Abstract
According to most textbooks of Pharmacology, the rat is very resistant to the effects of atropin. Wilberg 1 in an original monograph on the subject of the toxicity of atropin for various animals states that on subcutaneous injection the fatal dose of atropin for rats is 0.75 gm. per kilo weight while a dose of 0.70 gm. per kilo may be followed by recovery. On intraperitoneal injection the same author states that the fatal dose for rats is 0.6 gm. per kilo weight while the animal may recover from 0.5 gm. per kilo. In connection with experiments on the belladonna alkaloids on the behavior of rats, published elsewhere, the author found that rats are extremely sensitive to atropin so far as toxic effects on the brain are concerned. Thus it was found that 1 mg. of atropin sulfate was very toxic for a rat weighing 150 gm. as indicated by its behavior in the circular maze and its neuromuscular responses. It was found that the smallest dose of atropin sulfate which produced a deterioration in the cerebro-spinal responses of rats was 0.05 mg. per 150 gm. weight of animal. It is thus evident that while the absolute lethal dose of atropin for rats may be very great as stated by other authors, the dose required to impair certain physiological functions is very small. Fuller details appear elsewhere. 1
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