EXPERIMENTS 549 



expiration. Convulsions, mainly due to asphyxia, some- 

 times precede death, which generally results from failure 

 of respiration. The brain and special senses are unaffected. 

 The pupil, which in the earlier stages of poisoning is some- 

 times dilated and sometimes contracted, during the later 

 stages remains dilated. Aconite is removed from the body 

 chiefly in the urine, augmenting both its solid and fluid 

 parts. 



Toxic EFFECTS. Aconite exerts tolerably uniform effects 

 upon all animals, especially when injected hypodermically. 

 Horses have been poisoned within two or three hours by 120 

 to 150 minims of Fleming's tincture, given by the mouth. 

 Cattle, hoAvever, sometimes receive large doses without fatal 

 effects. Dogs weighing 40 Ibs. are killed usually within half 

 an hour by 50 to 60 minims of Fleming's tincture ; cats by 

 10 minims. But half these doses are liable to produce 

 alarming symptoms. Full medicinal doses sometimes 

 leave untoward effects ; pulse, blood-pressure, and breath- 

 ing may continue reduced for ten or twelve hours, while 

 nausea and impaired appetite may remain for several 

 days. 



The following experiments on animals were made at the 

 Edinburgh Veterinary College by Barlow and Dun : 



A black mare, 15| hands high, previously used for slow work, and in 

 good health, got, at 12.40 P.M., one fluid drachm of Fleming's tincture of 

 aconite. At 1 she was nauseated, had eructations of frothy mucus, with 

 attempts to vomit, which increased till 1.30, when she went down. The 

 pulse, which was 35 before administration of the poison, was now 60, and 

 very weak ; she continued down till 7 P.M., when she was destroyed, in 

 consequence of being unable to stand. 



An aged chestnut cab horse, 16 hands high, and useless from quittor, was 

 tied up for ten minutes, to ensure perfect quietude. The pulse was then 

 found to be 56, and the respirations 12. The animal had a good appetite 

 and regular evacuations. At 10 o'clock he got ninety minims of Fleming's 

 tincture of aconite in a linseed meal ball, the head being still kept tied up 

 for fifteen minutes. In half an hour he fed greedily on potatoes and beans, 

 but no change was observable. At 1 P.M. he got fifty minims of the same 

 tincture in four ounces of water. At 1.15 he appeared to be making 

 continual efforts to swallow something ; his mouth was closed ; and, after 

 such attempts at swallowing, air and fluid were regurgitated up the gullet, 

 causing a rattling noise, as of air-bubbles mixed with water. At 1.20 the 

 pulse was 50 ; symptoms of actual nausea appeared ; the muscles on the 

 side of the neck and throat were contracted, the muzzle brought near to the 

 breast, the lips retracted, and the mouth slightly opened. Fits of retching 

 came on every two minutes, and increased in violence during the next ten 

 or fifteen minutes. 1.30. During each paroxysm of retching the mouth 



