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Scientific Proceedings (130) 



The effect of the drugs was studied on the growth or elongation 

 of the hypocotyls of three-day-old seedings of lupinus albus. 

 The following drugs were examined, digitoxin, digitalin (Ger- 

 man, Merck), digitalin Kiliani, digitonin, strophanthin U. S. P., 

 ouabain or crystalline strophanthin and bufagin. Those princi- 

 ples which were not soluble in water were used in a 1 per cent, 

 solution of ethyl alcohol, the control in such cases containing 

 also the same amount of alcohol. 



It was found that most of the above bodies were not very toxic 

 for the plants, with the exception of bufagin. Thus digitoxin 

 1 :100,000 gave a growth of 87 per cent, as compared with the 

 control plants in normal Shive solution. Digitalin, Merck in the 

 same concentration gave a growth of 86 per cent. Digitalin 

 Kiliani in concentration of 1 :500,000 gave a growth of 49 per 

 cent., while solutions from 1 :100,000 gave a growth of 98 per 

 cent. Digitonin solution 1 :100,000 gave a growth of 82 per 

 cent. Strophanthin U. S. P. 1 : 100,000 gave a growth of 73 per 

 cent, and ouabain in the same concentration gave a growth of 

 85 per cent. 



The effects of bufagin were very different. Whereas x\bel 

 and Macht 2 found this to be an extremely potent drug for ani- 

 mals, its toxicity for the heart being compared to that of digi- 

 toxin and strophanthin, it was found to be very little toxic for 

 plant protoplasm. Thus, while ouabin exerted practically no 

 inhibition on the growth of the lupine (97 per cent) and stroph- 

 anthin U. S. P. in concentrations of 1 : 100,00 gave 73 per cent, 

 growth and 1 :50,000 gave 63 per cent, of growth, it was found 

 that bufagin in solutions 1 : 100,000 gave only 20 per cent, of 

 growth and in solutions of 1 :50,000 gave only 15 per cent, of 

 growth as compared with the normal controls. This difference 

 in the toxicity for plants between bufagin and the strophanthins 

 and the other heart drugs studied is of special interest in the first 

 place because bufagin from a zoopharmacological and chemical 

 standpoint is classed with the digitalis principles and in the sec- 

 ond place because that poison is of animal origin. This agrees 

 with the many other instances found by the authors of the much 

 greater toxicity of many poisons of animal origin as compared 

 with poisons of plant origin for plant protoplasm. 



2 Abel, J. J., and D. I. Macht, J. Pharm. and Exper. Therap., 1910-11, 

 iii, 319. 



