438 VEGETABLE DRUGS 



Kidneys and Elimination. — The urinary flow is some- 

 what increased, especially in fever. The cause is also 

 uncertain; neither is the mode of elimination understood. 



Toxicology. — The minimum fatal dose of aconite is about 

 3 i. for the horse ; gr.xx. for medium sized dogs ; and gr.v.-vi. 

 for cats. The smallest fatal dose recorded in man is a tea- 

 spoonful of tincture of aconite, equivalent to about gr.xxx. of 

 the crude drug. The minimum lethal quantity of aconitine 

 is gr.^ for man, and about the same for cats. For dogs it 

 is from gr.J to gr.J. The writer has found that cats will 

 live from fifteen minutes to half an hour after receiving the 

 smaller deadly doses under the skin, but large doses produce 

 death immediately by paralyzing the heart. Large thera- 

 peutic doses cause, in horses, restlessness, pawing the 

 ground, shaking of the head, champing of the jaws, increased 

 secretion of salivary mucus, and attempts at swallowing, 

 probably owing to the peculiar sense of irritation produced 

 by the drug in the throat. Nausea and retching are observed 

 in all animals, while vomiting occurs in dogs and cats. The 

 pulse and respiration are weakened and generally retarded. 

 After lethal doses these symptoms are intensified. We 

 observe violent retching, frequent and difficult attacks of 

 swallowing, ejection of frothy mucns from the mouth, 

 copious sweating in horses; pulse first weak and infrequent, 

 later rapid, running and almost imperceptible ; respiration 

 slow, interrupted, and shallow, and reduction of tempera- 

 ture. Death is preceded by muscular twitchings in the 

 horse and loss of strength, so that the subject falls and is 

 unable to rise ; or in the case of cats and rabbits, the animals 

 jump vertically into the air, topple over backwards and go 

 into convulsions, lying helpless on their side. The labial 

 muscles are retracted and the lips drawn back, showing the 

 teeth covered with foam; The face is anxious, the eyeballs 

 are retracted or protruded, and the pupils more commonly 

 dilated. Death takes place usually from asphyxia, occasion- 

 ally from syncope. The post mortem appearances are 

 simply those resulting from asphyxia. 



