86 



Scientific Proceedings (97). 



cornea, and of the human mucous membranes. Furthermore, 

 benzaldehyde solutions were found to paralyze also nerve con- 

 duction. 



The toxicology of benzaldehyde has been worked out long ago, 

 owing to its presence, in combination with hydrocyanic acid, in 

 bitter almonds and other plants. As is well known, benzaldehyde 

 is very little toxic, and can be taken by mouth in large quantities 

 without any injurious effects. For this reason, it is official in 

 the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The interesting local anesthetic prop- 

 erties of benzaldehyde found by the present author throw light 

 upon the pharmacological action of compound tincture of benzoin 

 and some other drugs. Practically, benzaldehyde is not as 

 adaptable to clinical use as benzyl alcohol, because solutions of it 

 are rapidly oxidized to benzoic acid. A detailed description of its 

 pharmacological properties will appear in the Journal of Pharma- 

 cology and Experimental Therapeutics, and its relation to the 

 therapeutic value of some well-known pharmaceutical preparations 

 will be discussed more fully in a medical historical paper elsewhere. 



49 (1424) 



A biological test for corpus luteum extracts in vitro. 



By D. I. Macht and S. Matsumoto. 



[From the Pharmacological Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University 

 and The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute.] 



The present authors have been engaged for some time in the 

 study of the physiological action of various glandular extracts, 

 and more particularly of their influence on the genito-urinary 

 organs. In the course of these investigations, they have dis- 

 covered a reaction produced by corpora lutea which it is deemed 

 desirable to report in this place. It was found that aqueous or 

 saline extracts of fresh and dessicated corpora lutea of various 

 animals exert a powerfully stimulating action on the vas deferens 

 and seminal vesicles. Small quantities of such extracts when 

 introduced into a chamber containing a freshly excised vas deferens 



