INTENTIONAL POISONING. 407 
CHAPTER II. 
INTENTIONAL POISONING. 
ConsIDERING the poisons which might be given to dogs, the most power- 
ful is the cyanide of potassium. ‘This is identical with prussic acid, and acts 
precisely like it. It isa white, granular powder. When given to dogs it is 
very generally intentional ; and it is quite as merciful a means of destruction 
as any other known, producing as it does a painless death, and generally acting 
fatally within a minute. It is the poison commonly employed by officials in 
cities whose duty it is to weed out unlicensed dogs ; and in using it they merely 
drop a small quantity on the tongue. There is no antidote for this poison ; 
and considering its almost instantaneous action, one could not be used if found. 
The symptoms of strychnia poisoning have been considered at length with 
Convulsions, therefore it is not necessary to describe them here. At once they 
are noted, if an emetic can be procured without any delay it should be admin- 
istered. Then the caretaker should immediately begin to force common lard 
down the throat of the sufferer, and persist until he has succeeded in disposing 
in that way of a goodly quantity — indeed a pound if possible and the dog is 
of the largest breeds. If there must be even a few moments’ delay with an 
emetic, and the lard is at hand, the latter should be relied upon. 
It is a safe rule always to empty the stomach when a suspicion that it holds 
poison exists, unless an absolutely infallible antidote can be as quickly obtained 
and administered as an emetic. The results of a series of experiments 
conducted on dogs have seemed to show that simple lard is an antidote for 
strychnia. But while it is doubtless of great value and efficacious ina large 
proportion of cases of poisoning by that drug, as yet the experience with it has 
not been sufficiently varied and extensive to warrant implicit confidence in 
it as an antidote. Hence the advice that an emetic be given first, if possible, 
without delay. If one has been administered and vomiting occurs, the lard 
treatment should be stopped only during the expulsive efforts of the patient; 
and as soon as they have ceased, be as vigorously applied as before. 
Convulsions indicate that at least some of the poison has left the stomach 
and entered the blood. How long a time must elapse before such change has 
taken place is problematical, and depends upon the existing conditions — 
namely, whether or not the stomach contained much food when the poison 
entered it— and it might be a little less than half an hour, or several hours. 
