im Di{. Mitch Ei,i, on the Physiological Actions of Spar tine and Scoparine. 



take a rniddle course ; while Christison and others pronounce it uncertain, 

 and, as compared with others, of little value. Now, these researches 

 account, in some measure, for this discrepancy. It was found that plants, 

 which had grown under different circumstances, yielded very variable 

 amounts of the.se active principles, and of all experimented on, those were 

 found to yield most which gi-ew on a low-lying sandy ground, with a 

 sunny exposure, and which seemed to be stunted in their growth, the 

 entire plants not exceeding a foot or a foot and a-half in height I need 

 not enlarge on this point, for it is thus fjuitc clear how one man's experi- 

 ence of the efficiency of the plant may be widely different from that of 

 another. But I cannot pass this opportunity of alluding to the uncer- 

 tainty that must necessarily attend the use of all vegetable infusions or 

 decoctions where so much of their activity depends upon the circumstances 

 under which the plants grew, &c. And, while I notice this uncertainty, 

 I cannot but call attention to the comparative certainty that attends the 

 employment of the vegetable alkaloids. When we give, for instance, 1 

 grain of quinine, we know exactly that which we have given, and we may 

 reckon, with corresponding confidence, on its operation ; but when we 

 give of the cinchona bark what we deem an equivalent of 1 grain of 

 quina, we are presuming some certainty where very wide variations are 

 known to exist. And if that for which we give the bark be really the 

 quina contained in it, I have shown it to be, in a twofold sense, advan- 

 tageous to give the alkaloid itself; for, in the first place, we give it freed 

 from such other matters as shall either impede, modify, or counteract its 

 action ; and. in the second place, we know precisely the amount of the 

 substance given, whose action we desire. 



With how great certainty can we count upon the effects of morphine, 

 strychnine, nicotine, or any of the other active principles of plants which 

 are employed. Among such a class of bodies, I feel firmly convinced we 

 shall seek, with profit and wisdom, for additions to our pharmacopoeia; or 

 rather, I should say, important substitutions, since the voluminous list of 

 vegetables at present admitted into the materia medica, would rather be 

 diminished than increased by such discoveries. This is very evident, if 

 we suppose (as is probable) that similar actions are dependant upon 

 similarly constituted " active principles" existing in these plants, and 

 which, I believe, in nine cases out of ten, to be capable of isolation. 



Influenced by considerations like the foregoing, I undertook the 

 experiments detailed. But I did not confine myself to spartine and 

 scoparine. I investigated the actions of some other natural vegetable 

 alkaloids, and of one artificially produced. I refer to furfurine, the base 

 of the furfurol. I am led in these researches to suspect that this may prove 

 an antiperiodic, and, as such, a cheaper substitute for quinine. More 

 extended experiments, however, are required, the real modus operandi of 

 antiperiodics being very imperfectly known. 



