502       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.     {  A  October Fmo.m' 
ence  of  different  strophanthus  glucosides  ;  the  one  isolated  by  Fra- 
ser  differs  from  that  isolated  by  Arnaud,  the  two  substances  differ- 
ing chemically  and  in  toxic  power. 
Strophanthin  was  obtained  by  Fraser  from  the  green  seed  of  5. 
komb'e,  but  whether  it  exists  in  other  kinds  is  still  undetermined. 
The  other  glucoside  obtained  by  Arnaud  subsequently  investigated 
by  Kohn  and  Kulisch,  now  known  as  pseudo-strophanthin,  certainly 
exists  in  several  kinds.  Arnaud  prepared  it  from  seed  (probably 
green)  supplied  by  T.  Christy  as  5.  komb'e.  The  green  seed  used  by 
Kohn  was  certainly  not  that  of  S.  hispidus,  and  Merck  manufactures 
the  same  glucoside  from  brown  seed  (5.  hispidus).  This  difference 
accounts  for  the  discrepancies  observed  in  the  effects  of  strophanthin 
and  strophanthus  tincture. 
It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  establish  the  difference  between  stro- 
phanthin and  pseudo-strophanthin. 
The  strophanthin  used  in  my  experiments  was  prepared  by  C.  F. 
Bohringer  &  Son,  of  Waldhof,  according  to  Fraser's  method.  It 
was  quite  pure  and  free  from  pseudo-strophanthin,  and  presented  all 
the  characters  described  by  Fraser. 
In  comparing  strophanthin  with  pseudo-strophanthin  the  account 
given  of  the  latter  by  L.  Kohn  was  relied  upon,  as  well  as  his  state- 
ment that  the  glucoside  he  prepared  was  identical  with  that  of 
Merck,  and  agreed  with  Arnaud's  description,  except  in  its  optical 
characters. 
The  investigation  of  the  toxic  effects  of  strophanthin  and  pseudo- 
strophanthin  was  carried  out  by  Dr.  Hbber.  The  ^-strophanthin 
of  Arnaud  was  examined  in  this  respect  by  Gley,  who  found  it  to 
be  nearly  twice  as  active  (about  5  :  3)  when  applied  subcutaneously 
as  strophanthin,  costing  three  to  four  times  as  much. 
The  necessity  of  distinguishing  between  strophanthin  and  pseudo- 
strophanthin  is  evident ;  that  should  be  done  in  the  pharmaco- 
poeias and  in  labelling  the  commercial  articles,  and  it  may  even  be 
necessary  in  every  instance  to  state  on  the  label  the  lethal  dose  per 
kilo. 
The  composition  of  strophanthin  in  the  anhydrous  state  is  repre- 
sented by  the  formula  C40H66O19.  Kohn  and  Kulisch  give  as  the 
formula  of  dried  pseudo-strophanthin  either  C31H48012  (Arnaud), 
G30H46O12,  or  C38H58015.  the  latter  being  most  in  accord  with  the 
amount  of  methoxyl.    Calculated  for  40  carbon  the  formula  would 
