Am.  jour.  Pharm.)        Bioloaical  Standardisation. 
February,  19 17.    J  v 
67 
The  requirement  of  checking  an  assay  by  making  the  injections 
of  sample  and  of  standard  into  the  opposite  sides  from  those  first 
used  is  no  check  except  in  so  far  as  it  checks  conditions  on  the  two 
sides  of  the  dog.  This  feature  can  better  be  eliminated  by  using 
only  one  side.  Further,  by  the  official  method,  if  it  is  impossible  to 
complete  the  test  and  the  check  on  a  dog,  no  option  is  left,  but  to 
repeat  both  test  and  check  on  another  dog.  It  is  occasionally  neces- 
sary to  check  an  assay  on  a  second  dog  when  conditions  during  the 
first  test  were  unfavorable  for  accuracy,  but  no  advantage  results 
from  a  retest  on  the  same  dog. 
Pituitary  Gland. 
The  assay  of  liquor  hypophysis,  while  not  included  in  the  bio- 
logical assays  on  page  604  et  seq.  is  none  the  less  biologic.  It  is  also 
compulsory  for  a  U.  S.  P.  product.  It  is  open  to  criticism  because 
of  the  nature  and  dose  of  the  standard  and  because  of  the  unsatisfac- 
tory character  of  the  test  reaction  chosen. 
First  as  to  the  standard,  it  seems  unwise  as  well  as  unnecessary 
to  choose  as  the  standard  a  substance  which  has  only  one  of  the 
typical  physiological  effects  of  hypophysis,  and  which  alone  has  no 
therapeutic  application  equivalent  to  that  of  extracts  of  the  pituitary 
gland. 
In  a  previous  communication  (10)  the  author  described  the 
means  of  obtaining  a  satisfactory  standard  test  solution,  this  being  a 
fresh  solution  of  the  water-soluble  part  of  the  dried,  defatted,  pow- 
dered infundibulum. 
Because  of  the  possible  variation  in  the  content  of  active  agent  in 
different  lots  of  glands,  a  stable,  highly  active,  water-soluble  powder 
prepared  by  Aldrich  (11)  has  been  largely  substituted  in  the  com- 
mercial standardization  of  pituitrin.  The  dried  glandular  substance 
first  mentioned,  however,  can  be  easily  prepared  and  is  well  adapted 
to  the  purpose  of  making  the  standard  test  solution. 
This  has  the  distinct  advantage  over  histamine  of  being  identical 
in  action  with  extracts  of  the  glands  both  on  the  isolated  uterus  and 
on  other  unstriated  muscles,  especially  those  controlling  blood  pres- 
sure. 
Active  extracts  of  the  pituitary  gland  are  remarkable  for  their 
action  on  smooth  muscular  tissues,  contracting  the  uterus  and  intes- 
tinal muscles  and  the  walls  of  the  veins  and  arterioles.    As  results 
