70 
LAWR^FCE CAMPBELL. 
At the end of ten days the pupils were slightly smaller, and 
he seemed to be able to see daylight. Two weeks later he was 
entirely cured and could see as well as he ever did. He is at 
the present time making one of a heavy team, and has been 
since he recovered his sight. He is still owned by the same 
firm, and is considered one of the best horses out of a total of 
twenty-six. His eyes are first-class, and he has never experi¬ 
enced another sunstroke, but has worn a damp sponge in hot 
weather. What I wish particularly to call attention to in this 
report is the great dose of the fluid extract of nux vomica that 
this horse took without one symptom of poisoning. It is a 
well-known fact that nearly all drugs can be given in larger 
quantities in many subjects than are usually set down in text¬ 
books or taught in colleges ; but as the dose of nux is from 
3 ss to i. I should like to create a discussion as to how this 
animal was able ro get away with seven drachms, and not only 
live but have the drug act upon him in such a way, and to such 
purpose, as to enable him to support himself in one hour from 
the time of giving the medicine, and after being down twenty- 
one hours and being unable to raise his head more than twelve 
inches from the ground at that time. Perhaps nux in very large 
doses would be of great benefit in similar cases where great 
prostration is present. To conclude, I can only say that it was 
“ dumb luck ” on my part, and that if I ever had another such 
case I should probably hesitate a long time before I should dare 
to repeat the treatment. 
(A few remarks as to the action of nux vomica and its con¬ 
tained alkaloids will not be out of place.) 
Strychnine is found in the crude drug (which is equal in 
strength to the fluid extract) in the proportion of one per cent. 
Nux vomica also contains two other alkaloids, namely, brucine, 
which is one-twelfth as strong as strychnine, and igasurine, 
which is one-sixth as strong as strychnine. The dose set down 
by Dr. Withers, in his lectures at the Chicago Veterinary Col¬ 
lege, of strychnine by the mouth, is gr. i. to ii. By Finlay Dun, 
gr. i. to iij. One ounce of fluid extract of nux vomica contains 
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