COPPER 147 



Acidi salicyllci 3ss. 



Zinci oxidi 



Amyli aa 3vi. 



Petrolati §1. 3v. 



M. 



S. External use. 



Internal. — Zinc sulphate is the best and most prompt emetic for dogs 

 in many conditions, as poisoning. It should be given in tepid water. Zinc 

 oxide is occasionally prescribed in diarrhea, and empirically as a tonic 

 and antispasmodic in chorea and epilepsy. Zinc oxide may be given in 

 powder, pill, or dissolved in alkaline solutions. 



Zinc Valerate. See p. 388. 



Zinc Phosphide. See p. 182. 



Cuprum. 



(Copper is not used in the metallic state in medicine. ) 

 CuPHi SuxPHAs. Copper Sulphate. Cu So^ -)-5 H^O. (U. S. & B. P.) 



Synonym. — Cupric sulphate, blue vitriol, blue stone, E. ; cuprum sulfuricum 

 piirum, P. G. ; vitriol bleu, sulfate de culvre, Fr. ; kupfervitriol, blauer-vltriol, 

 schwefelsaures kupfer (kupferoxyd), G. 



Derivation. — Boil metallic copper and sulphuric acid together. 2 Cu -(- 2 Hj 

 SO4 = 2 CuS04-|-2 H2. Dissolve product in hot water and crystallize. 



Properties. — Deep blue, tricbnic crystals, or as a blue, granular powder; odor- 

 less, of a nauseous, metallic taste; slowly efflorescent in dry air; soluble in 25 

 parts of water; in 500 parts of alcohol; reaction acid. 



Incompatibles. — Mineral salts (except sulphates), alkalies and their car- 

 bonates, iodides, Ume water and vegetable astringents. 



Dose.—H. & C, 3i-ii, (4-8) ; Sh. & Sw., gr.xx-xl, (1.3-2.6) ; D., gr.i-ii, (.06-.12) ; 

 Emetic— D., gr.vi-xx, (.36-1.3). 



ACTION or COPPER SULPHATE. 



External. — Copper sulphate precipitates protein in solution and is 

 stimulant, astringent or caustic to mucous membranes or raw surfaces, 

 according to the strength applied. 



Internal. — In poisonous doses copper sulphate causes salivation, 

 vomiting, gastro-enteritis, and nervous symptoms (convulsions, paralysis 

 and delirium), and finally death from collapse. When injected intra- 

 venously copper salts lead to destruction of the blood, and fatty degen- 

 eration of the liver, kidneys and heart. Rarely does absorption from 

 the digestive tract cause poisoning, since the salt is either vomited, or 

 absorbed too slowly, or stored in the liver. The treatment consists in 

 emptying the stomach in animals which cannot, or do not, vomit, and the 

 use of magnesia, tannin or yellow prussiate of potash, as antidotes; and 

 demulcents, as milk and white of egg, together with opium. Large doses 

 are emetic to the dog, but should not be used except in phosphorus poi- 

 soning. Smaller doses are astringent in the digestive tract. The copper 

 absorbed from the alimentary tract lodges in the liver, kidneys, and thy- 

 roid gland. It is eliminated slowly in the urine, bile, intestinal secretions, 

 saliva and milk. Copper is a normal constituent of the tissues and has a 

 strong affinity for hemoglobin attaching itself, on absorption, to the cor- 

 puscles as cuprohemol. 



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