236 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 789 



THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PHARUA- 



COLOOY AND EXPERIMENTAL 



THERAPEUTICS 



This society, which was organized at Baltimore, 

 December, 1908, held its first annual meeting in 

 Boston during convocation week. The object of 

 the society is to promote pharmacology and ex- 

 perimental therapeutics and to " facilitate per- 

 sonal intercourse between investigators who are 

 actively engaged in research in these fields." The 

 membership is now fifty-two. 



At the business meeting on December 29 a 

 constitution was adopted and the following offi- 

 cers elected: 



President — J. J. Abel. 



Secretary — ^Reid Hunt. 



Treasurer — A. S. Loevenhart. 



Additional Members of the Council — A. C. Craw- 

 ford and G. B. Wallace. 



Membership Committee — C. W. Edmunds, S. J. 

 Meltzer and Torald Sollmann. 



On December 30 a scientific session was held 

 at which the following demonstrations and papers 

 were presented and discussed: 



DEMONSTKATIONS 



D. R. Joseph and S. J. Meltzer: The mutual 

 antagonism between magnesium and barium. 



J. Auer (with P. Lewis) : Demonstration of 

 anaphylactic immobilization of the lungs in 

 guinea-pigs. 



W. H. Schultz: A simple respiration apparatus. 



S. J. Meltzer: A demonstration of the method 

 of respiration by continuous intratracheal insuf- 

 flation. 



PAPERS 



Central Vasomotor Effects: T. Sollmann (with 



J. D. Pilchee). 



An organ is left in connection with the vaso- 

 motor center, but separated from the circulation, 

 and perfused artificially. Cardiac effects, and 

 direct actions on the vessels, are thus excluded, 

 thereby permitting the study of the activity of 

 the vasomotor center. The response of this center 

 to physiological and pharmacological conditions 

 is under investigation; a number of the results 

 were reported. 

 Studies upon the Action of Certain Salts on the 



Isolated Intestines: M. V. Tykode. 



Strips of rabbit's small and large intestines 

 kept alive in the author's nutritive medium and 

 tested by different methods showed an increased 

 motor activity when magnesium sulphate, sodium 

 sulphate and sodium phosphate were applied in- 



ternally but decreased activity when these salts 

 were applied externally, particularly well marked 

 after magnesium sulphate. 



On the Behavior of Certain Arsenical (and other) 

 Compounds in the Treatment of Experimental 

 Nagana: J. J. Abel (with L. G. Rowntbee and 

 E. A. Slegle). 



The authors have met with success in the treat- 

 ment of experimental nagana in using certain 

 arsenical and antimony compounds, whose method 

 of preparation together with results obtained will 

 be described in detail in the near future. 



The Effect of Certain Drugs upon the Toxicity of 

 Acetphenetidin and Paramidophenol : W. Hale. 

 A control series of mice were fed plain cakes 

 or upon cakes to which a single drug had been 

 added, and the time until their death was noted. 

 In a second series cakes were fed which contained 

 a mixture of two of the above drugs. In this way 

 it was shown tha-t the toxicity of acetphenetidin 

 (phenacetin) and para-amidophenol was increased 

 in mixtures with small amounts of caffein, sodium 

 bicarbonate and codeine. 



On the Pharmacological Action and Antiseptic 

 Value of Certain Benzoic Acid Derivatives: A. 

 S. Loevenhart (with A. Aekin). 

 The following products were studied: 



/I 



( 1 ) Sodium ortho-iodbenzoate, CoHi/ 



\cOONa 



(2) Sodium ortho-iodosobenzoate, CeH,; 



/I=0 

 \cOONa 



(3) Sodium ortho-iodoxybenzoate, Cs&t/ ^0 



\COOXa 



The first has very little antiseptic action, while 

 the second and third are antiseptics of consider- 

 able strength for the organisms studied. Evidence 

 was presented to show that the germicidal proper- 

 ties of these substances is dependent upon the 

 active oxygen combined with the iodine. The 

 presence of protein did not diminish the antiseptic 

 action of these substances. Work is under way to 

 establish their therapeutic value. 



The Effects of Urea and Hypertonic Solutions on 

 the Circulation: J. A. E. Etstee. (Read by 

 title.) 



Urea causes an increase in the size of contrac- 

 tion of the frog's and terrapin's heart. Hyper- 

 tonic solutions of sodium chloride and glucose 

 exert a similar effect, but the effect with urea 



