212 POISONS. 



mals prove perfectly harmless to others. Henbane (hyoscy- 

 amus niger, Linn.), which is eaten with impunity by horses, 

 oxen, goats/ and swine, proves most baneful to the canine 

 genus. Opium, on the contrary, may be taken in consider- 

 able quantities, by dogs, without serious injury ; but it 

 rarely fails to prove fatal to the human subject. The phel- 

 landrium aquaticum kills horses, while oxen devour it with- 

 out harm. Poisons have, therefore, been divided into rela- 

 tive and common, or such as are hurtful only to particular 

 classes of animals ; and those which prove destructive to all, 

 as the several oxides of mercury, arsenic, and copper; the 

 concentrated acids, &c. &c. 



Dogs are not unfrequently poisoned either by accident or 

 design ; and as the circumstance is sometimes discovered in 

 time for relief to be afforded, so a knowledge of counter poi- 

 sons, and of the general treatment proper on such occasions, 

 form material branches of canine pathology ; and as also, 

 when no relief can be obtained, it is still very desirable for 

 the ends of justice (when wilful poisoning is suspected) to 

 be enabled to establish the fact of administering, and of the 

 nature of the subject administered; so an acquaintance with 

 the various substances commonly employed for this purpose, 

 the symptoms produced by them, and the appearances that 

 the parts acted on present after death, are necessary parts of 

 the canine medical practice. 



The limits of the present work will necessarily confine me 

 to noticing such articles only, as, by their popularity, are most 

 likely to be made use of purposely to destroy, and such as 

 chance may, with some probability, throw in the way of the 

 animals themselves. Those who wish for further information 

 relative to the effects produced on dogs by various poisonous 

 agents, may consult Abbe Fontana, Orfila, Mr. Brodie, 

 &c. &c., who have sacrificed more dogs in their rage for ex- 

 periment than humanity dares to think of. 



Poisons are usually divided into mineral, vegetable, and 

 animal ; in which order I shaU notice them. 



