B. P. I.— 294. 



THE USE OF SUPRARENAL GLANDS IN THE 



PHYSIOLOGICAL TESTING OF 



DRUG PLANTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



It has long been recognized that many of the important pharma- 

 copceal preparations can not be accurately standardized by any 

 known chemical processes, so that for this purpose physiological 

 methods have been employed. a 



There have been some inquiries as to where information concerning 

 this subject could be obtained, and as most of the data occur in 

 sources which are not usually accessible it was deemed wise to abstract 

 this literature and present the methods in some detail. It must be 

 remembered that as our knowledge increases these tests are sure to 

 suffer change, a fate which has been the lot of chemical assay proc- 

 esses. A few years ago gravimetric assay methods were used almost 

 entirely, but now only when titration methods are unavailable. 

 These methods have become an essential to all analytical pharma- 

 ceutical laboratories, and thousands of dollars are spent every year 

 in this country for carrying out these tests. 



While often mechanically simple in their execution they require 

 considerable experience to interpret them properly, and for this 

 reason some of the large drug firms err in employing inexperienced 

 persons to perform them. 



These tests can be used not only with preparations in which the 

 active principle is little known, but also to control chemical processes 

 where the active principle is well recognized. Thus the writer has 

 controlled the assay for atropin by noting the minimum quantity 

 necessary to cause dilatation of the pupil and standardizing this with 

 a known solution of atropin. 



a- Standardization of pharmaceutical preparations. Brit. Med. Jour., vol. 2, p. 583, 

 1906. 



7 



