146 Veterinary Medicine. 



three stomachs in contact with acetic and other organic acids is 

 especially liable to be dissolved and absorbed in dangerous amount. 

 In the chronic cases especially, the test by electric current may 

 furnish a valuable pointer. In lead poisoning the muscles respond 

 much less actively to the stimulus than in the normal condition. 

 In resorting to analysis the following table from Heubel of the 

 amount of lead in the different organs of a dog may offer a guide 

 to the selection of an organ for examination : 



Ijiver .0310 .10 per cent. 



Kidney .0310 .07 " 



Brain .02 to .05 " 



Bones .or to .04 " 



Muscles .004 to .008 " 



Professor George Wilson found the lead very abundant in the 

 spleen, and used it for analysis. He dissolved it in aqua regia 

 over a slow fire, cooled, filtered, evaporated, cleared, and boiled 

 with dilute nitric acid. Then filtered and dried again, dissolved 

 in dilute muriatic acid, and finally applied the colortests. With 

 hydrosulphuric acid it gives a black precipitate, with sulphuric 

 acid, a white, and with potassium iodide or bichromate a bright 

 yellow. Or from the solution of the chloride the lead may be 

 obtained as a metallic deposit on zinc from which it can be fused 

 into a minute globule on charcoal. 



In the treatment of lead poisoning the first object is to prevent 

 the further solution of lead in the alimentary canal and to carry 

 it off. To fill the first indication, hydrosulphuric acid or sul- 

 phuric acid may be administered to form respectively the insoluble 

 sulphide or sulphate. As a purgative, sulphate of magnesia or 

 soda should be preferred, as favoring at once elimination and the 

 formation of an insoluble precipitate. Large doses are usually 

 desirable, especially in ruminants, beca'use of the bulky contents 

 of the stomach and the torpor of the alimentary canal. If grip- 

 ping is a prominent symptom opium or other antispasmodic must 

 be added. 



In chronic cases, after the evacuation of the contents of the 

 alimentary canal small daily doses of potassium iodide will serve 

 to dissolve the lead out of the tissues, while sulphates may be 

 given in small doses to assist in elimination from the bowels 

 and to prevent reabsorption. The treatment by potassium iodide 

 is equally applicable, to assist in the elimination of the lead that 



