Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1902. 
Toxicity  of  Strychnine. 
283 
the  body  of  the  extractor.  A  strong  test-tube  is  chosen,  ot  such 
diameter  that  it  will  fit  loosely  into  the  tube  e,  and  will  reach  above 
d.  If  no  test-tube  of  sufficient  length  is  at  hand,  the  lower  part  of 
e  may  be  filled  with  sufficient  clean  sand.  A  hole  is  now  made  in 
the  bottom  of  the  test-tube  by  heating  the  very  end  in  a  blowpipe 
flame  whilst  blowing  into  the  tube.  The  apparatus  is  now  ready 
for  use.  A  loose  plug  of  purified  cotton  is  packed  loosely  into  the 
bottom  of  the  test-tube,  on  this  is  placed  a  layer  of  clean  sand,  then 
the  powder  to  be  exhausted,  and  another  layer  of  clean  sand.  The 
apparatus  is  then  mounted  as  in  Fig.  2,  and  used  as  the  ordinary 
Soxhlet  extractor,  the  solvent  taking  the  course  indicated  by  the 
arrows. 
THE   EFFECT    OF    COLLOIDS   IN    DIMINISHING  THE 
TOXICITY  OF  STRYCHNINE. 
By  Robert  A.  Hatcher,  M.D., 
Demonstrator  of  Pharmacology,  Western  Reserve  University. 
Upon  the  suggestion  of  Professor  Sollmann,  an  investigation  was 
undertaken  with  a  view  to  learning  by  life-tests  whether  strychnine 
is  destroyed  in  the  tissues  or  not,  and  what  influence  certain  condi- 
tions may  have  upon  this  destruction.  This  investigation  is  still  in 
progress  and  will  be  the  subject  of  a  separate  article,  the  present 
contribution  being  deemed  of  pharmaceutical  as  well  as  pharmaco- 
logical interest. 
In  a  series  of  sixty-two  experiments  upon  frogs  and  nine  upon 
guinea-pigs,  the  minimum  fatal  dose  of  strychnine  sulphate,  hypo- 
dermically  injected,  was  found  to  be  00042  mg.  X  G.,1  while 
0-0045  mS-  X  G.  invariably  proved  fatal,  and  0-00435  mg.  X  G. 
was  fatal  to  three  out  of  five.  They  usually  became  spasmodic  in 
from  three  to  eight  minutes. 
The  average  fatal  dose  for  guinea-pigs  was  found  to  be  o  00475 
mg.  X  G. ;  this  dose  and  all  above  were  fatal,  while  all  receiving 
less  recovered.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
dose  necessary  to  cause  convulsions  in  the  guinea-pig  is  within  10 
per  cent,  of  the  fatal  dose,  less  quantities  merely  producing  hyper- 
excitability,  whereas  in  the  frog,  the  smallest  doses  given — about 
30  per  cent,  below  the  fatal  dose — rendered  them  spasmodic. 
1  0*0042  mg.  XG.  =  0-0042  milligrammes  multiplied  by  the  weight  of  the 
frog  in  grammes. 
