Antimony in veterinary medicine: yesterday and today

The medicinal use of antimony is known from early Egyptian time. In the 18th century the use of different antimony compounds are described in veterinary medicine. It was used to restore the balance between the body's four liquids. In Denmark the veterinarian Viborg made extensive practical experiments on the posology of antimony compounds and found that tartar emetic is much more toxic if it is adminstered in water than as a powder. The use of antimony as a diarrhoeic and emetic slowly disappeared and to-day antimony compounds are the drugs of choice when treating Leishmaniasis