3 § 
inflammatory diseases of the air passages. That it has a marked influence upon these 
diseases when administered early there is no doubt. In the treatment of Laryngitis it 
might with justice be called a specific. Years ago when this disease was treated by the 
usual depletive measures the mortality was considerable, while to-day a case seldom 
dies. Its use greatly relieves the congestion and irritation of the inflamed parts and 
prevents to an extent the distressing cough accompanying this disease; it reduces the 
amount of the discharge which usually takes place and tends to prevent the formation 
of abscess in the intermaxillary space. Its local application when the glands are 
swollen and painful will give relief. The use of Belladonna in the treatment of Cerebro¬ 
spinal Meningitis was first recommended by Prof. Large of Brooklyn. He has the 
honor of having been the first author to name and give a comprehensive account of the 
pathology and treatment of this disease, notwithstanding the assertion in Williams' 
Principles and Practice of Veterinary Medicine published in 1875, “that no veterinary 
writer has as yet given to it the attention, which, considering its increasing frequency 
it demands.” And although the author states that his first knowledge of its appearance 
in the United States, was in the winter of 1871, Prof. Large’s articles appeared in the 
Veterinarian in i860, and the disease has been known here for at least thirty years. 
Prof. Large claims that belladonna is THE medicine indicated in this disease. That 
having an increased supply of blood sent to the meninges of the cord, our aim is to 
reduce the excess of blood to the parts by administering a medicine which will contract 
the capillaries. If the deductions of such men as Harley, Brown, Sequard and Poster 
are reliable, belladonna should be usod in this disease without a doubt, and that too 
with very favorable results, yet as I stated when speaking of strychnia I have seen just 
as favorable results from the use of that drug, from the very commencement of the disease 
as from using belladonna. The article in Williams’ works considers it best to regulate 
the bowels without the use of cathartics, while I have found that a good brisk purga¬ 
tive does much good, not as a stimulant, but by unloading the system rapidly, of a large 
amount of the poison contained in the serum of the blood. The same author in speak¬ 
ing of the pulse says “as the disease advances and the patient becomes weaker it 
increases in frequency and is strong and wiry. When speaking of the treatment of 
the disease, he says “ he has found the use of atropine very efficacious.” Can a 
medicine that increases the heart’s force of action, and contracts the arteries, be indicat¬ 
ed where you have a strong and wiry pulse ? Do we have a strong and wiry pulse as 
the animal grows weak from this disease? Lastly belladonna is lecommended in all 
the inflammatory diseases affecting the pelvic organs as well as being ar homeopathic 
remedy in treating bowel troubles. In the Summer of 1873 I treated a case of rupture 
of the vagina, the accident occuring at time of coition, with belladonna and had 
recovery in two weeks’ time, although another case in a few weeks after died from 
peritonitis. 
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