STROPHANTHUS 363 



TEST U.S. P. If made into the official tincture and assayed biologically 

 the minimum lethal dose should not be greater than 0.00006 mil 

 of tincture, or the equivalent in tincture of 0.0000005 Gm. of 

 ouabain, for each gramme of body weight of frog. Preserve 

 Strophanthus in tightly closed containers, adding a few drops of 

 chloroform or carbon tetrachloride, from time to time, to prevent 

 attack of insects. 



CONSTITUENTS. Its medical properties depend upon an intensely bitter 

 glucoside, strophanthin, CszH-nsOie (anhydrous), 2 to 2.5 per cent., 

 choline, trigonelline, kombic acid, resin, mucilage, and a fixed oil are 

 also present. Ash, not to exceed 5 per cent. 



OUABAIN, CRYSTALLIZED. Crystallized Strophanthin. G. Strophanthin 

 Thorns. CaoHwOu +9H 2 O. A glucoside, obtained from A cocanthera 

 ouabaio by Arnaud, or, as now commonly prepared, from Strophanthus 

 gratus, in which case it is also called crystallized strophanthin, or 

 g-strophanthin Thorns. (The official strophanthin is methyl ouabain 

 C3iH 48 Oi2.) Recent investigation shows that this alkaloid varies in 

 proportion to water of crystallization. 



Preparation of Strophanthin. Treat powdered seeds with acidulated (HC1) 

 alcohol; evaporate to soft extract; treat with water. The aqueous solution 

 containing tannate is treated with lead oxide, and from the purified aqueous 

 solution white crystals are obtained. 



ACTION AND USES. Used in all forms of cardiac disease to supplant 

 digitalis, but is not generally regarded as its equal. It has a diuretic 

 action similar to digitalis through its action on the circulation, and 

 also by direct promotion of urinary secretion, and is especially indi- 

 cated in cardiac dropsy as being superior to digitalis; given in the 

 form of tincture. Dose: i gr. (0.065 Gm.). 



OFFICIAL PREPARATION. 



Tinctura Strophanthi (10 per cent.), Dose: 4 to 8 njj (0.25 to 0.50 mil). 



452. OLEANDER. The leaves of Ne'rium odor'um, a heart stimulant belonging 

 to the digitalis group. Oleandrin is a cardiac poison. 



453. URECHITES. YELLOW-FLOWERED NIGHTSHADE. A poisonous plant grow- 

 ing in the West India Islands. A cardiac poison not very unlike digitalis in 

 effect. Dose of fl'ext.: 2 to 10 TTJJ (0.13 to 0.6 mil). 



ASCLEPIADE^). Milkweed Family 



Herbs, usually milky -juiced, with opposite or whorled entire leaves. Anthers 

 connected to the stigma and the pollen, cohering into waxy masses which hang 

 in pairs from the glands of the stigma. The juice contains caoutchouc. 



454. ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA (N.F.) . The root of Ascle'pias tubero'sa Linne". 

 Off. in U.S.P. 1890. Enters the market in transverse or longitudinal sec- 

 tions about 20 mm. (^ in.) in thickness, and of various lengths; externally 

 pale orange-brown or grayish, wrinkled longitudinally; internally it consists 

 of a grayish or yellowish porous wood with broad, white medullary rays; 

 fracture tough, uneven, showing the two distinct layers of the thin bark, 



