564 
Cucurhita  Maxima. 
(  Am,  Jour,  Pbarm. 
I      Nov.,  1881. 
claimed  bv  Dr.  H.  Ha2:er  for  the  ero^otin  of  the  German  Pharma- 
^  CD  O 
copceia.  The  greater  yield  obtained  by  me,  both  in  carrying  out 
Carles'  and  the  German  Pharmacopoeia  process,  is  perhaps  attributable 
to  the  washing  of  the  precipitates  with  alcohol  reduced  to  the  same 
strength  as  the  liquid  from  which  it  first  precipitated  out ;  and  while 
it  seems  to  me  the  most  rational  method  to  proceed,  it  proves  that  a 
strict  adherence  to  the  prescribed  process  is  necessary  to  insure  uniform 
and  corresponding  results.  But  it  shows,  at  the  same  time,  that  there 
is  necessity  for  a  precise  formula  for  the  preparation  of  this  as  well  as 
other  important  medicaments. 
I  have  made  no  chemical  investigations  of  the  ergotins  prepared 
by  me,  considering  that  after  all  the  determination  of  their  value  as 
medicaments  must  be  made  by  intelligent  physiological  experiment. 
I  am  inclined  to  think,  from  the  present  knowledge  of  sclerotic  acid 
and  scleromucin,  which  are  now  considered  the  chief  active  constit- 
uents of  eigot,  that  the  ergotins  obtained  by  the  two  first  methods 
contain  sclerotic  acid  only,  while  the  product  of  the  German  Phar- 
macopoeia also  contains  the  scleromucin,  with,  perhaps,  more  or  less 
inert  matter,  though  there  is  some  reasonable  doubt  to  be  entertained 
on  this  point,  since  scleromucin  is  stated  to  be  insoluble  in  alcohol  of 
forty-five  to  fifty  per  cent.  If  both  are  present  in  that  preparation, 
and  their  relative  activity  is  the  same,  the  ergotin  of  the  German 
Pharmacopoeia  is  preferable  to  that  obtained  by  either  of  the  first- 
mentioned  methods,  since  it  secures  the  presence  of  all  that  is  now 
considered  desirable  in  ergot. 
Cucurbita  maxima,  Duchesne. — C.  Slop  von  Cadenberg  in  Vienna 
obtained  from  the  seeds,  by  pressure,  20  to  25  per  cent,  of  a  yellowish 
mild  fixed  oil  of  a  sweet  taste,  and  found  also  the  following  constitu- 
ents: An  aromatic  principle,  eniulsin,  gum,  sugar,  cellulose,  chloro- 
phyll and  an  acid  soluble  in  alcohol  and  water;  neither  an  alkaloid 
nor  a  glucoside  could  be  discovered.  The  oil  proved  effective  in  a 
number  of  cases  against  taenia,  20  grams  of  it  being  given,  and  after 
four  hours  45  grams  of  castor  oil.  The  parasite  was  expelled  without 
pain  in  six  or  eight  hours.  The  seeds  ripened  in  a  warm  climate  are 
more  effectual  than  those  grown  in  more  northern  localities. 
The  fresh  seeds  of  cucumbers,  Cucumis  sativus,  Lin.,  which  are 
rich  in  oil  and  mucilage,  are  likewise  parasiticidal  and  tsenifuge. — 
Phar.  Centralhalle,  1881,  p.  261. 
