510 The Philippine Journal of Science 1923 



This is a phase of the action of the drug that should be given 

 further study. 



Heart. — No untoward cardiac symptoms were noted during 

 treatment, even in cases showing slight cardiac irregularities. 



RESPIRATORY AND NERVOUS SYSTEMS 



Nothing was observed that could be attributed to the direct 

 action of the drug. 



URINARY SYSTEM 



Beyond the transient appearance of casts after treatment we 

 secured no evidence of irritant action of the drug on the kid- 

 neys; this notwithstanding we administered it to subjects show- 

 ing a mild degree of renal disturbance. 



DIGESTIVE SYSTEM 



Our observations yielded us abundant evidence that carbon 

 tetrachloride exerts a stimulative action upon the liver. We 

 observed nothing, however, that led us to suspect that this 

 effect is more than transient under the doses administered by 

 us. This effect was made evident through a hypersecretion of 

 bile in the stools in many instances and, in one instance, possi- 

 bly, by the discovery of bile in the urine of a subject twenty- 

 four hours after treatment. In no instance was complaint made 

 of pain or tenderness referred to the liver. 



The drug also has an irritant effect on the intestinal tract; 

 although few subjects complained of distress. This is ex- 

 pressed by the production, in some cases, of rather excessive 

 quantities of mucus, sometimes accompanied by abdominal pain. 

 The relations of these phenomena to the quantity of drug taken 

 are not very constant. The hypersecretion of both bile and 

 mucus may persist for two or three days, but usually it sub- 

 sides within twenty-four hours after the administration of the 

 drug. 



On the basis of the foregoing and other observations we have 

 made, we are led to conclude the following: 



CONCLUSIONS 



The same care should be exercised in prescribing carbon tetra- 

 chloride as is observed in the administration of any potent drug 

 that may work harm in the presence of contraindications or in 

 excessive quantities. In other words, it always should be given 

 under competent medical supervision. 



Doses of pure carbon tetrachloride, computed on the basis of 

 1 cubic centimeter of the drug to each 5.5 kilograms of body 

 weight, are safe in the absence of the contraindications we have 



