614 STAVES ACRE 



Pigs, grs. v. to grs. xv. ; dogs, gr. f to grs. iii. ; small dogs 

 and cats, gr. J to gr. ^. 



Santoninoxim is derived from santonin, for which it is 

 sometimes substituted, as larger doses may be given without 

 much risk of poisoning. It is said to kill the worms outright. 



Oil of chenopodium, a volatile oil got from chenopodium 

 ambrosioides, the American worm-seed, is a very useful 

 agent for destroying round worms (ascarides) in dogs. The 

 dose is H\j. to TT[v., given either on sugar, or in an emulsion 

 with castor oil. 



STAVESACRB SEEDS 



STAPHISAGRIJE SEMINA. The dried ripe seeds of Delphinium 

 staphisagria (B.P.). Nat. Ord. Ranunculacese. 



Stavesacre, or larkspur, is a stout biennial herb, two to 

 four feet high, growing throughout the south of Europe. 

 Its officinal oily seeds are brown, wrinkled, irregularly 

 triangular, about a quarter of an inch long and scarcely so 

 broad, and have a bitter, acrid, and nauseous taste. They 

 contain about one per cent, of several alkaloids, soluble in 

 ether and acetic acid, the most important being delphinine, 

 which resembles aconitine and veratrine, slows the pulse and 

 respiration, and paralyses the spinal cord ; and staphis- 

 agrine, resembling curare, paralysing the motor nerves and 

 arresting respiration. 



ACTIONS AND USES. The seeds are used for the destruction 

 of lice, and hence have been popularly termed louse seeds. 

 Their action is also exerted on the acari of mange and scab. 

 For such purposes one part of bruised seeds is boiled for two 

 hours with twenty to thirty parts of water, making up the 

 water to the quantity originally used. Such a solution 

 rubbed into the skin not only kills pediculi, but also destroys 

 their eggs. Ointments and liniments are made with one part 

 of powdered seeds heated with six or eight of vaseline or oil. 

 Strong preparations too freely applied, absorbed from 

 denuded surfaces or licked, as they are apt to be by dogs, are 

 liable to nauseate and prostrate. Occasionally they are 

 conjoined with sulphur and tar. 



