393 VEGETABLE DRUGS 



hours and could not be aroused. Temperature fell to 92.5° F. Respiration regu- 

 lar; pulse from 42 to 30 during experiment. 



Gelding, 1050 pounds ; in gooij condition. Given 45 cc. of fluidextract intra- 

 venously. In tiiree minutes rearing, kiclcing, snorting and going on like one mad. 

 He ran back and forth along one side) of his stall like a caged tiger with sweat 

 rolling off him . and cutting and bruising himself, being apparently anesthetic. 

 He endeavored to bite or strike anyone approaching and remained delirious and 

 excitable for twelve Jo twenty-four hours. 



Gelding, 650 pounds, 30 cc. of fluidextract injected into jugular. In four 

 minutes became unsteady; in twelve minutes he was asleep; in half an hour he 

 fell and so slept for eighteen hours. Temperature dropped to 91° F. from nor- 

 mal; the pulse was accelerated and the respiration slightly so. 



Muir deduces from his experiments that as much as 50 cc. (§iss.) 

 of the fluidextract may be given with safety intravenously. 



In the human being, cannabis induces very peculiar mental phe- 

 nomena, including hallucinations, a sense of double consciousness, and 

 great prolongation of time, so that minutes are drawn out into hours, and 

 hours into days. Sometimes sexual excitement, exaltation, and hilarious- 

 ness are exhibited; at other times a dreadful premonition of impending 

 death seizes the human subject. The drug is not fatal, except in colos- 

 sal doses, but the effects may appear alarming. Intrajugular injection 

 into a small dog, of five drams of the fluidextract (10 minims of which 

 proved active in man) only caused death after several hours (Hare). 

 Preparations of Indian hemp have varied greatly in strength, many 

 being entirely inert, and- this fact constitutes one of the principal objec- 

 tions to its use. This drawback is now abated by the physiological tests 

 required by the 1916 U. S. P. 



Uses.- — Cannabis is indicated for the relief of: 1, pain; 2, spasm; 

 3, nervous irritability. It is not precisely comparable to morphine as an 

 analgesic, on account of the slowness of its action, but is superior to 

 opium in not causing constipation, anorexia and indigestion. In relieving 

 pain and producing deep narcosis for operation it is, however, superior 

 to opium in horses. It is used in single doses of an ounce of the extract 

 in enteritis and colic and in laminitis, and often combined with chloral. 

 The permanency of the action of Indian hemp suggests its use in condi- 

 tions of long continued pain or spasm. In thirty-five cases of tetanus in 

 the human being, trea^ted with cannabis, twenty-one recovered and four- 

 teen died. The results reported in veterinary practice have been almost 

 as favorable; over half the cases have recovered when subjected to this 

 medication. No drug, however, approaches magnesium sulphate in its 

 success in the cure of tetanus. Cannabis indica is occasionally employed 

 as a sedative for irritable cough and to relieve the spasms of chorea and 

 quiet the delirium of parturient apoplexy. It is also very serviceable in 

 bladder irritation and cystitis in overcoming spasm. 



The intrajugular injection of 10 to 15 mils of a reliable fluidextract 

 of cannabis indica in horses will produce a rapid and safe general anes- 

 thesia for surgical operations. The animal will often lie down and is both 

 relaxed and unconscious for a considerable period. Operations on horses 

 under cannabis narcosis are now commonly done by many practitioners. 

 Palmer afiirms, however, that intravenous injections of cannabis some- 



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