, remove noisome smeU and acriflity from unhealthy secretions, and are excreted mostly as sulphates. Being less irritant than carbolic acid, they may be administered more freely without risk of poisoning. Professor Polli, of Milan, made upwards of three hundred experiments with acid sulphite, mostly upon dogs, and found that it neutra- lised, or at any rate materially diminished, the effects of animal poisons. He gave dogs 225 grains daily with impunity for a fortnight; very moderate doses were detectable in twenty- four hours in the blood, liver, and urine ; two ounces of blood drawn from dogs, which for five days had received daily with their food 30 grains of sulphite, kept fresh for three weeks; while blood taken from dogs similarly fed, but receiving no sulphite, became putrid within a few days. Full doses, given previous to death, retarded or prevented putrefaction of the body. Into the thighs of two dogs Professor PoUi injected 15 grains of foetid pus from an unhealthy abscess, and next day repeated this injection. Both dogs were stupefied, reeled, and tottered when made to walk, while their pulse and breathing were much quickened. Por five days previously both dogs had been treated exactly alike, with this difference only, that one had received daily 30 grains of sodium sulphite, which was continued throughout the experiment. In four days after the injection this dog was again eating, and the wound in his thigh healing. The other, getting no sulphite, daily becaml worse, the limb got gangrenous, and in ten days he died ex- hausted. Similar results followed injection into the femoral vein of bullock's blood kept for four months, and offensively putrid. Dogs that had previously received the sulphite re- covered their appetite and were almost well in three days' while those managed in the same manner, but not receivirf sulphite died comatose in five days, suffering from low fever, and with the limb gangrenous. Another experiment, stiU more striking, was made with the muco-purulent discharge from aglandered horse. Forty-five grains were injected into the femoral vems of two strong healthy dogs, one of which for ANTACID AND ANTISEPTIC. 567 several days had received two drachms daily of sodium sulphite. Both were drowsy and panted, but the one protected by pre- vious administration of the sulphite, although at first seeming to suffer most, was in a few hours able to eat, and was next day in tolerable health. The other, however, became more drowsy, and stood with difficulty ; by the third day, the limb was tender and cedematous ; by the fourth, gangrene set in, and a purulent discharge ran from the nose and eyes ; whUe, during the sixth day, the beast died, worn out by pain, diarrhoea, and foetid suppuration. These experiments held out great hopes that septic dis- orders might be antagonised by sulphites. But the high expectations which were formed of them unfortunately have not been corroborated by repeated careful clinical observation, and their internal use does not appear to arrest or materially alter the course of febrile, contagious, or zymotic diseases. Amongst horses they are sometimes given in febrile attacks, inveterate skin disorders, tedious cases of strangles, rheuma- tism, and farcy. In indigestion they sometimes counteract flatulence. They relieve acidity and flatulence occurring in young calves hurriedly and carelessly fed. Ounce doses of acid sulphite, given thrice daily, I have found lower tempera- ture, and ease breathing in contagious pleuro-pneumonia in cattle. In cattle plague it has been given both by the mouth and injected into the veins, and although it did not act as a specific, or save life, it abated fever, lowered excessive tem- perature, and postponed the unfavourable issue {Report on Cattte Plague). Mixed with treacle and placed within the lips, it diminishes irritation, smell, and acrid discharge in foot- and-mouth disease. Alone, and occasionally with potassium chlorate, it has been given to young cattle to prevent attacks of the anthracoid black leg ; half-ounce or ounce doses, for this object, being administered with the ordinary food for three or four days consecutively during every fortnight. It is difficult to estimate the precise value of such preventives, adopted, as they often are, in conjunction with more careful feeding and management. Twenty grains given twice daily help to keep the bowels regular, diminish offensiveness of the secretions, and abate the low fever occurring in distemper in dogs. 568 SODIUM CHLORIDE — COMMON SALT Bases, etc. — Horses and cattle have §j. to gij. ; sheep and pigs, 5ss. to 5j. ; dogs, grs. x. to grs. xxx., given in powder or solution, and repeated several times daily. Having little taste, it may usually be taken mixed with the food. It is sometimes conjoined with ginger, gentian, camphor, or am- monium carbonate. Sodium Chlokide. Chloride of Sodium. Common Salt. Muriate of Soda. Na 01. Salt is found in immense strata in Poland, Spain, and other parts of Europe, and in this country in Cheshire and Worcester- shire. It exists in variable amount in every soil, and hence in every water, is the largest saline constituent of the ocean, and abounds in the tissues of plants and animals. It is obtained for medicinal and economical purposes by quarrying the solid beds of rock salt, or by evaporating brine springs or sea- water. It forms cubical crystals, which vary in size according to the rapidity of their formation. When pure, it occurs " in small, white, crystalline grains, or transparent cubic crystals free from moisture, and has a purely saline taste " (Brit. Phar.). From the presence of magnesium and calcium chlorides, many samples are deliquescent. It is soluble in about 2^ parts of water, at all temperatures. It is rather more than twice as heavy as water. Actions and Uses. — Salt is an essential article of food; small doses are restorative, stomachic, alterative, and anti- septic ; larger doses are irritant, cathartic, and emetic ; it is used externally as a stimulant, antiseptic, and refrigerant. So essential is the regular or frequent use of salt for the maintenance of health, that animals in a state of nature in- stinctively travel many miles to saline springs, the sea-shore, or incrustations or beds of salt. M. Boussingault, experiment- ing regarding the dietetic value of common salt (Annales^de Chemie et de Physique, 1847, torn, xix.), selected six cattle, as equal as possible in weight and appearance, and fed them in exactly the same manner, except that three received each 1-2 ounce of salt daily, whilst the other three got none. In about six months, the skin and hair of those without salt RESTORATIVE, ANTISEPTIC, AND CATHARTIC. 56,9 became rough, dry, and staring, presenting a striking contrast to the smooth, shining coats of the others, which, although little heavier than their neighbours, were more lively, and of so much better appearance that they brought a somewhat higher price. The cattle receiving salt exhibited throughout greater appetite and relish for their food, consumed it in a shorter time, and also drank larger quantities of water. Salt is especially necessary for animals receiving cooked grains, or roots ; for the salt naturally present is apt to be diminished by such preparation. Around an inflamed spot, notably in pneu- monia, common salt ascumulates, and its subsequent increase in the urine often marks the subsidence of the attack (Bartholow). During convalescence from acute disease the chloride and other sodium salts are removed from the body in unusual amount, and most animals instinctively then take salt freely, and its restoration is essential for robust health. Besides being itself restorative, it probably favours absorption of nutritive matters. On the absorption, of calcium salts it has a marked effect, for when withheld from dogs with frac- tured limbs, repair and union are tardy. Animals should have access to salt at all times ; a piece of rock salt should constantly lie in the horse's manger, the ox's crib, and the sheep's- trough. The condiment not only gratifies the palate but also, as indicated, serves important nutritive purposes. Besides otherwise aiding digestion, it furnishes hydrochloric acid for the gastric juice, and soda salts for the bile ; it assists nutrition, abounding where active reparative or formative changes are taking place. It is excreted by the mucous membranes and kidneys. Toxic Effects. — On horses the cathartic action of common salt is uncertain, often violent, and usually accompanied by considerable irritation of the kidneys. On dogs it usually "operates as an emetico-cathartic, being used to clear out the stomach and intestines, and' bo induce those febrifuge effects which accompany the operation of most emetics. Doses in- sufficient to act on the stomach or bowels are determined to the kidneys, increasing secretion of urine and proportion of urea. On pigs it acts as a purgative, but is scarcely so safe or certain as oil, jalap and calomel, or aloes. In the Veterinarian 570 SODIUM CHLORIDE AND NITRATE for 1839 and 1862, cases are recorded of pigs suffering from flatulence, diarrhoea, vertigo, convulsions, and paralysis, and dying in eight to twenty-four hours, from eating about four and a half ounces, repeated during several days. The mucous mem- hrane of the stomach and bowels was found after death highly injected and inflamed. Dr. Charles Cameron, Professor of Hygiene, Eoyal College of Surgeons, Dublin, reports the poisoning of thirty-one pigs conveyed by rail in a salt truck, from- the sides of which they had licked the salt. For many hours they had been deprived of water. They appeared in a state of asphyxia ; emetics and subsequently stimulants were ordered, and eleven recovered. The carcases of those that died exhibited "signs of gastro- intestinal inflammation; the brain was greatly congested, and there was considerable extravasation of blood in the cerebellum and medulla" (Veterinarian, Decem- ber 1871). Even cattle and sheep, for which it is generally a suitable cathartic, occasionally suffer from overdoses. I have seen dangerous effects produced by several ounces given to young and delicate calves, for which oil is a more suitable purge. Mr. Dobson, of Ashby de la Zouch, reports that one- pound doses given in four quarts of water to healthy yearlings . in half an hour induced irritation, excitement, staggering, paralysed hind quarters, and death (Veterinarian, April 1865). Nitrate of soda, much used as a manure, has irritant and cathartic properties, somewhat resembling those of common salt; has sometimes injured both horses and cattle that have licked it, or eaten grass strongly saturated by large recently applied doses. (See " Nitre," p. 530 ; and Veterinarian, Sep- tember 1876.) Medicinal Uses. — For vigorous adult cattle and sheep com- mon salt is a very useful purgative, resembling in its effects Epsom and Glauber salts. It is, however, more soluble and highly diffusible ; moderate doses are more quickly absorbed from the stomach and small intestines ; are shortly returned to the larger bowels, into which they enter both by osmosis and secretion. Small doses a.re mainly removed by the kid- neys. Professor Eutherford's experiments on fasting dogs demonstrate that common salt slightly increases secretion of bile. It purges not only the bowels, which is the main funo- FEBRIFUaE, ANTIPARASITIC, AND REFRiaEEANT. 571 tion of tlie more slowly diffusible Epsom and Glauber salts, but it also purges the blood. Thus establishing their cathartic effects in somewhat different manner, increased results are attained by conjoining common and Epsom salts. Full doses of these salines, causing thirst, induce the animal to drink largely of water 'or- other bland fluids, which soften and carry onwards the hard, dry, impacted matters,- so apt to accumulate in the first and third stomachs of ruminants. Eor such patients salt is administered to unload the bowels in distension of the rumen with food, in fardel-bound, and cautiously used in diarrhoea depending oniover-feeding, or kept up by the presence of irritating matters in the canal. It is given to relieve irrita- tion and inflammation of the eyes, brain, respiratory organs, or limbs ; and in such cases not only beneficially empties the stomachs and bowels, but frees the blood of peccant matters,, and excites counter-irritation. It is the best antidote for con- trolling excessive action of silver salts. Small and repeated doses are stomachic, and are prescribed with gentian, ginger, or spirits and water, for all animals suffering from indigestion and irregular appetite. Systematically given, salt lessens the liability to intestinal worms, and an injection of two or three ounces to a pint of water often brings away ascarides from the rectum. It obviates in great measure the evil effects of damp and. badly kept fodder, and with nutritive dry food, prevents or retards the progress of liver-rot in sheep. It is a common addition to laxative clysters. Dissolved in six or eight parts of water, it proves a valuable antiseptic and stimu- lant in ulcerated and relaxed sore-throat of horses and other patients, and increases the activity of the cilia of the bronchial mucous membrane. From its action as a stimulant, as well as from the cold it produces during solution, it is of benefit in various diseases of the joints and feet, particularly amongst cattle and sheep. Where a cooling mixture is required, one part each of salt nitre and sal ammoniac is dissolved in 30 to 40 parts of water ; or one of salt is mixed with two of pounded ice. Such freezing mixtures require, however, to be used warily, for their prolonged application dangerously lowers vitality. For preventing and arresting ^ putrefaction, salt is cheap and effectual, and stands high on the list of antiseptics. 572 SODIUM CHLORIDE Dr. Angus Smith found that one hundredweight of night soil was preserved for thirty-four days, with scarcely any putrefac- tion, by two ounces of salt {Cattle Plague Reports). For anti- septic purposes, salt is advantageously conjoined with carbolic acid. To disinfect skins and other such animal matters, a pound of salt and two ounces of carbolic acid are used, dissolved in a gallon of water. Waste chlorides, known as Cooper's salts, are now recommended to preserve for manure the meat seized at the Metropolitan markets as unfit for human food. Doses, etc. — As a purgative the adult ox or cow takes Ib.f to lb. j. ; sheep, g j. to giij. Instead of using common salt by itself, I prefer as more prompt and effectual for cattle half- doses of common and Epsom salts, dissolving the mixture in about two quarts of tepid water, adding two ounces of powdered ginger, anise, or other aromatics, and a pound of treacle. When the mixture is thus sweetened, some cattle readily drink it, and the trouble of putting it over may be saved. In treating gastric derangements and other cattle cases, accompanied with torpidity of the bowels, it is often necessary to hasten and increase the effects of salines by addition of other purgatives ; and an effectual combination is made with half a pound each of common and Epsom salts, two or three drachms of calomel (or twenty powdered croton beans), a pound of treacle, and two ounces of oil of turpentine — all dissolved together in three quarts of water. Where such a dose fails to act in twelve or fifteen hours, it may be again repeated, or a pint or two of linseed oil may be substituted for the salts. Frequently reiterated large doses of drastic physic are, however, to be avoided, since they induce nausea and depression, which prevent purgation. When a patient has got two, or at most three, fuU doses of physic without effect, he should have frequent clysters, plenty of treacle, and as much salt and water, or simple water, as he wiU drink of his own accord, but rarely any more active cathartic medicine. As an alterative and stomachic for horses or cattle, one or two ounces of salt are given, usually united with aromatics, bitterij:. or vegetable tonics. As an emetic for the dog, the dose varies from one to four drachms dissolved in tepid water. A stiU more effectual popular emetic for a medium-sized dog consists ALTEEATIVE, STOMACHIC, AND EMETIC. 5 73 of a table-spoonful of salt, and half a tea-spoonful of mustard flour, dissolved in three or four ounces of water. More prompt results are obtained by adding a grain of zinc or copper sul- phate ; while a grain of tartar emetic confers sedative effects. Sodium Chloeata. Chlorinated Soda. Liquor Sodse Chloratas. Hypochlorite of Soda. When chlorine is passed into a solution of sodium car- bonate, a colourless alkaline bleaching liquid is produced, recognised by the Pharmacopoeia as liquor sodse chloratse, known also as Labarraque's disinfecting fluid, and containing sodium chloride, hypochlorite, and bicarbonate. Like the analogous chlorinated lime, the liquor may be evaporated, and chlorinated soda obtained as a soft white powder, with a chlorine odour and alkaline astringent taste. Actions and Uses. — It is antiseptic, stimulant, and antacid, is also used as a disinfectant and deodorant, and resembles chlorine and chlorinated lime. Like other hypochlorites, it is decomposed, even by the feeblest acids, with liberation of the unstable hypochlorous acid, which readily parts with its oxygen, and as a bleaching agent is twice as active as chlorine. Sodium chlorate is absorbed into the blood either unchanged or as hypochlorous acid ; it probably oxidises, as it does out of the body, urea, hippuric acid, and other secondary organic compounds, and converts the colloids which are unable to permeate the capillaries walls into the readily absorbed crystalloids (Dr. John Harley ; Eoyle's Mat. Med., 6th edition). Hence in febrile cases it favours excretion of imperfectly oxidised matters. It has been prescribed in typhoid cases, and purpura in horses. Coster found that the solution neutralised the poison of rabies and of syphilis ; but its power of destroying the germs of smallpox, scarlet fever, or typhus is not established. It is an antidote for poisoning by hydrogen sulphide, the hydro-sulphides, and prussic acid. It is a valuable antiseptic, is not much inferior to carbolic acid as a destroyer of bacteria ; it deodorises foul sloughing wounds and ulcers, checks excessive noisome discharges from the skin or mucous surfaces, controls the moist earlier stages of eczema and 574 SPEBMACETI. prurigo, and is employed for douching from an atomiser relaxed and irritable sore throats, especially in horses. As an anti- septic, although more expensive, it is for some purposes pre- ferable to chlorinated lime, for by exposure it becomes con- verted into common salt — itself a valuable antiseptic, and more permanent and convenient than the deliquescent, moist calcium chloride, left from the bleaching powder. Doses, etc. — Of the Pharmacopoeia solution, containing one part of the chlorinated soda, dissolved in one of water, horses and cattle take f §j. to fgij. ; sheep and pigs, fgj. to f5ij. ; dogs, T\[xv. to 7Il_xxx. dissolved in water. SPEEMACETI. Spermaceti or cetaceum is nearly allied to the fats and solid oils, and is found in the cells of the large quadrangular head of the sperm whale, which inhabits the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is extracted by openings made through the skull, and occa- sionally by boiling the cellular and adipose tissues, which do not, however, yield it so abundantly as the head. Purified by melting, straining, and solution in weak potash ley, it is a translucent, pearly white, crystalline fat, with the density -940, tasteless, odourless, tough, and difficult to powder, unless pre- viously moistened with a few drops of rectified spirit. It is insoluble in water, sparingly soluble in cold alcohol, readOy soluble in hot alcohol and oils, and does not melt uiider 100°. Along with a little sperm oil, it consists of cetin (Cgj HO), which, unlike ordinary fats when saponified, does not'yield glycerine, but taking up an atom of water separates into palmitic acid (HCi^ H,, 0,) and the soUd crystalline ethal or cetyl alcohol (Cje Hj^ 0). Actions and Uses.— It is emollient and demulcent, resembles wax, is rarely given internally, but is used for making oint- ments and plasters. STARCH — FARINA. STAECH. 575 The 'farina or flour of seeds and soft cellular roots and stems (Eoyle). Starch is largely present in the cereal grains, in the stems of many plants, and in most roots. Wheat iiour contains 70 per cent, of starch, which receives the special title of amylum, 10 of glutin, with sugar, gum, bran, water, and ash; oatmeal contains 66 of starch eend about 16 of glutin; barley, 68 starch, 14 glutin; rice, 70 starch, 8 glutin; potatoes, 20 starch, 2'8 glutin. From any of these sources starch is got by finely dividing the grain or root ; sometimes facilitating the separa- tion of the plant constituents by fermenting; washing the starch granules from fibrous matters, straining, and drying. The white starch, used for medicinal and dietetic purposes, is dried in powder or granules. The blue preferred for the laundry is in blocks, splits, as it dries, into columnar masses, is coloured by addition of a little indigo, and also generally con- tains about 18 per cent, of water. Arrowroot is the starch of the Maranta arundinacea ; sago, the granular starch from the sago palm ; tous-les-mois, the large ovular granules from the rhizomes of several species of Canna ; tapioca or cassava is prepared from the expressed juice of the roots of Manihot utUissima. . Corn flour or Oswego is the flour of Indian corn deprived of glutin by a weak solution of soda. Starch consists of flattened ovate granules, varying in size and appearance with the source from which they are obtained ; the large granules of tous-les-mois being -^^th of an inch long, *he small ones of rice being g J(^ ^, th of an inch. It is insoluble in cold water ; has a specific gravity, of IS, and hence is deposited when mixed with water. With water above 140° its granules swell and burst, forming the viscid gelatinous mucilage used by the laundress. It is converted first into dextrin or British gum, and thence into grape sugar, by diluted sulphuric acid, by a temperature of 400°, or by diastase and various fermentescible animal matters. Its distinctive test is the blue compound which boiled solutions, allowed to cool, give 576 STAVESACRE SEEDS with iodine. Starch is isomeric with cellulin, and has the formula Cg Hjq O5. Actions and Uses. — Starch is easily digested and nutritive, especially when given with albuminoids. Like other such proximate principles, pure starch alone is inadequate to sup- port life for any lengthened period. As, a demulcent and emollient, starch mucilage protects and softens irritable sur- faces. In diarrhoea and dysentery it is used about the con- sistence of cream, at the temperature of 100°, either alone or with laudanum, sugar of lead, or other astringents, and is given both by the mouth and rectum. It is an antidote for excessive doses of iodine. Dry starch is occasionally dusted over wounds and open joints to absorb discharges. Mixed with equal parts of zinc oxide it relieves the irritation, the weeping earlier stages of eczema. Mixed with carbolic acid or sanitas oil, convenient, desiccant, antiseptic powders are formed. Heated with about eight parts of glycerine until it forms a translucent jelly, it is applied with three or four parts of water as a soothing demulcent. Starch is used for mixing and sub- dividing medicines, and as a vehicle for their administration. STAVESACEE SEEDS. Staphisagrias Semiaa. The ripe seeds of Delphinium Staphi- sagria, imported from Germany and the south of France (Royle). Nat. Ord. —Eanunculacese. Sex. Syst.—lPoljmina. Trigynia. Stavesacre or larkspur is a stout biennial herb, two to four feet high, growing throughout the south of Europe. Its o£&- cinal seeds are brown, wrinkled, irregularly triangular, about i inch long and scarcely so broad ; contain a white oily kernel ; are bitter, acrid, and nauseous, and have a disagreeable smeU. The kernel contains one-fourth of its weight of a fixed oil. The seeds, especially in their sheUy covering, contain about one per cent, of several alkaloids soluble in ether and acetic acidf delphinine (G^^ H35 N Og), yielding large crystals of the rhombic system ; staphisagrine (G^^ Hss N O5), amorphous, soluble in one part of ether and 200 of water ; delphinoidine, amorphous. IKEITANT AND INSECTICIDE. 511 the most abundant of the active principles;, and traces of delphisine separable in crystalline ■ tufts (riiiekiger). Actions and Uses. — Stavesacre seeds and their alkaloids are irritant poisons and insecticides. The seeds were formerly prescribed as a vermifuge. Their only veterinary use is for the destruction of lice, whence they have been called louse seeds. They are effectually applied in infusion made by boiling an ounce of seeds in a quart of water. The seeds boiled in vinegar yield a solution which not only kills pediculi, but when rubbed into the skin also destroys their eggs. Strong solutions, too freely applied, sometiines nauseate and prostrate delicate sub- jects. Occasionally they are conjoined with sulphur and tar. SUGAR Sugar is present in many plants ; is prepared in France and Germany from white beet, in Asia from various palms, and in America from sugkr-maple, aorghunl, sajocharatum, and maize. The sugar used in this country is chiefly got from the sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum) which is extensively cultivated in the West Indies, has a perennial root, a jointed'-annual stem six to twelve feet high, and long grassy leaves, which send out a flowering stem terminating in a panicle of beautiful silver-grey flowers. The lower parts of those canes which have not previously borne flowers are richest in saccharine matter. The caries are crushed between heavy rollers; the pale-green expressed juice, which contains nearly 20 per cent, of sugar, is mixed with a little slaked lime to neutralise acids and precipitate albuminoids, and concentrated in shallow vacuum pans, at a temperature not exceeding 140°; the coagulating albumen, entangling impurities, is skimmed off ; the syrup is cooled in wooden vats, and dried in the sun, yellow dark-brown crystals of raw sugar are formed, and there drains away a variable quantity of brown uncrystallised molasses. The raw brown or muscovado sugar as brought to this country often con- tains 40 per cent, of water and impurities, and is refined by solution in steam-heated water, mixed with a little milk of lime, animal charcoal, and occasionally with the serum of 2 578 SUGAR. bullocks' blood. Impurities thus coagulated rise to the surface and are removed ; colouring matters are further got rid of by filtration through animal charcoal; the clear syrup is con- centrated in vacuum boilers at about 170°, quickly dried in small crystals, or poured into conical moulds and crystallised as loaf sugar. A cwt. of raw sugar yields about 80 lbs. refined sugar and 16 lbs. treacle. Cane sugar, sucrose, the saccharum purificatum of the Phar- macopoeia (Ci2 H22 On), is colourless, odourless, porous, friable, and sweet. Like sulphur and arsenious acid it has an amor- phous and a crystalline form ; its hard crystals are of the oblique rhombic system; its specific gravity is r606. It is soluble in one third of its weight of water at 60°, phosphoresces in the dark, is decomposed by mineral acids, and readily fermented by yeast. When slowly crystallised at 170°, by suspending threads in a strong watery solution, to which a little alcohol is generally added, bold prisms of sugar-candy are formed. A strong solution, evaporated and heated to 320°, fuses, and the vitreous mass can be moulded into barley-sugar. Above 356° sugar parts with two molecules of water, loses its sweet taste, acquires a dark colour, and becomes caramel, which is used by confectioners and distillers as a colouring agent. Grape sugar, or glucose (Cg H^ O7), as a commercial article; is prepared from white beet ; it is produced by prolonged boil- ing of cane sugar ; it results when starch is boiled with water acidulated with sulphuric acid ; it is the variety occurring in the blood, in the animal textures, and in the urine, and formed from starch, whether in or out of the body ; and is yielded by a number of proximate vegetable principles termed glucosides, including salicine, amygdalin, and digitalin, when these are boiled with diluted acid. Pruits, new honey, and germinating seeds, contain an uncrystallisable variety styled fruit su^ar or fructose (Oj H12 O5), apparently an intermediate stage in the transition of starch, cellulose, and cane sugar into grape suc^ar. The transition from fructose to glucose takes place in dried fruits. Fructose is also called inverted sugar or leevulose, on account of its rotating rays of light to the left instead of, like other sugars, to the right. Between glucose and sucrose there are several marked distinctions. Glucose is neither so sweet I SUCROSE, GLUCOSE, AND LACTOSE. 579 nor so soluble as sucrose, crystallises in cakes or square platesj and is not charred by sulphuric acid, but forms with it sulpho- saccharic acid. It produces a readily crystallisable compound with common salt ; but its most distinctive test is a few drops of cupric sulphate solution, and enough caustic potash to make the liquid blue ; when the mixed solutions are gently heated, a red precipitate of copper suboxide goes down if fructose or glucose is present, but no reddening or precipitation occurs with pure sucrose unless the solution is boiled. Molasses, treacle, theriaca, or sacchari fsex, is the uncrys- tallised, fermentable, sy^^^^Py residue from the preparation and refining of sugar. It has a brown colour, a pleasant sweet taste, and a specific gravity of about I'i. Molasses is the drainings from the raw sugar; treacle the darker, thicker residue from the moulding process. Liquorice contains the uncrystalhsable, unfermentable sugar glycyn^hizin (p. 427). Honey or mel, the saccharine secretion deposited in the honeycomb by the hive bee, when first collected, is yellow, translucent, and viscid, contains cane sugar and inverted sugar, but the cane sugar becomes slowly inverted, and glucose thus accumulating, crystallises out. Forty ounces honey, lique- fied by heat, and mixed with five ounces each of acetic acid and water, constitute the detergent expectorant oxymel. Milk sugar or lactose (Cja Hj^ Ou) is prepared by evapor- ating whey, filtering, and crystallising. It is obtained from the homoeopathic chemists, who use it for subdividing their medicines. It occurs in translucent, greyish- white, hard, cylin- drical . masses of rhombic prisms. It is gritty, and being less soluble, is not so sweet as the vegetable sugars ; is not directly fermentable ; is insoluble in alcohol and ether, and requires for solution six times its weight of cold water or two of boiling water, Actions and Uses. — The sugars are readily absorbed, are employed as respiratory fuel, or converted into and stored away , as fat, are decomposed and got rid of as water and carbonic anhydride, or in excessive doses and in certain disordered states are formed into lactic and oxalic acids. They are stated to destroy frogs, leeches, and earthworms ; to stupefy fish, and poison pigeons, with swelling of the head and convulsions. 580 SUGAR. But Hertwig gave pigeons three to five drachms without any bad consequences. One or two pounds given to horses, eight to twelve ounces to dogs, increase the amount and fluidity of the feces, and usually augment secretion of urine. As a de- mulcent, sugar is used in human practice in the dry stages of catarrh; in poisoning with salts of mercury and copper; and as a domestic remedy for wounds, and for removing specks on the cornea. Its antiseptic properties recommend it for pre- serving many vegetable, and some soft animal, substances, and for making up various medicines. It increases the solubility of lime salts (p. 242), and retards oxidation of ferrous com- pounds (p. 396). Simple syrup, the syrupus simplex of the Pharmacopoeia, used for flavouring, preserving, and suspending medicines, is made by dissolving, with the aid of gentle heat, five pounds refined sugar and two pints water, and adding after cooling suf&cient water to make the weight of the product 1\ lbs. The specific gravity is 1-330. (Brit.Phar.) Molasses and treacle, in veterinary practice, are often sub- stituted for sugar. They are palatable, digestible, laxative, a,rticles of diet, well adapted for sick animals and convalescents. They are convenient auxiliary purgatives, especially valuable for hastening the action, preventing the nausea, and covering the disagreeable flavour of active cathartics. Where full doses of physic have been previously given, and their repetition is inexpedient, large and repeated doses of treacle often encourage the action of the bowels, especially in cattle and sheep. As a gargle for horses with sore throat, three or four ounces of treacle and an ounce of borax or of potassium nitrate or chlorate, are dissolved in a pint of water ; a few ounces of the sweet solution are slowly administered every hour or two, or when cough is troublesome ; an ounce of belladonna extract is sometimes added. Treacle, like sugar, is antiseptic, and one of the best excipients for making ball masses, giving them a proper con- sistence, and preventing their becoming dry, hard, or mouldy. The common mass, so largely used as an excipient, is made by thoroughly mixing with gentle heat equal weights of treacle and linseed flour. Doses, etc. — Of sugar and treacle, as laxatives, horses and cattle take lb j. ; sheep, § iij. or § iv. ; pigs, § ij. or § iij. ; dogs, SULPHUR OR BRIMSTONE. 581 § i. ; administered with ardmatics and salines, usually dissolved. in water or beer, or mixed with gruel. SULPHUR ; Sulphur, or brimstone, is a chemical element, and one of the most ancient articles of the Materia Medica. It occurs in many animal substances as sulphates, and notably in bile and the albuminoids, in garlic, the Brassicacese, Umbelliferse, and other strong-smelling plants, in some mineral waters as hydro- gen sulphide, and in the various pyrites or metallic sulphides, from which it is got by roasting. It is, however, mostly obf tained from the native uncombined sulphur, occurring as a prot duct of volcanic action in beds of blue clay in Italy and Sicily. This crude sulphur is purified by distillation, and when run into wooden moulds, forms the stick or roll sulphur. The finely divided, impalpable, minutely crystalline sublimed sulphur, or flowers of sulphur, is prepared by subliming sulphur, and intro-i ducing its vapour into large chambers, where it condenses; When five parts sublimed sulphur are boiled with three parts slaked lime and twenty parts water, filtered and acidulated with hydrochloric acid, there is thrown down a greyish-yellow soft powder of milk of sulphur or precipitated sulphur, th& molecules being more finely divided than those of sublimed sulphur. Sulphur vivum, caballinum, or horse sulphur, thei residue left in the subliming pots, if obtained from iron pyrites^ must be used with caution, as, besides other impurities, it ocpasionally contains arsenic. Sulphur unites with many other elements ; with metals to form sulphides ; with hydro- gen producing hydrogen sulphide ; with oxygen forming eight acids ; and also with chlorine, iodine, bromine, and carbon. • Properties. — Sulphur has a yellow colour, a specific gravity of about 2, but varying in its different conditions, has a peculiar, faint odour and taste, is iasoluble in water and cold alcohol,, feebly soluble in diloroform and ether, and more soluble in benzole, carbon bisulphide, and fixed and volatile oils. It is ^entirely volatilised by heat, inflames at 500°, burning with a pale blue flame, and giving off suffocating fumes of sulphurous anhydride. It boils at 836°, producing heavy brown-red 582 SULPHUR vapours. Sulphur, when heated, undergoes remarkable changes. At 240° it melts, becoming clear, limpid, and amber-coloured ; about 300° it gradually gets darker and opaque, and so viscid that it adheres to the vessel even when inverted ; above 350° heat becomes latent, the sulphur recovers its liquidity, and when about 500°, if poured into cold water, it is so viscid and vitre- ous that it may be drawn into threads, but in a few hours this ductility disappears, latent heat is lost, and the mass returns to the normal brittle crystalline form. When melted sulphur is allowed to cool at the ordinary temperature of the air it forms thin transparent monoclinic prisms, but in the course of a few hours these become opaque, splitting up into a mass of small octahedra ; when, however, melted sulphur is allowed to cool at a temperature of 200° transparent rhombic octahedra are formed; this is the form assumed by native crystals of sulphur. Sulphur thus occurs in four aUotropic states : it is crystalline, the crystals assume either the rhombic or mono- clinic form; amorphous, as in the precipitated variety; and vitreous, as in the temporary condition just described, as occur- ring when sulphur is raised to 500° and slowly cooled. EoU sulphur occurs in opaque, crystalline, brittle rolls or masses. When grasped in the warm hand, being a bad conductor of heat, it crackles and sometimes splits into frag- ments. Sublimed sulphur is a yellow, crystalline, granular powder, which represents two distinct forms of the element--^ ' the amorphous portion insoluble in bisulphide of carbon, the crystalline soluble. For medicinal and pharmaceutical pur- poses, sulphur is usually of suflQcient purity ; but traces of arsenic are sometimes present in that made from pyrites. Actions and JTses.— Large doses are irritant; medicinal doses, laxative, alterative, and stimulants of mucous and cutan- eous surfaces. Applied externally, sulphur is a stimulant of the skin, and an effectual antiparasitic. Full doses when swallowed pass through the canal almost unchanged; small portions converted into sulphides, exert on the intestines mUd irritation, increase both secretion and peristalsis, and according to ISTeligan soothe haemorrhoids. In contact with the alkaline bile smaU quantities are dissolved, are absorbed into the circulation, ^nd are shortly excreted by the mucous and STIMULATES MUCOUS AND CUTANEOUS SUKEACES. 583 cutaneous surface in the offensive form of hydrogen sulphide, stimulating epithelial cells, and increasing movements of the cilia of the pulmonary membrane. Small portions pass off in the urine as sulphates. The tissues generally are rapidly impregnated; small doses given to sheep are stated by Waldinger to impart a disagreeable flavour to the mutton. I'oxic Actions. — One pound given to horses causes colic, purging, prostration, and sometimes fatal gastro-enteritis (Moiroud). A horse affected with glanders received doses beginning with an ounce, and gradually increased by additions of an ounce daily, until the sixteenth day, when he had got 136 ounces. Diarrhoea supervened on the seventh day; but appetite remained throughout unimpaired, the urinary secretion unaffected, the pulse and breathing normal. By the third day, the perspiration smelt of sulphur, and a piece of paper moistened with lead acetate, and laid on the skin, becaine grey. The muco-purulent discharge from the nostrils increased daily; the patient, though well fed, became gradually emaciated, and so debilitated, that by the seventh day he was unable to rise. After the tenth day, the blood, even in the arteries, became dark-coloured, thin, and slow to coagulate. On the seven- teenth day the animal was destroyed. The mucous lining of the stomach, colon, and caecum was reddish-blue, soft, and easily torn. The lungs, muscles, and intestinal contents smelt strongly of hydrogen-sulphide, but the blood had no such odour (Hertwig). The sulphides in small doses gently relax the bowels, while, in some manner not yet explained, they counteract and control suppuration, and are usefully prescribed in wounds, boils, strangles, and inflammation of the udder. Horses and cattle take grs. v. to grs. x. of sulphide, of calcium, repeated every hour or second hour ; dogs take about one-tenth of such doses. Medicinal Uses. — Sulphur is given to the several domestic animals gently to open the bowels in piles or pregnancy, where more powerful purgatives might irritate; in chronic pulmonary disorders, in convalescence from acute diseases, and occasionally in rheumatism, chronic eczema and acne. Its ef&cacy as a vermifuge has been over-estimated. A piece of roll sulphur }Xi the water which the animal drinks is a popular preventive 584 SULPHUR BRESSINGS of distemper and other canine disorders ; but, being qnite in- soluble in water, its effects when thus used are nil. Applied with friction to the skin, it stimulates the cells of the rete Malpighii, and thus hastens desquamation ; while it also in- creases contractility of the muscular texture of the skin, and hence overcomes passive hyperaemia (Dr. W. Allan Jamieson, Practitioner, for September 1881). Eubbed daily into the affected part, it is said to abate the pain of rheumatism. Although sulphur dusted on the skin has very slight effect, when mixed with an alkali and with vaseline or other fatty matter, and smartly rubbed in, it stimulates the dermis and promotes a more healthy action in chronic eczema and psori- asis. In such cases benefit results, especially when the simpler sulphur dressings are conjoined or alternated with iodine or carbolic acid, and aided by the administration of sulphur and arsenic. For all veterinary patients it is much used for the destruc- tion of acari and lice. To effect a prompt and effectual cure of mange and scab, it is essential to reach the burrows in which the female acari have deposited their ova, by diligently scrubbing the patient with soft soap and water. The thickened skin being thus softened, and scales removed, the sulphur dressing comes into immediate and fatal contact, not only with fully developed, but with embryo acari. In cases of long standing a second or even a third application at an interval of a few days may be requisite to destroy any acari which have been hatched since the former dressing. The hydrogen sul- phide, eliminated when sulphur comes in contact with organic matter, appears to destroy the parasites. Lethal effects are intensified by presence of alkali. Kiickenmeister demonstrated that although acari lived for several days in sulphur ointment, they perished in fifteen minutes in mixtures of sulphur and potash. In intractable mange, complicated as it often is with hypertrophied and scaly skin, besides scrupulous attention to cleanliness and the internal use of arsenic and alkalies, it is desirable to vary the external application, using in turn sulphur, tar oils, and diluted mercurial ointments, which, penetrating deeply, reach the burrowing parasite. Doses, etc.— As a laxative, horses take § iij. to § iv. ; cattle, FOK MANGE AND SCAB. 585 § iv. to § vi. ; sheep and pigs, § j. to g ij. ; dogs, 3 vj. to 3 vj. As an alterative, one-fourth of these doses suffices. The pre- cipitatefi, being more finely divided than the sublimed, sulphur is somewhat more certain and active as a laxative. Sulphur is conveniently administered suspended in gruel or treacle and water, or dissolved in milk or oil, and is often conjoined with aromatics, salines, antimonials, or mercurials. Tor horses or cattle, a laxative mixture is made with two or three ounces each' of sulphur and cream of tartar, dissolved in water, with half a pound of treacle; one-third of this dose suffices for sheep and pigs, one-sixth part for dogs. A convenient altera- tive for horses or cattle consists of an ounce each of sulphur and ginger, and half an ounce of nitre, repeated once or twice daily. For external use almost every practitioner has his own formula. The simple ointment consists of one part of sulphur and four of vaseline or lard ; one-fourth part mercurial oint- ment is sometimes added. The common liniment is made with one part of sulphur and six or eight of linseed or other com- mon oil ; one part of tar oil or of Barbadoes tar is often added. A useful mange dressing is made with two parts of sulphur, one each of tar oil and potassium carbonate, and ten or twelve of lard or of oil. Tor mange, ringworm, and other itching skin complaints, few remedies are equal to sulphur iodide (p. 389). Inveterate cases of grease Professor Williams treats with eight parts of sulphur, four potassium carbonate, one carbolic acid, with thirty-two each of lard and olive oil freely rubbed in, allowed to remain on for two or three days, and then washed off with soap and warm water. For itch and cases of papules and vesicles, Dr. Tilbury Fox recommends in human patients a drachm of sulphur, eight grains each of mercury ammonia chloride and creasote, twenty minims chamomile oil, and two ounces lard : this prescription answers very well for dogs. 586 SULPHURIC ACID SULPHUEIC ACID. Acidum Sulphuricum. Hydrogen Sulphate. Oil of Vitriol. An acid produced by the combustion of sulphur and the oxidation of the resulting sulphurous acid by means of nitrous vapours. H^ SO4. {Brit. Phar.) Into large leaden chambers, the floors of which are covered with water, gaseous sulphurous anhydride (SO2) is introduced from the burning of sulphur or the roasting of iron pyrites. Jets of steam convert it into liquid sulphurous acid (Hj SO3). Nitric peroxide (NOj), obtained from potassium or sodium nitrate, treated with sulphuric acid, is discharged into the chambers, and supplies the oxygen which converts the sul- phurous into sulphuric acid (H2 SO4). The nitric peroxide, after oxidising the sulphurous acid, is reduced to the con- dition of nitric oxide (NO), absorbs oxygen from the air, again becomes nitric peroxide (NOg), is again deoxidised by the sulphurous acid, and without itself undergoing much diminu- tion thus becomes the carrier of oxygen from the air to the sulphurous acid. The diluted sulphuric acid formed in the chambers is concentrated in leaden vessels to 1'72, when it constitutes the brown acid of commerce. For pharmaceutical or chemical purposes, it is further concentrated in platina or glass vessels to the specific gravity of TSiS. Properties. — The strong acid of commerce contains 96'8 per cent, of real acid (Hj SO4), and corresponds to 79 per cent of anhydrous acid (SO3), has the specific gravity 1-843, is oily- looking, colourless, odourless, with an intensely acid, acrid taste. It freezes about — 30°, boils at 640°, absorbs moisture from the air, and hence, if kept in unstoppered bottles, speedily becomes diluted. It has great affinity for water, mixes with it in. all proportions, and in combining with it evolves much heat. This affinity for water causes it to decompose and char organic sub- stances and soft animal tissues ; whilst its readily giving off oxygen causes its conversion into sulphurous acid when it is heated with charcoal, sulphur, or metals. The acidum sul- phuricum dUutum, or medicinal acid, contains about 13^ per CAUSTIC, TONIC, AND ASTRINGENT. 587 cent, of strong acid. The g,cidum sulphuricum aromaticnm, flavoured with cinnamon and ginger, is of similar strength. Sulphuric anhydride or sulphur trioxide (SO3) occurs in silky needles, resembling asbestos, has no acid reaction, forms four definite compounds with water, the most important being the fuming or Nordhausen acid used for the solution of indigo, and generally represented as Hj 2 SO3 or Hg Sj O7, and the monohydrate Hj SO3 or Hg SO^., Tlie test for sulphuric acid is its forming, in diluted solution, with soluble barium salts, an abundant white precipitate (Ba SOJ, insoluble in other acids, and which, when heated with charcoal, forms sulphide of barium, recognised by the black stain it produces op silver. Impurities.-^The specific gravity and neutralising power of the volumetric solution of soda iudicate the proportion of water. 50'6 grains by weight of the strong acid,, mixed with an ounce of distilled water, require for neutralisation 1000 grain measures of the volumetric solution of soda. (Brit. Phar.) Any trace of organic matter causes discoloration. Lead or arsenic is discovered by diluting the acid, and adding hydrogen sul- phide. Iron ferrous sulphate solution poured over the speci- men in a test-tube produces a purple colour where the two liquids meet, if nitrous compounds are present. Actions and Uses. — Sulphuric acid is a corrosive irritant poison ; is used medicinally as a refrigerant, antiseptic, tonic, and astringent; and externally as a caustic, stimulant, and astringent. Toxic Effects. — Concentrated doses in all animals corrode and inflame the surfaces of the mouth and fauces, blacken the teeth, excite colic, with vomiting in dogs and pigs ; the bowels are usually relaxed, the breathing difficult, the pulse freq'uenij and feeble. The contents of the stomach are found after death acid ; the alimentary canal stripped in patches of its mucous covering and studded with black spots; the blood in sur- rounding vessels coagulated. When the acid has been strong, the walls of the stomach are sometimes eroded ; when the animal lives for some days, the mucous membrane becomes thickened and inflamed. Injection into the veins proves fatal by coagulation of blood and thrombosis. Frequently repeated 588 SULPHURIC ACID full doses attack the red globules, render them smaller, darker, and granular ; oxygenation and nutrition are impaired. They reduce the normal alkalinity of the blood, causing first stimu- lation, and subsequently paresis of the respiratory centre. (See Hydrochloric Acid, p. 378.) The appropriate antidotes are alkaline bicarbonates, chalk, and magnesia, with such diluents and demulcents as oil, milk, and linseed gruel, followed by opium and fluid nutrients. Medicinal doses help to form peptones, and improve re- laxed conditions of the alimentary mucous membrane. Osmosis is encouraged by acidulating the fluids in the alimentary canal, while the inner aspect of the membrane is bathed with the alkaline blood. Ordinary doses are absorbed in part in combination with albumen and bases, but a certain propor- tion appears to be absorbed unchanged into the blood, as is evident from the fact that acids and their salts are not identical in action, which should be the case were acids alto- gether converted into salts previous to absorption. The small quantity of alkali present in the intestinal canal is moreover insufficient to neutralise the doses of acid usually given. Absorbed into the blood, they liberate weaker acids and lessen alkalinity. Salivary and other alkaline secretions are increased; thirst is diminished ; pulse rate and temperature are reduced ; refrigerant properties are brought out by combination with salines ; administered with gentian, quassia, and other bitters, astringent and tonic effects are developed. It is got rid of chiefly through the bowels, kidneys, and skin, exerting on these excreting channels its astringency. For arresting excessive sweat sulphuric or phosphoric acid is often conjoined with zinc sulphate, and the patient sponged over with a tepid acid solution. Comparing the three mineral acids. Dr. Bence Jones states that hydrochloric acid specially promotes digestion, nitric acid secretion, sulphuric acid astringency. Medicinal CTses.— Sulphuric acid is prescribed in feebleness and atony, during convalescence from acute disease and in other cases where mineral tonics and astringents are indicated' In dyspepsia hydrochloric acid is generally preferred but in these cases acids cannot be long freely used without iniuriously diminishing gastric secretion. In diarrhoea, dysentery, and CAUSTIC, ASTEINGENT, AND ANTISEPTIC. 589 cholera, the acid controls the profuse alkaline discharges and acts moreover as an astringent ; a drachm is administered twice daily to horses and cattle, usually united with an ounce of laudanum, and given in starch gruel or mucilage. In influenza in horses, with a tendency to oedema or purpura, I have seen benefit from thirty drops sulphuric acid given in gruel or ale several times a day with an ounce each of ether and powdered cinchona bark. In relaxed and ulcerated sore throat amongst horses, a diluted solution, slowly given, exerts the twofold influence of a local astringent and general tonic. It was wont to be prescribed in contagious pleuro-pneumonia amongst cattle, and usually reduced pulse and temperature, relieved breathing, and sustained the vital powers. Its success, however, was by no means invariable, nor was the percentage of recoveries greater than when iron sulphate or other tonics were given. Two and even three ounces have been used with impunity, but repeated large doses in pleuro-pneumonia, as in other cases, are apt to cause diarrhoea and colic. It sometimes stays pur- pura hasmorrhagica as well as bleeding from the lungs, stomach, or other internal organs, and, correcting gastric derangement, arrests itching of chronic nettle-rash and lichen. It is an effectual antidote for lead poisoning. In a state of concentration the acid, applied to the skin, combines with its moisture, bases, and albuminoids, and dis- organises the cuticle, exposing the nervous fibrillie. Its fluidity adapts it for cauterising irregular, sinuous, and poisoned wounds, and for many of the uses of a styptic and astringent. Three parts strong acid, thoroughly mixed with one of asbestos, rubbed to fine powder, are used in Trance for removing cancer- ous and other swellings ; half-an-inch layer placed over a tumour the size of an egg is stated to remove it in twelve hours. For destruction of cancer the late Professor Syme made sulphuric acid into a thin pulp with sawdust, protecting the neighbouring tissues by a wall of gutta percha. It is used in like manner to destroy warts, which, from their shape or situation, cannot readily be removed by knife or by ligature. It hastens disintegration of necrosed bone. It is added to blistering ointments, but, unless in small amount, is apt to cause blemishing. A few drops given along with Epsom salt 590 SULPHUE0I7S ACID and other saline purgatives, diminisli their disagreeable taste and rather increase their activity. Doses, etc. — Of the medicinal acid horses take f3j. to f^ij.; cattle fSij. to f^iv.; sheep, fSss. to f5j.; pigs, ITLx. to Tl^xx.; dogs, TH_ij. to tTl_vi. ; repeated several times a day ; given freely diluted, and often conjoined with aromatics and bitters. As an external astringent, ten to twenty drops of medicinal acid are mixed with an ounce of water. SULPHUEOUS ACID. Acidum Sulphurosum. A solution in water of 9*2 per cent, of Sulphurous anhydride. When sulphur is burned in air or oxygen, or when sul- phuric acid is heated with charcoal, iron, copper, or other bodies having af&nity for water and oxygen, there is given off a heavy, colourless, liquefiable, suffocating gas — sulphurous anhydride, popularly styled sulphurous acid (SOj). This gas, in the pre- sence of moisture, or when it is passed into water, evolves heat, and becomes true sulphurous acid (H2 SOg), which is crystal- lisable (Hj SO3, 14 H2O), unstable, and forms a series of soluble sulphites. The sulphurous acid of the Pharmacopoeia contains, | dissolved in water, 9-2 per cent, by weight of sulphurous anhydride. It is a colourless liqnid, has a pungent sulphurous I odour, reddens litmus, bleaches colouring matter, leaves no residue when heated, has the specific gravity 1-04. It is dis- tinguished by its pungent odour ; when in combination it is liberated by hydrochloric acid. Chlorine water converts it into sulphuric acid, recognised by the barium test ; nascent hydrogen, on the other hand, reduces it to sulphuretted hydrogen, recognised by its blackening paper moistened with lead acetate solution. Both the gaseous and liquid forms are used as bleaching agents, especiaUy for woollen and silk goods Unlike chlorine, they do not destroy colouring matters but form with them colourless compounds. They have a marked affinity for oxygen, undergoing conversion into sulphuric acid. Actwns and i7ses.— Both the gaseous and liquid acids are irritants. The gas, insufficiently diluted, irritates the upper AN IRRITANT ANTISEPTIC GAS. 591 air-passages and causes suffocation. Both gas and solution are administered as stimulants and antiseptics. Externally they are applied as stimulants, antiseptics, and insecticides. They are employed as antiseptics, disinfectants, and de- odorisers. Sulphurous acid possesses in concentrated form the same antiseptic properties as the sulphites and hyposulphites (p. 665). It decomposes hydrogen-sulphide, the products being sulphur and water, and hence removes bad smells. It destroys the yeast plant, and thus arrests fermentation. A little sulphur butned in the casks before they are filled prevents the souring of beer or cider. It kills bacteria, micrococci, and other organisms which excite and maintain fermentation and putrefaction. Sir Eobert Christison found that one-fifth of a cubic inch, diluted with ten thousand volumes of air, destroyed the leaves of various plants in forty- eight hours. It prevents putrefaction of the gelatine used in paper- works ; is the only agent that effectually checks the noisome efQuvia of the cochineal dye-works ; meat suspended in bottles containing gaseous acid remained perfectly preserved for years. Professor Graham stated that " animal odours and emanations are immediately and most effectually destroyed by it." Dr. Baxter, reporting to the Privy Council, states that sulphurous acid has greater activity than chlorine or carbolic acid in destroying vaccine virus. Medicinal Uses. — ^Dr. Dewar, of Kirkcaldy, first showed its extended application in medicine and surgery. He uses it in solution, in fumigation, and in spray. He treats with it wounds and bruises, and arrests the pain and progress of erysipelas. In colds in the head, sore throat, bronchitis, phthisis, and typhoid fever, he causes its inhalation and administers it in solution. In rheumatism, he further directs the bed-clothes to be exposed to the vapours from burning sulphur, and then laid over the patient, when refreshing perspiration is evoked. In analogous cases amongst the lower animals, sulphurous acid is equally serviceable. Professor Eobertson uses it at Camden town in influenza cllfes where there is muco-purulent discharge from the upper air-passages. Professor WilUams recommends its inhalation in nasal gleet. Dr. Dewar and others, with con- 592 SULPHUEOUS ACID siderable advantage, have used both the solution and the gas in the treatment, as well as in the prevention, of contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle. In this, as in other typhoid cases, it probably neutralises the specific poison, soothes the irritable bowels, and counter-acts acridity and smell of the discharges. In such cases it is often prescribed with salines, tonics, and stimulants. In hoven in cattle, and tympanitis in horses, I have tried the medicinal solution in two-ounce doses without the prompt and certain relief which usually follows ammonia or ethereal solutions. In young calves, tympanitic from hasty or careless feeding, ounce ^oses act, however, more certainly than in older animals. The gas mixed with air, as when sulphur is burned on red-hot charcoal, in a loose-box, destroys bronchial filarise in calves and lambs. Two fumiga- tions at intervals of a few days usually effect a cure, which is hastened by a dose of turpentine. Sulphurous acid is one of the cheapest and best antiseptics for irritable weakly noisome wounds. The spray of the un- diluted acid, applied for six or eight minutes, or until the part gets chilled, often arrests pain and inflammation of bruises, strains, or enlarged joints. Por irritable and relaxed sore, throat in horses a spray of one part of acid and ten of water proves useful. Unlike carbolic acid, its liberal use does not irritate, interfere with granulation, or get absorbed and pro- duce dangerous constitutional effects. It is sometimes substi- tuted for sulphur in the treatment of mange; it destroys the cryptogamic growth of ringworm ; and relieves the itching of eczema, herpes, and psoriasis. Burning sulphur, used since the time of Homer, is still one of the most effectual disinfectants. By its help smallpox was stamped out in Iceland in 1871 ; by its free use at Marlborough College in 1875 scarlet fever was arrested {The Fractiiioner, May 1877); its employment has frequently stayed the pro- gress of foot-and-mouth disease. The gas is readily evolved in the stable or premises to be purified, by scattering flowers of sulphur over a few embers on a shovel or in a chauffer ; and it burns best when previously mixed with about ^l^th part of finely divided charcoal. Where men or animals remain in the premises, care must be taken that the gas evolved is not in ANTISEPTIC, DISINFECTANT, AND DEODORANT. 593 such quantity as to cause coughing, irritation, or discomfort. -For each 100 feet of cubic space 1^ ounces of sulphur sufB.ce. In tenantless buildings, the doors and windows should be closed, and a large amount of gas evolved and allowed to per- meate every corner ; a fresh evolution may be made after a day's interval. During the prevalence of any epizootic of plague, pleuro, or mouth-and-foot disease in cattle, or of influ- enza, typhoid fever, or glanders in horses, or of distemper amongst dogs, to protect healthy animals in the same or adjacent premises, they should breathe daily for half an hour the diluted acid, and should also be daily sponged over with a weak solution, which will be rendered still more destructive to disease germs if mixed with a little carbolic acid. Besides antiseptic and disinfectant actions, sulphurous acid also de- stroys offensive smells ; it attacks and oxidises hydrogen sulphide ; it converts ammonia into ammonium sulphite, itself a valuable antiseptic. The lime about the walls of infected buildings is converted by the sulphurous acid into calcium sulphite, a valuable disinfectant, and one of the constituents of M'Dougall's Powder. If used constantly or repeatedly, articles of clothing should be kept out of its way, otherwise they get bleached, and eventually rotted, from the sulphuric acid condensed upon them. Doses, etc. — Of the medicinal solution horses and cattle take f § i. to f g ij . ; sheep and pigs, f 3 ss. to f 5 j . ; dogs, n]^ xx. to ^ Ix. ; given every two hours, freely diluted in water or other cold bland fluid, and continued until the system is saturated and the skin gives off its odour. It is often conjoined with aromatics, alcohol, ether, or opium. Dr. Dewar believes this solution is a more effectual antiseptic than either the sul- phites or hyposxilphites. To insure its antiseptic properties it must, however, be freshly prepared or kept in well-stoppered bottles ; exposed, it oxidises and becomes irritant from forma- tion of sulphuric acid. For surgical purposes, the medicinal solution is diluted usually with three or four parts of water ; with this the lint or other dressings are kept saturated ; for irritable or painful wounds a little laudanum is added ; in skin irritation admixture of glycerine proves soothing. Baths are readily made by conducting the vapour of burning sulphur 2P 594 SWEET SPIBTT OF NITRE into water. In curing mange and other skin complaiiits in veterinary patients, baths or strong solutions are more effec- tual than fumigation. As a disinfectant, it is fittingly used with carbolic acid, but not with chlorine or bleachmg powder, which neutralise it. SWEET SPIEIT OF NITEE. Spiritus ^theris Mtrosi. A spirituous solution containing nitrous ether (C2 Hj, NOj). When rectified spirit, sulphuric and nitric acids are heated with copper wire, the nitric acid is deoxidised by the copper; the resulting nitrous acid (HNO2) seizes the ethyl of the alcohol (C2 H5 HO), and there is formed nitrous ether (0^ Hj NO2) which distils over with a portion of the alcohol, and, when diluted with three times its bulk of rectified spirit, con- stitutes sweet spirit of nitre. In this process complicated reactions doubtless occur, but the ultimate results are repre- sented by the formula — »i.„i,„i J. Nitric . roBTicr 4- ^^'P'''™'' Copper , ™ *^ , Nitrous Alcohol + ^jiij + Lopper + ^^^^^ Sulph. + water -|- Ether. CjHs HO + HNOa + Cn+ H,SO, = Cu SO, + 2H,0 + C.HsNO, In preparing nitrous ether, to prevent tumultuous ebullition, violent succussions, and liability to explosion, sand is placed within the retort or matrass, a powerful refrigerator and safety- • tube employed, the acid added slowly and gradually, proximity to a naked flame avoided, and the temperature not allowed to exceed 180°. The Brit. Phar. furnishes the following explicit details : — To one pint of rectified spirit add gradually two fluid ounces of sulphuric acid, stirring them together; then add gradually two and a half fluid ounces of nitric acid. Put the mixture into' a retort, with two ounces of fine copper wire (No. 25). Insert a thermometer, and attach an efficient con- denser, and, applying gentle heat, let the spirit distil, com- mencing at 170°, and raised to 175°, but not exceeding 180° until twelve ounces have passed over into a receiver, cooled, if necessary, with iced water ; then allow the contents of the retort to cool, introduce half an ounce more of nitric acid, and STIMULANT, DIUEETIC, AND DIAPHORETIC. 595 resume the distillation as before, until the distillate measures fifteen fluid oimces. Mix this with sufficient (about two pints) rectified spirit to make the product correspond to the tests given below. Preserve in well-closed vessels. Properties and Tests. — Transparent and nearly colourless, with a very slight tinge of yellow, specific gravity 0'845, mobile, inflammable, of a peculiar penetrating, apple-like odour, and sweetish, cooling, sharp taste. It effervesces feebly or not at aU when shaken with a little sodium bicarbonate, indicating absence of acid. Agitated with solution of iron sulphate and a few drops of sulphuric acid, it becomes deep olive-brown or black, owing to the formation and solution of nitric oxide. When agitated with twice its volume of saturated solution of calcium chloride in a closed tube, two per cent, of its original volume wiU separate in the form of nitrous ether, and rise to the surface of the mixture, sho^f-ing the presence of ten per cent, by volume of nitrous ether in the spirituous solution. (Brit. Phar.) Actions and Uses. — Large doses are narcotic, producing delirium and coma, with a variable amount of preliminary excitement. Medicinal doses are stimulant, antispasmodic, antiseptic, febrifuge, diuretic, and diaphoretic. Applied exter- nally, it is refrigerant. It closely resembles alcohol and ether, For all animals it is a valuable carminative and antispas- modic in indigestion, tympanitis, and colic ; a ready rouser of the heart's action ; a serviceable stimulant in typhoid cases and convalescence from debilitating disorders ; an effectual excitant of the skin and kidneys in cold and rheumatism. Like alcohol and ether, properly regulated doses are febrifuge, and lower excessive animal temperature. It is excreted by the lungs, skin, and kidneys, increasing their secretions. Doses, etc. — As a stimulant and antispasmodic, horses take f§j- tofgij-; cattle, f §j. to fgiv.; sheep, fgij.tofSiv.; pigs, f3j. to f3ij. ; dogs, TTLxv. to f 3j- As it is readily decomposed, even by water, it should not be diluted or mixed with other medi- cines until immediately before it is administered. It is usually given in cold water, beer, or linseed tea. As an anti- spasmodic, it is united with opium, chloral hydrate, belladonna, or hyoscyamus. For colic in horses, two ounces are given. 596 TOBACCO with two or three drachms of aloes, dissolved in a pint of cold gruel, ale, or water, often advantageously conjoined with one or two ounces of laudanum. Two ounces, with the same quantity of laudanum, repeated every hour, counteract the spasms which occasionally foUow parturition in cows. Catar- rhal fever and typhoid ailments in horses are successfully treated by two ounces each of sweet spirit of nitre and ammonium acetate solution, conjoined with a drachm of bella- donna extract. More continuous and permanent effects are produced by addition of a couple of ounces of spirit, and by repeating the draught at intervals of two or three hours. To combat serous exudation, one or two ounces of sweet spirit of nitre are usefully conjoined with half a drachm each of iodine and potassium iodide. Diuretic effects are determined by com- bination with nitre or oil of turpentine. Diaphoresis is developed when the patient is kept well clothed, in tolerably warm quarters, and the medicine given in small and frequently- repeated doses. For dogs with catarrh or sore-throat, a sooth- ing febrifuge draught is made with two ounces sweet spirit of nitre, an ounce of spirit of camphor, and three ounces cold linseed tea, treacle and water, or solution of liquorice extract ; the dose ranging, according to the size and condition of the patient, from one to four drachms. TOBACCO. Tabaci Folia. Leaf Tobacco. The dried leaves of Virginian Tobacco— Mcotiana Tabacum. Cultivated in America. {Brit. Phar.) Nat. Ord.— Atropacese. Sex. -Sj/si.— Pentandria Monogynia. Tobacco derives its name from tabac, the instrument used by the American aborigines for smoking the leaf, from the island of Tobago, or from the town of Tobasco in New Spain.f It appears to have been cultivated from time immemorial in" Amenca ; and is now grown largely in the region watered by the Ormoco, m the United States, and in many temperate and subtropical countries of both hemispheres. It was unknown m the Old World, at all events in Europe, untH after the dis- PREPARATION AND COMPOSITION. 597 coveries of Columbus ; and was first introduced into England by Sir Prancis Drake in 1586. About fifty million pounds are now annually imported into the United Kingdom, more than one-half being from the United States. The Nicotiana Tabacum, which yields the Virginian and several commercial tobaccos, is an herbaceous plant, with a branching fibrous root, a taU annual stem, funnel-shaped, rose- coloured flowers, and large, moist, clammy, brown leaves, mottled with yellow spots, covered with glandular hairs, and distinguished by a strong peculiar narcotic odour, and a nau- seous, bitter, acrid t^ste. The leaves readily communicate their properties to hot water and alcohol. The plant is cut down in August, and the leaves dried, twisted, and carefully packed, with great compression, in hogsheads. Tor many purposes the midrib is removed and the leaf is fermented, so as to destroy resinous and albuminous matters, which, when smoked, give rise to oils and unpleasant products. Sugar and liquorice are added to give mellowness and pliability. The several tobaccos of the shops owe their peculiarities chiefly to the manner in which they are prepared for sale ; the unmanu- factured Virginian, being strongest, is generally preferred for medicinal purposes. Snuff is prepared by cutting tobacco into small pieces, piling it in heaps, and freely wetting it to encourage fermentation. The heaps heat, and evolve ammonia ; the process continues during one to three months, according to the soi-t of snuff required ; the fermented product is ground and sifted. Commercial tobacco contains about 12 per cent, of moisture, 20 to 25 of lignin, and nearly the same amount of inorganic matters, chiefly salts of potash and lime. The active principle is nicotine (Ck, H^^ Og) — a colourless, volatile, inflammable, oily alkaloid, with an acrid odour and taste. It is present in all parts of the plant, occurs in combination with malic, phos- phoric, and citric acids ; constitutes five to seven per cent, of the dried leaf, and is soluble in water, alcohol, ether, the fixed and volatile oils. It is an energetic tetanising poison. Dis- tilled with water, tobacco yields a tasteless, crystaUine, con- crete, volatile bil — ^nicotianin or tobacco camphor. Tobacco smoke contains little or no nicotine, but its intoxicating effects 598 TOBACCO TETANISES, PARALYSES, are due to pyridine (C5 H5 N) and allied bases. It also con- tains prussic acid, formic, acetic and butyric acids, phenol, and some hydrocarbons. Actions and Uses. — Tobacco tetanises and paralyses. It acts first on the end organs of motor nerves, then on their trunks, ultimately on the spinal cord, but does not exhaust muscular irritability ; it kills by respiratory arrest. Medicinal doses cause motor depression and muscular relaxation, and hence are antispasmodics. It induces emesis, diaphoresis, and catharsis. Its active principles are excreted chiefly by the kidneys. It is used as an anthelmintic, and to poison acari, Uce, and other skin parasites. Toxic Effects. — Hertwig carefully investigated the action of tobacco on the lower animals. He gave horses half an ounce to an ounce of the powdered leaves, and found the pulse was lowered three to ten beats per minute, and became irregular and intermittent ; whilst a repetition of such doses, increased evacuation both of faeces and urine. Large doses, especially when injected into the veins, accelerated the pulse, increased | activity of the bowels and kidneys, and made the animal gene- rally irritable and restless. Two ounces powdered tobacco, in a pound and a half of water, given in divided doses, but within two and a half hours, to a healthy middle-aged cow, heightened the skin temperature, raised the pulse from 65 to 70, caused quickened but somewhat oppressed breathing, coldness of the horns, ears, and extremities, dilatation of the pupil, and copious perspiration continuing all night. Next day the animal con- tinued dull, but by the third day she was perfectly well. An ox consumed about four pounds of tobacco leaves, and speediy became very restless, ground his teeth and groaned, , lay wiffl outstretched limbs and distended rumen, passed quantities of thin, foetid fseces, and died in eleven hours in convulsions. The leaves were found in the alimentary canal, and the mucous membrane, especially of the fourth stomach, was red and eroded, particularly where in contact with the tobacco. Hertwig further ; mentions that goats are similarly affected by one or two ounces, and generally die in about ten hours. Orfila introduced five drachms and a half of powdered tobacco (rappee) into the stomach of a dog, and retained it there by ligature of the AND DESTROYS BNTOZOA. 599 oesophagus. There ensued violent efforts to vomit, nausea, purging, tremors of the extremities, giddiness, accelerated re- spliation, quicker and stronger action of the heart, convulsions, stupor frequently interrupted hy spasms, and in nine hours death. Convulsions and stupor are dependent on imperfect oxygenation of the blood, and not on direct action on the brain. A decoction containing half a drachm, injected into the rectum, of a dog, produced similar symptoms, but was nof fatal. Two and a half drachms, applied to a wound, destroyed a dog in an hour. The pupils are contracted, and in fatal cases are insensible to light. The usual appearances after death are iluidity and dark colour of the blood, venous conges- tion, and redness of the alimentary mucous membrane. As a motor depressant it is allied to pituri) a solanaceous plant, to hemlock, and to lobelia inflata, or Indian tobacco; Calabar bean and prussic acid are more immediate and direct depressors of the cord. From most allied solanaceous and atropaceous plants it differs in contracting the pupil and pro- moting secretion. Its appropriate antidotes are the stomach- pump and emetics ; alcohol, ether, ammonia, or other diffusible stimulants ; warmth and artificial respiration. Medicinal Uses. — As a muscle-relaxer, tobacco acts bene- ficially in colic, contraction of the neck of the bladder, and occasionally in strangulated hernia, which is now, however, more generally relieved by chloroform or by operation. Impacted colon and obstinate torpidity of the bowels, whether from lead poisoning, or other conditions depending upon paresis of the muscular layer, are usually relieved by tobacco, generally given in the form of smoke clysters: One or two drops of nicotine — equivalent to about a drachm of Virginian tobacco — prescribed at intervals of two hours, usually allay the spasms of tetanus in man ; a decoction appHed directly to the affected muscles has also afforded relief, but, as with other remedies used in tetanus, the symptoms are only temporarily removed. How- soever .administered, it poisons intestinal worms, and diluted solutions thrown into the rectum readily bring away ascarides lodged there; but its poisonous properties necessitate its cautious employment. Externally, it is used to kill the acari of mange in horses 600 TOBACCO. and dogs, and of scab in sheep; whilst it also effectually destroys lice, fleas, and ticks. Strong solutions, liberally applied, are apt, however, to cause nausea, trembling, tetanic spasms, and sometimes death ; but there is small danger in the careful use of decoctions diluted with thirty or forty parts of water. A useful wash or dip for sheep, effectual in destroying 'ticks, warding off for a considerable time attacks of flies, and not injurious to the colour or texture of the fleece, is made with one pound each of tobacco, sulphur, potashes, and soft soap, dissolved in thirty gallons of water, part of which, as in other dips, may be used hot. For such purposes the tobacco is previously boiled for ten or fifteen minutes in a couple of quarts of water, and the decoction mixed with the other in- gredients. These quantities suffice to dip thirty lambs or a score of big sheep. For the destruction of scab acari, double the amount of tobacco may be cautiously used and the efficacy of the dressing increased by admixture of crude carbolic acid. Doses, etc. — The larger quadrupeds take 5j. to 5ij. ; sheep, grs. x. to grs. xx. ; dogs, grs. v. to grs. x. ; dissolved in hot water. As an antispasmodic laxative clyster, the smoke is more effective and safer than the infusion, and is conveniently given by fiUing a common barrel syringe with smoke drawn from a clay pipe. Three or four syringefuls are repeated at intervals of an hour, or as required. For external application, or for enema, the infusion is made by boiling or digesting one or two drachms of tobacco with a pint of hot water. Stronger solutions require to be used with great caution, especially if swallowed, injected into the rectum, or placed in contact with an abraded absorbing surface. A single drop of nicotine destroys rabbits and small dogs in five minutes, producing tetanoid convulsions and general paralysis. Like strychnine and other nitrite bases, it is shown by Professor Fraser to lose its tetanising power when converted into an ethyl or methyl compound. THE CONIFEROUS OLEO-KESINS. 601 T0EPENTINES. Nat. Ori.— Coniferae. Sex. iSj/st.— Monoecia Monadelphia. Most of tlie Coniferas contain an oleo-resinous juice, which exudes spontaneously or from incisions made into the stems and branches. In this way are obtained common and Venice turpentine, Canada balsam, and frankincense. These natural turpentines, when strongly heated, give off the volatile or essential oil of turpentine, and leave a residuum of resin. The roots and refuse timber, subjected to smothered combustion, yield tar, which, when distilled, evolves impure pyroligneous acid, acetone (p. 134), and, as the temperature is further raised, methylic alcohol (p. 458), with volatile oil of tar, and a series of less soluble hydrocarbons, leaving a residue of pitch. These coniferous products are conveniently grouped as follows : — I. The several turpentines — the oleo-resinous juices of the Coniferse. II. The oil of turpentine^ — the volatile or essential oil pro- cured from turpentines by distillation (C-m Hjg). III. The resins— the residue of the distillation of turpen- tine (G« He2 0^. IV. Tar and pitch — got by subjecting the roots and wood to destructive distillation. I. The Turpentines. The terebinthinate juices recently exuded from the Coni- ferse are fluid, or nearly so; but when exposed to the air their volatile oil is partly given off and partly oxidised, and they solidify. They have a peculiar pungent bitter taste and odour, are scarcely soluble in water, are partially soluble in rectified spirits, are soluble in oils, ether, and alkaline solutions; are inflammable, and leave, when burnt, a finely- divided residue of carbon or lamp-black. The most important varieties are common and Venice turpentines, Canada balsam, and frankincense. CoMMOT or HoESE Turpentine is obtained throughout the southern states of America from Virginia to the Gulf of 602 TURPENTINES. Mexico, chiefly from the Pinus Tseda and P. palustris aus- tralis or swamp pine— a tree 60 or 70 feet high, having bright green linear leaves about a foot in length, and collected into bundles like those of the Pinus sylvestris, or Scotch fir, from which throughout northern Europe turpentine is also procured. Pine-forests freely absorbing oxygen give off various camphor- aceous volatile oils and peroxide of hydrogen, and hence act as natural purifiers of the air. During winter or early spring one to four holes, pockets, or boxes, as they are termed, six or eight inches long and about the same width, and capable of holding about a quart of juice, are cut with a small axe in the bark of each. tree. Selection is made of trees 12 to 18 inches in diameter. Between May and September the bark above each box is hacked so as to tap the oleo-resin cavities and ducts, which in this species lie chiefly between the wood and bark, and this hacking is repeated every eight or ten days. The turpentine is removed from the boxes by a spoon, and a large proportion is distilled in the locality of its collection. In the south-west of France, the Bordeaux turpentine, chiefly from Pinus maritima and P. pinaster, is got by bleeding or hacking the bark, and conducting the juice into suitable vessels placed at the foot of the tree. The annual yield of each tree ranges from 12 lbs. to 20 lbs. The trees continues productive for upwards of fifty years (Fliickiger and Hanbury). Turpentine from different sources differs somewhat in appearance; it is semi-fluid; its consistence varies with the temperature; it gradually solidifies from escape and oxidation of the volatile oil ; it has a yellow colour, an aromatic odour, and a warm pungent taste. Unless melted and strained it usually contains leaves, twigs and other impurities. Water accLuires its flavour, but separates only traces of its active principles. Eectified spirit and ether dissolve it ; eggs and mucilage form with it an emulsion convenient for administration. The crude American variety, when recent, yields 15 to 25 per cent, of essential oil (Cjo Hje). Venice Tuepentine (Terebinthina Veneta), chiefly extracted in the Tyrol, Switzerland, and Piedmont, is got from the common larch, the Abies, or Larix europsea — a lofty tree with graceful drooping branches, and leaves at first in fasciculee. CANADA BALSAM AND FEANKINCENSB. 603 like the pine tribe, but afterwards becoming solitary by elon- gation of the twigs. In winter or early spring a hole is bored reaching the heart wood, in which the turpentine mostly occurs; the hole is then plugged, and when opened in autumn about a pound of honey-like juice is removed and purified by filtration. It is tenacious, rather opaque, and fluorescent ; less apt than common turpentine to concrete with keeping; has a pale yeUow colour, an acrid bitter taste, a disagreeable terebinthinate odour, and contains 15 per cent, of oil of turpentine. The Venice turpentine of the shops almost invariably consists of five ounces of oil of turpentine melted with a pound of black resin. This artificial mixture is distinguished by its stronger odour, aud its more quickly evaporating, and leaving a varnish on a sheet of paper, on which Venice turpentine remains viscid. Canada Balsam, chiefly brought from Lower Canada, is obtained by making incisions into the bark or puncturing the special vesicles lying between the bark and wood of Pinus or Abies balsamea. It is a pale greenish-yellow oleo-resin of the consistence of thin honey, with an agreeable balsamic terebin- thinate odour, and a slightly bitter, feebly acrid taste ; on exposure drying very slowly into a transparent adhesive var- nish : solidifying when mixed with one-sixth of its weight of magnesia. {Brit. Phar!) It contains 15 to 18 per cent, of oil, is much used by varnish-makers, opticians, and microscopists, and with collodion and castor oil constitutes flexible collodion. It is sometimes improperly termed Balsam of Gilead, which is, however, derived from an Arabian balsamodendron. Strasburg turpentine is a fluid citron-smelling oleo-resin. obtained in the vicinity of the Alps from Abies picea. Chian or Cyprus turpentine from the island of Scio nearly resembles Canada balsam in its properties and uses ; is a greenish-yellow liquid oleo-resin from the Pistacia terebinthus, a tree of the mastic order. Frankincense, gum thus or Thus Americanum, is the semi- opaque, soft, concrete turpentine sbraped from the hacked bark of American coniferse, and which, by exposure, has lost a portion of its volatile oil. A similar concrete turpentine comes from the south of France, under the name of galipot or barras. Turpen- 604 TURPENTINES. tine from the Norway spruce fir, when melted in hot water and strained, constitutes Burgundy pitch, which occurs in semi- opaque yellow-brown masses, breaks with a shining conchoidal fracture, and has an empyreumatic turpentine odour and aromatic taste. The substance sold as Burgundy pitch is generally made by melting resin and palm oil, and stirring in some water. True Burgundy pitch and its imitations spread upon leather, are used for stimulant and adhesive plasters, applied in swellings of joints, chest affections, and rheumatism. Actions and Uses. — The turpentines are topical irritants. Given internally, they are speedily absorbed, act as general stimulants, and are discharged by the kidneys, bronchial mem- brane, and skin, stimulating whichever channels are employed in their excretion. Their uses resemble those of their active constituent, oil of turpentine. In percentage of oil, and hence in activity, they stand as follows : Canada balsam, Venice turpentine, common turpentine, and frankincense. They are occasionally used as stimulants in indigestion, colic, and general debility ; as laxatives, especially when in combination ; and as anthelmintics, diuretics, and inspissants of mucous discharges. Externally applied they are stimulants, astringents, and anti- septics, and are used for making up diuretic and stimulant balls. In the south of France, the resinous vapours of the Coniferse have been successfully employed by human patients in the treatment of bronchitis, phthisis, and rheumatism. The grow- ing pine-forests, and the oleo-resins extracted from them in presence of oxygen, evolve antiseptic camphoraceous oils and peroxide of hydrogen, which purify the air and destroy disease germs. Doses, etc. — Horses and cattle take § j. to §iij.; sheep, Sj. to 3,iij-; pigs> 3 j- to 3 ij.; dogs, grs. xx. to grs. Ix. The maximum doses are stimulant and antispasmodic, the minimum, frequently repeated, are diuretic and inspissant. They are administered with linseed gruel, milk, oils, mucilage, eggs, treacle and water, or about l-20th part of magnesia. For external purposes they are made into liniments and ointments. VOLATILE OIL OF TURPENTINE. , 605 II. Oil 01? Turpentine. ' The crude turpentines contain 15 to 30 per cent, of oil of turpentine, oleum terebinth inse, often improperly called spirits or essence of turpentine. It is usually got from the common ■white or American turpentine by melting, straining, and dis- tilling. Leaving the resin, the volatile oil passes over, is recog- nised as common or unrectified oil of turpentine, or turps, is denser, more viscid and acrid than the rectified Pharmacopoeia oil, obtained by redistilling the crude oil with water and potash solution. This purified oil varies according to its source, in odour, specific gravity, boiling-point and effect on polarised light. It is colourless, limpid, very volatile, neutral, with a penetrating odour, and pungent, bitter taste. Its specific gravity ranges from '854 to '870; its boiling point varies from 305° to 340° Tahr. ; it is very inflammable, burning with a heavy yeUow flame, and producing much smoke ; is very sparingly soluble in water; more soluble in alcohol; and readily dissolved in ethers, fixed and volatile oils. It is itself a valuable solvent for resins, fats, many alkaloids, india-rubber, and gutta-percha, and has been economically substituted for alcohol in making . some veterinary tinctures. Its composition is Cjo H^g. It is isomeric with various essential oils, such as juniper, savin, citron, eucalyptus, coriander, and nutmeg ; with water, it forms three distinct hydrates ; with hydrochloric acid, two artificial camphors. Digested with a small quantity of oil of vitriol it yields the isomeric aromatic hydrocarbon, terebene, recently introduced as a stimulating antiseptic. It has a strong affinity for oxygen, which, when freely absorbed, leads to the formation of camphoric acid (Cjo Hjs O4) and peroxide of hydrogen (Hj O2). This avidity for oxygen has been utilised by Dr. Kingzett in the manufacture of Sanitas (p. 550). Actions and Uses. — OU of turpentine is a topical and general stimulant acting specially on the heart, and vaso-iiiotor centres and serves. Poisonous doses are irritant and narcotic. Medicinal doses are stimulant, antispasmodic, haemostatic, and anthelmintic ;; in their passage out of the body they excite the particrdar excretory channel by which they are got rid of, large doses being rcathartic, smaller doses diuretic, diaphoretic, or 606 OIL OF TUEPENTINE expectorant. It is used externally as a counter-irritant, anti- septic, hsemostatic, and antiparasitic. Its actions and uses resemble those of alcoliol, and of other volatile oils. Oemral Actions and Toxic Effects. — Applied to the skia, it causes heat, redness, vesication, and even ulceration. Swallowed, it is rapidly absorbed and diffused, and may speedily be detected in the chyle, breath, and sweat, which have a strong terebin- thinate flavour, and in the urine, to which it imparts the odour of violets. It stimulates vaso-motor centres, contracts arterioles,' increases the strength and number of the pulse-beats, and raises blood-pressure. Large doses exhaust nervous irritability ; the lungs are congested ; carbonic acid poisoning ensues, with symp- toms of inebriation, muscular weakness, dilated pupils, and delirium. Injected into the veins of the horse, it causes fatal pul- monary congestion. Two drachms produced in a dog staggering, cries, tetanic convulsions, failure of circulation and respiration, with death in three minutes (Christison on Poisons). Less rapidly fatal doses irritate and redden the alimentary mucous membrane, cause vascular excitement, ecchymosis of the air-passages, lung congestion, and hyperemia of the kidneys. Dosage and other conditions influence its mode of exit from the body, and deter- mine its action as a diaphoretic, diuretic, or adjuvant cathartic. It poisons lice, acari, and other entozoa, whether lodged in the bowels, bronchial tubes, or skin. Like the members of the •alcohol series, the naphthas, and other volatile oils, it is anti- septic ; it arrests fermentation and putrefaction, and destroys'.' vibriones and bacteria. Medicinal Uses.—Fov all veterinary patients it is service- able in indigestion, flatulence, overloading of the alimentary| canal, and even in some cases of diarrhoea, owing its good" results to its cheeking fermentation, and stimulating and im- parting tone to the mucous membrane. Although an uncertain cathartic when given alone, it is useful as an adjuvant cathartic, and IS prescribed both by the mouth and rectum As' a prompt antispasmodic in colic, it is usuaUy conjoined with aloes or oils and with laudanum. Like alcohol it sustains the action of the heart, relieves internal congestion, promotes skin and kidney secretion, and restores appetite in influenza con- gestion and inflammation of the lungs, and in prostration from STIMULANT, HAEMOSTATIC, AND DIUEETIC. 607 overwork, cold, or disease. In scarlatina, purpura, typhoid fever, in passive hsemorrhage, especially from the lungs, stomach, and bov^els, and in excessive or morbid mucous dis- charges,, it is equal to alcohol, indeed sometimes superior to it, for besides stimulating the heart, it braces dilated, weakened vessels, and exerts more marked astringent and hsemostatic properties. In cases of purpura in horses, no prescription is so effectual as turpentine given in ounce doses with the same quantity of tincture of the chloride of iron, and repeated twice daily. The same combination, to which two drachms of potas- sium chlorate is someMmes added, proves effectual in combating farcy. Inhaled and also swallowed, as well as applied exter- nally, it proves useful in allaying irritation and inordinate secretion of chronic bronchitis and phthisis. Conjoined usually with salines, oil of turpentine sometimes relieves suppression of urine and dropsy, especially when depending upon cardiac and vascular weakness, and unconnected with kidney irritation. Like most other diuretics, its continued or excessive use produces strangury, and sometimes even hasmaturia. Its diaphoretic action is brought out by administering it with ammonium acetate solution, or sweet spirit of nitre, and keep- ing the patient warm , and well clothed. Combination of stimulant, diuretic, and diaphoretic properties renders it useful in all animals in rheumatism, in which it is employed both internally and externally. Turpentine, especially the French variety, forms with phosphorus a crystalline spermaceti-like mass of turpentine phosphoric acid, which is eliminated un- changed by the kidneys. Diffused in the atmosphere of rooms iu which phosphorus is prepared for lucifer matches or other purposes, it is stated to prevent necrosis of the jaw and other serious disorders to which those working with the ordinary phosphorus are liable (Dr. Letheby). Animals re- eeivmg full doses of phosphorus, which would produce the characteristic fatty degeneration, showed neither this nor other evidences of phosphorus poisoning when the phosphorus was given with French turpentine (Kohler). Personne gave phos- phorus to five dogs, and all died. To five others, an hour or two after siiiilar lethal doses, he gave turpentine, and only one died. Of five dogs to which he gave turpentine imme- 608 OIL OF TURPENTINE diately after deadly doses of phosphorus, only one died (Dr. Einger's Handbook of Therapeutics). In cattle practice full and reiterated doses are valuable in hoven. Chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, especially when ac- companied by flatulence, are often benefited by small doses conjoined with lime-water, aromatics, or opium. In the second stages of contagious pleuro-pneumonia, one or two ounces, given every three or four hours, usually abate febrile symptoms, ex- cessive temperature, cough, and difficulty of breathing, results produced with equal certainty by smaller doses of whisky. In puerperal apoplexy it is advantageously given with ammonia carbonate ; in puerperal peritonitis with laudanum, and in such cases is also applied as an external stimidant. Frequently repeated doses, conjoined with iron salts, check that form of hsematuria in cattle popularly known as red-water. As an antidote for the anthracoid disorder blackleg amongst young cattle or sheep, oil of turpentine was wont to be prescribed, dissolved usually in milk, conjoined with potassium chlorate, or sodium sulphite, and given every second morning for ten days, but where attacks of this fatal disorder are to be dreaded, susceptible subjects should be inoculated with benignant cultivated lymph (pp. 4 and 39). Used either alone or with iron chloride tincture, turpentine is often serviceable in chorea and epilepsy in dogs, in such cases sometimes doing good by destroying worms. To kill and expel intestinal worms, turpentine should be given conjoined with a laxative, after the bowels have been emptied by a cathartic, and the patient has had a long fast. Large and sometimes reiterated doses are often required to destroy tapeworms. For horses, male shield fern may be used along with the turpentine. A few doses of copper sulphate, continued for several mornings, are a valuable help. For tape- worm in dogs areca nut and santonin are, however, safer and more effectual. To dislodge ascarides from the rectum, turpen- tine and quassia enemata are very effectual. For removing the strongylus filaria from the air passages of calves and young cattle, a teaspoonful of oil of turpentine is sometimes poured mto the nostrils, often causing much irritation, and occasionally chokmg the patient. But the volatile oil is so rapidly absorbed ANTIPAEASITIC AND ANTISEPTIC. 609 and diffused that it is equally destructive to the thread-worms, and much safer for the calf, when given in a state of dHution by the mouth ; two or three doses, at intervals of two or three days, seldom faiHng to effect a cure. Tilarise similarly invade the air-passages of lambs, giving rise to paroxysms of cough and rapid wasting. Turpentine here also proves the most reliable remedy. Dr. Crisp, in his Bath and West of England Prize Essay on The Laml Disease, advises " Epsom salt, six ounces ; nitre, four ounces ; boiUng water, three pints ; add- ing, when milk-warm, four ounces oil of turpentine and half an ounce bole armeniac ; mix well, and give three to four tablfispoonfuls every other day. Another formula consists of common salt, three pounds ; powdered ginger and nitre, half a pound each; dissolved in three gallons warm water, with twenty-four ounces oil of turpentine added when nearly cold. The dose for Iambs between four and six months old is two ounces. These quantities suffice for 160 lambs." ' A good mixture for coughing, purging, delicate lambs, is made with two ounces each of oil of turpentine, powdered gentian, and laudanum, dissolved in a quart of linseed tea or lime water. This will make twelve or sixteen doses. Messrs. Littler,, the veterinarians of Long Clawson, Leicestershire, for years have prepared a convenient turpentine mixture for hoose, which stock-owners throughout the Midland Counties assert is a most effectual remedy both for calves and lambs. Where bronchial filarise prevail, a few doses of such vermifuge mixtures, given at intervals of a week throughout July and August, ward off attacks both of thread and tape worm, and diminish the scour- ing and mortality so common amongst lambs when first put upon roots. A few drops of a solution of one of turpentine and eight of milk placed in the mouth kill sclerostoma syn- gamus — ^the filaria which causes gapes in poultry. A dressing of one part of turpentine and two of bland oil, applied round the outside of the throat of ailing chickens is in part absorbed, and helps the destruction of the parasites. Externally, oil of turpentine is used as a stimulant, anti- septic, and counter-irritant. Applied to the skia of horses, it causes almost immediately topical irritation and restlessness, and if used largely and repeatedly, it is besides apt to blemish. 2Q . " 610 OIL OF TURPENTINE On the less sensitive hides of cattle it usefully hastens and increases the activity of other vesicants ; and conjoined veith oils, mustard, and ammonia, helps to control inflammation of the air-passages, bowels, and joints. A piece of flannel wrung out of hot water and sprinkled with turpentine oil is often used. As with other external irritants, a continuous moderate action is more serviceable than a single violent effect. In inveterate eczema and psoriasis the thickened scaly skin is sometimes stimulated to healthy action by moistening with turpentine undiluted, or sparingly diluted, while the drying effects of this dressing are obviated by subsequent in-rubbing of vaseline and other oily matters. As a stimulant turpentine is applied in rheumatic swellings, more particularly of cattle and sheep ; in sprains and bruises after the first pain and tender- ness have been subdued by fomentation; in overcoming congestion arising from frost-bite, which is not uncommon in the limbs of horses used for night-work ; in promoting activity in old sores and sitfasts ; in the troublesome chronic abscesses occurring about the heels of heavy draught horses ; in dry gangrene of dogs' ears ; and in tedious foot-rot in sheep. In such cases it is used mixed with two or three parts of vaseline bland oil or glycerine. A similar mixture destroys lice and other skin vermin. An occasional sprinkling over dogs' beds keeps them free of fleas. It is often added to stavesacre, tobacco, and other antiparasitic solutions. Held in antipathy by most entozoa, it enters into the composition of various mixtures used by shepherds to protect their flocks from fly and to kill maggots. Per such purposes three ounces oil of turpentine, one ounce each of oil of amber and mucilage, and one drachm corrosive sublimate, are mixed in a pint of water. Turpentine is contra-indicated either for internal or external use where there are acute febrile symptoms, violent action of the heart, or irritation or inflammation of the bowels or urino- genital organs. Doses, efe.— For horses and cattle as a stimulant and anti- spasmodic, the dose is f g j. to f § ij. ; as a diuretic, f § ss. to f § j. ; as an adjuvant cathartic or anthelmintic, about fgij. It is combined with aloes in solution, with castor or linseed oils, with iron salts, quassia, gentian, or other bitters. Big adult COUNTER- IREITAUT AND ANTIPARASITIC. 611 cattle will take these doses increased to the extent of a third or even a half. I have repeatedly given cattle suffering from hoven four ounces of oil of turpentine with impunity. Sheep and pigs take f 3j. to f5iv.; dogs, TTlxxx. to f^j. It is ad- ministered dissolved in ether or bland oils; shaken up with linseed gruel or milk, or made into an emulsion with mucilage or eggs. ■ Aromatics, hitters, or flavouring matters are some- times added. Por clysters, turpentine is usually diluted with fifteen or twenty parts of mild oil, or with a little oil or muci- lage for solution, and then mixed with twenty to thirty parts of soap and water j in diarrhoea or dysentery it is conjoined with laudanum and starch grueL For external purposes it is usually applied with linseed oil, soap, ammonia, or mustard. A convenient stimulating mixture is made with equal quantities of oil of turpentine, bland oil, and soft soap. Two or three ounces of oil of turpentine added to a pint of the ordinary soap liniment make a useful stimnlating embrocation. A smart blister for cattle is prepared with half a pint each of oil of turpentine, medicinal ammonia, and linseed oiL As. an embrocation for rheumatism, one part each of oil of turpentine and laudanum is mixed with two or three of linseed oil or soft soap. For dogs a prompt blister is prepared with an ounce each of oil of turpentine and medicinal aminniiia. and six ounces of any bland oil Terebene is a cheap and useful stimulant, antiseptic, and deodoriser, serviceable for unhealthy indolent wounds ; it has no injurious irritant action ; as it evaporates it leaves on raw surfaces a protecting film ; it is applied to most of the pur- poses for which carbolic and salicylic adds have been recom- mended. III. Eesin, Eosm, Eesina The crude turpentines contain 70 to 90 per cent of resin or colophony. The commercial article is mostly prepared from American turpentine. When the turpentine is distilled with a little water, which the resin retains, the residue is the yellow or white resin ; when deprived of water it becomes transparent resin, and when rather more strongly heated, it is still clearer, and is known as black or fiddler's resin. Eesins are yellow or 612 WOOD AND COAL TAR dark brown, of variable transparency, according to tbe propor- tion of water they contain ; are inflammable, of a faint turpen- tine odour and taste, have the spec. grav. 1-07 ; are insoluble in water, partially soluble in alcohol, readily dissolved in ether, benzole, volatile oils, and caustic alkalies ; soften at 154°, unite with fats, wax, and spermaceti ; and are largely used in the manufacture of yellow soap. Eesin has the formula C^ H02 O4. Coarsely powdered, and shaken with warm dilute alcohol, it undergoes hydration and yields 80 to 90 per cent, of abietic or silvic acid, C« H^^ O5. The Bordeaux resin or gallipot contains, besides the isomeric, pimaric acid. Actions and Uses.— Eesin is a gentle stimulant, diuretic, and astringent. Two to four ounces swallowed by horses or cattle cause diuresis. It is added to diuretic masses to increase their consistence. Externally, it is used as a stumulant, astrin- gent, and styptic. In castration, a few grains applied to the severed end of the spermatic cord, when melted by contact of the hot iron, help to seal bleeding vessels. It is largely used to impart firmness and adhesiveness to stimulant plasters. The simple digestive ointment is made with equal weights of resin, yellow wax, lard, and almond oil, melted with gentle heat, strained while hot through flannel, and stirred constantly while it cools. This simple ointment is much used as a lubri- cant and mild stimulant for wounds, ulcers, blistered surfaces, and for giving bulk and consistence to other ointments. IV. Tab, Oil of Tab, and Pitch. Tar, or Fix liquida, is a dark brown, thick, viscid, aromatic, bitulninous liquid, obtained from the wood of Pinus sylvestris and other pines by destructive distillation (Brit. Phar.). Mineral . or Barbadoes tar has already been noticed under petroleum (p. 512). Coal tar, obtained from the destructive distillation of coal, is a by-product in the manufacture of gas. There are two sorts of wood tar, that got from such hard exogens as oak, birch, and ash, as the residue in the making of pyroligneous acid, or of charcoal for gunpowder ; and that imported from Stock- holm; Archangel, and America, got from the Cdniferse by roasting, or distillatio per descensum. Billets of the roots, branches, and STIMULANT, ANTISEPTIC, AND ANTIPARASITIC. 613 refuse timber are stacked in pits dug' on a bank or inclined plane ; tbe heaps are closely covered with turf; fire is applied; and whilst smothered combustion proceeds, as in the making of charcoal, tar, yielded to the amount of seven to ten per cent., runs into iron pots placed at the bottom of the pit, and thence by spouts into the barrels in which it is exported. This pro- cess is being superseded by distillation of the refuse wood in cast-iron stiUs, and nearly double the yield of tar is thus obtained; 14 per cent, is got from air-dried stems, 16 to 20 per cent, from roots. Tar is soluble in.ether, oils, and alkaline solutions, but not in water, which, agitated with it, acquires, however, its odoui', taste, and brown colour, and constitutes tar water, once regarded a valuable medicine. Tar is a complex substance. Its lighter portions consist of impure pyroligneous acid, and include acetic acid, wood naphtha (CH4 0), acetone (C3 Hj, 0), other allied substances, and the pungent, irritating pyrocatechin (Cg H4, 2 HO). The heavier portions, constituting the proper wood tar, consist of hydrocarbons, sparingly soluble in water, and furnishing, when distilled, lune (C^ Hg), Kylole (Cg Hjo), and other analogous bodies, with paraflSne, which has a some- what variable composition. Tar made from hard woods contains creasote. When tar is distilled, and the first 15 or 20 per cent, of more volatile methylic alcohol and acetone are got rid of, there comes over a red-brown limpid oil of tar, oleum picis liquidse, containing the substances above enumerated, and there remains pitch or pix nigra, a black, bituminous substance, solid and brittle, with a shining fracture, dissolved by the same solvents as tar, and consisting of modified resin, and a colourless, in- odoroils crystalline substance, melting at 194° Fahr., called retine (Cjg, Hu) (Miickiger). Actions and Uses. — Tar is stimulant, antiseptic, diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant, and antiparasitic. Although for many purposes superseded by carbolic acid, it is still occasionally prescribed for horses in bolus or draught, or its fumes inhaled, and probably, by increasing activity of the cilia of the pul- monary membrane, it amends some cases of cough, and relieves chronic bronchitis. As a cutaneous stimulant, it is used in all 614 "WOOD AND COAL TAE. animals both internally and externally in the squamous stages of grease and other forms of eczema, in mallenders or psoriasis, and^in pityriasis, the scaly surfaces being covered with undi- luted tar, after several doses, well washed with soft soap and water, and refractory spots dressed withmercurial ointment. It is a capital stimulant for thrush and canker of the horse's foot, being used either alone or with copper sulphate, sulphuric oi nitric acid. Mixed with equal parts of fatty matters, soft soap, or cow-dung, so as to give proper consistence, it forms a capital stopping for horses' feet, keeping the hoof moist and soft, and stimulating secretion of horn. For maintaining the horn in a tough, elastic, and healthy state, Mr. Miles, in his useful pamphlet on the "Foot of the Horse," recommends a quarter of a pound each of tar, bees' wax, and honey, a pound and a half lard, and three ounces glycerine : the lard and bees' wax are melted together, the lard, tar, and glycerine stirred in, and stirring continued until the mass begins to set. In foot-rot in sheep, tar has the several advantages of stimulating and deodorising unsound noisome textures, and preventing attacks of flies. It is used for securing wounds, binding up broken horns, and making adhesive plasters. Oil of tar is sometimes used instead of oil of turpentine.' Its various empyreumatic substances confer marked antiseptic properties : it cures mange and scab, destroys other parasites, I is sometimes added to sheep dips, but has the disadvantage of discolouring the wool, does not mix well with the other ingre- dients, whilst large doses or strong solutions are apt to become absorbed and cause pulmonary congestion. It is used for both favus and tinea tonsurans, but is seldom so successful as iodine. Pitch is used in veterinary practice as a mild stimulant in thrush, canker, and sandcrack in horses ; in foot-rot in sheep ; for giving adhesiveness to plasters ; while as a domestic air- purifier its empyreumatic fumes are occasionally disengaged by inserting a red-hot poker into an iron pot containing the pitch. VALERIAN root: '' 615 VALEEIAK Valeriana Eadix. The dried root of Vairiana officinalis. From plants indigenous to and also cultivated in Britain; coUected in autumn, wild plants being preferred.— 5n«. Phar. Nat, Ord.— ValerianaceEe. Sex, %«.— Triandiia Monogynia. The officinal valerian consists of a short yellow-white tuberous upright root stock, the thickness of the little finger, with attached radicles, which are about the size of goose quiUs, two or three inches in length, shrivelled, brittle, and of an earthy- brown colour. It has a penetrating odour, which becomes stronger and even fcBtid by keeping, and a bitter, acrid, cam- phoraceous taste. It contains resinous matters, a little sugar and maKc acid, and 1 to 2 per cent, of a clear, volatile oil, which, when recent, has a faint odour, but becoming acrid from formation of valerianic acid, acquires a strong smell. One drop of the crude oil dissolved in 20 of carbon bisulphide, with addition of one drop of nitric acid, specific gravity 1 -20, develops a superb violet or blue colour. Other colorations are obtainable, even with valerian tincture, by bromine and concentrated sulphuric acid. Prom the oil there have been separated a hydrocarbon isomeric, with oil of turpentine (Cio Hje), an oxidised camphoraceous substance (Ck, H^g 0), a crystalline compound of similar composition, probably identi- cal with the camphor of Dryobalanops aromatica (p. 248), and a greenish oil which distils over when the temperature reaches 300°. The pungent, acrid, odorous valerianic acid (Cjo Hjo O4, or HCj H9 O2), is present in small amount in the fresh roots, increases by oxidation of the oil, is also present in the berries of the Guelder rose, in whale oil and decaying cheese, and is obtained artificially by distilling fusel oil (amylic alcohol G5 H12 0) with sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash, and treating the distillate with caustic alkali. (Bloxam.) Actions and Uses. — Valerian is an excitant of the cerebro- spinal system, a diffusible stimulant, antispasmodic, nerve tonic, and anthelmintic. Dr. WhiUa ascribes its effects to its dimin- ishing irritability of the sensory nerves {Pharmacy Materia 616 VALERIAN ROOT. Medica and Therapeutics, 1882). It resembles asafoetida, the other gum resins, camphor, and the Sambul or musk-root im- ported from Eussia and India, and produced by an umbelli- ferous plant. It has little effect on horses or cattle, even in doses of several ounces. In dogs and cats it causes giddiness, reeling gait, and symptoms of intoxication. It is occasionally given to dogs to allay nervous irritability, and relieve chorea and epilepsy ; but little dependence can be placed on it. It attracts and excites cats, developiQg their amatory propensities ; but this results not from any special nervous influence, but rather from its suggestive odour. Eepeated doses are stated to improve the appetite, and produce tonic effects. Its pun- gent volatile oil confers feeble vermifuge properties, and is chiefly excreted by the skin and kidneys. Doses, etc. — Used for horses or cattle, it may be given in quantities of § ij. to § iv. ; for dogs, 3 j- to 5 ij- ; for cats, grs. xx. to grs. Ix., given in powder or infusion several times a day ; conjoined with ginger, gentian, or camphor, or dissolved in spirit of ammonia. Sodium Valeeiaijate, or Sodse Valerianas (Na Cj H^ Oj), ■ is obtained by the oxidisation of fusel oil, by distilling it with potassium bichromate and sulphuric acids, and saturating the distilled liquid with solution of soda. It is a white solid, with a greasy, soapy feel, a sweet, nauseous taste, and a strong odour of valerian, developed by moistening it with sulphuric acid. Dissolved and heated with zinc sulphate solution it yields zinc valerianate, which crystallizes in snow-white tabular plates, has a slight odour of the acid, and a taste resembling its metallic base. Sodium and zinc valerianates are nerve tonics. Four or five grains are given to dogs, and one or two grains to cats, without success, in chorea and epilepsy, but are believed to soothe in nervousness and hysteria. ' The tonic and antispasmodic virtues ascribed to the conjunction of valerian and the metals are probably more certainly obtainable by prescribing with the metallic salts the oil of valerian, which concentrates the properties of the drug. Valerianic acid itseK resembles acetic acid (Eoyle). Iron Valerianate is made by mixing, in the cold, solutions of sodium valerianate and iron sulphate. The precipitated VALERIANATE OF QUININE. 617 valerianate dries as a loose, Hght red powder, with a faint taste and odour of the acid. As a tonic for the smaller_ domesti- cated animals, and a remedy in chorea and epHepsy, it is used in similar doses, and is stated to be more certain than the zinc Quinine Valeeianate, prepared by mutual decomposition of sodium valerianate and quinine sulphate, occurs in silky, needle-like crystals, which have a bitter taste of quinine and a slight odour of valerian, are decomposed by acids and by temperatures exceeding 120°, and are dissolved with difSculty in water, but readily* in rectified spirit and ether. As a nerve tonic two or three grains are given to dogs and cats in chorea, and in those troublesome nervous disorders which accompany and follow distemper. On account of its bitterness, it is administered in pUl, often with a few grains of camphor. VASELINE. A yellow jelly-like hydro-carbon, the purified residuum of American rock-oil after the lighter naphthas have been removed by distillation. It is made at New York by the Chesebrough Manufactur- ing Company, the chief feature in the process being repeated melting and filtration. It has the consistence of summer butter, is yellow, tasteless, odourless, and neutral. It melts at 95° and boils at 302°. It is insoluble in water, partially soluble in alcohol, perfectly soluble in ether, mixes with fixed and volatile-oils and with glycerine, but the glycerine mixture is broken up by addition of water. It is not affected by acids, nor does it saponify with alkalies. Unlike animal and vege- table oils, it does not oxidise or become rancid. A somewhat darker, less transparent article, but otherwise with exactly the same properties, is sold at 8d. or 9d. per lb. for veterinary purposes. Actions and Uses. — It is an unirritating lubricant, demul- cent, and effloUient ; incapable of rancidity, it proves a bland, soothing dressing for irritable skin, mucous and cutaneous 618 VASELIVE. surfaces ; like other oils, it is a good solvent for many medi- cines, and is a convenietit well-keeping basis for ointments and liniments. It is occasionally administered as an internal demulcent for the several purposes for which mucilage syrups or glycerine and water are used. It is conjoined as a gargle, with salines, carbolic, or other acids or astringents. One part of belladonna extract to eight of vaseline makes a soothing electuary for sore throat in horses. It moistens and soothes bruised, blistered, burned, or inflamed cutaneous surfaces, protecting them from irritating exposure. It is superior for such purposes to animal and vegetable oils on account of its freedom from disagreeable greasiness and irritating rancidity. In the earlier weeping stages of eczema used either alone, or with about one-sixth of Goulard's extract or zinc oxide, it allays heat and itching; while in the later squamous stages, and in psoriasis, it is con- joined with carbolic acid or tar. In the tinea form of ring- worm, Mr. Startin recommends four grains mercury red oxide and five minims creasote, dissolved in an ounce of vaseline. Mixed with a little carbolic acid, it is occasionally substituted for oil or soap for lubricating the hands previous to examina- tion of the rectum or uterus. It is a serviceable lubricant, more penetrating than lard, for the half hour's daily rubbing, which is often so beneficial in stimulating circulation, and removing exudate in bursal enlargements, swollen glands, and chronic strains. Being a capital solvent for sulphur, iodine, bromine, carbolic acid, volatile oils, alkaloids, and many other medicinal substances, it is extensively used for making oint- ments, liniments, and embrocations. It is about the same price as lard ; is free from the salt which is often an undesir- able ingredient in lard ; citrine, mercury red iodide, and other ointments, made with vaseline, have the great advantage that they may be kept almost indefinitely without risk of becomin" rancid and unsightly. It is a useful non-corrosive protective for surgical and other steel instruments, and for guns. WHITE HELLEBOKE. 619 YEEATEUM. Veratri Albi Ehizoma. "White Hellebore Ehizome. Dried Ehizome of Veratrum album. I Nai. Oj-(i.— Colchioaoeae or Melanthacese. Sea;. Sj/si.— Polygamia Moncecia. White hellebore is a native of the Alps and other moun- tainous regions of middle and southern Europe. The rhizome, or underground stem, occurs in cylindrical pieces, two to four inches in length, an^nch in diameter, usually with stout radicles attached to the lower surface, whilst on the upper remain the scales of the dried leaf-sheaths. Externally, the rhizome is grey or brown and rough ; internally, greyish- white, and rather fibrous, is generally met with in slices or small fragments, which, when dried, have little odour, but a bitter acrid taste. Veratrum viride, the green or American hellebore, is collected in autumn in Canada and the States. In common with such allied species as cevadilla or sabadilla, and Colchi- cum autumnale, white and green hellebores are stated to contain the pale grey, acrid, crystallisable, alkaloid veratrine. According to Wright and Luff the seeds of Veratrum sabadilla contain three alkaloids : cevadine (C32 H49 N O9,), veratine (C3Y H53 N Oil), and cevadilline (C34 H53 N Og) ; while Tobien finds in the root of Veratrum album only two, viz., jervine (C27 H4 N2 Os), and veratroidine (C24H37 N O7), in combination chiefly with the crystalline veratric acid (Ci^Hjo O12 -|- 2 HgO). Actions and f/ses.— White hellebore and veratrine, applied locally, produce slight irritation and numbness, the result of paralysis of sensory nerves. Full doses after slight stimulation cause depression and paralysis of motor centres and nerves, and, according to'Bezold and Hirt, also act directly on the muscles. Disordered nervous function is evidenced in sneez- ing, vomiting, and muscular twitching. Full or repeated doses paralyse the heart, although not so notably as the voluntary muscles ; there is marked muscular weakness and difficulty in movement; death results from asphyxia. Their legitimate medicinal use is limited to cases of neuralgia and rheumatism. The green or American hellebore is believed to be less irritant 620 VEEATRDM ALBUM. than the white ; both resemble colchicum, and are allied to aconite, tobacco, and other vasomotor depressants. Toxic Effects. — The prominent symptoms of hellebore poison- ing are vomiting, purging, depression and irregularity of the circulation, great prostration, muscular spasm, followed by muscular paralysis. Waldinger states that two ounces of white hellebore cause in horses slavering at the mouth, efforts to vomit, and relaxed bowels. Eytz declares that one ounce induces purgation and gastric derangement. Mr. Miller, Brad- noch, in the Edinburgh Veterinary Review for 1863, records that a three-year-old filly accidentally ate about two ounces of the powdered root, and in half an hour was in much pain, frothing at mouth, attempting to vomit, heaving at the flanks, with a full pulse, numbering forty ; painful spasms, involving especi- ally the muscles of the neck, injection of the mucous mem- branes of the nostrils and eyes, stiffness in walking, and, after a few hours, partial paralysis of the hind limbs. The animal was bled, and had drachm doses of tannin given in starch gruel. In three hours the symptoms abated, gradual recovery took place, and in four days the filly was again at work Dogs are liable to suffer from absorption of strong dressings. Mr. Howard records that liberal application of veratrum oint- ment causes nausea, sometimes vomiting, accelerated and weakened action of the heart, short, catching, and moaning respiration, prostration, with death sometimes in four houi%i Congestion of the mucous membrane of the stomach, lungs, and heart, was the notable post-mortem appearance {Veterina^ rian, February 1873). The antidotes are demulcents and mild laxatives, with diffusible stimulants to counteract cardiac depression, and morphine to antagonise nausea and gastric irritation. Such astringents as infusions of gall nuts or tannin may also be given, as they form insoluble compounds with any unabsorbed veratrine. Medicinal Uses.— Some veterinary authorities consider that veratrum "powerfuUy rouses the absorbent system" (Morton); and recommend it for chronic oedema of the let^s. As a sedative it is highly spoken of by Percivall and Morton, who prescribed it for horses in doses of twenty to thirty grains, re- peated every four or five hours ; but, unless in combination. DEPKESSOK OF MOTOR CENTRES AND NERVES. 621 its actions are irregular and uncertain. For neuralgic and rheumatic cases it is generally superseded ty aconite. It is occasionally employed for the destruction of lice, for smearing setons and as an addition to blisters ; but more fitting agents can be found for any such objects, and active preparations have the disadvantage of sometimes being absorbed and pro- ducing untoward constitutional effects. Doses, eic— Of the powdered rhizome horses and cattle take 3ss. to 3j-; sheep and pigs, grs. xx. to grs. xxx. ; dogs, grs. ij. to grs. vj. : given in bolus, or dissolved in dilute alcohol, and repeated at intervals of three or four hours. Externally, there are used the powder, a watery decoction improved by a little spirit, and an ointment made with one part of hellebore to eight of vaseline or lard, and occasionally applied with tar or sulphur dressings. Vekateine. — Applied to the skin it paralyses the filaments of sensory nerves; in contact with a mucous membrane it causes besides some amount of irritation ; the smallest quantity introduced into the nostrils provokes violent sneezing, some- times lasting for hours ; swallowed, it stimulates and subse- quently paralyses the terminations of the pneumogastric nerve and respiratory centre. Magendie found that one grain of veratrine acetate killed a dog in a few seconds when injected into the jugular vein, and in nine minutes when injected into the peritoneum. One to two grains swallowed by dogs caused great uneasiness, nausea, vomiting, violent purging, slowness of respiration, slowness and irregularity of circulation, extreme prostration of strength, spasmodic twitching, and subsequently paralysis of the voluntary muscles, especially those of the extremities, and death, usually amid convulsions, from paralysis of the respiratory muscles. In human practice it is chiefly serviceable in neuralgia of the fifth nerve and in sciatica. 622 WATBK. WATEK. Aqua. Hydrogen Oxide or Monoxide (Hg 0). Two volumes of hydrogen and one of oxygen in the presence of a light or an electric spark unite with explosive force, yielding two volumes of gaseous water or steam. It exists in the solid, liquid, and gaseous forms. The familiar liquid is transparent, neutral, colourless, odourless, and tasteless. A minim weighs -91 grain : a fluid ounce, 437-5 grains. It is the standard of comparison for specific gravities ; its specific gravity being represented as 1 or 1000. It solidifies, freezes, or crystallises at 32°, expanding and giving out latent heat; it reaches its greatest density at 39°'2 ; it slowly volatilises at all temperatures; at 212° it boils, rising in steam or gas, and increasing in bulk 1700 times. A cubic inch of water becomes a cubic foot of steam. When the solid ice melts, heat is absorbed or becomes latent; when the liquid water boils, or gives off gas, still more heat is absorbed. A cubic foot of water expanding into steam renders latent lOOO' of heat. The melting ice or evaporating water, thus abstracting heat from bodies in contact with them, are valuable refriger- ants. Water readily dissolves a variety of salts, gases, and organic matters, and hence natural waters are scar6ely ever perfectly pure. They hold in solution common salt and other chlorides ; calcium carbonate and other lime salts ; atmospheric air and carbonic anhydride, which render good drinking-waters spark- ling, refreshing, and palatable, whilst the absence of carbonic anhydride accounts for the flatness and mawkishness of rain and recently-distilled waters. Gases are more soluble in cold than in hot water ; salines the reverse. Organic matters are present, especially in river and marsh waters, cause them to spoil rapidly, and occasionally produce diarrhoea and dysentery. In suspension also occur such dangerous impurities as the germs of various catching diseases, and the ova of parasites. The solid constituents of drinking waters vary greatly. Glas- gow has from Loch Katrine the purest water supply of any large city in the world, containing only | grain of organic PROPERTIES AND PURIFICATION. 623 matter and Ij grain of inorganic matters to the gallon. The water of the Thames supplied to part of London contains about 3 grains of organic and 1 6 grains of inorganic matters to the gallon. When the saline ingredients exceed -^^jft^ part, the water is said to be hard, and is unsuitable for many pharmaceutic and domestic purposes ; it curdles or precipitates soap instead of forming with it a froth or lather ; it is not so well lUced by animals, and is apt to cause diarrhoea and other digestive derangements, especially in subjects unaccustomed to it. When the salts do not amount to one-5000th part, the water is considered sofj;. Mineral waters are unfit for general use on account of their undue proportion of mineral matters, or gases, or from their being at a higher temperature than that of the locality in which they are founjd. The most common mineral waters are those containing iron and salines. Sea water has a specific gravity of 1027, the solids amount to 3-5 per cent, an imperial pint contains about 240 grains of common salt with smaller amounts of other salts of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, traces of iodine and ammonia. Various methods are adopted for purifying water. Sub- sidence and decantation get rid of grosser mechanical particles. Filtration through sand, charcoal, or gravel, removes organic and organised impurities. Oxidation gradually destroys disagreeable or dangerous defilements ; hence a running stream contaminated even by sewage, a few hundred yards lower down may again become clear and wholesome. Alkaline permanga- nates, by similar oxidation, promptly destroy organic contamina- tion. Boiling kills vegetable and animal matters, drives off caThonic anhydride, and thus throws down calcium carbonate, the cause of temporary hardness. Sodium carbonate or lime, as in Clarke's process, diffused through hard water, which is then allowed to settle, abstracts carbonic anhydride and causes subsidence of lime and magnesium carbonates, and also re- duces the more permanent hardness produced by calcium sulphate. . Por delicate chemical and pharmaceutical purposes aqua distillata is requisite, and distillation leaves behind all impurities except a trace of organic matters and one to two per cent, per volume of air. Such distilled or other pure 624 WATER water is understood to be used when in this work " water " is ordered for pharmaceutic purposes. ^ Actions and Uses. — ^Water is nutrient, diluent, antipy^ietic, evacuant, and detergent. Introduced into the body in excess of its requirements it is removed usually within six hovirs, chiefly by the kidneys; but also by the skin and bowels. When given cold, the kidneys perform the main excretory office ; but when used hot, water is an adjuvant diaphoretic, cathartic, and also emetic. Water applied topically, as in the form of fomentation, or as the familiar water dressing, is emollient and anodyne, abates congestion of circumscribed inflammation and wounds, and also propagates its beneficial effects to adjacent parts. At high temperatures water is an irritant. But steam mixed with air is emollient and soothing. Cold water is refrigerant and tonic. Ice is a prompt and effective refrigerant ; it controls congestion and inflammation especially of the throat, and arrests haemorrhage from the stomach, lungs, and other parts. Baths are effectual not only for comfort and cleanliness ; but for regulating animal tempera- ture, and promoting reconstruction. Water is an unfailing constituent of aU living tissues, and is essential for the support of animal life. It constitutes a large proportion of every kind of food, rendering it more easily digested and assimilated, replaces the loss of fluid constantly taking place by the skin, lungs, and kidneys. It increases the r activity of these excreting organs, and adds to the solid matters in the urine. According to the manner in which it is used, it promotes construction or disintegration. Insufficient and excessive supplies are alike injurious ; but animals in health and with constant free access to water rarely take more than is good for them. Excepting for a few hours previous to any great exertion, and when much overheated and prostrated, it is unnecessary to restrict the water supplied to horses. Indeed, in most well-managed modern stables a small amount of water is constantly at the horse's head, and less is actually drunk than when the animal is allowed to slake his thirst three or four times daily. A moderate amount of water is essential for digestion; an excessive quantity injuriously dilutes ali- mentary ferments and favours acid fermentation. Horses, NUTRIENT, DILUENT, AND ANTIPYRETIC. 625 especially if tired and hungry, should have a few swallows of water, or better still,, a bucket of gruel, before feeding. In many cab and carrying establishments each horse on his return from work is provided with a pail of oatmeal gruel, which is found not only to help condition, but profitably to diminish attacks of colic and other gastric- derangements. A copious draught of water, taken immediately after a rapidly eaten meal, hurries the imperfectly digested food too rapidly into the large intestines, wliere it is very apt to set up colic and inilammation. In febrile and inflammatory diseases, water in moderation is a valuable diluent, febrifuge, and evacuant ; and is perfectly safe and greatly more palatable and satisfying when given cold than in the usual tepid state. Small portions of ice, placed in the mouth, will be sucked by most animals, and not only abate thirst, but control irritation and inflammation of the throat, and lessen inordinate secretion. Water satisfies thirst in much smaller amount when it is cold, or when rendered feebly bitter with a little cascarilla or quassia infusion, additions which favour secretion of the alkaline saliva. Horses disposed to be greedy of water, and especially those with damaged wind or liability to acidity or diarrhoea, should be supplied with small quantities and often, whilst further to relieve thirst the food should be damped. After a cathartic dose, and until the physic has ceased to operate, even moderate draughts of cold water in many horses cause griping. Calves and lambs, feverish and purging, soon kill themselves if they have free access to water. As a diluent, water mechanically relieves choking and coughing; dilutes corrosive and irritant poisons; assists the action of diaphoretics, diuretics, and purgatives. Tepid water is a convenient auxiliary emetic for dogs and pigs. Injected into the rectum, warm water allays irritability of the bowels and urino-genital organs, and promotes the action of the bowels. Injection of cold water checks bleeding, produces general reaction, and occasionally expels ascarides. Injected into the vagina, it stays discharge of blood or of leucorrhoea. A good scrubbing with tepid water and soap is a very essential pre- liminary to the successful treatment of mange or scab. It 2r 626 water: dressings. removes scales and dirt, abounding especially in inveterate cases, hence facilitates access of the special dressings to the burrows of the female parasite. Water is the important constituent of most emollients. Hot fomentations relieve tension, tenderness, and pain; moisten, soften, and relax dry and irritable surfaces. Applied early, and continued for several hours, they control or prevent congestion or inflammation of strains, and severely contused wounds. Their external application, by reflex action, often soothes irritated or inflamed internal parts. Thus, fomenta- tions allay the pain of colic and inflammation of the bowels. Steaming of the head and throat, in like manner, often relieves catarrh, sore throat, and strangles. Professor Williams insists on the value both of steaming and hot fomentations in laryn- gitis, croup, and bronchitis, and prefers fomentations to counter-irritants in pneumonia and pleurisy (Principles and, Practice of Veterinary Medicine). Soothing watery vapour, medicated, if need be, by laudanum, belladonna, ether, vinegar, sulphurous acid, or alkaline hypochlorites, is readily evolved from a weU-made bran mash, placed in a roomy nose-bag, or by holding the head over a bucket of water, from which' steam is driven off by plunging a hot iron into it at short intervals. Several folds of lint or tow, saturated with hot water, and covered with oiled skin, macintosh or gutta-percha cloth to retard evaporation, or a sheet of well-soaked spongio-piline, are frequently substituted for fomentations and poultices, and are usually preferable, especially to poultices, on account of light- ness, cleanliness, and less tendency to sodden and injure? adjacent parts. Water nearly boiling is a prompt and powerful counter-irritant, especially useful in cattle practice. It is laved over the part either with a sponge or piece of flannel or soft rug. When applied to the chest or abdomen of horses or cattle, several folds of thick woollen horse-rug are sometimes placed round the patient, and very hot water from time to time poured amongst the folds of the rug. The exten- sive counter-irritation thus rapidly developed, in careful hands does not blemish, and frequently proves of service in the first stages of pneumonia and pleurisy, colic, enteritis, peritonitis, and obstinate constipation both of horses and cattle. ICE : EEFRIGERATIOSr. 627 Cold water is a usefuL refrigerant. When the acute con- tion, heat, and tenderness of bruises, strains, and wounds have been so far abated by hot applications, cold exerts whole- 99me, refrigerant, tonic, and constringing effects. Calico bandages, constantly wetted, relieve chronic strains, jars, and windgalls in the legs of horses. Cold water is also serviceable in broken knees, open joints, and circumscribed burns and scalds ; these wounds should not, however, be directly wetted, but kept scrupulously covered by folds of antiseptic lint con- stantly wetted. Such continuous irrigation is readily effected through a small vulcanised india-rubber pipe brought from a supply-tank on a higher level. Cold water similarly supplied keeps at low temperature the swabs round the coronets and feet of horses suffering from laminitis. Cold water dashed over the head and neck is a powerful stimulant, serviceable in megrims, sunstroke, phrenitis, convulsions, syncope, and the comatose stages of puerperal apoplexy in cattle, as well as in poisoning with alcohol, chloroform, opium, and prussic acid, and for encouraging respiration in young animals that breathe tardily at birth. The shock is, increased when very cold water is used, and when it falls on the patient from a height of several feet. Ice in small fragments in a bag or bladder exerts similar but more intense effects, and is serviceable in inflamed and prolapsed uterus and rectum, in piles, hernias, and in those violent bleedings which occur at the time or shortly after parturition. But care must be taken that vascular parts are not kept too long at such a reduced temperature as to lessen injuriously their blood supplies and diminish cell growth. Two parts of ice mixed with one of salt form a powerful freezing mixture of the temperature — 4°, and are applied to prevent too sudden rise of temperature and gangrene in frost-bite, to arrest circumscribed congestion and inflammation, to check bleeding andstop convulsions. Four or five minutes' contact with the skin removes sensation, so that opening of abscesses, neurotomy, and such operations, can be performed without pain ; but for inducing local anaesthesia, ether spray is preferable. Dr. Chapman has taught that the ice-bag applied along the spine " not only exerts a sedative influence on the cord, but 628 WATER : BATHS also on those nervous centres which preside over the hlood- vessels in all parts of the body ; it partially paralyses them." It thus determines to the part acted on an increased afflux of blood, diminishes muscular tension, sensibility, and secretion, and hence has been used in tetanus, chorea, epilepsy, cramps, in neuralgic pains, and inordinate discharges from the bowels or kidneys. Conversely, a bag filled with water, which should not exceed 120°, applied to the spine, causes more energetic action of the spinal and sympathetic ganglia. The calibre of arterioles is accordingly diminished. The bag, placed along the cervical region, arrests hsemorrhage from the nose or lungs; placed along the dorsal and lumbar region, inordinate uterine dischtoge and bleeding are controlled. Baths are important alike for the preservation of health and the cure of disease. As in human medicine, they are used of varying temperature. Cold baths range from 36° to 60°, temperate from 75° to 85°, tepid from 85° to 92°, warm from 92° to 98°, hot from 98° to 112°; the vapour bath, especially if the animal is to breathe the heated air, should not exceed 120°. Few complete veterinary baths are m«t with in this country, except in some training establishments, at the Eoyal Veterinary College at Camden Town, and at Mr. Thomas Dollar's Hospital at Manchester Street, Manchester Square, London, where the arrangements for hot, cold, and vapour baths are particularly good. Tepid baths cleanse the skin, promote perspiration, allay thirst, and are grateful to tired and heated horses. They are useful, not only in promoting comfort, but in removing stiffness both of horses and dogs after a hard day's work. Tepid baths of 80° or 90°, gradually cooled whilst the patient is in them, or sponging with tepid water followed by cold water, care being taken to avoid undue exposure and secure thorough drying and reaction, prove of much value in reducing abnormal animal temperature. Excessive temperature long maintained perverts, depresses, and eventually arrests tissue metamorphosis. Baths and even sponging used as described, in the domestic animals, notably antagonise dangerous advances in temperature, and lower it one to four degrees. In acute febrile attacks the bath or sponging may be repeated two or three times daily ; the STIMULANT, ANTIPYRETIC, DETERGENT. 629 patient may be kept in the bath fifteen to twenty minutes ; any approach to syncope is warded off by stimulants. With skin functions re-established and temperature lowered, congestion and other morbid processes are checked, and pain is often re- lieved. Such water treatment is contra-indicated when the patient is very weak, where it effects no reduction of tempera- ture, or where in spite of quiet careful management it induces excitement. Hot baths stimulate the skin, incite perspiration, raise temperature, and when long continued, quicken and enfeeble the pulse, retard oxidation, and impede electric currents through the nerves (Einger). They soothe animals which have been subjected to severe muscular exertion, relieve colic and cramps, benefit chronic skin disorders, arrest colds and attacks of weed, promote excretion of noxious matters, and thus prevent or alleviate rheumatism and various forms of blood-poisoning. Cold baths abstract heat or prevent its excessive formation,, are tonic and stimulant, increase tissue metamorphosis, and are specially useful in convalescence from acute disease. Owing to its saline ingredients and the constant movement of the waves, a sea bath is more exhilarating than fresh water at rest. As curative agents, cold baths should rarely be continued for more than ten to fifteen .minutes. Healthful reaction is encouraged by thorough drying, hand-rubbing, clothing, and, if need be, by subsequent administration of stimulants. Vapour, Eoman, or Turkish baths, when followed as they should be, by cold affusion, combine most of the advantages of hot and cold baths. They are less depressing than the hot, and produce less nervous shock than the cold bath. They should not exceed the temperature of 120°. They promptly cleanse the skin, evoke perspiration, stimulate circulation, and increase both the destruction and construction of tissue. They are specially useful in chronic cough, dyspepsia, want of appe- tite, rheumatism, laminitis, in the shivering cold stage of fever, and in disorders depending upon blood contamination. Pro- fessor Gamgee thus strongly sets forth their advantage : — " I unhesitatingly say that we have in the thermae the most effectual diaphoretic, the most active depurant, and the most effectual means of inducing a healthy reaction that we have 630 WAX yet had at our disposal. It is a great addition to our thera- peutic means. "We needed a satisfactory means of acting on the skin of the lower animals in febrile and other diseases, and we here have it." — {Our Domestic Animals in Health and Disease) "Where proper baths cannot be obtained, many of their cura- tive advantages are secured by rapidly sponging the patient, according to his ailment or condition, with tepid, hot, or cold water. Noxious and irritable matters are thus removed from the skin, circulation is equalised, excessive heat reduced, spasm counteracted. In chorea, especially in tolerably vigorous and short-haired dogs, cold sponging is very serviceable. In febrile cases, whether in horses or cattle, the temperature of the water at first should not be less than 80° or 85° ; a little acid may be advantageously added to the water ; the sponging should not occupy more than three minutes ; the animal should be wisped dry and immediately clothed. "Within two or three hours the operation may be repeated, especially if the. temperature re- duced by the first sponging rises again to 103° or 104°; after the first or second sponging, temperate water at 60° or 65° may be used ; the usual antiseptic salines and stimulants are pre- scribed. Such hydropathic treatment is especially suitable for that large class of cases above noted as being benefited by the vapour bath. "Wet packing, either with tepid or cold water.^is not adopted with veterinary patients, and is seldom so service- able as sponging or the bath. WAX. Many plants produce wax resembling that furnished from the glands on the ventral scales of the bee ; but bees' wax is an animal secretion, produced by bees feeding upon sugar. The comb, after removal of the honey, when pressed, fused in boiling water, strained, and poured into moulds, constitutes the yellow wax, or cera flava, which has a dull yellow colour, a granular fracture, a slightly sweet and pleasant taste, but no odour or greasiness ; it is insoluble in cold rectified spirit but entirely soluble in oil of turpentine. Yellow wax, purified by DEMULCENT AND EMOLLIENT. 631 melting with steam, straining, and decolorising Ij exposure m thin ribbons for one or two weeks to air and sunshine, or by boiling with nitrate of soda and sulphuric acid, loses colour and becomes white wax, or cera alba. Wax has the specific gravity ■960 to -965, is tough and solid, insoluble in water, soluble in fixed and volatile oils, and in about twenty parts of boiling alcohol, melts at about 145°, and readily unites with fats and resins. It consists of one third of myricin or melissyl palmitate (Cgo Hgi, Ci5, H31 O2), a body analogous to spermaceti or Chinese wax, insoluble in alcohol, soluble in benzole and in ether, and saponified by alkalies ; about 22 per cent, of the crystalline cerotie acid or cerin (HC27 H53 0^) soluble in boiling alcohol or ether, but imperfectly saponified by alkalies ; and about 5 per cent, of ceroline, a soft acid fat, communicating colour and odour, and soluble in cold alcohol. The ordinary impurities of wax do not interfere with its veterinary uses : starch may be detected by iodine; resin, by its separating on addition of cold rectified spirit; fatty matters by their greasiness and fusibility; inorganic substances by their remaining as a residue after the specimen is burnt or melted and strained. Actions and Uses. — Wax is more diflicult of digestion, and less nutritive, than* fats. It is demulcent and emollient. Melted with egg or mucilage, it is occasionally prescribed to correct diarrhoea. Its chief use, however, is to increase the consistence and prevent the rancidity of ointments, cerates, and plasters. Yellow wax, mixed with hogs' lard, or any of the bland fixed oils, is much used as a simple ointment, for pre- serving abraded or irritable surfaces from air and disease- germs floating in it, protecting the sound skin from acrid discharges, and preventing corrosive or blistering applications extending their effects beyond the parts to which their action is to be limited. The required consistence of the ointment determines the proportion of wax to the fats or oils. One part of yellow wax to four of prepared lard, or two and a half of almond or other oil, are the proportions usually recommended. 632 ZINC AND ITS COMPOUNDS. ZmC AND ITS MEDICINAL COMPOUNDS. Metallic zinc, obtained by roasting the sulphide or carbonate ores, when alloyed with nickel and copper, yields German silver ; when alloyed with copper, it yields brass. A coating of zinc over iron prevents rusting, and constitutes galvanised iron. It is a bluish-white metal, brittle at low and high tem- peratures, but between 212° and 300° it is ductile and malle- able. It is diatomic ; its salts are colourless. They are not precipitated by hydrochloric acid. Ammonium hydrosulphide throws down the white sulphide (Zn S), which is insoluble in acetic acid, but soluble in the stronger acids. Ammonia solution precipitates the white hydrate (ZnOHgO), which, unlike the aluminum hydrate, is soluble in excess. Cobalt chloride solution gives a green colour with zinc salts heated in the blowpipe flame. . Actions and Uses. — The chloride, nitrate, and iodide are the most soluble, most readily diffused, and hence the most active and corrosive zinc salts ; the sulphate and acetate are more energetic than the less soluble oxide or carbonate. Their astringent effects depend upon their forming insoluble compounds with albumen, while aflBnity for water adds to their corrosive power. They enter the blood probably as chlorides, lactates, or albuminates ; given for a long period they increase tissue change, and produce a series of symptoms resembling, those caused by lead ; they are, however, more rapidly excreted than mercury, lead, or copper, are removed in small quantity by the Iddneys, but chiefly by the liver and intestinal glands (Bartholow). They resemble salts of aluminum, silver, copper, bismuth, and cadmium. According to dosage they are cor, rosive, irritant, astringent, tonic and antiseptic. Zinc Oxide. Zinci Oxidum. Oxide of Zinc. Zn 0. When metallic zinc or the carbonate is exposed to a red heat, the oxide is produced— a soft, nearly colourless, tasteless, inodorous powder, insoluble in water, but soluble without effervescence in acids and in alkalies. When heated, it becomes yellow ; but if free from iron, nearly loses its colour on cooling. ZINC CARBONATE AND SULPHATE. 633 As an astringent tonic, the oxide has been prescribed for horses and cattle in doses of 3ij. to 5iv.; for dogs, grs. v. to grs. X. Either alone or mixed with chalk or other impalpable powder, the oxide is dusted, as a desiccant gentle stimulant and astringent, over chafed irritated excoriated surfaces. ^ The heat, tenderness, and itching of erythema and eczema in all animals, are abated by zinc oxide, used according to circum- stances, either in powder, solution, or ointment. With cleaning of the meatus, zinc oxide ointment is useful in canker of the ear of dogs and diseases that simulate it. The ointment is made usually with one part of vaseline or benzoated lard. Zinc Carbonate. Zinci Carbonas. Carbonate of Zinc ZnCOs. Calamine, the native carbonate, and an important ore of zinc, is greyish brown, usually earthy-looking, and effervesces, with acids. The Pharmacopoeia carbonate — white, tasteless, and insoluble in water — is made by boiling together nearly equal weights of zinc sulphate and sodium carbonate, and is a mixture of carbonate and oxide with water of crystallisation (Zn CO3, 2Zn 0, SHg 0). Its uses are identical with those of the oxide. An ointment made with one part to four or five of lard is occasionally employed. Zinc Sulphate. Zinci Sulphas. Sulphate of Zinc. White Vitriol. Zn SO4, H^O, CHjO. Zinc blende, the native sulphide (Zn S), when roasted^ yields a crude sulphate. The Pharmacopoeia salt is got by dissolving granulated zinc in diluted sulphuric acid, and getting lid of any iron or tin by chlorine solution and zinc carbonate. It occurs in colourless, transparent, long prisms, isomorphous with those of Epsom salt, with a styptic metallic taste, and is efiQorescent in dry air. It is insoluble in alcohol, soluble in less than its own weight of boiling water, and in about twice its weight at 60°. Heated, it melts in its water of crystallisation, six of the seven atoms are expelled; at higher temperatures it is decomposed, and oxide is left. Any 634 ZINC SULPHATE. metallic impurities are deposited on a strip of metallic zinc placed in the solution. Actions and Uses. — It is irritant, emetic, sedative, astrin- gent, antiseptic, and nerve-tonic. It is used externally as a stimulant, desiccant, astringent, and antiseptic. Toxic Effects. — As with some other metallic irritants, several ounces are given to horses and cattle without injury. Orfila found that seven and a half drachms were vomited by dogs in a few seconds, but produced no lasting bad effects. When, however, vomiting was prevented by ligature of the oesophagus, much smaller quantities suf&ced to destroy dogs, in about three days, from gastro-enteritis. Thirty grains in solution, injected into the veins, depressed the action of the heart and destroyed life in a few seconds (Christison on Poisons). Emesis, although remarkably prompt and full, is seldom accompanied by the nausea and depression which follow tartar emetic. Eepeated doses, absorbed as chloride lactate or albuminate, are detected in the spleen, liver, fseces, and urine. It does not, like lead or mercury, exhibit any cumulative action. Two horses had half an ounce each for a fortnight without effect ; but an ounce repeated thrice a day impaired appetite and caused nausea with diuresis (Veterinarian, January 1844). Medicinal Uses. — As a tonic it resembles, but is inferior to, iron and copper sulphates. As an astringent in diarrhoea or dysentery, it is given with opium, but is less effectual than copper sulphate or lead acetate. For arresting spasmodic diseases in the lower animals, it is not so effectual as copper sulphate, arsenic, or quinine. It checks acute chorea in dogs in good condition ; but iron is better in chronic cases associated with debiHty. For drying excessive discharges, especially from the alimentary canal, for checking undue perspiration and haemorrhage, frequent small doses are given with sulphuric acid and opium. As a safe and prompt emetic, it is prescribed for dogs and pigs to empty the stomach of undigested food, foreign bodies, or poisons. It is an antidote in poisoning by salts of lead and barium. Externally, it is much used as a stimulant and astringent in weakly, over-secreting wounds, in foul ulcers, simple ophthalmia, relaxed sore throat, irritable conditions of the mucous membrane of the uterus or vagina, vesicular. X ZINC CHLOBIDE. ^^5 and pustular skin eruptions, and interdigital inflammation in sheep. .. Loses, etc.— As an emetic for dogs and pigs, grs. viij. to grs. XV. are given in two or three ounces of water. As an astrm- gent and, tonic for horses and cattle, 3j- to 3iiJ- > ^°^ ^^®®?' ^f' X. to grs. XX. ; for dogs, grs. ij. to grs. v. are given either in the solid or fluid state. Externally, it is used in powder or solu- tion, usually made with thirty to sixty parts of water. Three quarters of an ounce of zinc sulphate and an ounce of lead acetate, dissolved in a quart of water, constitutes the White Lotion so familiar in veterinary practice. Zinc Chloeide. Zinci Chloridum. Butter of Zinc. Zn Clj. When zinc or its oxide is boiled in hydrochloric acid, the solution evaporated to dryness, and the residue melted, there remains the greyish-white, opaque, waxy -looking, deliquescent chloride, usually moulded into sticks, with an astringent metallic taste, and soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. Actions and Uses. — It is an irritant and corrosive poison ; medicinal doses are astringent, tonic, and antiseptic. Exter- nally, it is applied as a caustic, stimulant, and astringent. It . is also in use as a general antiseptic, disinfectant, and deodor- iser. It is not administered internally. Surgical Uses. — As an energetic caustic it resembles butter of antimony ; is used to control luxuriant granulations, un- healthy ulcerations, and foot-rot in sheep, and for such purposes is sold in pencils similar to those of silver nitrate. To remove malignant growths and slough away the cartilaginous secreting surfaces of fistulse, zinc chloride is introduced, usually mixed with one or two parts of flour made into a paste with water, or gently heated with two parts of gutta-percha. Not liable to get absorbed, it cannot, like arsenic or mercury salts, do constitutional mischief. The watery solution , is a capital stimulant, astringent, and antiseptic; it readily destroys bac- teria. It is an effective dressing in most varieties and stages of eczema, alike in horses and dogs, and a useful wash for destroy- ing ticks and other skin vermin. For surgical purposes forty grains to an ounce of water are used for cleansing, envenomed 636 ZING ACETATE wounds, for ragged, irregular surfaces not easily got at by solid caustics, where repeated dressings are inadmissible, and the volatile carbolic acid cannot be conveniently replaced. It is applied effectually to secure the aseptic state of wounds preparatory to their being covered in by carbolic or other antiseptic dressings. As a general antiseptic, zinc chloride is effectual and cheap, is serviceable for keeping animal tissues for dissection; and in the presence of much water is superior to carbolic acid, as well as to corrosive sublimate, arsenic, and, indeed, all known antiseptics. Although prompt and effectual in preventing or arresting putrefaction, it is not so ready a deodoriser as chlorine, iodine, sulphurous acid, or sanitas. Concentrated solutions have the disadvantage of producing, with decompos- ing organic matters, disagreeable- smelling, fatty acids. Sir William Burnett's Disinfecting and Antiseptic Fluid contains 25 grains zinc chloride in every fluid drachm, and is ordered to be used in the proportion of one pint to five gallons of water. Zinc Acetate. Zinci Acetas. Acetate of Zinc. Zn 2C2 H3 O2, 2H2 0. Zinc acetate is prepared by dissolving metallic zinc, its oxide or carbonate, in diluted acetic acid. When three-quar- ters of an ounce of zinc sulphate and an ounce of lead acetate are dissolved in a pint of water, mutual decomposition ensues, lead sulphate is precipitated, zinc acetate remains in solution, which, if decanted or filtered, constitutes the White Lotion so extensively and successfully used by the late Professor Dick. For most stimulant and astringent purposes, this strong lotion requires dilution with at least another pint of water. Zinc acetate crystallises in colourless, odourless, pearly, rhomboidal plates, which have a sharp, disagreeable, metallic taste, are readily soluble in water, and when heated with sulphuric acid, evolve the characteristic acetous odour. Actions and Uses. — The acetate closely resembles the sul- phate. It is emetic and nerve-tonic, but it is seldom used internally. Externally, as a stimulant and astringent, it pro- A STIMULANT AND ASTEINGENT. 637 motes healing of wounds, dries excessive serous and pustular discharges, relieves erythema, eczema, and impetigo, and com- bats conjunctivitis and other superficial inflammations. Pro- fessor Tuson {Veterinary Pharmacopasia} recommends a solution for saturating at short intervals the wash-leather bandages applied to the jarred, swollen legs of hunters. According to the purposes for which it is used, two to twenty grains are dissolved in the ounce of water. INDEXES. I. INDEX OF DISEASES. Aboktion: Slipping; Premature Birth. Perfect quiet. Sloppy laxative food. Opium ; belladomia. Tonics. Cleanliness. Disinfectants. Isolation from pregnant animals. Abscess: Swelling, containing Serum or Pusi Fomentations ; Poultices. Water dressing. Counter-irritants; Mercury oleate or iodine around or adjacent. Knife; Cautery. Carbolic acid dressing. Stimulating injections. Sulphites, calcium and potassium sulphides, tonics, salines, and belladonna, internally. ACAEI. Soft soap and alkalies. Sulphur and sulphur iodide. Carbolic acid ; Tar oils. Corrosive sublimate. Arsenic. Stavesacre. Tobacco. Linseed and other oils. Acidity or Stomach. Mineral acids given before eating. Alkalies, their carbonates and bi- carbonates, as antacid palliatives. Lime water ; Chalk ; Magnesium carbonate; Antiseptics. Bismuth. Nux vomica, strychnine, or bitters. Acne : Pimples. Fomentations; Poultices. Zinc chloride solution. Iodine or mercury iodide ointments. Salines. Sulphur ; Arsenic ; Potassium bromide ; Alteratives internally. After Pains : Heaving. Remove clots from uterus. Raise hind quarters. Clysters of tepid linseed tea, with laudanum or belladonna. Syringe out uterus with carbolic acid, sanitas, Oondy's fluid, and anodynes. Belladonna ; Opium ; Chloroform. Laxatives. Draw away milk. Amaurosis : Gutta Serena ; Glass Eye. Cathartics. Blisters; Setons. Tonics. Diuretics. Nux vomica or strychnine. Anemia: Bloodlessness. Iron and copper salts. Gentian; Quinine; Bitters. Salines. Mineral acids'. Generous diet. Alcohol. Pure air ; Exercise. Aneurism : Arterial tumour. Pressure; Truss; Bandages. Acupressure. Electrolysis. Catgut ligature. Potassium iodide. Rest and quiet. Anoleberries ; see also Warts. Remove with knife or torsion. Remove with ligature or caustic. Anthrax op Pigs; Hog Cholera; Blue Disease ; Carbuncular Fever. Emetics. Laxatives ; Clysters. Cooling sloppy diet. Antiseptics ; Sodium sulphite. Sulphurous acid sponging. 640 INDEX OF DISEASES. Anthrax op Pigs — Continued. Comfortable airy quarters. Prevent by inoculation with benig- nant cultivated lymph. Aphtha : Vesicles in Mouth ; Thrush. Alum ; Borax ; Sulphurous solu- - tions. Potassium chlorate. Oxymel ; Glycerine and water. Sodium sulphite ; Condy's fluid. Laxatives. Cooling digestible food. Apoplexy, Cbeebkal. Venesection. Ice to head. • Active purgatives. Laxative clysters. Seton in back of neck. Apoplexy, Partueient : Milk Fever in Cows and Ewes. Bleed in very earliest stage. Cathartics active. Salts and croton. Diluents ; Avoid solid food. Body and legs rubbed and clothed. Use catheter. Ice or refrigerants to head and neck. Linseed gruel frequently by stomach-pump and clyster. Ammonia; Ether; Alcohol. Kemove milk every hour. Kaise hind quarters, place on ster- num, keep up head. Eubefacients to spine. Apoplexy, Splenic : Charbon in Cattle and Sheep. Bleed in earliest stage. Cathartics. Sodium sulphite ; Other antiseptics. Setons. Prevent by inoculation with be- nignant cultivated lymph. Arteritis : Inflammation of Arteries. Rest. Alteratives ; Salines. Arthritis : Inflammation of joints ; see Open Joint and Synovitis. AsoABiDES ; see also Filari^ and Worms : Oxyuris cnrvula, in- habiting colon and rectum. Clysters containing turpentine, lime water, quassia, or ether. Salines and bitter tonics. Aloes ; turpentine and oil. AscABis Megalocephala of horse (lumbrici) in stomach and in- testines; Aloes and oils, with turpentine and other volatile oils. AscARis — Continued. Aconite. Iron chloride solutions. Copper sulphate. Bitter tonics. Salt in manger. Ascites : Abdominal Dropsy. Diuretics. Purgatives. Oil of turpentine. Jaborandi ; Digitalis. Rubefacients and friction. Trocar and canula. Asthma. Ether and belladonna. Chlorodyne. Chloroform inhaled. Amyl nitrite inhaled. Morphine and atropine subcutane- ously. Arsenic. Regular digestible diet. Atheroma : Arterial degeneration. Liberal oleaginous dietary. Iron salts and tonics. Avoid over-exertion. Barrenness. Change of diet and surroundings. Alteratives ; Potassium iodide. Tonics. Bellones : Tumour in Throat of horses. Excise tumour by knife or ligature. Bites op Insects. Ammonia solution. Potassium hydrate solution. Carbolic acid. Prussic acid ; Chloroform. Bladder, Irritable. Diluents ; Linseed. Alkalies ; Potassium citrates. Laxatives. Anodyne clysters. Belladonna and opium. Milk diet; Black Leg ; see Quarter Evil. Bladder, Inplammation of ; see Cystitis. Bleeding ; see Haemorrhage. Bog Spavin. Rest ; High-heeled shoe. Fomentation. Cold water. Spring truss. Counter-irritation. Firing-iron ; Seton. Boils ; see also Ab,soess. Foment; Poultice. Belladoima. INDEX OF DISEASES. 641 BdiLS — Contintied. Carbolic dressing. Counter-irritants around inflamed spot; Silver nitrate. Laxatives. Sulphites and chlorates. Calcium sulphide ; Arsenic. Bone Spavin ; see Spavin. BOTS. Turpentine and oils. Quassia and bitters. Hydrochloric acid. Copper sulphate and arsenic. Bowels, Inflammation op ; see En- teritis. Beain, Inflammation of ; see Phre- NITIS. Beaxy in Sheep : Gastro-Enteritis. Oil, calomel, and laudanum. Salines. Antiseptics. Counter-irritation to abdomen. Broken Knees. Cleanse thoroughly. If flap of skin raised, stitches or suture sometimes useful. Tie up head. Cold-water dressings. Carbolic dressings. Perfect rest. Splints. Slings. Blister. Broken Wind in Horses. Relieved by careful dieting. Damped food. Laxatives occasionally. Salines. Chalk ; Whiting. Professor Dick's cough ball. Bronchial Pilarue ; see PttARLa;, Bronchial. Bronchitis : Acute Inflammation of Air-Passages. Water vapour inhaled. Mustard to throat and sides. Ether and belladonna. Medicated inhalation with carbolic and sulphurous anhydride. Soft but nutritious diet. Salines. Aconite. Alcohol. Ammonium salts. Chloral hydrate. Warm clothing, but cool air. Bronchitis, Chronic. Cantharides blisters. Linseed and other oleaginous food. Alcoholic stimulants. Bronchitis, Chronic — Continued. Oil of turpentine. Tar, in bolus and inhaled. Baths and sponging. Bronchooelb : Enlarged Thyroid. Iodine. Potassium iodide. Bruises. / Foment ; Poultice. Cold-water dressings. Refrigerants. Carbolic dressings. Lead acetate and astringent solu- tions. Belladonna, Brushing or Interfering. Careful shoeing. Well-fitting boot. Improved condition. Burns : Scalds. Carbolic dressing. Exclusion of air. Cotton wool. Carron oil. Salicylic and boracic ointments. Sodium carbonate saturated solu- tion. Silver nitrate. Bustian Foul : Chronic Rheumatism in Cattle and Sheep. Poultice ; Foment. Lead acetate and vinegar solution. Aconite and belladonna lotion. Purgatives ; Salines. Tonics ; Oil of turpentine ; Stimu- lants. Calculi, Biliary. Purgatives. Morphine and atropine hypodermi- cally. Salines. Calculi, Urinary : Lithiasis ; Gravel. Alkalies ; Alkaline bicarbonates. Diluents. Soft laxative food. Anodyne clysters. Belladonna and opium. Lithotomy ; Lithotrity. Cancer. Knife. Carbolic dressing ; Bromine. Caustics ; Chronic acid. Generous diet. Canker of Horse's Foot. Remove diseased surface. Nitric acid. Zinc chloride solution. Silver nitrate. Tar and tow. , 2 S 642 INDEX OF DISEASES. Cankek ojf Hobse's Foot— Continued. Firm pressure. Carbolic acid. Tonics and salines. Liberal diet. Canker of Eab ; see Otobb,h(ea. Capped Hooe in Horse. Stimulate by cantbarides liniment, or mercury iodide ointment. Shoe raised at heel. Apply pressure. Evacuate serous abscess. Inject cavity with iodine or astrin- Infriction daily of soft soap. Caries oj Bone. Excision of diseased tissue. Free vent by producing slough. Actual cautery. Phosphate of lime. Cataract. Extraction. Belladonna ; Atropine solution. Alteratives and salines. CATARRH : Cold in Head ; Coryza. Steam head. Extra clothing ; Hood. Warm bath. Cool air ; Laxative. Salines ; Ammonium acetate. Stimulate throat externally. Choking. Oil or linseed tea. Remove any foreign body by hand. Probang. Cut into gullet and extract obstruc- tion. Colic : Gripes ; Spasm of bowels. Purgative in solution. Clysters of warm water. Hand-rubbing. Hot fomentations. Gentle exercise. Mustard to abdomen. Ether and opium. Oil of turpentine. Ammonia solution or carbonate. Belladonna. Chloral hydrate. Tobacco-smoke clysters. Morphine and atropine, subcutane- ously. Cholera. Laxatives; Castor oil and laudanum. Chloral hydrate. Lead acetate and opium. Tannic and gallic acids. Mineral acids. Ice bag to spine. Opium and camphor, Cholera — Continued. ' Morphine subcutaneously. Chorea : St. Vitus's Dance. Chloral hydrate. Iron salts. Laxatives. Arsenic. Cold sponging. Spinal ice-bag. Valerian. Calabar bean. Zinc and silver salts. Liberal dietary. Remove worms. In bad cases, chloroform inhala- tion. Coma : Stupor. Cold affusion. Ammonia, inhalation and subcutane- ously. Mustard to extremities. Cautious bleeding. Congestion. Equable pressure. Stimulant, local. Stimulant, general. Belladonna ; Ergot. Congestion of Lungs. Cool air. Warm clothing for body and limbs. Ammonia solution or carbonate. Ether ; Alcohol ; Oil of turpentine. Mustard to sides. Careful abstraction of blood. Congestive Fbvdr of Cattle and Sheep ; CkAR,EON : see Quarter Evil. Conjunctivitis : Inflammation of Mucous Membrane of Eye. Remove irritant. Foment. Silver nitrate or other astringent. Belladonna or atropine. Citrine ointment. Laxatives. Blister orbit ; Seton. Constipation : Torpidity of Bowels. Purgatives. Frequent laxative clysters. Aloes, oils, calomel, and small doses Epsom salt for horses. Salts ; Croton and gamboge for cattle. Calomel and jalap, castor, and lin- seed oils, and emetics for cami- vora. Oil of turpentine by mouth and rectum. Tobacco enemata. Laxative diet. IKDEX OP DISEASES. 643 Constipation — Continued. Nux vomica. Electricity. Consumption, Pulmonary ; see Phthisis Pulmonalis. Convalescence. Easily digested nutritive food. Eggs and milk. Alcoholic stimulants. Bitters ; Tonics ; Mineral acids. Iron and phosphates. Baths or cold sponging. Convulsions : Fits. Chloral hydrate. Chloroform, inhaled and swallowed. Potassium bromide. Ammonia. Cold affusion ; Ice to head. Spinal ioe-hag. Morphine and atropine suhcutane- ously. Corns in Foot of Horse. Pare. Remove pressure. Light shoe with wide web. Poultice. Nitric acid. Shoe strong feet with tips. CoKYZA : Cold in Head; see Catarrh. CouoH. Ether. Chloroform ; Chlorodyne. Belladonna ; Opium. Chloral hydrate. Steaming head ; Soothing or astrin- gent gargles. Counter-irritation : Mustard. Pure air. Careful feeding ; .oleaginous food. Turkish bath. Comfortable housing and clothing. Laxatives. Balsams ; Ipecacuan ; Demulcents. Cqugh, Chronic, oe Horses. Careful dieting. Food damped. Linseed. Epsom salt occasionally. Professor Dick's recipe. Belladonna extract ; Camphor and prussic acid. Tar and creasote : Arsenic. Nerve tonics. Mustard ; other counter-irritants. Seton. Crib-biting. Iron stable-fittings. Manger when unused turned into recess of wall. Spiked collar-strap. CniB-Bmi'SQ— Continued. Chalk and antacids. Croup : Cynanche trachealis. Tracheotomy. Steam throat. Spray with iodine iodoform or car- bolic acid. Silver nitrate. Laxatives : Antiseptics. Warm bath and emetics for dogs. Curb : Sprain or Injury of straight Ligament of Hock. Foment. Lead acetate solution ; Refrigerants. Counter-irritants. Mercury red iodide ointment. Firing iron. High-heeled shoe. Rest. Cow-Pox ; see Variola Vaccina. Cystitis : Inflammation of Bladder. Aconite ; Belladonna ; Opium. Laxatives. Rugs wrung out of boiling water, or sheepskin to loins. Emollient anodyne clysters. Linseed tea ; Barley water ; Alkalies and Diluents. Iodoform suppositories. Syringe female bladder with alka- line solutions. Debility. Easily assimilated nutritive food. Alcoholic stimulants. Calcium phosphate. Acids and bitters. Sodium sulphite. Iron salts ; Arsenic. Good nursing. Baths and sponging. Delirium. Cold affusion ; Ice to head. Laxatives. Belladonna ; Chloral hydrate. Cautious inhalation of ether or chloroform. Blood-letting. Potassium bromide. Dentition Fever. Soft laxative food. Rest ; Pure air. Salines. Lancing of gums. Remove irregular temporary teeth. Diabetes Insipidus : Polyuria. , Iodine with potassium iodide. Iodine with iron sulphate. Diabetes, Saccharine. Soup ; Cooked animal food. 644 INDEX OF DISEASES. Diabetes, Sacchaeine — Contimied. Acids. Opium. Iodine. DiAKEHCEA: Scouring. Laxatives. Grey powder or calomel. Spirit of chloroform ; Ohlorodyne. Chalk and bitters. Oak bark ; Gallic acid. Opium and lead acetate. Starch gruel and opium clysters. Digestible light diet. Mineial acids and metallic astrin- Nux vomica ; Ergot. Arsenic and iron salts. Antiseptics. Diphtheritic Sore Throai. Ice sucked. Hydrochloric acid and glycerine Iron perchloride tincture. Spray with chlorine, iodine, and iodoform solutions. Nutritive fluid food. Dislocations : Luxations. Eeduce. JRetain in position by splints, band- ages, or plasters. Abate inflammation by fomentations or cold water. Distemper in Dogs. Emetic ; Gentle laxative. Milk diet. Salines. Belladonna, internally and exter- nally. Ether ; Alcohol. Iron salts. Antiseptics internally. Counter-irritants. Disinfectants. Prevent by inoculation with culti- vated lymph. Dropsy. Eemove vascular obstruction. Diuretics ; Laxatives. Potassium iodide ; Digitalis ; Jabor- andi. Friction', and other external stimu- lants. Sweet spirit of nitre; Oil .of turpen- tine ; and other stimulants inter- nally ; Trocar and canula. Acupuncture. Dysentery. Occasional laxatives. Opium and mineral astringents. Gallic and tannic acids. Dysentery — Continited. , Starch gruel and laudanum clysters. Easily digested food. Small doses of grey powder or calomel. Dyspepsia : Indigestion. Careful dietary. Acids ; Bitters ; Arsenic. Sulphites. Laxatives in bilious cases. Alcohol. Alkalies ; Chalk ; Bismuth. • Nux vomica. Dyspncea : Difficult breathing. Chloroform ; Chloral hydrate. Morphine and atropine subcutane- ously. Belladonna extract and ether. Mustard and counter-irritants. Tracheotomy. Eczema : Tetter : Grease. Laxatives ; Diuretics. Salines ; Alkalies. Arsenic ; Sulphitr. Fomentations with warm water and soft soap. Lead acetate lotion in acute weepiag Alkaline carbonate solutions. Zinc oxide, powder, or ointment. Glycerine of borax ; Tannin. Potassium cysmides or camphor. Empyreumatic oils in chronic cases. Carbolic acid ; Creasote. Sulphur iodide. Silver nitrate ; Copper sulphate. Eczema Rubrtjm oe Dogs : Ked Mange. Avoid heating food such as oatmeal. Laxatives. Zinc oxide ointment. Glycerine of carbolic acid. Antiseptics and arsenic. ^^ . Elephantiasis : Chronic Weed^^ \ Laxatives. ^^ ^ Diuretics. Salines ; Iodine ; Potassium iodide. Friction ; Stimulants. Counter-irritation. Empyema : Pus in Chest. Carbolic acid. Sulphurous acid and sulphites. Iodine. Drainage tube. Emphysema : Pneumatosis ; Wind Swelling. Puncture. Pressure. Counter-irritation. INDEX OF DISEASES. 645 Emphysema — Continued. Diuretics. Tonics; Arsenic. Emphysematous Lungs. Careful dietary ; concentrated damped food. Occasional linseed mash. Water given an hour before work. Arsenic. Enteritis : Inflammation of Bowels. Laxatives. Aconite. Calomel and laudanum. Foment ; Bugs wrung out of hot water. Mustard to abdomen. Anodyne clysters. • Belladonna and opium. Morphine, atropine, and ergotine suboutaneously. Entropium : Inversion of Eyelids. Excision of elliptical portion of lid. Metallic s'uture. Caustic. Antiseptic dressing. Epilepsy : Fits. Bowels in order. Worms removed". Digestible nutritive diet. Iron and arsenic. Potassium bromide. Amyl nitrite ; Mtro-glycerine. Cold affusion. Spinal ice-bag. Epizootics. Destroy disease germs by carbolic or sulphurous acids. Separate infected subjects. Sponge sick and healthy with sul- phurous or carbolic solutions. Administer sodium sulphite, carbolic acid, and antiseptics. Enjoin cleanliness. ^se disinfectants. SSzo Epizootic Aphtha : Aphthous or Vesicular Epizootic ; Foot-and- Mouth Disease. Soft laxative food brought to patient. Cleanliness. Comfortable soft bed. Gargle with %drochlorio acid and treacle. Alum and potassium - chlorate Condy's fluid for mouth, udder, and feet. iLead acetate solution. Milk cows frequently. If teats tender, use syphon. Epizootic Aphtha— Continued. Erysipelas. Laxatives. Aconite, one or two doses. Hot fomentations. Salines ; Potassium chlorate. Ferric chloride and other styptics. Alcohol ; Ether ; Oil of turpentine. Ergot. Belladonna and aconite lotion. Silver nitrate. , Carbolic acid. Erythema : Inflammation of the Skin; Mud fever. Laxatives ; Salines. Fomentations ; Emollients. Zinc oxide powder oiutment or solution. Lead and zinc acetates. Silver nitrate. Arsenic and quinine internally. Exostosis : Deposit of Bone. Fomentations. Cold applications. Counter-irritants . Mercury iodide ointment. Firing iron. Periosteotomy. Laxatives; Febrifuges. Fainting. Fresh air. Removal of pressure from neck. Ammonia in vapour and solution. Alcohol and ether. Amyl nitrite. False Quarter oe Foot op Horse. Close and secure any woimd. Bar shoe to relieve pressure. Blister coronet. Farcy of Horses. Buds dressed with mercury iodide ointment. Iron and copper sulphates ; Arsenic. Salines. Liberal diet and fresh air. Separate from healthy animals. Slaughtered by order of Council. Fardel-bound : Impaction of Third Stomach of Cattle and Sheep. Epsom and common salt. Calomel ; Croton. Aromatics and treacle. Diluents. Stimulants externally and inter- nally. Favus : Honeycomb Ringworm. Soft soap and water. Iodide of sulphur. Iodine solution or ointment. 646 INDEX OF DISEASES. FAVua-^Coniimted. Zinc chloride solution. Corrosive sublimate. Silver nitrate ; Benzine. Fevee Acute ; see alsoFEVEE Inklam- MATOKY. Aconite. Purgatives ; Salines. Mercurials ; Antimonials. Ammoiiium acetate ; other Sudori- . fics. Warm bath or sponging, followed by cold affusion. Ice swallowed. Laxative food ; Clysters. Cool air ; warm clothing. Remove or soothe local irritation. Fevee, Low, oe Typhoid. Laxatives ; Diaphoretics. Salines, alkalies, antiseptics. Digitahs, alcohol. Quinine. Baths or sponging with sulphurous or acidulated water. Clothe comfortably ; Bandage legs. FilaeijE, Bbonchial : Strongulus filaria. Oil of turpentine in milk or oil. Lime-water. Sulphurous and chlorine inhalation and solution. Chloroform inhalation. Liberal dietary. Change from old grass. Fistula. Cut open sinuses. Dependent opening. Seton. Carbolic dressings. Astringents. Corrosive sublimate plug. Pressure to keep granulations in contact. Fleas : Pulex irritans. Soap and warm water. Turpentine ; Volatile oils. Aniseed oil. Persian insect-powder. Tobacco- water. Stavesacre. Pine sawdust for dog's bed. Fluke Woem in Sheep; see Hydatid IN LiVEE. Fly Blow in Sheep. Corrosive sublimate solution. Turpentines. Tar oil. FooT-RoT IN Sheep. Kemove diseased horn. Mercury nitrate solution. FooT-EoT — Gontinued. Nitric acid. Turpentine and oil. Silver nitrate. Zinc chloride. Carbolic acid. Foul in the Feet of Cattle ; see also BusTiAN Foul. Foment ; Poultice. Carbolic dressings. Zinc chloride. Generous diet. Salines and tonics. Amputation. FouNDEE ; see Laminitis. Feactuee. Bones in apposition. Splints of leather lath or block-tin. Bandages dry and starch. Rest ; Slings. Wounds treated in usual way. Feagillitas or Mollities Ossium. Liberal oleaginous dietary. Calcium phosphate. Tonics. Fkost Bite : Gelatio. Turpentine and oil. Soap liniment. Friction. Mustard. Fungus HjEmatodes. Remove with knife. Stay bleeding with hot iron. Dress with carbolic acid. Equable pressure. Gangrene : Mortification. Sulphurous acid lotion. Carbolic dressings ; Bromide.- Iron salts internally. Copper sulphate. Alcohol; Stimulants. Antiseptics; Sodium sulphite ; Pot- assium chlorate. Remove dead portions with knife. Garget ; see Mammitis. Gastric or Typhoid Fever in Horses. Calomel and laudanum. Salines. Alcohol and stimulants. Belladonna and opium. Iron salts ; Digitalis. Mineral acids ; Turpentine. Ergot hypodermicaUy. Rest and quiet. Warm clothing ; Bandage legs. ' Soft digestible food. Sponge vrith sulphurous acid. Rubefacient over abdomen. INDEX OF BISEASES. 647 GLiLNDEBS IN HOESE8. Incurable ; Immediate slaughter. Life may be prolonged by generous diet. Copper snlphate and arsenic. Glajjdulab Swellings. Counter-irritants round or near. Mercury oleate ; Mercury red iodide ointment. Iodine ointment. Administer salines. Calcium sulphide. Iodine and potassium iodide. Iron salts in ansemic patients. Glass Eye ; see Amaukosis. Glaucoma : Disease of Vitreoxis Hum- our of Eye. ,, Not amenable to treatment. Atropine and astringent lotions. Glossantheax : Blain in Cattle. Wash, mouth with sulphurous acid solution or Condy's fluid. Hydrochloric acid and treacle gargle. Cathartics. Silver nitrate. . Soft nourishing food. Glossitis : Infiammation of tongue. Oxymel. Treacle and vinegar. , Mild astringents. Soft food ; Scarify. GoNOBBHOEA ; See also Ukethritis. Metallic astringent injection. Salines ; Alkalies. Diluents. Fomentations. Laxative and anodyne clysters. Grapes : Inflammation of Skin of Horses' Heels. Kemove by hot iron or caustics. Zinc sulphate or chloride solution. Carbolic acid dressing. Laxative diet. Sulphur arsenic, and salines inter- . nally. Gbease : Eczema Impetiginodes. Removal of hair ; Thorough wash- ing. Salines; Arsenic. Zinc sulphate and lead acetate lotion. Carbolic acid dressings. Sulphurous acid solution. Sulphur iodide. Poultices. Geogginess; see Navicular Disease. HEMATURIA : Bloody Urine. Laxatives. HjEmatubia — Ocmtinned. Belladonna and opium. Fresh sheepskins to loins. Sulphuric acid. Iron salts. Lead acetate. Turpentine oil. Gallic acid ; Ergot. Spinal hot- water bag. HiEMATUEiA : Red Water in cattle. Saline purge. Iron salts. Turpentine. Stomachics and bitters. Ammonium chloride. HEMORRHAGE : Bleeding. Secure bleeding vessel. Pressure ; Plugging ; Ligature. Styptics. Refrigerants ; Ice. Cautery. Lead acetate ■ and opium inter- nally. Iron chloride solutions. Sulphuric and gallic acids. Turpentine; Ipecacuan. Ergotine subcutaneously. HAEMORRHAGE, PoST PaETUM. Ice introduced into uterus or rectum. Iron perchloride injection. Ergot solution. Ergotine hypodermically. Raise hind quarters. Hot- water bag to dorsal region. Heart, Irritable. Digitalis. Belladonna. Aconite, small doses. Rest. Digestible, rather concentrated, food. Hepatitis : Inflammation of Uver. Cathartic. Salines. Aconite. Ammonium chloride. Laxative diet. External stimulation. Hernia, Inguinal or Scrotal : Rupture. Taxis from scrotum and rectum. Opium in large doses. Azisesthesia. Tobacco-smoke clysters. Ice ; Refrigerants. Cast patient. Liberate herniated bowel by en- larging internal ring. Covered operation in entire animal. 648 INDEX OF DISEASES. Herpes : Patches of Vesicles. Salines. Sodium sulphite. Lead acetate solution. Sulphurous acid solution. Silver nitrate ointment. Calomel ointment. High Blowing in Horses. Atropine and morphine suboutane- ously. Rubefacients over frontal smuses and throat. Syringe nostrils with astringents. Nasal pad. HoosE IN Calves ; see Filari^, Bronchial. HovEN IN Cattle : Distension of First Stomach. Ammonia and ether. Turpentine and alcohol. Exercise and friction. Probang. Opening through abdominal walls. Cathartic. Hydatid in Brain of Sheep or Cattle : Coenurus cerebralis. Trocar and canula. Hydrocele : Dropsy of Scrotum. Trocar and canula. Injection of iodine or astringent. Hydrocephalus : Dropsy of Brain. Generous oleaginous diet. Calcium phosphate. Iron salts (iodide) ; Tonics. Trocar and canula. Hydrophobia ; see Rabies. Hydrothorax : Water in Chest. Salines ; Potassium iodide. Rubefacients ; Mustard. Trocar and canula. JJiuretics ; Jaborandi. Tonics and stimulants. Htsteritis : Inflammation, of the Uterus. Laxatives. Fomentations to loins. Fresh sheepskins. Aconite and opium. Belladonna, by mouth and in- jection. Syringe with tepid water and Condy's fluid, sulphurous acid, or astringents. Immobilite : Shivering ; Crick -back. Light work without weight on back. Occasional rubefacient along spine. Sling at night. Nux vomica and strychnine. Impetigo : Crusta Labialis. Laxatives and salines. Zinc oxide ointment. Mercury nitrate ointment. Glycerine of tannin. Indigestion : see Dyspepsia. Indigestion, Acute, of Horses : Stomach or Grass Staggers. Aloes in solution. Calomel and oil. Oil of turpentine. Ammonia; Alcohol; Ether. Hot fomentations to abdomen. Hand-rubbing ; Mustard. Gentle exercise. Frequent laxative stimulant clys- ters. Inflammation, Acute. Fomentations ; Poultices. Refrigerants. Ice and anodynes locally. Cathartics ; Salines. Aconite ; Sedatives. Antiseptics ; Alteratives. Sloppy food ; Diluents. Opium, belladonna; other anodynes internally and externally. Inflammation, Chronic. Refrigerants. Counter-irritants. Salines ; Antiseptics. Liberal dietary. Linseed and fatty matters. Bitters and tonics. Stimulants. Inflammatory Fever; see also Fever. Laxatives ; Salines. Clysters. Antiseptics. Aconite. Calomel and opium. Remove or soothe any local irrita- tion. Pure cool air. Sloppy food ; Diluents. Influenza in Horses. Salines. Laxative nutritive diet. Pure cool air. Rug and bandages. Alcohol ; Ammonia. Ether and belladonna. Mineral acids and bitters. Mustard. Sponging with sulphurous acid or Condy's fluid. Interdigital Inflammation in Sheep. Zinc siUphate solution. INDEX OF DISEASES. 649 iNTEEDIGlTAIi INFLAMMATION IN Sheep — Oontmmd. Silver nitrate. Carbolic and tar dressings. Laxative diet. Avoid beans and forcing food. Remove from wet pastures. Iritis. Cathartics. Calomel and opium. Salines. Belladonna or atropine. Dark box. Seton. Jaundice : the Yellows. Laxatives. "• Aloes and calomel. Salines ; Glauber salt. Oil of turpentine ; Stimulants. Mustard over region of liver. KsKNEL Lameness : Bheumatism. Castor oil. Clysters. Alkalies. Salicylic acid. Flannel wrung out of hot water to joints or loins. Soap and turpentine liniment. Potassium iodide. Tonics. Comfortable dry lodgings. Knees, Broken ; see Broken Knees. Laminitis : Acute Founder of Horses. Shoes removed. Hot fomentations and poultices. Bleed from toe. Aconite; Nitre, full doses. Laxative clysters. Vapour bath. Blisters to coronet. Frog setons. Neurotomy. Lamp AS: Congestion of Gums and Palate of Horses from Teethins. Soft food. * Astringent wash. Scarify. Laryngitis: Inflammation of Larynx. Steaming of head and throat. BeUadonna and vaseline electuary. Hydrochloric acid and treacle gargle. Sulphurous acid inhalation. Aconite ; Belladonna. Calomel and opium. External stimulants. LABYNGITIS^Co»