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balls prepared from recipes in the possession of manystablemen and waggoners, 
We believe that when given it is with much more caution than formerly ;- 
but this cannot be said of some of the poisons. In almost all cases where 
arsenic is given as an alterative by attendants, half an ounce of bicarbonate 
of potassium, given once or twice daily in the drinking water, would be 
equally efficacious, and without any danger. If an appetiser is wanted, a 
ball may be made of equal parts of carbonate of ammonium, ginger, and . 
gentian, made up to one ounce with treacle. This is found very efficient. 
ACONITE POISONING. 
ACONITE, which is one of the most active and valuable of the pharmacopceial 
remedies employed, is a common cause of poisoning in the horse, and 
is certainly on the increase. 
It is not generally known that many quack nostrums and some formula 
in the possession of stablemen and others contain overdoses of tincture of 
aconite. When the doses are administered in rapid succession, very alarming 
symptoms are produced. Frequently cure of the animal is rendered well 
nigh impossible. We have often been sent for to horses, in cases where 
sudden difficulty of breathing and gurgling in the throat have supervened 
from the administration of aconite. These symptoms generally subside 
quickly—when the overdose has not been excessive—on the administration 
\ of spirit of ammonia and brandy. The drenches which contain aconite 
' in the form of tincture, are generally those called inflammation drinks. It 
must be remembered that the dose of Fleming’s tincture of aconite is only 
from five to ten drops, and of the ordinary tincture of aconite thirty to 
forty drops. Such doses should not be repeated more frequently than 
once every three or four hours. During the past two years, we have had 
more cases of poisoning by tincture of aconite than by any other poison. 
The owners in these cases often seem not a little surprised when informed 
that their animals are suffering from aconite poisoning. 
Only a short time ago a valuable horse was poisoned by the groom, 
who kept tincture of aconite by him for use at his own discretion. Two or 
three drachms were not thought too much to give, and although death 
followed in about an hour, and the animal gasped for breath at the feet of 
this attendant, the fatal event was attributed by him to occult influences 
of an inflammatory kind. 
The special symptoms mianifested in horses which have received an 
overdose of this active drug are the following :—The breathing becomes slow, 
feeble, and more difficult, the animal trembles all over, and there are not 
uncommonly gurgling sounds in the throat, and frothing at the mouth, 
sometimes succeeded by convulsions. Perspiration bedews the surface of 
the body, and the pulse becomes weak, and sometimes almost imperceptible. 
In some cases we have known the animal fall to the ground from absolute 
loss of power to stand, and in rare instances he manifests great restlessness 
and pain. 
