412 PHYSIOLOGY [Bot. Absts. 



wild grown digitalis from the northwestern states could be used for making the various prep- 

 arations of digitalis and a highly active product secured which would compare favorably with 

 the activity of cultivated leaves grown under more favorable conditions. Using the one- 

 hour frog method of the XL S. Pharmacopeia, the authors tested 28 samples of American- 

 grown digitalis; only eight yielded tinctures that met the standards of the U. S. Pharma- 

 copeia. The authors discuss the methods of testing, the difference in strength due to soil 

 and climate and to method of drying, the activity of the water soluble glucosvdes and the 

 toxicity of various species and varieties of digitalis. They reach the following conclusions:— 

 The best American digitalis, both wild and cultivated, is equal in activity to the best Euro- 

 pean digitalis. Specimens of high potency have been obtained from Virginia, Nebraska, Wis- 

 consin, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. The majority of samples of American digitalis 

 examined were of low potency. No less than 17 out of 25 samples of American digitalis were 

 below the standard of strength established by the U. S. Pharmacopeia. The average strength 

 of the American digitalis, however, was greater than that of the imported digitalis examined. 

 — All digitalis should be tested biologically before it is gathered in large quantities for thera- 

 peutic use. — Wm. B. Day. 



2819. Satre, L. E., and G. N. Watson. Final report on the alkaloids of Gelsemium. 

 Druggists Circ. 63: 423-424. 1919. Also in: Western Druggist 41: 315-316. 1919— The au- 

 thors show that the so-called amorphous alkaloid gelseminine is not a single alkaloid but a 

 mixture of several having different properties, — gelsemidine, gelsemidine hydrochloride which 

 are crystalline and gelsemoidine which is amorphous. Other alkaloids are sempervirine and 

 gelsemine. Methods of procedure, physical description, color reactions, and physiological 

 actions are given in detail. — Oliver Atkins Farwell. 



2820. Schmidt, James M., and Frederick W. Heyl. On the stability of Digitalis leaf 

 extracts. (First paper.) Amer. Jour. Pharm. 91: 425^36. 1919. — In a study of Digitalis 

 and its preparations the authors noted that the losses in extracts from young drugs were very 

 irregular and that deterioration in alcoholic preparations was much greater than in the young 

 drug itself. They also noted that the leaf contains a constituent much more stable than a 

 second active but unstable constituent, the stable component representing 40 per cent of young 

 dried leaf. The extracts from which the unstable constituent has been removed naturally 

 come to an equilibrium, the activity being greater owing to the predominance of the more 

 stable constituent. The conclusions reached seem to agree with the hypothesis that Digi- 

 toxin is the stable and the so-called Digitalein is the less stable component. — Anton Hogstad, 

 Jr. 



2821. Van Urk, H. W. Bijdrage tot de kennis van Peucedanum Sativum. (Pastinaca 

 sativa, L.) [Contribution to the knowledge of Peucedanum sativum.] Pharm. Weekblad. 56: 

 1391-1398. 1919. — The fruit does not contain volatile bases, as claimed by Wittstein. The 

 root is free from those substances which are present in the root of Imperatoria, which is prob- 

 ably related to the fact that Pastinaca is a biennial, while Imperatoria is a perennial. The 

 root contains much fatty material, starch, cane-sugar and other sugars, and small amounts of 

 an alkaloid (which is present in all parts of the plant) and of a crystalline substance that is 

 insoluble in water and benzine, but soluble in ether. Glucosides are absent. — //. Engelhardt. 



PHYSIOLOGY 



B. M. Duggar, Editor 



GENERAL 



2822. Ritzema Bos, J. [Rev. of: Giltat, E.: "Plantenleven ; proeven en beschouwingen 

 over enige der voornaamste levensverschijnselen van de planten," 2e deel: de voortplanting. 

 (Plant life : experiments and observations on some of the most important life phenomena of plants, 

 part 2: reproduction.) 2 ed. J. B. Wolters: Groningen and The Hague, 1918.] Tijdschr. 

 Plantenz. 25: 99-100. 1919. — A book dealing with the biology and physiology of plants. — 

 11. II. Whetzel. 



