552 ACONITE 



Conjoined with a purgative, aconite is sometimes pre- 

 scribed in spasmodic colic. In enteritis in horses, within 

 five minutes after aconite tincture is swallowed the pulse 

 falls from 100 to 70 beats per minute, and this effect is 

 usually succeeded by gradual abatement of fever and pain. 

 Robertson prescribed in enteritis TT[v. Fleming's tincture, 

 and 3 SS - each of camphor and powdered opium in a pint of 

 gruel . R . Rutherford finds aconite specially useful in laminitis . 

 The patient, he urges, should be hobbled and thrown, 

 especially when all four feet are affected. A full dose, 

 followed by four or five half -doses, given at intervals of 

 one to two hours, abates violent cardiac action, fever, and 

 pain. In acute rheumatism it usually relieves both febrile 

 symptoms and local pain. In small, frequently repeated 

 doses, either alone or with hemlock, it usually controls 

 and steadies tumultuous, excessive, or irregular action of 

 the hypertrophied heart, especially in plethoric patients. 

 Although administered for other purposes, it frequently 

 leads to the expulsion of intestinal worms. 



Paralysing sensory nerves, aconite is used externally as a 

 local anodyne in neuralgic and rheumatic affections, and for 

 swollen and painful joints. As with other anodynes, it is 

 more effective in combating irritative than inflammatory 

 pain. It frequently relieves the itching of dermatitis and 

 eczematous eruptions in horses and dogs. More rapid 

 absorption and greater anodyne effect are secured by adding 

 a little chloroform to the aconite tincture or liniment. The 

 external application of aconite, it must be remembered, 

 demands, however, almost as much care as its internal use. 



DOSES, etc. The plant is not used in the crude state. 

 The extract, unless very carefully made from an alcoholic 

 solution, is apt to be of defective or irregular strength. 

 The B.P. tincture (1 in 20), now made with two-fifths of the 

 proportion of root ordered in the B.P. of 1885, is convenient 

 alike for internal and external use . For horses , the dose varies 

 from lT[xxv. to 3J- ; for cattle, f3ss. to f3iss. ; for sheep 

 and pigs, TT\x. to H|xx. ; for dogs, TT\ij. to H\x. Fleming's 

 tincture (1 in 1J), still used in veterinary practice, is twelve 

 times stronger than the B.P. tincture, and, on account of 

 its concentration, requires to be used carefully. The dose 



