EXPERIMENTS 491 



dry ; the horse gaped occasionally, and stood perfectly 

 quiet ; after three hours he showed considerable nervous- 

 ness, and was restless when disturbed ; for six hours the 

 pulse continued weak and compressible, but the effects 

 gradually declined. 



Two grains, given subcutaneously, after fifteen minutes 

 raised the pulse 35 beats, and weakened it, and caused 

 dryness of the mouth, yawning, restlessness, and nervous- 

 ness. The animal was confused, misjudged distances, and 

 appeared under the influence of illusions ; the membrane 

 of the eye was injected. Occasional hiccough, tremulous- 

 ness, and twitching of the superficial muscles continued 

 for fourteen hours, when the symptoms gradually declined ; 

 but the pupils remained dilated for twenty-four hours. 

 Urine was frequently voided, and in increased amount ; 

 the mucus of the bowels and the bile were slightly aug- 

 mented, the skin and the respiratory functions were not 

 disturbed. 



These and other experiments demonstrate that the maxi- 

 mum stimulation of the heart results from doses insufficient 

 to produce nervous excitement. Medicinal doses seem to 

 dull the cerebro-spinal nervous system, but over-doses 

 cause increased sensibility to external impressions, wakeful- 

 ness, and, in extreme cases, delirium. 



F. Smith and C. Rutherford, experimenting on healthy 

 horses with liquor atropinse sulphatis, containing one grain 

 of the alkaloid to 100 of water, injected into the chest 

 quantities ranging from 15 to 30 minims without producing 

 any notable effects. Injections of 30 to 60 minims reduced 

 the pulse two or three beats, but had scarcely any effect 

 on the pupil. Injections of 120 to 180 minims slightly 

 slowed the pulse and rendered it softer, and increased the 

 size of the pupil. Most of the subjects were quiet, some 

 slightly sleepy, but all easily roused. Two experiments 

 were made by introducing intratraeheally T 3 F grain of 

 atropine sulphate, which caused immediately a gulp and 

 cough ; but the only further effects were, dryness of the 

 mouth and slightly increased fulness and quickening of 

 the pulse, which continued for about three quarters of an 

 hour. 



