Properties.—Colorless, odorless, scaly crystals, of a bitterish taste. Soluble in water, ether and chloroform.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 3 to 4 drs.; sheep and pigs, 1⁄2 to 1 dr.; dogs, 5 to 20 grs.
Actions.—Powerful antipyretic, anodyne and local anesthetic, antiseptic, cardiac depressant; it reduces temperature very quickly, usually within half an hour and the effects continue two or more hours. It can be administered by the mouth, hypodermically or intertracheally; as an antiseptic it diminishes oxidation, and promotes heat loss by dilating the cutaneous vessels, but more probably by depressing the activity of the calorifacient centers.
Uses.—Used in high fever where the temperature must be reduced quickly, as in sun-stroke, acute rheumatism; in man a solution of antipyrine from four to ten per cent strength up, is sprayed into the nostrils for hay-fever. Acetanilide is a better and safer and much cheaper drug for febrile diseases.
AQUA AMMONIAE FORTIOR—STRONGER AMMONIA WATER
An aqueous solution of ammonia containing twenty-eight per cent, by weight of the gas.
Derivation.—Evolve ammonia gas by heating ammonium chloride with calcium hydrate and pass it into water.
Properties.—A colorless, transparent liquid, having an excessively pungent odor and a caustic alkaline taste.
Dose.—Horses and cattle, 2 to 4 drs.; sheep and pigs, 1⁄2 to 1 dr.; dogs, 5 to 10 m. Should be diluted one drachm to one pint of water.