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Pilocarpine
P£locarpine.
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ignorance on the subject, and said his knowledge of anatomy and pathological changes was very small indeed, and, " How was he to know whether the appearances presented were healthy or diseased?" I at once commenced to demonstrate, and placed about two feet each of the healthy and diseased intestines on a neighbouring wall. Both general and colonel appeared much interested, and were paying great attention to my dissertation on the two pieces of intestine, when a crow came down out of a tree under which we were standing, and with a rapid swoop carried off one of the pieces. and returning to his original place sat with the long piece of gut hanging and swinging from his beak. I had frequently heard the general u se strong language on parade, but never did I hear him express himself as on this occasion. The colonel laughed most heartily, and remarked that the crow displayed great intelligence in selecting the healthy portion instead of the diseased. PILOCARPINE. BY
J.
DOWLING ALLMAN, A.P.S., LOND.
THIS substance, which is now much u sed in human and veterinary practice, is the active principle of Pilocarpines (Jaborandt). It is generally administered subcutaneously, but it is also given internally, and is chiefly employed for the purpose of eliminating watery effusions-as in such maladies as pleurisy and ascites, and to remove morbid products from the system, and relieve the kidneys by throwing the work of elimination on the skin instead. It will also lower temperature, by the evaporation of the moisture inducp.d. It requires very great caution and clinical observation in its use, as it is a very powerful agent, and is contra-indicated in asthenia and weak heart. Large and indiscriminate doses cause nausea and vomiting, with profuse salivation and perspiration. The pulse and respiration are quickened, the temperature is lowered, and the patient is left much exhausted. Its use has been suggested by some veterinary writers, in conjunction with the alkaloid Physostigmtne, in cases of abdominal pain with impaction, for the purpose of increasing the peristaltic action of the Physosttgnztne; but I believe this is a plan that is now discarded, and I am not surprised, as I never did see the utility or the practicability of using two such powerful alkaloids simultaneously. It is a mode of practice that I never countenanced, and looking at the physiological and therapeutical action of the two drugs, I should say it was
The Veterinary Journal. not logical or scientific. Let us see what are the physiological symptoms of Pzlocarpnze and PhysosHgmzne. Pzlocarpzne slows the heart, by stimulating its inhibitory ganglia; whilst Physostigmzne causes a rise in the arterial pressure, by increasing the power of the inhibitory nerves, and the heart's action is more rapid. Pzlocarpzne is undoubtedly a valuable addition to veterinary therapeutics, and can be used with considerable success in the diseases already mentioned ahove. The dose hypodermically is from t to I grain. MALADIE-DU-COIT IN NEBRASKA. BY
J. WILSON- BARKER, M.R.C.V.S., ASSISTANT, PATHO-BlOLOGICAL LABORATORY, STATE UNIVERSITY, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, U.S.A .
recently had the opportunity of investigating an outbreak of the above disease in this State, I take the liberty of forwarding to the VETERINARY JOURNAL a few notes and observations on this curious disease. Regarding the history of the disease in the United States, it is said to have been brought into the country by an imported French stallion during 1883 or 1884. The complete history of the outbreak will be found in the VETERINARY JOURNAL for September, 1890. That outbreak is said to have been effectually stamped out in the course of four. or five years, and nothing more was heard of the disease until this year, when it mysteriously appears in this State. On further investigation at the seat of the outbreak, I found that it had been raging with marked severity during 1890 (several stallions and mares having died), and that it was not until the breeding season of this year was about to begin that the matter was taken up seriously by the horse-owners in the district. The origin of this outbreak is at present untraced, it being exceedingly difficult to do so, both on account of the extraordinary nature of the disease and the conflicting reports one hears. Character.-" Maladie-du-Coit" is a malignant, specific venereal disease affecting solipeds. It is a contagious malady, and is more of a chronic than an acute nature. Animals affected rarely, if ever, recover. The disease has been called "Equine Syphilis," but this I think is a misnomer, and I therefore hope that English Veterinary literature will before long find a more appropriate name for it. In referring to Fleming's "Manual of Veterinary Science and Police," two forms of the disease are said to exist-a benign and a malignant form. But on reading through the HAVING
423
ignorance on the subject, and said his knowledge of anatomy and pathological changes was very small indeed, and, " How was he to know whether the appearances presented were healthy or diseased?" I at once commenced to demonstrate, and placed about two feet each of the healthy and diseased intestines on a neighbouring wall. Both general and colonel appeared much interested, and were paying great attention to my dissertation on the two pieces of intestine, when a crow came down out of a tree under which we were standing, and with a rapid swoop carried off one of the pieces. and returning to his original place sat with the long piece of gut hanging and swinging from his beak. I had frequently heard the general u se strong language on parade, but never did I hear him express himself as on this occasion. The colonel laughed most heartily, and remarked that the crow displayed great intelligence in selecting the healthy portion instead of the diseased. PILOCARPINE. BY
J.
DOWLING ALLMAN, A.P.S., LOND.
THIS substance, which is now much u sed in human and veterinary practice, is the active principle of Pilocarpines (Jaborandt). It is generally administered subcutaneously, but it is also given internally, and is chiefly employed for the purpose of eliminating watery effusions-as in such maladies as pleurisy and ascites, and to remove morbid products from the system, and relieve the kidneys by throwing the work of elimination on the skin instead. It will also lower temperature, by the evaporation of the moisture inducp.d. It requires very great caution and clinical observation in its use, as it is a very powerful agent, and is contra-indicated in asthenia and weak heart. Large and indiscriminate doses cause nausea and vomiting, with profuse salivation and perspiration. The pulse and respiration are quickened, the temperature is lowered, and the patient is left much exhausted. Its use has been suggested by some veterinary writers, in conjunction with the alkaloid Physostigmtne, in cases of abdominal pain with impaction, for the purpose of increasing the peristaltic action of the Physosttgnztne; but I believe this is a plan that is now discarded, and I am not surprised, as I never did see the utility or the practicability of using two such powerful alkaloids simultaneously. It is a mode of practice that I never countenanced, and looking at the physiological and therapeutical action of the two drugs, I should say it was
The Veterinary Journal. not logical or scientific. Let us see what are the physiological symptoms of Pzlocarpnze and PhysosHgmzne. Pzlocarpzne slows the heart, by stimulating its inhibitory ganglia; whilst Physostigmzne causes a rise in the arterial pressure, by increasing the power of the inhibitory nerves, and the heart's action is more rapid. Pzlocarpzne is undoubtedly a valuable addition to veterinary therapeutics, and can be used with considerable success in the diseases already mentioned ahove. The dose hypodermically is from t to I grain. MALADIE-DU-COIT IN NEBRASKA. BY
J. WILSON- BARKER, M.R.C.V.S., ASSISTANT, PATHO-BlOLOGICAL LABORATORY, STATE UNIVERSITY, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, U.S.A .
recently had the opportunity of investigating an outbreak of the above disease in this State, I take the liberty of forwarding to the VETERINARY JOURNAL a few notes and observations on this curious disease. Regarding the history of the disease in the United States, it is said to have been brought into the country by an imported French stallion during 1883 or 1884. The complete history of the outbreak will be found in the VETERINARY JOURNAL for September, 1890. That outbreak is said to have been effectually stamped out in the course of four. or five years, and nothing more was heard of the disease until this year, when it mysteriously appears in this State. On further investigation at the seat of the outbreak, I found that it had been raging with marked severity during 1890 (several stallions and mares having died), and that it was not until the breeding season of this year was about to begin that the matter was taken up seriously by the horse-owners in the district. The origin of this outbreak is at present untraced, it being exceedingly difficult to do so, both on account of the extraordinary nature of the disease and the conflicting reports one hears. Character.-" Maladie-du-Coit" is a malignant, specific venereal disease affecting solipeds. It is a contagious malady, and is more of a chronic than an acute nature. Animals affected rarely, if ever, recover. The disease has been called "Equine Syphilis," but this I think is a misnomer, and I therefore hope that English Veterinary literature will before long find a more appropriate name for it. In referring to Fleming's "Manual of Veterinary Science and Police," two forms of the disease are said to exist-a benign and a malignant form. But on reading through the HAVING