122 COLICS AND THEIR TREATMENT 



safe and highly satisfactory, quick cathartic. I would 

 advise its purchase only in hermetically sealed glass 

 tubes as the drug is very delicate, very hygroscopic 

 and deteriorates rapidly on exposure. The average 

 dose for country horses is one grain, for city horses, 

 one and one-half grains. It is very soluble, but for 

 hypodermatic administration is usually dissolved in 

 one-half to one dram of water. Tablets of this drug 

 are unstable in their effect; due to both the delicate 

 nature of the drug and to the fact that in tablet mak- 

 ing, the salicylate of physotigmine is used. This salt 

 is not very soluble, and as a consequence, is often ad- 

 ministered in an incompletely, dissolved state when, 

 hypodermatically, absorption does not take place. This 

 results in failure to secure action from it and the un- 

 just condemnation of a most valuable drug. It can 

 be purchased in one-half, one, one and one-half, two, 

 three, five and fifteen-grain tubes ; however the one, 

 and the one and one-half-grain tubes are best for gen- 

 eral use. 



Tablets of physostigmine benzoate have recently 

 been placed on the market; unlike the salicylate, the 

 benzoate is very soluble and gives good results, but I 

 cannot say as to their keeping properties. We know 

 that the drug in the sealed tubes cannot deteriorate, 

 and consequently, pin our faith to it in that form. 



Physostigmine is slower of action than arecoline, 

 usually requiring one hour to produce catharsis, 

 though occasionally acting in one-half hour. It usual- 

 ly causes some griping but not as severe as that pro- 

 duced by arecoline; quite often it not only fails to 



