POULTRY MATERIA :MEDICA 237 



Properties — A colorless or more or less yellowish, oily trans- 

 parent liquid, without odor or taste; or giving off when heated, a 

 faint odor of petroleum. 



Use — As a vehicle for other drugs in the preparation of ointments. 



PHENOL (Carbolic Acid) 



Source — Obtained from crude carbolic acid by agitation with 

 caustic soda, heating to 338° F. and adding hydrochloric acid; then 

 by agitation with sodium chlorid, digestion with calcium chlorid 

 and distillation at a temperature between 336° and 374° F. and 

 finally by crystallization, phenol results. 



Properties — Colorless, interlaced or separate, needle-shaped crys- 

 tals, or a white crystalline mass, sometimes acquiring a reddish tint. 

 It has a characteristic and somewhat aromatic odor and when it is 

 greatly diluted with water has a sweetish taste. It goes into solu- 

 tion with a very small amount of water. 



Action — An antiseptic, and in five per cent solutions it is a para- 

 siticide. 



Use — As an intestinal antiseptic, use one to two teaspoonfuls to 

 each gallon of water. As a spray for poultry houses, use one to 

 five ounces to the gallon of water. 



PODOPHYLIN (May apple) 



Source — Obtained from the roots of the may apple. 



Properties — A fine non-crystallizable powder. It Is yellowish in 

 color and possesses a peculiar, faintly bitter taste. 



Action — A powerful, though slow, acting cathartic. In experi- 

 ments on baby chicks, one-eighth grain doses proved fatal in 42 out 

 of 43 tests. 



Indications — Constipation. 



Dose — For adult fowl, one-fourth grain. 



POTASSIUM DICHROMATE 



Properties — It is a reddish-yellow crystalline potash product. 

 Use — A pale, straw-colored solution in water is astringent and is 

 indicated in sore throat or sore mouth. 



POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE 



Source — Caustic potash, chlorate of potassium and black oxid of 

 manganese are fused together. 



Properties — Slender, monoclinic prisms, of a dark purple color, 

 odorless, and having a taste first of sweet but afterwards disagree- 

 able and astringent. Permanent in dry air. 



Action — An intestinal antiseptic. 



Indications — In contagious bowel diseases, as fowl cholera. Make 

 drinking water lightly purple. About one ounce to four gallons of 

 water. 



PYRETHRUM (Persian insect powder) 



Source — The powdered flowers of Pi/rethrum roseus. 

 Properties — A coarse, greenish-yellow, pungent powder. 

 Use — Destroys fleas and lice. 



Indication — May be used to dust In nests and on birds for lice. 

 Only the pure product will give satisfactory results, and too liberal 

 quantities should not be employed. Some depressing results have 

 been observed when used too freely upon birds. 



