DIRECTIONS FOR USiJSO FEKMANaA^ ATE OF POTASH. 47 



the poison before it is absorbed. It would ))e advisable, on account of 

 the coarse plant particles which are found in an animal's stomach and 

 the consequent slow process of extraction, that the permanganate and 

 aluminum mixture should be administered again after an interval of 

 perhaps a half hour, but this did not seem to be necessary in our 

 experiments. The necessity should, in each case, be determined by the 

 effect of the previous dose. If the animal is at first relieved and then 

 succumbs again to the symptoms the dose should be repeated. 



DIRECTIONS FOK USING PERMANGANATE. 



In case of poisoning by plants, especially l)y death camas and the 

 larkspur, a solution containing equal weights of permanganate of 

 ])()tash and sulphate of aluminum should be administered at once. 

 For adult sheep, take, according to the weight of the animal, from 

 5 to 10 grains of each of these compounds dissolved in water and 

 give as a drench. The same dose should be given to hogs. Fifteen 

 to -20 grains are required for horses and from 30 to 50 for cattle. 

 These doses are for adults; for very young animals (from 2 to -4 

 months old) the dose should be made proportionately smaller. In 

 making these solutions the water used should be sufficient for drench- 

 ing purposes and may \ary from a pint to a quart, or even more. 

 The water should be ])ure well or spring water which is not too 

 strongly alkaline; the chemicals should be very finely powdered to 

 insure rapid and complete solution, and care should be taken that they 

 are entirely dissolved before the solution is used. For emergency in 

 case a large number of animals should be poisoned at the same time, 

 five hundred or a thousand doses of the dry finely powdered salts 

 should l)e kept at hand for immediate use. There is little danger 

 even within the wide limits given in the last paragraphs of adminis- 

 tering an excessive dose of this antidote. In one case as much as Hj% 

 grains of each salt was given within one and one-half houi's to a 

 2-pound rabbit without causing any ill effect. It is very necessary, 

 however, to observe one precaution. All of the salt mixture given to 

 the animal must he in solution. The solid particles, if swallowed, will 

 stick to the walls of the throat or stomach and cause intense irritation 

 and may kill the animal. A few fatal cases of human poisoning are 

 on record which were caused in this way. Since the solution of the 

 perpianganate of potash, owing to the intensity of its purplish color 

 even in dilute solutions, is almost opaque, the onlv practical way to 

 note whether all of the salt is in solution or not is to carefully pour off 

 the liquid occasionally after it has been allowed to .stand a minute or 

 two and to see if there is still a crystalline residue. As neither of the 

 salts are very rapidly soluble in water, especially when not finely 

 powdered, it may require several minutes before they are completely 

 dissolved. 



