482 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t    October,  1910. 
PROGRESS  IN  PHARMACY. 
By  M.  I.  Wilbert,  Washington,  D.  C. 
A   QUARTERLY  REVIEW  OF  SOME  OF  THE  MORE  INTERESTING  LITER- 
ATURE RELATING  TO  PHARMACY  AND   MATERIA  MEDICA. 
{Concluded  from  page  450.) 
Buchu. — E.  M.  Holmes  reports  a  new  adulterant  of  buchu 
which  he  has  recognized  as  the  leaflets  of  Psoralea  obliqua,  E.  Mey, 
a  small  shrubby  plant,  2  to  4  feet  high,  common  near  Stellenbosch, 
about  25  miles  east  of  Cape  Town,  and  therefore  in  the  district 
where  Barosma  betulina  grows  {Pharm.  J.,  London,  1910,  p.  69). 
Cactina  and  Cacti n. — E.  P.  Lyon  and  Guy  L.  Quails  report 
a  series  of  experiments  and  observations  on  the  influence  of  these 
substances  on  animals  and  on  the  pulse-rate  and  blood  pressure 
in  man.  No  effects  were  discoverable  from  the  use  of  either  cactin 
or  cactina. 
An  editorial  in  calling  attention  to  the  report  points  out  that 
the  lavishness  with  which  the  two  substances  are  being  advertised 
would  appear  to  indicate  that  they  are  still  widely  used  and  con- 
cludes that  as  a  central  theme  for  a  treatise  on  the  "  Psychology 
of  Advertising  "  these  products  may  hav£  their  uses,  they  certainly 
illustrate  the  credulity  of  many  otherwise  well  balanced  medical 
men  (/.  Am.  M.  Ass.,  1910,  v.  55,  pp.  455-459  and  508). 
Digitalis. — An  editorial  commenting  on  the  proposed  Govern- 
ment supervision  of  the  standardization  of  digitalis,  as  suggested 
by  Schmiedeberg,  points  out  that  this  recommendation  would 
virtually  take  the  drug  beyond  the  control  of  pharmacists,  and 
questions  the  advisability  of  having  a  Government  department  act- 
ing as  custodian  of  the  drug  (Chem.  and  Drug.,  Lond.,  June  18, 
1910,  v.  76,  p.  50). 
New  Digitalis  Preparation. — A  patent,  issued  to  Tambach 
and  Knoll,  provides  for  the  making  of  a  preparation  of  digitalis 
which  is  to  embody  all  of  the  activities  of  the  fresh  drug.  The 
preparation  is  made  by  treating  an  alcoholic  extract  of  the  drug 
with  ether,  removing  the  resulting  precipitate,  concentrating  the 
filtrate,  and  mixing  the  residue  with  milk  sugar  (Pharm.  Post, 
Wien,  1910,  v.  43,  p.  502). 
