A October jSoT33'}    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  503 
therapeutic  activity  of  the  plant,  but  he  made  no  study  of  this  sub- 
stance further  than  to  establish  a  few  qualitative  tests. 
Later,  Orlow  published  several  articles  upon  chelidoxanthin  and 
simple  methods  for  its  isolation  by  means  of  picric  acid  as  a  precipi- 
tant. He  obtained  an  indefinite,  yellow  body  only.  During  the 
course  of  an  investigation  upon  the  alkaloids  of  Stylophorum  diphyl- 
lum,  which,  by  the  way,  might  properly  be  called  a  species  of 
chelidonium,  a  crystalline  color  compound  was  obtained  that 
answered  the  description  of  Probst's  chelidoxanthin.  The  yield 
from  50  pounds  of  dry  material  was  quite  considerable,  sufficient  to 
make  various  salts  and  numerous  qualitative  tests.  This  compound, 
which  has  never  been  investigated  since  its  discovery  by  Probst  in 
chelidonium,  was  found  to  be  berberine. 
Fresh-growing  plants  of  both  stylophorum  and  chelidonium  were 
examined  and  found  to  contain  berberine. 
Preliminary  Note  on  the  Action  of  Hyoscyamine  and 
Atropine. 
By  Arthur  R.  Cushny. 
Pure  Hyoscyamine  from  scopola  and  pure  atropine  from  bella- 
donna were  prepared  by  Messrs.  Prescott  and  Schlotterbeck  and 
turned  over  to  Dr.  Cushny  for  pharmacological  experiments.  As 
far  as  completed,  the  research  now  in  progress  shows  the  follow- 
ing striking  features  :  Hyoscyamine  is  twice  as  strong  as  atropine 
in  checking  salivary  secretion  and  in  dilating  the  pupil.  The  action 
on  the  nervous  system  is  quite  complicated  and  is  being  worked  out 
at  this  time. 
The  Active  Principle  of  Ergot. 
By  A.  R.  L.  Dohme,  Ph.D.,  and  A.  C.  Crawford,  M.D. 
The  controversy  over  the  active  principle  of  ergot  is  very  old,  and 
cannot  be  said  at  this  writing  to  be  in  any  more  definite  shape  than 
it  was  years  ago.  The  latest  phase  of  the  situation  is  that  the  Picro- 
sclerotine  of  Dragendorff,  the  Ecboline  of  Tanret  and  the  Cornutine 
of  Kobert  are  more  or  less  impure  forms  of  what  Hager  is  pleased 
to  prefer  to  name  Ergotinine  C70H40N4O12,  and  which  Keller  has  pre- 
ferred to  call  Cornutine,  although  Hager  considers  these  two  identi- 
cal.   He  also  states  that  Ergotinine  is  very  readily  decomposed — 
