An experimental study of lithium / by Clarence A. Good.

  • Good, Clarence A.
Date:
[1903]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: An experimental study of lithium / by Clarence A. Good. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    that this is unfortunately the case when small doses are administered, whether given subcutaneously or by the mouth. The stools and urine for the first ten days were examined for lithium. During this time she had been given 0.567 g. lithium chloride. From the bowels 0.039 g., and from the urine 0.228 g. of lithium were obtained. Experiment lJf. In order to accurately collect the urine a healthy female dog, weighing 8.2 kilos., was operated upon, the perineum being cut so that she could be easily catheterized. After the wound had thoroughly healed, and beginning February 7th, she was given 0.62475 g. of lithium chloride, hypodermically, daily. She was not allowed to pass any urine, being catheterized frequently enough to pre- vent this. The urine and stools were kept separate. At the end of ten days her weight was 8.1 kilos., and she was lively, ate and drank well, and apparently had not suffered from the injections. From the ten days' urine 0.383 g. lithium chloride was obtained, and from the feces 0.074 g. of lithium chloride. She had received in this time 0.62475 g. of lithium chloride. The same dose was continued eight days longer, and at this time she began to show symptoms, such as loss of appetite and a slight diarrhoea. On the eighteenth day she weighed 7.9 kilos. Her coat was roughened, and she was evidently in poorer condition than at the beginning of the experiment. The injections were then stopped until February 4th, when they were again taken up, increasing the dose to 0.2479 g. From the second day on she vomited occasionally, usually consisting mostly of mucus. There was a slight diarrhoea. Her appetite was very poor. The injec- tions were continued for six days. At the end of this time her weight was 7.1 kilos. From the six days' urine 0.589 g. and from the feces 0.014 g. lithium chloride was obtained. During the six days she had been given in all 1.5 g. The injections were now increased to 0.62475 g. daily. This was continued for five days. During this time she vomited several times a day and had a severe diarrhoea, the stools being often streaked with blood. She ate scarcely anything, and at the end of the experiment weighed 7 kilos. She was very weak and emaciated. Coat rough and lustreless. From the five days' urine 1.49 g. and from the feces 0.128 g. of lithium chloride was obtained. During the five days she had received 3.1 g. The injections were now stopped, but the vomiting and diar- rhoea continued unabated. The appetite was completely lost, and she became weaker dailv. On February 24th she was so weak that she was hardly able to stand, and as it was evident that she would soon die, she was killed with chloroform. At this time she weighed 6.8 kilos. At the beginning of the experiment she had weighed 8.2 kilos., a loss of 1.4 kilos in weight. Autopsy. Heart showed a few small hemorrhages under the endo- cardium, otherwise normal. Lungs, liver, and kidneys normal. The walls of the stomach were greatly thickened and reddened, and contained several small hemorrhages. The mucous membrane of the whole bowel was thickened and reddened, though this change was most marked in the large bowel. The lower part of the large bowel contained a few small ulcers and numerous ecchymoses. Microscopic examination of the heart showed only a few small hem-