igoo-i.] Observations on Blood Pressure. 227 



stopped, and the pulse was thirty-eight. One minute later artificial 

 respiration was commenced. Five minutes later the animal was placed 

 horizontal, with the result that the pressure rose slightly. The finger 

 was introduced into the glottis. With each artifical respiration a spasm 

 of the depressor muscles of the lower jaw was felt. This spasm gradu- 

 ally spread to the muscles of respiration, and eight minutes after the 

 administration of the H.C.N, the spasm evolved itself into natural 

 respiration. This stopped two minutes later, and artificial respiration 

 this time failed to restore it. The animal died 19)^ minutes after the 

 administration of the H.C.N. This animal "died cured" so far as the 

 chloroform was concerned. 



Bearing in mind the extreme uncertainty of the strength of prepara- 

 tions of H.C.N., I took special care to procure from a reliable source a 

 fresh supply for each of the experiments. Scheele's acid is roughly 

 double the strength of the dilute Hydrocyanic Acid of the British Phar- 

 macopoeia. I used the drug both by the mouth and hypodermically,and 

 seemed to get about the same results by either method. My experiments 

 taken in conjunction with the more numerous ones of Professor Hobday 

 would suggest that in true cases of chloroform poisoning, when the 

 respiration has stopped or seems likely to do so, it would be well to try 

 the use of a medicinal dose of this powerful drug. It could be given, 

 hypodermically or by the mouth, as an adjunct to artificial respiration 

 and other restoratives. Cyanide of potassium would be the most 

 suitable preparation to keep on hand for such emergencies, being a 

 more staple body than the solution of acid. The B.P. dose of the dilute 

 acid is 2 to 6 minims, and that of the U.S. P. i to 15 minims. 

 Professor Hobday recommended a dose of i minim of Scheele's acid 

 to seven pounds of body weight. For a man weighing, say 140 pounds, 

 according to this the dose would be 20 minims of Scheele's acid ; 

 that is 40 minims of the dilute acid. Although such a dose appears 

 to be safe in animals, I should very much hesitate to recommend it in 

 practice even in an emergency ; but the full B.P, dose of 6 minims 

 could be employed with absolute safety, and that of the U.S.P., viz., 

 15 minims of the dilute acid, might be used if necessary. Forty- 

 nine minims is the smallest fatal dose of which I can find any record.^ 



Atropine. — The action of this drug has been very thoroughly and 

 repeatedly studied of late, and my experiments do little but confirm the 

 results which others have obtained. Atropine has been termed by 

 Binz^ " the most powerful of all stimulants " ; Wood and Cerna'' have 



1 Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence. 



2 Lectures on Pharmacology Binz, Vol. I., p. 93. 



3 Journal of Physiology, 1892, p. 882. 



