MATERIA MEDICA. 235 
ing, irregularity of the pulse, depression, and various other alarm¬ 
ing symptoms. 
Jalap. —This is a drastic purgative, with regard to carnivor¬ 
ous animals. Its principal action is on the small intestines, and 
when administered with prudence, rarely gripes. It has little 
power in herbivorous animals. Bourgelat had remarked this, 
and Gilbert has given two ounces at once to a sheep, without 
effect. We have given two and three ounces, made into balls, to 
horses, and the only consequence has been, a more abundant flow 
of urine. 
It is given to carnivorous animals either incorporated with 
honey, or in the form of infusion, or concealed in the food. The 
dose for the dog or the cat varies from ten grains to a drachm. 
The swine will require double that quantity. 
The resin of jalap is much more active than the powdered 
root; but its price prevents it from being generally used. The 
action of the tincture is more uniform and less irritating than 
that of the root. 
Scammony.— This is a drastic purgative, which we should 
only employ to produce a powerful revulsion to the intestinal 
canal; but as the scammony of Aleppo is very dear, and the 
other kinds are adulterated or uncertain, it is rarely used for the 
larger animals. Gilbert gave six drachms to a sheep, which 
died twenty days afterwards without being purged. The dose 
ought not to exceed three or four drachms for the larger animals, 
and twenty or thirty grains for the carnivora. 
The Oil op the Croton Tiglium. —The croton oil is 
the most violent purgative that we are acquainted with. Two 
drops will generally purge the human being, but twenty or 
thirty drops are necessary for the horse. Twelve drops in¬ 
jected into the veins of the horse produce alvine dejections 
in a few minutes. Thirty drops administered in the same 
way have caused a violent intestinal inflammation that has 
speedily terminated in death. Thirty-six drops, combined with 
an ounce of aloes, and an infusion of two ounces of senna, and 
given as a drink, have been attended by the same result in a 
strong draught-horse. The larger intestines are oftener and 
more violently inflamed than the jejunum or ileum. 
Fifty drops having been dissolved in alcohol, and well rubbed 
into the inferior part of the abdomen, produced considerable 
swelling in a few hours. On the morrow, the evacuations were 
three or four times more abundant than in their natural state; 
but the matter ejected preserved its natural consistence. This 
effect continued nearly two days. 
A little while afterwards the cuticle on the belly peeled off, 
and there was a sore resembling that produced by a blister. For 
