Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
August,  1910.  J 
Standardization  of  Drugs. 
369 
with  the  object  of  comparing  their  quantitative  therapeutic  action  in 
connection  with  the  results  on  the  cat's  heart,  as  shown  by  the  ex- 
periments which  we  are  conducting. 
Naturally,  minimal  doses  are  being  employed,  but  the  compara- 
tive activity  of  crystalline  ouabain  and  strophanthin  even  in  the 
doses  which  have  been  recommended,  seem  to  explain  why  positively 
brilliant  results  have  followed  occasionally  the  intravenous  use  of 
these  substances. 
We  believe  that  the  cat  unit  offers  an  easy  means  of  computing 
the  therapeutic  dose  of  the  various  digitalis  bodies  when  these  are 
to  be  administered  intramuscularly  or  by  vein,  but  the  rate  of 
absorption  from  the  alimentary  canal  must  be  determined  before  the 
oral  use  of  these  can  furnish  us  reliable  results. 
That  cumulation  does  occur  with  certain  of  these  substances  must 
be  admitted,  or,  what  amounts  to  nearly  the  same  thing,  the  drug  is 
not  excreted  or  destroyed  so  readily  in  some  cases  as  in  others. 
Strophanthin  and  ouabain  may  be  repeated  more  frequently 
than  digitalis,  our  incomplete  investigations  leading  us  to<  believe 
that  the  action  of  digitalis  is  far  more  persistent  than  is  generally 
supposed. 
We  believe  the  outlook  is  more  encouraging  now  than  it  has 
been  at  any  time  in  the  past  for  putting  the  therapeutics  of  digitalis 
upon  a  rational  basis,  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  we  have  no 
means  at  present  of  securing  any  degree  of  uniformity  of  action 
after  the  oral  administration  of  these  bodies,  though  it  is  not  hopeless 
to  look  for  one  which  will  be  absorbed  readily  from  the  alimentary 
canal,  and  we  are  endeavoring  to  find  such  a  member  of  the  group. 
DISCUSSION. 
The  Choice  of  the  Animal. — There  are  several  reasons. which  in- 
fluenced us  to  use  the  cat.  These  are  in  the  order  of  their  im- 
portance: Accuracy  afforded,  facility  with  which  they  may  be  ob- 
tained, ease  with  which  they  may  be  handled  (contrary  to  common 
opinion),  cheapness,  and  the  fact  that  their  use  does  not  affect 
the  sensibilities  of  the  sentimental  portion  of  the  community  to  the 
same  extent  that  the  employment  of  the  dog  does. 
The  Use  of  Ouabain  to  Complete  the  Reaction  after  Digitalis. — 
It  is  commonly  stated  that  digitalis  acts  slowly,  thus  Sollmann,  Text- 
book of  Pharmacology,  2nd  ed.,  p.  488,  says :  "  The  action  of  the 
digitalis  group  is  peculiar,  in  that  it  cannot  be  secured  at  once,  unless 
