THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. -j 



lie points out the difficulties of the subject, and states that he believes his 

 cornutine to be a mixed extract free from sphacelinic acid. 



Keller claims that there is a single active constituent of ergot. This, he 

 believes, is an alkaloid. lie further maintains that pikrosclerotinc of Drag- 

 endorff, ergotinme of Tanret and cornutine of Robert are identical. 



The latest important contribution to the question is that of Jacobi. 9 

 He points out the inconsistency of Robert's change of position, which he 

 states was not founded upon any new investigations on the chemical nature 

 of the ergot extracts, but because the therapeutic action of the extracts did 

 not correspond to Robert's own earlier teachings. 



Jacobi isolated at least three important principles: 



(1.) A yellowish, non-nitrogenous body, which, when well purified, 

 was found to be inactive, but when impure had an action on the comb of 

 fowls similar to Robert's sphacelinic acid. This he calls "Ergochrysine." 



(2.) An alkaloid which he states is inactive when in a pure state; this 

 lie has named "Secaline." 



(3.) A peculiar resinous body. 



For this peculiar resinous body he adopts Schmiedeberg's term, "Spha- 

 celotoxine" (a term originally applied by Schmiedeberg to a substance 

 which was said by him to be in Robert's cornutine). This sphacelotoxine 

 represents the active constituent of the drug. It produces the action on 

 the blood vessels resulting in the gangrene, and also the specific action on 

 the uterus. Thus far in his researches he has not been able to obtain 

 enough of this body to determine its exact cbemical composition, as it is 

 present in very minute quantities only. Moreover, it is a very unstable 

 substance, but combines very readily with the two principles found in ergot, 

 and here isolated for the first time, i. e., secaline and ergochrysine. Its 

 compounds with these two bodies are termed respectively "secalintoxine" 

 and "chrysotoxine." It is with these comparatively stable compounds of 

 sphacelotoxine that Jacobi carried on his pbarmacological studies. 



Chrysotoxine, which is the combination of the neutral non-nitrogenous 

 base, ergochrysine and sphacelotoxine, is obtained by precipitation from 

 the ethereal extract of ergot, after getting rid of the fat, with petroleum 

 spirit. It is a yellowish powder, without smell or taste, readily soluble in 

 ether, chloroform, alcohol or benzine; insoluble in water. It crystallizes 

 with difficulty and its formula is C 21 H 24 lfi . Jacobi regards it as a phe- 

 nolic substance allied to anthracene or phefnanthrene. It is the body called 

 "Spasmotin" in one of the authors earlier contrilmtions. 



A thorough pharmaco-dynamic study of this body is given by the 

 author. On the frog's heart it acts, in doses of from 30 to 50 mg. (± to 5-C 



i°Archiv. f. exper. Pathol, xxxix. 1897, p. 85. 



