VebiJuTiT,Pih9T4m' }     Standardisation  of  Heart  Tonics.  61 
The  advantages  to  be  gained  from  using  a  stronger  alcoholic  men- 
struum for  extracting  cdnvallaria  roots  and  rhizome  are  not  merely 
the  greater  activity  obtainable,  but  in  the  improved  appearance  of 
the  extract  and  its  greater  stability.  It  contains  less  of  the  gummy 
extractives  and  more  alcohol,  both  of  which  are  desirable  features,  as 
they  affect  deterioration,  while  the  20  per  cent,  increase  in  activity 
from  the  use  of  80  per  cent,  alcohol  is  no  less  desirable. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  those  in  charge  of  revising  the  forthcoming 
U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  will  consider  these  suggestions. 
LITERATURE  CITED. 
1  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  October,  1909. 
2  Jour.  American  Medical  Ass'n.,  June  12,  1906. 
3  Ibid.,  September  11,  1897. 
4  Ibid. ,  May  12,  1906. 
From  the  Research  Laboratory  of  Parke,  Davis  &  Co., 
Detroit,  Michigan. 
THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  STANDARDIZATION  OF  THE 
HEART  TONICS.* 
By  Professor  William  A.  Pearson,  of  The  Hahnemann  Medical  College 
of  Philadelphia. 
"  The  Physiological  Testing  of  the  Heart  Tonics,"  which  is  the 
subject  assigned  for  my  discussion,  is  a  very  inaccurate  title. 
A  satisfactory  definition  of  a  tonic  has  never  been  given,  much 
less,  a  heart  tonic.  The  word  physiological  is  not  appropriate  be- 
cause when  any  active  drug  is  given  the  normal  processes  of  the  body 
are  no  longer  physiological. 
For  these  reasons,  such  a  subject  as  "  The  Pharmacologic  Stand- 
ardization of  Drugs  Having  a  Particular  Action  on  the  Heart  "  would 
be  far  more  fitting. 
Since  Digitalis  is  the  most  important  member  of  the  group  of 
drugs  known  as  "  heart  tonics,"  a  discussion  of  the  methods  of 
standardizing  this  drug  will  be  first  considered. 
Medicinal  Use  and  Therapeutic  Action  of  Digitalis, 
It  is  well  known  that  Digitalis  has  had  a  place  in  domestic  and 
medicinal  therapy  for  centuries,  and  many  of  you  know  that  a  Bir- 
*  A  special  lecture  given  at  The  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  De- 
cember 8,  1913. 
