128 



Scientific Proceedings (53). 



84 (780) 



Antitoxic action of sodium iodid on morphin. 



By T. S. Githens and S. J. Meltzer. 



[From the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology of the 

 Rockefeller Institute.] 

 A Preliminary Communication. 



The relation of iodids to morphin was studied by Reid Hunt. 

 He found that feeding mice, rats and guinea-pigs with potassium 

 iodid increases their susceptibility to morphin poisoning. This 

 may be considered as the chronic influence of iodids. In our 

 experiments we studied their acute effects. Our experiments were 

 made, in the first place, on rabbits and sodium iodid in 5 per cent, 

 solution was the salt employed. Morphin was administered intra- 

 venously. The iodid solution was given intravenously, and sub- 

 cutaneously, ten to thirty minutes before the morphin injection. 

 The quantity of sodium iodid administered to each rabbit was 

 quite large; 15 cubic centimeters intravenously and 30 cubic 

 centimeters subcutaneously. Such injections of sodium iodid 

 alone seemed to cause no ill-effects in rabbits. 



Morphin, if not rapidly fatal, causes narcosis, paresis, tremors, 

 convulsions and finally death. The fatal dose of morphin for 

 rabbits is somewhat variable, it is therefore difficult to study the 

 influence which other substances may exert upon the toxic action 

 of morphin. The most definite results we obtained have been 

 with doses of 300 and 250 milligrams of morphin per kilo body- 

 weight. Eighteen rabbits received morphin alone; 11 of these 

 animals received the drug (300 milligrams in each case) through 

 the ear vein, while in 7 animals the morphin (300 or 250 milli- 

 grams) was injected through the jugular vein. Sixteen rabbits 

 received sodium iodid besides morphin. In ten of these animals 

 the injection (300 milligrams) was given through the ear vein and 

 in six through the jugular vein. The difference in the results was 

 quite striking. Of the eighteen animals which received morphin 

 alone, ten died immediately after the injection, five lived less than 

 2 hours, one lived four days and two survived. Of the sixteen 

 rabbits which received sodium iodid besides morphin, only one 



