314 VEGETABLE DRUGS 



tion and poisoning may occur when larger amounts are used externally 

 than can be administered with safety by the mouth. 



2. The latter remark applies also to the use of tobacco (^ecoctions 

 in killing parasites on the skin, such as the acari of mange and scab, to- 

 gether with lice and fleas. For sheep with full fleece tobacco is one of the 

 best curative and preventive agents in mange or scab as follows: Manu- 

 factured tobacco, 1 lb. ; flowers of sulphur, 1 lb. ; water, 5 gallons. The 

 tobacco is soaked in cold or tepid water for 24 hours and, on the night 

 before the dipping, the solution is brought to a boil for a minute and the 

 tobacco allowed to remain in it over night. Mix the sulphur in a pail to 

 the consistency of a gruel with water. Strain and press the liquid out 

 of the tobacco and add it to the sulphur and enough water to make 5 gal- 

 lons. After dipping, the sheep must be turned into a clean yard or barn 

 to drain. 



Internal. — 3. Tobacco has been employed as a motor depressant in 

 spasmodic disorders, such as asthma, tetanus (given by the rectum or 

 under the skin), and strychnine poisoning, but it is inferior to, and more 

 dangerous than, other drugs. 



4. The Germans prescribe tobacco to stimulate peristalsis in rumi- 

 nants, in doses of 2 ounces, with one-half pound of common salt and one 

 j)ound of Glauber's salt for cattle; and for sheep, % ounce, with 2 

 ounces of salt and 3 ounces of Glauber's salt. Tobacco was given for- 

 merly in colic and intestinal obstruction, but this use is obsolete. The 

 decoction (1 to 2 per cent.) may be injected into the rectum of horses, 

 in non-toxic quantities, to kill oxyurides and ascarides, and to excite 

 peristalsis and relieve spasm in colic. 



Tobacco smoke is sometimes used in the same manner to destroy 

 worms in the lower bowels. 



CoNiuM. Conium. (Non-official.) 



Synonym. — Conii fructus, B. P.; hemlock fruit, E.; grande eigne, Fr.; 

 schierllng, G. 



The full-grown, but unripe fruit of Conium macmlatum Linne (Fam. Umbel- 

 liferw), carefully dried and preserved, and yielding not less than 0.5 per cent, of 

 Conine. After being kept for more than two years, conium is unfit for use. 



Habitat. — Indigenous to Europe and Asia, but naturalized in the United 

 States. 



Description. — Broadly ovoid, greenish-gray; odor slight, but when triturated 

 with a solution of potassium hydroxide, strong, disagreeable, and mouse-like ; taste 

 characteristic, disagreeable, afterwards somewhat acrid. Conium fruit resembles 

 carraway and anise seed, but these have oil-tubes or vittse. 



Do«e.— Coniinae hydrochloridum. H., gr. %-li^, (0.45-0.1) ; D., gr. 1/60-1/30, 

 (0.001-0.002) . 



Constituents. — There are two essential principles in conium; conine, or 

 coniine, and methyl-coniine. 



Action of Conium. 



Nervous System and Muscles. — The predominant action of conium 

 consists in paralyzing the voluntary and involuntary muscles, with loss 

 of motion but without loss of consciousness or sensation. This effect is 

 due to paralysis of the motor nerves. 



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