Ao'ioberr,i9oonT1'}    Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  501 
Great  hopes  of  this  remedy  were  for  some  time  entertained,  be- 
cause it  did  not  produce  the  disagreeable  effects  of  digitalis,  but  it 
has  fallen  into  discredit,  since  the  tincture  met  with  in  commerce 
proved  to  be  of  very  unequal  activity. 
The  causes  of  this  objection  are  now  clearly  recognizable,  and 
they  explain  the  disinclination  of  medical  men  to  use  the  drug. 
The  essential  point  is  the  use  of  a  pure  glucoside  of  known  activity, 
and  my  object  is  to  direct  attention  to  strophanthin  as  the  sub- 
stance which,  on  account  of  its  great  solubility  in  water  as  com- 
pared with  the  glucosides  of  digitalis,  is  more  readily  absorbed,  and 
is,  therefore,  more  prompt  in  its  action. 
Strophanthin. 
PSEUDO-STROPHANTHIN. 
Description  Given. 
Fraser. 
Hisp.  var. 
Komb£. 
Bohringer. 
Kombe. 
Schu- 
chardt. 
Hispidus. 
Arnaud. 
Kombe,  or 
Hispidus. 
Kohn, 
Kulisch. 
Hispidus 
or  Kombe? 
Merck 
(Kohn). 
Hisp. 
Color  of  seed  used  .  j 
Greenish- 
white 
Pale  green 
? 
Green 
Green 
Brown 
Seed  with  H2S04  .  .  . 
? 
Green 
■> 
? 
Green 
Glucoside  with  H2S04 
Green 
Green 
Red 
? 
Red 
Red 
C40H66^19 
C38H5aOI5  = 
(C4oHCoOi6) 
Melting  point  .... 
172-75° 
170° 
167° 
1 65°  about 
179° 
179°  ' 
Optical  rotation  .  .  . 
r 
-  \ 
1 
1  p.  c.  solu- 
tion none 
5  p.  c.  = 
+  io° 
1 
J 
[a]D  =  +3o° 
f  Mini-  ) 
jmalleftj 
Hydrolysis  .with  .  .  j 
1  p.  c.  HC1 
at  5o°-6o° 
0  5p.c.  HC1 
at  700- 75° 
o-sp.c.  HC1 
at  7o°-75° 
}  -  { 
2  4  p.  c.  HC1 
at  too° 
1  _ 
) 
Yield   of  strophan-J 
thidin  or  i^-stroph.  1 
0-3  p.  c. 
H2SO4 
°5°-7o°  337 
}  50-52 
52-5 
Melting  point  .... 
i69°-i7o° 
195° 
195° 
C27H3807 
-  { 
Co8H4(106 
or  ClyHo804 
}  - 
Lethal  dose  per  kilo] 
rabbit,  subcutan-  > 
eous  injection   .  .  J 
o"ooc6 
o-ooo6 
0-C0025 
0-003 
Among  the  circumstances  which  have  to  be  considered  as  influ- 
encing the  medicinal  value  of  the  tincture,  the  uncertainty  as  to  the 
source  of  the  seed  used  is  a  considerable  one,  as  has  been  shown  by 
many  observers.  Still  more  important  than  the  circumstance  that 
while  some  seeds  contain  strophanthin  others  do  not,  is  the  exist- 
