Arsenic Penetration of the Meninges. 



99 



of plant tissues does not remove the substances essential for 

 growth which is contained in butter fat." They further say 

 "owing to the large content of waxes, etc., extracted from plant 

 leaves we have not been very successful in feeding ether extract 

 from these sources." We have, however, obtained potent prepar- 

 ations as follows: Spinach leaves and young clover respectively, 

 dried in a current of air at about 6o°, were extracted with U. S. P. 

 ether. The resultant green extract, yielding an oily residue equal 

 to about 3 per cent, of the dried plant, was evaporated upon 

 starch. These preparations, fed in daily quantities equivalent 

 to 1-2 grams of the dried plant, promoted recovery and renewal 

 of growth in rats declining in weight on diets deficient in fat- 

 soluble vitamine. Inasmuch as only 30 milligrams per day of the 

 ether extract of spinach sufficed for this purpose it appears that this 

 product ranks among the most potent of the oils heretofore tested. 



Abstracts of the Communications, Pacific Coast Branch. 

 Twenty-first meeting. 



San Francisco, California, March 5, 191 9. 



59 (1434) 



Arsenic penetration of the meninges during the treatment of 



neurosyphilis. 



By H. G. Mehrtens and C. G. McArthur (by invitation) . 

 [From the Stanford Medical School, San Francisco, California]. 



It is difficult to estimate from clinical results the relative values 

 of the different methods of treating neuro-syphilis. The amount 

 of arsenic that reaches the cerebrospinal fluid may, however, be 

 estimated quantitatively with reasonable accuracy, and the 

 effectiveness of the treatment may be assumed to parallel this 

 amount of penetration. 



Quantitative estimations of arsenic penetrating the meninges 

 was made in about 100 spinal fluids. These were divided into 

 the following groups: 



Group A — 44 cases in which spinal drainage was performed one 

 hour after simple intravenous injection of 0.6 arsphenamine. 



