334 
POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§ 398. 
arrived at, that the eliances as determined by direct observation were 
as great of recovery as of death. Operating in this way, and making no 
less than 20 experiments on the rabbit, he found that the least fatal 
dose for that animal was -6 mgrm. of strychnine nitrate per kilogramme. 
Cats were a little less susceptible, taking *75 mgrm. Operating on 
fowls, he found that strychnine taken into the crop in the usual way 
was very uncertain ; 50 mgrms. per kilo, taken with the food had no 
effect, but results always followed if the poison was introduced into 
the circulation by the subcutaneous needle—the lethal dose for fowls 
being, under those circumstances, 1 to 2 mgrms. per kilo. He made 
35 experiments on frogs, and found that to kill a frog by strychnine 
nitrate, at least 2 mgrms. per kilo, must be injected. Mice take a 
little more, from 2*3 to 2-4 mgrms. per kilo. In two experiments on 
the ring adder, in one 62-5 mgrms. per kilo, of strychnine nitrate, injected 
subcutaneously, caused death in seven hours ; in the second, 23-1 mgrms. 
per kilo, caused death in five days ; hence the last quantity is probably 
about the least fatal dose for this particular snake. 
These observations may be conveniently thrown into the following 
table, placing the animals in order according to their relative sensi¬ 
tiveness. 1 
TABLE SHOWING THE ACTION OF STRYCHNINE ON ANIMALS. 
Animal. 
Manner of Application. 
Reckoned 0 
Body I 
Lowest 
Experimental 
Lethal Dose. 
n 1 Kilo, of 
Veight. 
Highest 
Experimental 
Lethal Dose. 
Dose of Strychnine Nitrate in 
Mgrms. 
Rabbit 
Subcutaneous 
0-50 
0-60 
Cat .... 
99 
, , 
0-75 
Dog .... 
99 
• , 
0-75 
D 
Taken by the stomach 
2-00 
3-90 
D • • • • 
,, rectum 
# # 
200 
99 • • • • 
,, bladder 
5-50 
. # 
Fox ..... 
Subcutaneous 
100 
Hedgehog . 
99 
100 
200 
Fowl.... 
99 
. # 
2-00 
Frog .... 
99 
200 
2-10 
Mouse 
99 
2-30 
2-30 
Ring adder 
99 
• • 
2310 
1 According to Christison’s researches, 0-2 grm. (about 3 grains) is fatal to swine ; 
•03 grm. H grain) to bears, if injected into the pleura. 1 to 3 grains (-0648 to 
•1944 grm.) is given to horses in cases of paralysis, although 3 grains cannot but be 
considered a dangerous dose, unless smaller doses have been previously administered 
without effect; 10 grains would probably kill a horse, and 15 grains (-972 grm.) have 
certainly done so. 
