ANTIDOTES TO. POISONING BY STRYCHNINE.

Clutha Leader, Volume IX, Issue 482, 5 January 1883, Page 3

ANTIDOTES TO. POISONING BY STRYCHNINE.

Many a stockowner . who has been compelled in selfdef ence to lay poison i for dingoes-.- and' sheep-killing dogs has experienced losses of his own faithful canine friends for want of knowing a* means of saving them. The following information on the subject is valuable. It was sent to- the .Live-Stock Journal,' London, by- Mr E. M.' Holmes, who thus wrote on and is worth saving for • reference, and instruction in cases of emergency : —

Occasionally valuable dogs- have lost 1 their lives by eating poison containing strychnine, laid down for rats or mice, and it may, therefore, be interesting to those who keep dpgs to.know. that thereis an antidote easily procurable,, andi certain in its effects. During a recent visit to Weymouth Mr T. B. Groves, of that town, mentioned to me that a few years ago a large spaniel bitch of his, which . .had eaten some Battle's . vermin-killer, was seized with tetantic; spasms, such as are produced by strych*nine, at 2.40 p.m. An emetic of three grains of tartai ised ' antimony was given, without producing vomiting, and as the dog Avas' apparently dying af: 3.30,' a solution of chloral hydrate- w-as i tried, made by dissolving a drachm, of the hydrate in one ounce of water. A teaspoonful of this solution' was given eveiy few minutes in the intervals between the spasms. Probably about a third of the solution was wasted, as. the least excitement brought on spasms.The odour of chloroform (which 'is produced in the body by the decomposition of chloral) was soon apparent in the dog's breath, and a manifest improvement was simultaneously observed in the less rigid condition of the body. In half-an-hour she seemed quite cured ;-. but after a time the spasms returned. Half a drachm more of the chloral' hydrate was then administered in the same way as before, and with the same effect. In two hours after the first dose of chloral had been given all signs of tetanic spasm had disappeared, and. although the clog had taken more than.--a sufficient quantity of chloral to produce sound sleep under ordinary circumstances, rib sleep supervened. As soon as the dog was able to run about the tartarisecl antimony previously given took effect, and the food and asc much of the poison as had not been absorbed into the blood, was rejected' by the stomach. By 12 p.m. her pups were allowed to suckle, and no results, injurious to them followed. These' details are mentioned to give some idea of the quantity of chloral that may be administered to a dog poisoned by strychnine. I may add, from my own. experiments on a dog that had been similarly poisoned, that if the dog be first made to inhale chloroform until the rigidity of the limbs disappears,, chloral can then be administered with* out difficulty. • Most sold poisons which are soluble in the juices of the stomach are eliminated by the ' kidneys, and volatile poisons by the lungs; hence, when the irritation of the nervous, system and consequent exhaustion is prevented by the chloral, the strychnine passes out of the body in the course of about 24 hours, more or less. Mr Groves, was led to use this antidote by a knowledge of the results obtained' by Dr Liebreich (the discoverer of the medicinal properties of chloral) in his experiments upon rabbits, which proved not only that chloral was an antidote-, to strychnine, but that strychnine inminute closes (about one-fiftieth of: a . grain), was the antidote to an overdose of chloral. This affords an instance of the fact that the results obtained by the experiments condemned by antivivisectionists are far more valuable than many persons supposeThe following from a recent issue of the South Australian Register "has a decidedly practical tone. *,W.. W. writes to that journal : — * I noticed some time ago in your paper several • letters regarding strychnine and its antidote, and have been much surprised that no medical man or scientist has : troubled himself to name "the properthing, not even in this matter, v as it. often is of life or death before assistance can be obtained. Since 1880 I have known, and frequently and unfail- .:: ingly used, the following remedies,. '.- . and never found them fail on either-, canines or humans when taken in time. ; ' Charcoal is the chemical antidote to strychnine ; ■ camphor is. the vital ■ -■; antidote .strychnine'— so says Grahra'si -- Domestic Medicine.' And I wonder ftF'^ is not. more generally known. ' I believe-. 1 the action of charcoal to be the absorbing of the strychnine in the storaacb£> £■■ £? The camphor is the .' likeliest tiling to^^ overtake and counteract its effects in, the system.' The charcoal I pound up and give in a little water to my dogs, before entering poisoned runs, and, also mix some charcoal with any water I give them to drink, carrying a few . pieces in my pocket for the purpose. The camphor I use in pills about the"size of a pea: two I consider enough, for a dose. I have never seen life lost when there was .'any >,J?ilityJt<> s wallow 'left in the unfortunate strychnine-eater when these were applied at once.-. There is : no care needed; when- onee < 'they are in the stomach you hear n<>, ,.,.. ihor£ of "the strychnine.' — Town and" ' Country. Journal. .^ ' ; ..".■•! .: : r