323 VEGETABLE DRUGS 



Hemorrhage from mucous membranes can be arrested by its topical 

 appKcation; coryza aborted, and hemorrhoids relieved by this method. 

 Pruritus, about the anus and vagina, is allayed by cocaine. In relation 

 to the eye, 5 to 10 drops (horse) of cocaine solution (1 to 4 per cent.) 

 are employed for various purposes, embracing examination, removal of 

 foreign bodies, operations, and the relief of suffering in acute inflamma- 

 tion resulting from natural causes or mechanical irritation. The follow- 

 ing prescription is of value in superficial inflammatory and painful con- 

 ditions of the eye: 



Cocainae hydrochlor gr.v. 



Acid, borici grx. 



Aq. dest. ad Si. 



M. 



S. Instill a few drops into the eye hourly. 



Injection into the eyeball is preferable to instillation for enuclea- 

 tion. 



Solutions of cocaine should be freshly made, and must not be sterilized 

 by boiling, although they should be made with sterile water, or, better, 

 normal salt solution. The tablets supplied by pharmaceutical chemists 

 are convenient for hypodermatic use. Ten grains of boric acid will pre- 

 serve an ounce of cocaine solution for a month. 



Spinal anesthesia has come into use in both human and veterinary 

 practice. Leonard Corning was the pioneer having shown in 1885 that 

 cocaine injected between the 11th and 12th dorsal spines caused analgesia 

 of the lower limbs in- man. The point of injection in animals is in the 

 lum bo-sacral space. This is found by drawing a line connecting the 

 spines of the lumbar and sacral vertebrse and another at right angles 

 connecting the summits of the internal angles of the ilium. 



Directly at the point of intersection of these lines is the place for 

 puncture in the dog and cat and about % of an inch forward of this 

 point is the site for puncture in the horse. The hair must be clipped 

 and shaved from the dry skin and the site well swabbed with tincture 

 of iodine and as soon as dry the puncture may be made with a boiled 

 needle or trochar and canula. 



The smaller animals should be on their side with back arched. 

 The needle or trocar is thrust in perpendicularly till the resistance 

 lessens and cerebro-spinal fluid drops from the needle. This proves 

 entrance into the spinal canal. No more fluid should be lost than is to 

 be replaced by the injection. Sepsis means death, so that the necessity 

 of asepsis will be fully appreciated. Anesthesia affects chiefly the pos- 

 terior portion of the body and hind limbs but the fore limbs are also 

 partly anesthetic. This action begins in 2 to 10 minutes, is fully de- 

 veloped in 20 to 30 minutes, and lasts from 1 to 5 hours. While never 

 generally accepted as a substitute in human surgery for ether, and while 

 perhaps its use is diminishing, yet there is more reason for its employ- 

 ment in veterinary surgery on account of the expense of general anes- 

 thesia. The mortality from it has been about 3 per thousand in human 

 surgery. 



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