294 Veteriyiary Medicine. 



There may follow complete amaurosis, insensibility to pricking- 

 of the skin, and even paralysis or coma. Hypersesthesia may 

 also be temporarili' present. 



Course. Remissions and exacerbations usually alternate, the 

 duration of the former furnishing some criterion by which to es- 

 tablish a favorable prognosis. Death may take place in 24 hours 

 or it may be delayed for several days. Recovery is usually 

 heralded by the resumption of defecation and urination, and the 

 return of appetite. It is liable to be at first only j^artial, some of 

 the senses remaining dull, or a general stupor persisting. 



Diagnosis. In all such forms of poisoning there is the history 

 of the ingestion of the toxic matters, and in any suspicious 

 looking cases a careful examination of the food should be made. 

 From meningo-encephalitis the presence of the abdominal disorder 

 will serve to identify and to incriminate the food. 



Lesions. These varj' much with the poison. There is always, 

 however, inflammation of the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, 

 usually with eccliymosis, and infiltration of the sub-mucosa. 

 The contents of the bowels are imperfectly digested, the mesen- 

 teric glands congested and enlarged, the liver congested and 

 softened, and the brain and its meninges hyperaemic or infiltrated. 

 The leucine and tyrosine present in the urine during the acute 

 attack is said to disappear when improvement .sets in (Pellagi, 

 Azzaroli j. 



Treatment. The first object must be the removal or neutraliz- 

 ing of the poison. In some instances the stomach pump or tube 

 might be tried. Usually one mu.st fall back on antiferments such 

 as naphthol, naphthalin, salol, salicylic acid, and above all iodide 

 of potassium. The last checks the growth of the fungi or bacteria 

 and favors elimination of the toxins. It may be given freely to 

 act on the kidne3^s. Creolin, i)^ drachm, repeated three times a 

 day has been found effective (Albrecht). In addition the action 

 of the bowels may be solicited by full doses of sulphate of .soda 

 and abundance of water. 



When the brain is implicated Cadeac recommends bleeding as 

 an eliminating as well as a sedative measure. In any case u.se cold 

 water, snow or ice to the head, elevation of the head, and purga- 

 tives which may as a rule be doubled. Pota.ssium iodide or other 

 antiseptics should be pushed, and diuresis as well as a relaxed 



