474 
Assay  of  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     October,  1900. 
jar.  This  was  then  placed  in  a  dark  room  and  germination  of  the 
seeds  allowed  to  proceed  until  the  radicles  acquired  a  length  of  from 
25  to  30  millimetres.  The  radicles  were  then  marked  with  India 
ink  20  millimetres  from  their  tips  and  placed  in  the  solutions  of  the 
different  drugs.  The  containers  used  for  the  solutions  were  50  c.c. 
glass  vials,  which  were  perfectly  clean.  The  method  found  best 
adapted  for  supporting  the  seedlings  was  as  follows :  The  vials  con- 
taining the  solutions  were  arranged  in  a  circle  on  a  plate  and  a  large 
cork  placed  over  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  come  partly  over  the 
mouth  of  each  vial.  To  this  cork  the  seedlings  were  attached  by 
means  of  smili  staples  or  double-pointed  tacks,  so  as  to  immerse 
the  radicles  in  the  solutions.  The  vials  were  then  covered  with  a 
bell-jar  and  placed  in  a  dark  room.  After  a  period  of  twenty-four 
hours  the  seedlings  were  removed  from  the  solutions,  and  the 
radicles  carefully  measured  to  ascertain  their  length  of  growth. 
They  were  then  replaced  in  the  solutions  and  allowed  to  stand 
another  twenty-four  hours,  when  measurements  were  again  made. 
In  cases  of  death  the  radicles  presented  a  flabby  and  transparent 
appearance,  and  in  a  few  cases  they  were  shorter  than  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  experiment. 
In  the  first  series  of  experiments  alcoholic  solutions  were  em- 
ployed in  order  to  obtain  the  constant  for  that  liquid,  as  it  was 
likely  to  be  employed  in  the  preparation  of  the  solutions  of  the 
various  drugs  to  be  tested. 
The  following  table  gives  the  strength  of  alcohol  employed,  the 
actual  growth  of  two  seedlings  oiPisum  sativum  and  two  of  Lupinus 
albus  in  twenty-four  hours  and  the  temperature  at  which  the  exper- 
iments were  performed,  this  temperature  being  adopted  likewise 
for  the  succeeding  experiments. 
In  the  following  experiments  it  is  seen  that  no  growth  of  the 
root  occurred  in  the  solution  containing  7  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  and 
that  in  the  solutions  containing  between  6  per  cent,  and  -5  per  cent, 
there  was  a  gradual  increase  in  the  length  of  the  root  according  as 
the  strength  of  alcohol  in  the  solution  was  diminished,  and  that  in 
the  solutions  containing -i  per  cent,  and -5  per  cent,  there  was  a 
slight  increase  in  growth  over  those  contained  in  weaker  solutions. 
It  may  be  stated  here  that  in  distilled  water  Pisum  sativum  grew  18 
millimetres  and  Lupinus  albus  19  millimetres  in  twenty-four  hours. 
In  the  succeeding  table  the  lengths  of  the  roots  at  the  end  of  the 
second  twenty-four  hours  are  given : 
