Botanic Remedies 333 



uterus practically into a state of tonic contraction 

 or tetanus. The action was very persistent and the 

 normal muscular state was not resumed after the 

 strips were placed in fresh Tyrode's solution. The 

 infusion was quite inactive. 



"The inactive drugs. The following were quite 

 inactive or inert, both the fluidextract and the in- 

 fusion: black haw (Viburnum prunifolium) the bark 

 of both root and stem, cramp bark (Viburnum opulus) 

 [not stated if botanically verified], squaw vine 

 (Mitchella repens), chestnut bark (Castanea dentata), 

 false unicorn (Chamaelirium luteum), passion flower 

 (Passiflora incarnata), blessed thistle (Cnicus bene- 

 dictus), St. Mary's thistle (Silybum marianum or 

 Carduus marianus), and motherwort (Leonurus car- 

 diaca); sodium valerianate was also inactive in 

 solutions up to 1:1,000. The strips were allowed 

 to remain in the solutions of these drugs in concen- 

 tration up to 1:500 for some time (many of them 

 for an hour) without evidence that the drugs changed 

 the character of the tracings in any way. Control 

 experiments showed that the strips were capable 

 of being depressed or stimulated by these drugs so 

 that there can be no question of their [the drugs] 

 complete inactivity. 



COMMENT ON RESULTS 



"The question arises, How far can the results of 

 this work on the excised strips of uterus muscle be 

 compared to the action in the intact animal and in 

 the human uterus? There are no experimental data 

 on the point at present, but judging by analogy to 

 other drugs, notably pituitary extract and ergot, 

 it may with perfect safety be assumed that the action 



