482 



HEALTH AND DISEASE 



Grooms and other horsy persons introduce tobacco into the sheath 

 of horses and the vagina of mares under the impression that it incites 

 them to urinate. If it does so, it is only by its local irritant effect upon 

 the parts. 



Indian Hemp (Canndbis Indica.) In veterinary practice this 

 potent drug was first used by veterinary surgeons serving in India, and 

 would long since have been brought into general use but for the variable 

 strength in which it is produced, and the consequent uncertainty of its action. 



Fig. 434. Indian Hemp (Cannabis Tndica) 



1, Male flower. 2, Female flower. 3, Perianth 

 unrolled. 4, Fruit. 5, Longitudinal section of fruit. 

 6, Cross-section of fruit. 



Fig. 435. Calabar Bean (Physostigma venenosum) 



1, Pistil. 2, Appendage to style. 3, Bean. 4, Long 

 section of bean. 5, Cross-section of bean. 



Its action is antispasmodic, anodyne, and in large doses powerfully 

 narcotic. It is usually prescribed in the place of opium, or in combina- 

 tion with chloral and other sedatives. In controlling cerebral excitement 

 it stands higher than opium, and its effects are more lasting than those 

 of chloral. In experiments made upon healthy horses, it was observed 

 that some few of them manifested a preliminary period of excitement 

 so common to the human subject when under its influence. 



Calabar Bean. This product of the Niger and Old Calabar river 

 was known to the natives as a poison long before Europeans thought to 

 apply it to medicinal uses. 



