Page 399 - My FlipBook

EUCAINE. 397 ;

their dosages are very similar. Lethal doses cause excitation of
the central nervous system, convulsions affecting all the muscles,
general paralysis, and death by a failure of the respiration. There
is no ischemia due to contraction of the blood vessels, as in co-
caine anaesthesia, and no paralysis of accommodation. According
to Prof. Hare, however, eucaine is capable of producing internal
effects resembling an over-dose of cocaine, which must be treated
bv the use of strong coffee, alcohol, digitalis and strychnine. If
the case is pressing, ether, ammonia and nltro-glycerine may be
used as rapidly acting stimulants. Solutions of eucaine hydro-
chlorate (one part to ten parts of sterilized water) remain per-
manently unchanged, and boiling will not produce decomposition,
which is another advantage over solutions of cocaine hydro-
chlorate. This immunity is supposed to be due to its immediate
derivation from pure chemicals, instead of from vegetable sources.
The local effect of eucaine hydrochlorate upon the circulation is
the production of hyperemia, whereas that of cocaine is ischemia.
Eucaine also exalts the nervous system, when paralysis follows,
the effect being central, causing acceleration of the heart-beats
through sedation of the pneumogastric nerve. Experiments
made by Dr. A. H. Peck lead him to conclude that the action of
cocaine is inconstant, while those of eucaine are constant ; that
the first action on the heart and respiration of eucaine is that of
a stimulant, the after-effects being that of a decided depressant
that eucaine causes death in animals by paralyzing the muscles
of the heart and of the respiratory apparatus, they ceasing to
operate simultaneously, while cocaine causes death by paralyzing
the muscles of the respiratory apparatus, the heart's action con-
tinuing in a feeble way for a brief period after breathing ceases;
that eucaine in toxic doses nearly always causes nausea, and oc-
casionally vomiting, while cocaine is much less nauseating and
scarcely ever causes vomiting; that cocaine is at least three times
more toxic than Beta-Eucaine, and that Alpha-Eucaine is as toxic
as cocaine. Eucaine solutions should be prepared with distilled
or sterilized water, and then brought to the boiling point. All
solutions should be freshly prepared to obtain the positive results.
Dental Uses.— Beta-eucaine is employed in dental practice as a