QUIETS IRRITABILITY AND CAUSES SLEEP 383 



four to six ounces when given by the mouth or rectum, but 

 one-third these quantities is fatal when introduced in- 

 travenously. Cattle are affected in much the same manner, 

 and by similar doses. The lethal dose for dogs is two to 

 six drachms. In them preliminary excitement is more 

 marked than in horses or cattle. 



The treatment of poisoning consists in maintaining the 

 temperature by warm clothing, hot applications, stimulants, 

 and hot coffee. Although chloral is an antidote to strych- 

 nine, the antagonism of strychnine to chloral is. not so 

 marked. 



MEDICINAL ACTIONS. Chloral hydrate quiets irritability 

 and causes sleep. Conjoined with morphine, it is prescribed 

 to relieve gastro-intestinal irritation and spasm, but as it is 

 a topical irritant it must not be used where there is conges- 

 tion or inflammation. Small doses are serviceable in canine 

 asthma, and in violent paroxysmal coughing, both in dogs 

 and horses. It quiets the excitability and spasms of chorea, 

 epilepsy, and hysteria, and temporarily relieves those of 

 tetanus and rabies. It antagonises the tetanic convulsions 

 of strychnine. Administered to rabbits along with lethal 

 doses of strychnine, sleep is produced, and the creature 

 recovers. Chloral is also antagonistic to physostigmine, 

 but to act as an effectual antidote the slower-acting chloral 

 must be given before, at the same time, or within two 

 minutes after these quickly-acting convulsants. It has 

 been given with benefit in the outset of those cases of 

 parturient toxaemia in cows in which there is intense nervous 

 excitement, and violent cramp of the muscles of the hind 

 extremities. Pugh (Sevenoaks) prescribes chloral in all 

 cases of undue fermentation in the digestive tract, and finds 

 that large doses are tolerated in colic and milk fever. 

 Conjoined with bromides, it is indicated in cases of menin- 

 gitis. A like combination abates the sleeplessness fre- 

 quently occurring in canine distemper, and allays irritability 

 and straining in disorders of the intestines and urino-genital 

 organs. 



French veterinarians use it as an anaesthetic, injecting 

 a solution into the peritoneal cavity. Kaufmann declares 

 that it yields to no other anaesthetic when injected in- 



