326 INORGANIC AGENTS 



death. The subacute form of poisoning may ensue and 

 prove fatal, or, owing to the volatile character of the drug, 

 complete recovery may take place within one-half or three- 

 quarters of an hour. Occasionally dogs continue to be 

 paralyzed for several days and get well. The minimum 

 fatal dose recorded in man is ^^ of a grain of pure acid, or 

 about 50 drops of the medicinal solution. Four to five 

 drachms of the diluted acid frequently, but not invariably, 

 cause subacute poisoning and death, in horses, within an 

 hour. One to two drachms of the pharmacopoeial prepara- 

 tion usually kills dogs within ten minutes. 



Prussic acid is commonly used to destroy the domestic 

 animals. Two to four drachms of the medicinal acid are to 

 be given to dogs and cats of the ordinary size, and certain, 

 painless, and rapid death will occur if a fresh preparation 

 of the drug can be obtained. The unopened, half-ounce 

 vial, kept by druggists, is recommended. Big dogs, horses, 

 and the other larger animals are not killed rapidly, nor 

 sometimes at all, by great quantities of the diluted acid. 

 Hence, shooting is a more humane and preferable mode of 

 death for them. In the experience of the writer, one to two 

 drachms of prussic acid saturated with potassium cyanide, 

 failed to kill a horse, when injected directly into the jugular 

 vein. The odor of the acid lingers about the animal for a 

 few hours after death ; the eyes Jire fixed and staring ; the 

 pupils dilated; the teeth are clinched tight and covered 

 with froth, while the blood is of a very dark color. The 

 treatment embraces emptying the stomach by large doses 

 of promptly acting emetics, or by the stomach tube, or 

 pump ; atropine, ether, and brandy subcutaneously, and 

 inhalations of ammonia, together with artificial respiration, 

 and hot and cold douches upon the chest. 



Uses. — Prussic acid is indicated for three therapeutic 

 purposes : 



1. To relieve gastric pain and vomiting, by its paralyz- 

 ing action upon the peripheral sensory nerves of the 

 stomach. 



