448 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



It is more or less strongly astringent in proportion to the strength 

 of the solution, and may be made to exert its influence on various external 

 and internal parts, as the mouth, throat, gullet, stomach, and bowels. 

 Blood and other albuminous fluids are coagulated by the salts of iron, and 

 this property is made use of in medicine to arrest haemorrhage or bleeding 

 both from internal organs and external parts. Its constringing effect leads 

 to its employment in obstinate cases of diarrhoea and catarrhal conditions, 

 of mucous membranes generally. 



By the administration of iron the faeces are blackened as a result of the 

 formation of sulphide of iron in the intestinal canal. With the horse we 

 have seldom those irritable conditions of the stomach which in the human 

 subject preclude the use of iron. Any existing difficulty in this direction 

 may be overcome by selecting the least irritating preparations, as the 

 saccharated carbonate and reduced iron. 



The chief value of iron is due to its action upon the red corpuscles, and 

 through them upon the organs and tissues of the body. It is therefore 

 prescribed in cases of wasting and mal-nutrition, and in haemorrhage to 

 arrest the flow of blood, as well as in the case of chronic discharges from 

 mucous membranes. It is also given in purpura and similar blood disorders. 



In combination w r ith other agents, as strychnine and arsenic, quinine 

 and vegetable bitters, iron is given as a nerve-tonic and muscle-builder. 

 With iodine it is prescribed for the removal of effusions, as those in the 

 chest cavity resulting from pleurisy, and for the reduction of glandular 

 swellings and bony deposits on the limbs and other parts of the body. 

 As an astringent application it is sometimes used for grease and applied to 

 indolent sores and ulcers. 



As an antidote in cases of arsenical poisoning, iron is used in the form 

 of hydrated oxide. 



DRUGS FOR REDUCING THE ALKALINITY OF THE BLOOD 



The chief of these are the salts of soda, potash, lime, and magnesia. 

 The potash salts in veterinary use are the carbonate, bicarbonate, nitrate, 

 acetate, chlorate, tartrate, iodide, and bromide. 



The potash salts have varied uses, and produce different effects accord- 

 ing to the preparations used and the dose prescribed. Thus the bicarbonate 

 is very largely used in some forms of dyspepsia, especially in those cases 

 where the acid secretion of the stomach is in excess and requires to be 

 neutralized; it is also employed as a febrifuge. The tartrate and acid 

 tartrate are slightly aperient in large doses. The nitrate is perhaps more 

 used in veterinary practice than any other drug in the pharmacopoeia, and 



