602 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
the cow, and in the following solution : “ Veratrine, 40 centi¬ 
grammes ; alcohol, a few drops; distilled water, 10 grammes. 
The injection can be renewed if the fever returns.” 
I had a cow suffering from a severe attack of mammitis, and 
to which I administered the above solution. My patient was 
dead in less than three-quarters of an hour, after exhibiting all 
the symptoms of veratrine poisoning. My object in alluding to 
this subject is to try to prevent others from falling into the same 
trap. I considered the dose a large one, but as the author of 
the article gives distinct instructions for the preparation of the 
solution, and then says as distinctly that “ the injection can be 
renewed if the fever returns,” I had no hesitancy in trying the 
quantity given, but with the untoward result just recorded. I 
think most practitioners are always ready to give a trial to meth¬ 
ods and medicinal agents which are recommended by authorities 
in the profession, but if we are to be guided by extracts in our 
journals, those extracts should be explicit in every particular, so 
that the information they are desired to convey would be unmis¬ 
takable. If the solution above referred to was not meant to be 
administered in one dose, the proper dose ought to have been 
stated, but the directions assuredly read as if the formula given 
was for one dose. 
Mammitis in the cow is a condition occurring frequently in 
the practice of almost every veterinarian, and if some of them 
are led into making a similar error in using M. Detchevers ver¬ 
atrine solution, they undoubtedly will have some fatalities from 
veratrine poisoning to record. 
I can perhaps scarcely excuse myself for not being more con¬ 
versant with the proper dose of such a powerful drug as veratrine, 
but the text of the extract appeared so plain that I was inadver¬ 
tently led into making the mistake. Respectfully, 
W. H. DaerympeE. 
[The abstract referred to by Dr. Dalrymple was correctly 
translated from the French, and the error belongs to the source 
from which the Review obtained it. As confirmatory of this, 
Dr. Bieser, who so ably presides over “ German Review,” fur¬ 
nished us simultaneously with the French translation the iden¬ 
tical article, which he had found in one of the most trustworthy 
German periodicals.— Editor.] 
Bovine Tubercueosis in San Francisco. —It is stated 
that nearly fifty per cent, of San Francisco’s dairy cows will 
have to be slaughtered to stamp out tuberculosis.— Med. Re. 
