Abstract
Of 12 full grown fowls, 2 received 350 mg., 7 received 225 mg., and 3 were given 150 mg. sodium barbital per kg. by vein. Fowls receiving the minimum anesthetic dose, 225 mg. of sodium salt per kg. or over, never recovered to the extent that they were able to stand or walk. Within a period of one week they all died in barbital coma showing involvement of the respiratory system. The examination of the urine showed that they never excreted more than 33% of the dose injected and as a rule the elimination varied between 15% and 25%. The concentration in the urine was 1 mg. of barbital per cc. or less, and only in the fowl receiving 350 mg. of the sodium salt per kg. did it reach 2.5 mg. per cc. Dogs under similar circumstances have excreted 6 mg. per cc. of urine or more.
Fowls receiving 225 mg. per kg. of sodium barbital or more show a retention of the drug in the blood varying from 0.15 mg. to 0.05 mg. per cc. even 5 days following the administration of the drug. Similarly, one can detect the presence of barbital in the organs one week after the administration.
Two fowls were given 225 mg. of sodium barbital per kg. and one hour later 20 cc. of a 3% solution of uric acid was injected over a period of one hour. They showed the unprecedented diuresis of over 250 cc. of urine during a period of 18 hours. Yet they never recovered from the drug and excreted during a period of 7 days 21.1% and 24.5% respectively of barbital in the urine, showing a retention of the drug in the body.
Three chickens received 150 mg. of sodium barbital per kg.; no anesthesia was produced, but ataxia was present. Two of the fowls excreted 45% and 37.7% respectively of the drug during a period of 17 days, showed a slow recovery from ataxia, and even 24 hours after injection 0.15 mg. per cc. of barbital was present in the blood. Thus chickens excrete barbital for over a far longer period than mammals.
Seven chickens received intravenously 60 mg. of dial and neonal respectively; 100 mg. of phenobarbital, 25 mg. of nembutal, and 20 mg. of pernoston per kg. of body weight. They all recovered within 24 hours from the anesthesia, showing traces of these drugs in the urine and none in the blood after that period, and, of course, they all survived.
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