44 STOCK-POISONING PLANTS (»F MONTANA. 



to warrant its u.se to the exclusion of other antidotes. In ease of 

 some of these substances the comparative slowness of the oxidation, 

 as observed in chemical experiments with the pure salt, does not war- 

 rant its use. It has been asserted that hypodermic injections of the 

 permanganate are of value in antidoting the effects of poisons which 

 have already passed into the general circulation. But from a purel}^ 

 theoretic standpoint this does not seem probable and, moreover, the 

 clinical results do not seem to warrant the statement. 



The value of permanganate of potash depends almost exclusively on 

 its strong oxidizing power. When taken into the stomach it is 

 reduced or destroyed more or less quickly according to the nature and 

 quantity both of the food and of the stomach contents in general. To 

 be at all efficacious as an antidote the solution must of course react 

 upon all or a great part of the poison before it acts upon the other 

 contents of the stomach. It is evident, therefore, that the more rap- 

 idlv it reacts upon any poisonous substance in the presence of the 

 other organic matter usually contained in the stomach, the more 

 effective it must be as an antidote for that substance. For instance, 

 Dr. William Moor' has shown b}^ experiment that if to a solution of 

 one grain of morphine sulphate, dissolved in an ounce of water, and 

 250 grains of the white of egg, one grain of the permanganate of 

 potash, dissolved in an ounce of water, be added, the morphine will 

 be immediately destroyed without the albumen l)eing affected. To 

 convince the medical fraternity of the practical value of the antidote 

 he semipublicly swallowed 8 grains of morphine sulphate followed 

 in about 80 seconds by 4 grains of potassium permanganate. No ill 

 effects were observed, although the dose taken would ordinarily have 

 proved fatal. In order to obtain any results with the antidote it is 

 absolutely necessary that the poison should be in the stomach or in the 

 intestinal canal when the antidote is given. It can not when taken 

 either into the blood or into the stomach react on the poison which has 

 already been absorbed into the general circulation unless, as modern 

 investigation has shown is sometimes the case, the poison is eliminated 

 from the blood by the cells in the glandular lining of the stomach. 

 In an investigation made by Prof. Edward Hitzig and quoted by 

 Dr. Moor, the former took from the stomach of a dog half of the 

 morphine which had been given it subcutaneously. As these poisons 

 are reabsorbed from the stomach and intestines and pass again into 

 the stomach, it is evidentl}^ advisable in such cases to repeat the admin- 

 istration of the antidote one or more times at short intervals (of about 

 a half hour), until all of the symptoms have disappeared. 



It was stated above that the permanganate of potash is destroyed in 

 the stomach more or less rapidl}" according to the nature and quantit}^ 

 -yi the material contained along with it. It is highly important to 



'New York Medical Reporter, vol. 45, pp. 200, 201. 1894. 



