The Artificial Induction of Estrum 141 



22 cows, 9 bitches, 3 bulls, and 3 sows. In his observation, 

 the drug has a greater affinity for the female than for the 

 male genitalia. A five-year-old Simmerthal cow calved nor- 

 mally in June, 1906, but estrum did not follow. All other 

 drugs, including cantharides, proved useless. In August, 

 1907, fourteen months after calving, 16 tablets of yohimbin 

 chloride, each containing 0.1 gram of the alkaloid, were pre- 

 scribed, one tablet to be given three times daily in the drink- 

 ing water. On the third day there was excitement, bellow- 

 ing, uneasy stepping about, frequent urination and de- 

 creased milk flow. On the fourth day there was a muco- 

 sanguineous discharge from the vulva (menstruation?) and 

 on the fifth day the owner noted expulsive efforts resembling 

 labor pains. The external genitals were swollen and hyper- 

 aemic, but no estrum was present. The uterus was large. 

 The ovaries were enlarged, but not cystic. Six weeks later, 

 the cow, showing violent estrum, was bred and the owner 

 "believed" her in calf. 



Another cow, nine months post partum ,without estrum, 

 and having cystic ovaries, was treated in the same way, de- 

 veloped estrum ten weeks later and was bred. The owner 

 "believed" her to be pregnant. 



So far as can be seen from Holterbach's reports, the evi- 

 dence is not convincing. In no case was the cause of non- 

 estrum explained, and no proof was submitted that the es- 

 trum, following the use of yohimbin, was due to the drug. 



Frubinger (D. M. W. No. 7, 1907) condemns the drug as 

 worthless and attributes the alleged cures in man to sug- 

 gestion. 



Miiller (Arch. Internat. Phar. et de Therap., Vol. XVII, 

 p. 81) considers it an erratic aphrodisiac, acting differently 

 on different individuals. Daels, quoted by Holterbach, ex- 

 perimentally caused menstruation in bitches already in es- 

 trum, but bitches usually menstruate at this time anyhow. 

 In another, not in estrum, but date of probable normal es- 

 trum not named, menstruation occurred in four days. A 

 third bitch showed a mucous discharge. Later, bloody feces 

 were voided and the animal died from the toxic effects of 



