568 The Philippine Journal of Science 1923 



unusual effects so often manifested be accounted for in some 

 other manner? The experiments that form the subject of this 

 paper were undertaken with the object of inquiring into this 

 phase of the matter and of endeavoring, if possible, to throw 

 some light of a definite nature upon this interesting but rather 

 moot question. 



REVIEW OF LITERATURE 



The therapeutic dose of strychnine sulphate as given by 

 veterinary textbooks falls between 0.0003 and 0.003 of a gram 

 (M:oo to %o of a grain). Udall(l3) gives 0.001 to 0.003 gram 

 (Vgo to Vi:o grain) as the dose for internal administration and 

 one-half of this amount for subcutaneous use. Brumley(i) 

 gives 0.00104 to 0.00302 gram (% 2 to V 21 grain) 1 and Froh- 

 ner,(3) 0.001 to 0.003 gram (y T0 to y 25 grain). Dun(2) fixes 

 the maximum at 0.00065 to 0.0013 gram 1 (y 10 o to y 50 grain) 

 and writes that tablets and lamellae containing 0.001 to 0.0006 

 gram 1 (% to y 100 grain) of strychnine sulphate are con- 

 venient for subcutaneous injections. Winslow(i4) gives 0.0003 

 to 0.0015 gram (y 20 o to y i0 grain) advising that the larger 

 doses are to be given when administered orally. He states 

 further that these doses may be given every three hours without 

 producing poisoning by accumulation. On account of the ex- 

 treme susceptibility occasionally observed, particularly in dogs, 

 Winslow,d4) Udall,(l3) and Frohner(3) advise that all doses 

 should be apportioned to the body weight, and fix the dose at 

 0.0001 gram (% 00 grain) per kilogram of body weight for sub- 

 cutaneous injections. 



Concerning the elimination of strychnine there is more dis- 

 crepancy among the various reports. On the one hand, Lan- 

 der (9) is authority for the statement that the elimination of 

 strychnine is not complete even in three days; Plugge(H) states 

 that although strychnine appears in the urine two hours after 

 its injection traces may be found as late as the eighth day; 

 this statement is supported by Winslow,(i4) who says that 

 strychnine may be found in the urine from three to eight days 

 after its administration. On the other hand, according to Krat- 

 ter,(8) the excretion of strychnine is complete at the expiration 

 of forty-eight hours. In two experiments performed by Hale, (4 ) 

 on a normal healthy human adult weighing 160 pounds (about 

 73 kilograms), with strychnine sulphate given by the stomach 

 he found complete elimination after five days. Mostrom and 



