324  Notes  on  u  Physiological  Testing:'  jJu°£%£gfrm* 
to  the  thyroids,  the  only  test  yet  offered  is  that  of  Hunt.1  The 
pituitaries  cause  a  rise  in  blood  pressure,  and  this  test  may  perhaps 
be  used,  Unfortunately,  after  a  few  injections  of  pituitary  extracts, 
the  circulatory  organs  acquire  a  certain  immunity  to  them  and  fail 
to  respond  by  a  rise  in  blood  pressure. 
ERGOT. 
There  has  been  an  endless  amount  of  discussion  as  to  the  active 
principle  of  ergot  and  its  assay.  The  chemical  work  up  to  the 
present  time  has  been  one  of  utmost  confusion.  Recently,  Barger, 
Carr  and  Dale,2  of  the  Wellcome  Research  Laboratory,  have  isolated 
an  amorphous  base,  ergotoxine,  which  forms  crystalline  salts,  and  a 
crystalline  base,  ergotinine,  corresponding  to  Tanret's  crystalline 
ergotinine.  This  forms  amorphous  salts.  Ergotoxine  has  been  shown 
to  possess  the  action  of  ergot  on  the  uterus,  the  cock's  comb,  and 
to  cause  a  rise  in  blood  pressure.  Ergotinine  is  said  to  be  inactive. 
The  total  alkaloidal  content  is  about  o-i  per  cent. 
Simultaneously  with  the  appearance  of  this  work,  Kraft3  inde- 
pendently published  almost  identical  results,  but  named  his  alkaloidal 
bodies  differently  from  the  Wellcome  Research  workers.  These 
investigators,  however,  finally  agreed  that  they  were  working  with 
the  same  compounds.  The  presence  of  more  than  one  basic  body 
had  been  noted  several  years  ago  by  Tanret  and  still  earlier  by 
Wenzell.  The  preparations  of  Kobert  and  Jacobi  are  not  chemically 
pure  bodies,  but  are  mixtures  in  varying  degrees  of  the  active  prin- 
ciple with  more  or  less  inert  matter.  Clavin,  the  principle  isolated 
by  Vahlen,1  is  reported  inactive  by  Cushny,2  Dale  and  Kehrer. 
1  Hunt,  R.  Probable  Demonstration  of  Thyroid  Secretion  in  the  Blood  in 
Exophthalmic  Goiter.  Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  Vol.  49,  p.  240.  1907. 
2  Barger,  G.  Ueber  Mutterkornalkaloide.  Arch.  d.  Pharm.,  Vol.  245, 
p.  235.  1907. 
Barger,  G.,  and  Dale,  H.  H.  Ergotoxine  and  Some  Other  Constituents  of 
Ergot.    Bio-Chem.  Jour.,  Vol.  2,  p.  240.  1907. 
Barger,  G.,  and  Carr,  F.  H.  Alkaloids  of  Ergot.  Jour,  of  Chem.  Soc, 
Vol.  91,  p.  337.  1907. 
Barger,  G.,  Carr,  F.  H.,  and  Dale,  H.  H.  An  Active  Alkaloid  from  Ergot. 
Brit.  Med.  Jour.,  1906,  Vol.  2,  p.  1792. 
Dale,  H.  H.  On  Some  Physiologic al  Actions  of  Ergot.  Jour.  Physiol. , 
Vol.  34,  p.  163.  1906. 
3  Kraft,  F.    Ueber  das  Mutterkorn.  Arch.  d.  Phxrm.,  Vol.  244,  p.  336.  1906. 
