Botanic Drugs 



vomiting in some cases. Absorption occurs prin- 

 cipally in the duodenum, being retarded in disease 

 of the liver and bowel. Elimination is by the kid- 

 neys and is rapid, most of the alkaloid passing out 

 unchanged, only a small portion being oxidized. 

 So rapid is elimination that it is rare for the blood- 

 serum, even under heavy dosage, to carry over 1 

 per cent of the drug: more than this damages the 

 cells of the kidney. 



In medicinal dosage quinine has little influence on 

 nervous, circulatory, or respiratory organs; but 

 large doses produce excitation followed by depres- 

 sion: very large doses are sometimes convulsant. 

 Fatal poisoning manifests collapse, with failure of 

 the respiration and circulation. 



Cinchonism buzzing in the head and deafness 

 is an irregular manifestation, susceptibility thereto 

 being individual, though common. It is a peripheral 

 effect. 



Unstriped muscle is stimulated and then relaxed. 

 Rather irregularly the uterus may be stimulated to 

 contract. 



Quinine retards nitrogenous metabolism and less- 

 ens heat production. This latter is not compensated 

 by diminished heat loss. In this way quinine is 

 antipyretic. Small doses stimulate the production 

 of red corpuscles in the blood, as also the poly- 

 morphonuclears : large doses have the opposite 

 effect. 



THERAPEUTICS. Externally quinine is a little- 

 used antiseptic, employed from 0.5 per cent, in the 

 eye, as in conjunctivitis, to the powdered quinine 

 sulphate in full-strength application to chancroids. 

 Five per cent, strength has been used as an injec- 



