18 
an average lethal dose was obtained, which was based upon the 
toxic amount per kilogram body weight. 
The variations obtained on rabbits did not appear as great as with 
the frogs, being only 200 instead of 400 per cent. He tabulates his 
results as follows: 
1887. 189S. 
Fluid extract digitalis. j j I . 
Frogs. Rabbits. Frogs. Rabbits. 
Mg. Mg. Mg. Mg. 
A 17 400 33 590 
C 25 | 630 25 780 
D... 33 ; 770 25 740 
B 67 880 
The relation between the different preparations is not the same with 
the frogs as it is with the rabbits, and Buhrer had expected this dis- 
crepancy. as he said the two animals are so entirely different. How- 
ever, fluid extract A is shown to be the strongest by both methods 
Frankel 0 assayed Merck's digitoxin and later took up different 
infusions of digitalis which he obtained in and around Heidelberg. 
His method was to ascertain the amount of drug which would pro- 
duce systolic standstill of the frogs heart in about an hour's time. 
If the heart stopped in a shorter time than fifty minutes the dose 
was lessened, while if it had not ceased to beat in one hour and ten 
minutes the dose was increased. The frogs (species not mentioned) 
were injected in a lymph sac, the amount of fluid being usually 1 c. c. 
except in some cases 2 or even 3 c. c. were employed. The animals 
were weighed and the toxic dose per 100 grams body weight calcu- 
lated by a simple ratio. 
His results showed that six infusions varied in toxic dose from 2.5 
to 6.9 e. e.. a difference of 1 <46> to 275 per cent. Six tinctures ex- 
amined varied from 0.6 to 2.5 c. c.. 100 to 400 per cent, and seven 
strophanthus tinctures varied from 0.015 to 1.0 c. c. Frankel thinks 
we are justified in transferring these results to the higher animals as 
Buhrer was able to show a parallelism between the action on rabbits 
and on frogs, while he himself with four digit alis preparations showed 
the same ratio to exist on cats as on frogs. (BuhreFs table, as he 
himself pointed out, shows a certain parallelism, but by no means an 
exact one.) 
In 1902 Famulener and Lyons * 6 undertook a study of the relative 
strength of various preparations of digit alis and related drugs. They 
employed frogs (species not mentioned), choosing those of about 
40 grams weight and injecting the preparations to be tested into 
the ventral lymph sac by means of finely pointed pipettes. At the 
a Frankel. Therap. d. Gegenw.. Berlin n. Wien. 1902. XLIII.106. 
& Famulener and Lyons. Proc. Am. Pharm. Ass.. Phila. . 1902, L, 415. 
