— H4 — 



which the frequency and power of contraction are almost normal. 

 Upon a heart influenced by chloral, d- and r-camphor had an 

 almost equal action, in which the activity of the heart was often per- 

 manently excited. Both were also able to remove the condition of 

 inactivity caused by chloral. On the other hand, 1-camphor generally 

 produced only a weak excitation of short duration, while in a few 

 instances the action of the heart was improved by the other modific- 

 ations. The condition of inaction caused by chloral could not be 

 counteracted by 1-camphor. In connection with this matter we call 

 attention to the experiments of Langgaard and Maass on the same 

 subject, which we have referred to in one of our earlier Reports 1 ). 



Several investigations have been made of late years into the 

 narcotic action of nutmegs 2 ). F. Jurss in particular, in his paper 

 Uber Myristicin und einige ihm nahestehende Substanzen (On myristicin 

 and a few allied substances), published in 1904, called attention 

 to the peculiar fact that from 10 to 12 g. of nutmeg oil or mace 

 oil are required in order to produce toxic symptoms in rabbits, 

 whereas a single nutmeg weighing from 4 to 5 g. is sufficient to 

 cause severe symptoms of this kind in man. It had been as- 

 certained that the myristicin which is present in the oil has a 

 toxic action, affecting in particular the liver, its action upon that 

 organ often causing fatty degeneration, as in the case of phosphorus- 

 poisoning. But the proportion of myristicin in nutmegs is so small 

 that their powerful narcotic action must possibly be due to the 

 presence of another constituent. In order to shed light upon this 

 problem, F. B. Power and A. H. Sal way have made a most thorough 

 study of the constituents of the nutmeg. We have already on a 

 previous occasion 3 ) reported on the results obtained by them in respect 

 of the essential oil. Further communications by these two authors 

 have now appeared, dealing with the constitution of nutmeg oil ob- 

 tained by pressure 4 ) and of the pressed cake 5 ). These communications 

 are completed by numerous physiological experiments carried out by 

 H. H. Dale. We do not propose to enter into details here, but 

 will only state that no alkaloids or proteinic substances possessing a 

 toxic action were traced. The chief outcome of the investigations 

 has been the determination of the fact that the narcotic properties of 

 the nutmeg are certainly due to myristicin. It may be inferred from 

 this that myristicin is more easily assimilated when in combination 



*) Report April 1908, 176. 



2 ) Compare Report April 1908, 76; November 1908, 161. 



3 ) Report April 1908, 74. 



4 ) Journ. chem. Soc. 93 (1908), 1653. 



6 ) Americ. Journ. Pharm. 80 (1908), 563. 



