498 THEOBROMINE AND DIURETIN 



paresis. It hence steadies and strengthens the quick 

 action of the weak heart in exhausting diseases, thus acting 

 like digitalis, but more promptly and with more notable 

 diuresis. As a nerve stimulant, caffeine has been given in 

 indigestion in horses, milk-fever in cows, and to dogs 

 prostrated with distemper. It is excreted in the urine and 

 is a diuretic, increasing both the amount of the urinary 

 solids and fluids, but especially the latter. It is prescribed 

 in cardiac, hepatic, and renal dropsies, and is used as an 

 antidote for the cadaver alkaloids and ptomaines, for the 

 paralysis of curare, and for the narcoses of morphine, 

 chloroform, and alcohol. Coffee is not identical in action 

 with caffeine, for besides 0*50 of the alkaloid, it contains 

 aromatic oils and tannic acid. Tea, well diluted with milk, 

 is sometimes serviceable for horses, and still more so for 

 foals, calves, and dogs reduced by acute disease. 



DOSES, etc. For horses and cattle, grs. xxx. to grs. cxx. ; 

 for dogs, according to size, gr. ss. to grs. ij. When swallowed, 

 caffeine is liable to produce gastro-intestinal irritation, and 

 hence should be given hypodermically in the minimum doses 

 mentioned. Hypodermic injection : caffeine, grs. xxx. ; 

 sodium benzoate, grs. xxx. ; distilled water, 3J SS - Caffeine 

 citrate, doses for horses and cattle, 39- to 3J V - ; for dogs, 

 gr. i. to grs. vj., according to the patient's weight. 



Theobromine (Dimethyl-xanthine) is the active principle 

 of cacao seeds (Theobroma cacao), which also contain about 

 45 per cent, of the concrete oil, cacao butter. Theobromine 

 is a white crystalline powder, with a bitter taste, nearly 

 insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether. It is very slightly 

 irritant to the digestive mucous membrane, has little if any 

 influence on blood-pressure, and is a prompt and powerful 

 diuretic, directly stimulating the renal epithelium. In 

 cardiac oedema and ascites of the dog, grs. iv. to grs. xxx., 

 divided into four or six doses, in pill, syrup, or powder, may 

 be given daily for five or six days ; and after an interval the 

 medicine may be repeated if required. 



Diuretin, a compound of sodium theobromine and sali- 

 cylate of soda, is frequently preferred to theobromine as a 

 diuretic. It is freely soluble in water, and may be prescribed 

 in the same doses as theobromine. 



