560 Veterinary Medicine. 



To cut short the attack much reliance was formerly placed on 

 colchicum which increases the elimination of solids in the urine, 

 and on alkalies, which beside the theoretic antagonism to- 

 acidity are at once cholagogue and diuretic. The action was 

 somewhat slow but on the whole satisfactory, usually abating the 

 suffering very materially in the course of a few days. To the 

 horse or ox J^ dram doses of colchicum were given daily in com- 

 bination with 4 to 6 drams of bicarbonate of soda ; pigs of 100 lbs. 

 may take i grain of the former to 10 grains of the latter ; a 

 shepherd' s dog may take half the amount j ust named . Trimethyla- 

 mine proved even more effective than colchicum, and acetate or 

 citrate of ammonia, soda, or potassium was often substituted 

 for the carbonate. 



But the modern treatment of rheumatism dates from 1876,. 

 when the introduction of salicylic acid and later sodium salicylate, 

 salicine and ol. gaultheriae gave to such treatment an efficacy pre- 

 viously unknown. Salicylic acid acts very harshly on the gastric 

 mucosa, and with sensitive stomachs is advantageously replaced 

 by sodium salicylate, into which it is transformed in any case in 

 the blood. Salicine which is held to be transformed into salicylic 

 acid in the system, is specially recommended for its bitter and 

 tonic action exercised in the stomach and prior to such transfor- 

 mation. In debilitated subjects, therefore, and in those that suffer 

 from vhe characteristic rheumatic reduction of the red blood 

 globules it would be somewhat preferable. As a prompt and 

 effective anti- rheumatic agent however it appears to be somewhat 

 less reliable than sodium salicylate or ammonium salicylate. Ol.. 

 gaultheriae' may be better borne by the stomach of the dog and 

 pig than the salicylates, the dose being 1 o to 15 drops thrice a day, 

 The secret of success with all of these salicylate compounds, 

 lies in the speedy saturation of the system with the drug, rather 

 than in its moderate and continuous administration. The horse 

 or ox may take J^ oz. repeated every two hours for ten hours if 

 relief is not obtained earlier. The pig may take 20 grains, and 

 the dog 5 to 10 grains at similar intervals. It is not desirable, 

 however, to continue this indefinitely, and therefore when im- 

 mediate relief has been secured it is well to give the agent but 

 twice or thrice a day, and resort in part to the alkaline treatment. 

 If the salicylates fail to relieve when pushed energetically for ten. 



