118 



stniiii (iT tlu- fdiiii iiiidcr iiivi'stiunt i(.ii. tin- indivoduals (if which will react 

 riiiifoniily to (crti'iii oxtei'iial coiulitioiss. To investigate this i>i)int. plants 

 of knciwn alkaloidal yield are heiiig i>roi)asiated both from inbred seeds and 

 from ve.!;etati\e cnttings. Th" pvogiMiy thus ])ri)dnc('d is being grown under 

 the same conditi<ais as the parent iilants. as well as under widely dif- 

 ferent ooiiditiojis. Tile alkahiidal yield of these plants will later be taken 

 as a means of determining the results of tlu> various treatments. 



The highest \ieldiiig individuals fnan all gvdups examined are imme- 

 diately selected as parent plants for ])ossible high yielding strains. The 

 propagation of these favni'able in(li\ iduals is continued tlirougliout the year 

 by means of greenhouse and cold-frame accommodations, and are tested 

 as rapidly as sufficient material b-cnnies available. 



Tlie productiou of Iienbane even upon a small experimental scale has 

 1 riiven extremely difficult. This dilliculty is largely due to the ravage of 

 insects, altliough cultural dillicnltics with this plant are ni>t unconnnon. 

 It will ntit reproduce itself frdui open Held sowings and transplants with 

 ui'certainty. However, a small- number of biennial plants were grown 

 and found to test (M)S!K/r total alkaloids at the end of the tirst season's 

 growth, while commercial drug has only averaged 0.007% for the past year. 

 Tlie Pharmacopreia recpiires that this drug l»e collected from plants of 

 the secord year's growth. The above figures indicate that it may i)e en- 

 tirely unnecessary to grow this jilarit through the second year to obtain a 

 high yield <if alkaloids. The aminal furm was again observed, and though 

 no tests were made, an abundance of seed was obtained from which plant- 

 ings will lie continued. 'I'he ai)pearance of this annual form in many plant- 

 ings of luaibane ()\' su]ipose!l biemnal origin has led to much disjiute. 

 Its investigation is necessar.v from this jKHut of view as well as the possi- 

 bility for develoiiing an ainuuil form which would possess many cultural 

 advantages over the biennial. 



The selection of high yielding stranHmium jvlants upon a basis of their 

 contained alkaloids has lu'cn contiiuu'd tlirough two years. Averages as 

 obtained lr(an the progeny of selected parent plants havt> shown a m;u'ked 

 increase over those from wild plants gi'owing in the same loealit.v. These 

 averages are O.Gl%. 0.nO%, (•.<()';,; and (t.(i4% from Datura Stramonium I,.. 

 and 0.40%, 0.ri4%. 0.fi2% and 0.(;s% from l>afnra tatnia L., as compared 

 with o.'Jsi'T,' fi-oni wild iibnits of Patura stramonium L. and (KV2'', from 

 wild plants of I >atura latula I,. 



Thirty-two foi-nis of the genus Digitalis are under cultivation. These 



