'*^•i**"^^o'o?™•  Ernotin.  557 
Not.,  1881.      j  .  iJ 
ERGOTIN. 
How  should  Bonjean^s  Ergotin  he  Prepared,  and  what  Advantage,  if 
any,  does  it  possess  over  the  Extract  of  Ergot  of  the  German  Phar- 
macopoeia f 
By  C.  Lewis  Diehl. 
From  a  paper  read  before  the  Kentucky  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
M.  Bonjean's  original  paper  ^  is  surprisingly  indefinite  in  its  direc- 
tions for  the  preparation  of  this  medicament.  Mr.  B.  says  essentially 
that  if  to  an  aqueous  extraction  of  ergot,  eva^^orated  to  a  clear  (?) 
syrup,  a  large  excess  of  alcohol  be  added,  all  the  gummy  matters  are 
precipitated,  and  the  soft  extract,  remaining  after  the  evaporation  of 
the  clear  alcoliolic  liquid,  represents  the  ecbolic,  and  particularly  the 
hemostatic  action  of  ergot,  without  any  of  the  poisonous  qualities  that 
the  drug  is  said  to  possess.  The  indefinite  character  of  these  directions 
has  given  rise  to  various  views  as  to  what  constitutes  Bonj can's  ergotin, 
some  aiming  to  precipitate  only  the  gummy  (?)  matter,  as  for  instance 
the  formula  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia;  while  others  claim  that 
it  is  necessary  to  continue  the  addition  of  alcohol,  specific  gravity 
0*885  or  thereabouts,  as  long  as  a  precipitate  is  occasioned  l)y  that 
liquid,  as  for  instance  Carles,^  who  claims  the  product  so  obtained  to 
be  ergotin  within  the  meaning  of  Bonjean. 
In  view  of  the  recent  investigations  of  Dragendorff  and  Podwis- 
sotzky,"^  it  has  become  a  proper  inquiry  whether  the  use  of  alcohol 
should  not  be  limited  to  the  precipitation  of  gummy  substances. 
According  to  these  experiments  the  activity  of  ergot  is  mainly  due  to 
two  components,  viz.,  sclerotic  acid,  soluble  in  alcohol  of  80  2)er  cent., 
and  scleromucin,  not  precipitated  by  alcohol  of  40  per  cent.,  but  insolu- 
ble in  alcohol  of  45  to  50  per  cent.  The  ecbolic  value  of  these  two 
substances  appears  to  be  about  equal;  but  sclerotic  acid  is  present  in 
largest  amount  in  fresh  ergot,  while  old  ergot  contains  more  sclero- 
mucin. If  these  views  are  correct,  then  it  is  a  mistake  to  use  a  large 
<excess  of  alcohol,  and  its  use  should  be  clearly  confined  to  tlie  pre- 
cipitation of  gummy  matter,  and  no  further.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
by  the  use  of  a  larger  quantity  of  alcohol,  or  rather  a  stronger  alco- 
1 "  Comptes  Rendus,"  July  17,  1843. 
2''R6p.  de  Pharm.,"  1878,  No.  4.  , 
3 "Proceed.  Am.  Pharm.  Asso.,"  1876,  p.  119;  "Amer.  Jour.  Phar.," 
1876,  p.  413. 
