360 
Standardization  of  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Phami. 
\     August,  1010. 
In  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  resin  obtained  from  the  root  of 
Ipomoea  Horsfallicu,  Hooker,  possesses  any  physiological  activity,  a 
test  was  kindly  conducted  for  us  by  Dr.  H.  H.  Dale,  Director  of 
the  Wellcome  Physiological  Research  Laboratories.  One  gramme 
of  the  resin  was  administered  to  a  small  dog,  but  no  purgation  was 
produced,  nor  could  any  other  effect  be  observed. 
It  is  evident  from  the  results  of  the  preceding  investigation  that 
the  root  of  Ipomoea  Horsf allies,  Hooker,  does  not  possess  any  con- 
stituent which  would  render  it  of  medicinal  value,  for  even  the  very 
small  proportion  of  resin  which  it  contains  appears  to  be  devoid  of 
any  marked  physiological  action. 
In  conclusion  we  desire  to  express  our  thanks  to  Mr.  E.  M. 
Holmes,  F.L.S.,  for  the  great  pains  he  has  taken  to  secure  the  botan- 
ical identification  of  the  material  supplied  to  us. 
THE  BIOLOGICAL  STANDARDIZATION  OF  DRUGS  * 
By  Robert  A.  Hatcher  and  J.  G.  Brody. 
Laboratory  of  Pharmacology,  Cornell  University  Medical  College. 
This  comprehensive  title  was  chosen  by  one  of  us  some  months 
ago  with  the  intention  of  presenting  brief  outlines  of  a  number  of 
methods  of  biological  standardization  which  retail  pharmacists  would 
find  available. 
Since  then  we  have  been  devoting  most  of  the  time  at  our  dis- 
posal for  the  purpose  to  the  study  of  one  group  of  drugs  and  we 
shall  therefore  limit  the  scope  of  the  paper  to  a  single  method, 
and  a  consideration  of  some  of  the  drugs  for  which  the  method 
is  adapted. 
Crawford  (Am.  J.  Pharm.,  vol.  80,  1908,  p.  321)  has  given  an 
excellent  review  of  a  number  of  the  more  important  methods  of 
biological  assay.  He  says:  "  The -group  of  digitalis,  strophanthus, 
and  squill  is  the  most  important  one  which  we  as  physicians  have 
to  use,  and  it  urgently  demands  standardizing."  He  quotes  Naunyn 
as  saying  that  he  would  not  care  to  be  a  physician  without  digitalis. 
He  also  quotes  Dixon  as  saying :   "  For  my  part  I  unhesitatingly 
*  Read  in  the  Scientific  Section  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion, at  Richmond,  Va.,  May  2-7,  1910. 
