AmjJa°iy?i?oh8arm"}     Notes  on  "Physiological  Testing."  327 
ous  data  on  this  method,  but  have  recently  found  that  Kehrer1  has 
developed  it,  using  the  isolated  uterus  from  cats,  and  claims  it  to  be 
the  best  method  yet  proposed.  He  uses  as  his  standard  O  or  gramme 
of  ergot  in  200  c.c.  of  Ringer  solution  as  his  minimal  active  dose. 
According  to  this  test,  ergots  preserved  one  year  in  drug  stores 
become  seven  or  eight  times  weaker,  while  after  two  years,  preserva- 
tion they  become  fifteen  times  weaker  than  originally.  Kobert  and 
Gruenfeld2  showed,  by  testing  on  the  cock's  comb,  that  ergot  lost  its 
activity  completely  in  six  months  under  ordinary  conditions. 
Kehrer,  by  his  test,  noted  that  aqueous  extracts  of  ergot  began  to 
lose  their  activity  in  a  few  hours.  According  to  Kobert,  no  fluid 
preparation  of  ergot  preserves  its  activity  over  twelve  months.  Per- 
haps a  part  of  such  loss  in  activity  is  due  to  the  action  of  micro- 
organisms.3 It  is,  however,  known  that  Bischofberger,4  as  a  result 
of  certain  clinical  experiments  on  women,  claimed  that  ergot  two 
years  old  was  still  active;  but  the  clinical  testing  of  drugs  is  often 
apt  to  be  fallacious,  as  one  is  unable  to  control  all  the  conditions, 
and  clinicians  are  well  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  uterine  contrac- 
tions often  appear  independent  of  any  drug  used.5 
CANNABIS  1NDICA. 
The  chemistry  of  cannabis  is  another  dark  spot,  and  all  that  we 
can  say  is  that  at  present  the  active  principle  seems  to  be  a  resinous 
body,  cannabinol,  which  was  obtained  by  Fraenkel6  by  distillation 
1  Kehrer,  E.  Der  iiberlebende  Uterus  als  Testobject  fur  die  Wertigkeit  der 
Mutterkornpraparate.  Arch.  f.  exper.  Path.,  Vol.  58,  p.  366.  1908.  Com- 
pare also  the  negative  results  of  E.  M.  Kurdinowski,  Physiol,  u.  pharniakol. 
Versuche  an  d.  isolirter  Gebarmutter.  Arch.  f.  Physiol.,  Physiol.  Abtheil. 
Suppl.  Band.,  p.  372.  1904. 
2  Gruenfeld,  A.  Beitr.  z.  Kenntniss  d.  Mutterkornwirkung.  Arbeit,  d. 
pharmakol.  Institut.  z.  Dorpat,  Vol.  8,  p.  149,  etc.  1892.  Kobert,  R.  Present 
State  of  the  Ergot  Question.    Practitioner,  Vol.  35,  p.  416.  1885. 
3  L,eopard,  H.  Ueberd.  Vorkommen  von  Mikroorganismen  in  Ergotinlosung. 
Dissert.  Wiirzburg,  1887. 
4  Bischof berger,  A.  Geburts-klin .  Untersuch.  iiber.  Haltbarkeit  d.  Mutter- 
korns.    Dissert.,  p.  45.    Bern,  1897. 
5  For  literary  details  on  the  ergot  question  consult  Krysinski,  S.  Pathol,  u. 
krit.    Beitr.  z.  Mutterkornfrage.  1888. 
6  Fraenkel,  S.  Chemie  u.  Pharmakol.  d.  Haschisch.  Arch.  f.  exper.  Path., 
Vol.  49,  p.  266.  1903. 
