320 VEGETABLE DRUGS 



soning, with respiratory and heart failure, consists in the use of opium 

 and rapidly acting stimulants, as morphine sulphate under the skin, nitro- 

 glycerin upon the tongue, and strychnine atropine and brandy subcutane- 

 ously. A short inhalation of ether has been shown to be a remarkably 

 successful antidote in cocaine poisoning. 



Uses External. — Cocaine and its synthetic chemical substitutes are 

 the most valuable agents we possess to cause complete local anesthesia 

 for surgical purposes. Cocaine in surgery can often be combined most 

 advantageously with adrenalin. The operations most suitable for the 

 hypodermatic application of cocaine are included in the following. 



Removal of tumors. Opening of abscess. 



Docking and pricking the tail. Injuries and operations upon the 



Tarsal tenotomy. eyeballs and eyelids. 



Firing. Operations about the feet in horses. 



Neurectomy. Operations upon mucous mem- 



Herniotomy. branes. 



Operations about the rectum, vagina Laparotomy in bitches. 



and uterus. ^■•."'^ 



Examinations and operations about ^ 



the larynx. 



The alkaloid may also be employed to dilate the pupil for examina- 

 tion of the eye, and to detect lameness. In a case of doubtful foot 

 lameness in the horse, injection of cocaine into the plantar nerve trunk, 

 on either side of the leg and a little above the point of selection for 

 plantar neurectomy, will often completely abolish sensation in the foot. 

 This fact may be determined by pricking the soft parts above the hoof. 

 If there is complete anesthesia of the foot, and the seat of lameness be 

 situated therein, the horse will go sound while the anesthesia lasts. 

 This method may be taken advantage of in the diagnosis of localized 

 lameness elsewhere. If cocaine is injected over an area (suspected to be 

 the cause of lameness), and the animal goes sound while the cocaine 

 anesthesia lasts, the site of lameness becomes certain. 



It has been discovered that injections of powerful cocaine solutions 

 into a sensory nerve trunk will paralyze its sensibility throughout the 

 peripheral distribution (regional anesthesia). When ligation of a limb, 

 or part, can be secured between the operative field and the heart, the 

 anesthetic action of cocaine is more profound and toxic symptoms are 

 less liable to occur, since the drug is not drained away in the blood during 

 the operation. Many operations can be performed under cocaine, as 

 neurectomy, firing, tenotomy, etc., without casting the horse. In using 

 cocaine for the removal of tumors or opening of abscess, the solution is 

 injected at several points in a circle about the base of the tumor or 

 abscess, and not in the inflamed tissue of the latter. Following the first 

 injection, the succeeding applications may be made painless by inserting 

 the needle within the area made anesthetic by the previous injection 

 (circumferential anesthesia) . 



The amount of cocaine solution to be injected is of importance. 

 This depends upon the strength of the solution, the weight and species 

 of the animal, and the seat of application. A solution stronger than 4 



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