322  Notes  on  "Physiological  Testing."      { Am j5^£g.arm 
logical  testing."  This  term  is,  I  think,  so  widely  known  because  of 
its  exploitation  by  certain  of  the  large  drug  firms.  It  has  come,  in 
the  minds  of  certain  people,  to  mean  a  fairly  quantitative  test  of 
drug  preparations  on  animals.  Kobert  prefers  the  use  of  the  term 
"  biological  testing,"  as  it  has  a  wider  significance,  and  since  the 
term  may  be  used  in  reference  to  the  testing  qualitatively  of  chemi- 
cals on  any  form  of  life,  while  the  term  "  biological  assay  "  seems 
more  desirable  for  the  quantitative  determination  by  this  method. 
It  has  been  well  recognized  that  many  of  the  drugs  and  chemicals 
cannot  be  standardized  by  the  ordinary  chemical  methods,  and  for 
this  reason  they  have  been  tested  on  animals.  There  are  certain 
classes  of  drugs,  which,  at  the  present  time,  can  be  only  thus  stand, 
ardized;  for  example,  the  members  of  the  digitalis  group,  cannabis 
indica,  ergot,  antitoxines  and  the  preparations  of  the  ductless  glands. 
As  yet  we  have  no  other  method  of  testing  yohimbin,  curare,  abrin, 
ricin,  jequirity,1  saponins,  etc.  Kobert  practically  admits  that  the 
chemical  test  is  unsuited  for  the  recognition  of  aconitine,  and  that 
such  tests  fail  for  small  quantities  of  picrotoxin,  etc.  Dixon 2  claims 
that  "  lobelia  can  be  standardized  very  accurately  by  its  effect  upon 
blood  pressure  and  its  subsequent  paralytic  action  on  certain  nerve 
cells."  Then  again,  there  are  preparations  which,  while  they  can 
be  standardized  by  chemical  means,  may  with  advantage  be  con- 
trolled by  the  physiological  test,  at  least  qualitatively ;  thus,  cocaine 
produces  characteristic  anaesthesia  of  the  mucous  membranes,  and 
atropine  produces  dilatation  of  the  pupil,  and  the  addition  of  these 
tests  may  render  the  chemical  ones  more  certain.  Others  again 
may  be  tested  by  either  chemical  or  biological  methods,  according 
to  circumstances.  Kobert,  under  certain  conditions,  prefers  the  test 
for  arsenic  by  means  of  Penicillium  brevicaule  to  the  Marsh  test, 
although  it  must  be  admitted  that  certain  arsenic  compounds  by 
this  test  fail  to  respond. 
ADRENAL  GLANDS. 
We,  Baltimoreans,  should  be  especially  familiar  with  these  glands 
because  the  first  chemical  work  in  this  country  was  done  in  this 
1  Scholtz,  K.  Werthbestimmung  d.  ■  Jequiritols  u.  des  Jequiritol-  Heilserum 
durch  Thierexperimente.    Arch.  J.  Augenheilkunde,  Vol.  55,  p.  209.  1906. 
2  Dixon,  W.  E.  Bio-Chemical  Standardization  of  Drugs.  Pharm.  Journ., 
Vol.  75,  P.  157.  1905. 
