Medicine - Drugs > Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894-1895 > Volume III
(215) Volume 3, Page 211
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REPORT BY SURGEON-CAPTAIN J. F. EVANS. 211
enough to mask or prevent
the development of sensory-motor disturbance, with exception
of
the rocking movements.
It was to this action of
the drug that reference was made in the statement that the
"occurrence of symptoms of one kind either masked the occurrence or
prevented the
development of those of another."
(c) Soporific
or narcotic effects.—As already said, sleep production depends
on the quantity
of the dose being influenced also by the individual idiosyncrasy:
in some animals sleep was
easily and early induced as the result of the minimum dose; in
others not so readily. The
duration and nature of the sleep depend on the quantity of the
dose: it ranged from drowsiness
to slight narcotism. At the onset of sleep the cat often strived to
maintain the sitting posture,
the head falling forwards now and again and the animal awaking with
a start. As the
tendency deepened it usually lay down and went to sleep, the head
gradually falling forwards
till the nose and front of the face rested on the
ground.
Time of onset of
symptoms.—Whatever their character might be, symptoms of the
action
of the drug could generally be recognised within one hour or one
hour and a half after its
administration. This statement applies only to the quantities given
in this investigation, and
naturally will not bear too general application. In. my experiments
the doses were always
small, and hence the use of the term minimal.
RECORD OF THE FIRST
SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS WITH THE ALCOHOLIC EXTRACT
OF THE
STANDARD GANJA.
The quantity of the dose
of the alcoholic extract usually given to small animals in
physio-
logical investigations seems to have been about one or two grains.
The first two doses adminis-
tered in this series of experiments were given without reference so
much to the animal's body
weight as to serve as a guide by which subsequent experiments might
be regulated.
Experiment No.
1.—Well-nourished
male cat, weight 4lb 13½ oz.; a dose of the alcoholic
extract, weighing .25 grain, or about 1/135,000 part of the body
weight, given at
12-22 P.M. Effect nil.
Experiment No.
2.—Male, weight of
cat 4 lb 12 oz.; a dose of the extract weighing 5
grain, or 1/66,500 part of the body weight, given at 11-15 A.M.
12-45 P.M. Rocking
movements with slight weakness of the limbs, chiefly of the hind
legs, on walking;
condition lasted about one
hour.
As a dose equivalent to
1/66,500 of the body weight had induced definite symptoms, a
similar
quantity was next administered to two other cats to test whether
the experiment was
reliable:-
Experiment No.
3.—Yellow and white
female cat, weight 7 lb 1 oz. .75 grain of the
extract, or a quantity equal to 1/65,000 of the body weight,
administered at 11-45 P.M.
12-40 P.M. Nodding of head, drowsiness. 1 P.M., rocking movements,
with occasional
slight tremor. 1-15 P.M., tendency to sleep more marked. Animal
lying down asleep
with the nose and face resting on the ground. 2 P.M., effects of
the drug begin-
ning to pass off.
Experiment No.
4.—Black and white
cat, weight 3 lb 10¼ oz. .38 grain of extract, or a
quantity equivalent to 1/66,000 of the body weight, administered at
12-10 P.M. 1-15
P.M., rocking movements; cat is sitting up and displays occasional
attacks of totter-
ing or irregular movements of the fore quarters and fore limbs, as
though endeavour-
ing to save itself from falling forwards; is slightly drowsy. 2
P.M., cat appears
considerably distressed, is constantly mewing and suffering also
from slight saliva-
tion. 3 P.M., beginning to recover, though still dull.
A dose equivalent to
1/66,000 of the body weight being able to cause easily
recognisable
effects, the next step was to find out how far this dose could be
diminished and yet definite
symptoms induced. In the four following experiments the quantity of
the extract given to
each cat was equal to 1/75,000 part of its body
weight:—
Experiment No.
5.—Weight of cat 6
lb 11½ oz. Dose of extract .63 grain at 1 P.M. 2-45
P.M., cat asleep with its nose on the ground, and though able to be
disturbed by
any noise in its neighbourhood, yet it soon went to sleep again. It
remained in
this sleepy state till 4 P.M. No rocking movements or tremor
observed.
Experiment No.
6.—Weight of cat 3
lb 7¼ oz. Dose of extract .32 grain at 1-25 P.M.
2-50 P.M., displays symptoms of distress and discomfort with slight
drowsiness; is
suffering also from slight salivation. 3 P.M., rocking movements. 4
P.M., the rocking
movements have lasted with intermission since 3 P.M., being
interrupted by occasional
periods of sleep. 4-30 P.M., cat is still under the influence of
the drug.
Experiment No.
7.—Weight of cat 3 lb 9½ oz. Dose of
extract .34 grain at 1-45 P.M.
3 P.M., sleepy; displays rocking movements of the body from time to
time. Effects
lasted for upwards of an hour.
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India Papers > Medicine - Drugs > Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894-1895 > Volume III > (215) Volume 3, Page 211 |
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