Am'ApTii  '  iP9hi8rm'  }      Method  of  Cleaning  Digitalis.  239 
mand  of  military  operations,  or  he  is  unheeded,  much  less  are  his  re- 
quests granted. 
To  be  sure  other  considerations  than  those  of  mere  authority 
come  in  here.  What  is  the  crux  of  the  objections?  It  is  no  longer 
natural  for  the  military  officer  to  be  sensitive,  to  insist  upon  his  tra- 
ditional social  status  as  a  member  of  the  "fighting  arm"  over  all 
other  branches  of  the  service ;  the  present  war  is  showing  a  mortality 
among  medical  men  quite  as  great  if  not  greater  in  proportion  than 
among  the  fighting  men.  Indeed,  he  need  no  longer  be  chary  of 
conceding  place  at  the  military  fireside  to  Doctors,  Dentists,  Vet- 
erinarians, and  now  Pharmacists.  Again,  are  we  a  democracy  or 
an  aristocracy?  Why  the  Army — why  the  Navy?  To  fight  the 
battles  of  the  country  or  each  other?  Who  does  the  fighting? 
The  enlisted  man?  What  are  the  solemn  obligations  of  the  Gov- 
ernment? To  keep  the  fighting  force  in  the  pink  of  fighting  con- 
dition, as  far  as  possible,  physically  and  mentally,  by  giving  the 
medical  man  of  the  Army  proper  authority  to  enforce  his  medical 
judgment,  or  to  have  the  medical  men  continue  to  take  their  orders 
in  matters  medical  from  non-medical  men? 
J.  Madison  Taylor,  M.D. 
A  METHOD  FOR  CLEANING  DIGITALIS,  WITH  A  STUDY 
OF  THE  INORGANIC  CONSTITUENTS. 
By  C.  H.  Rogers  and  E.  L.  Newcomb. 
For  many  years  close  observers  have  noticed  the  great  variation 
in  the  cleanliness  of  different  samples  of  digitalis.  Even  those 
who  have  been  interested  in  the  preparation  of  the  drug  from  culti- 
vated plants  have  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  an  apparently 
unnecessary  excess  of  foreign  matter  was  often  present  in  the  drug 
produced.  With  these  thoughts  in  mind  an  attempt  was  made  in 
connection  with  the  harvesting  and  preparation  of  the  1917  crop  of 
digitalis  produced  in  the  Medicinal  Plant  Garden  of  the  College  of 
Pharmacy  of  the  University  of  Minnesota  to  produce  a  drug  with 
a  minimum  amount  of  adhering  material. 
Collection  and  Drying. — The  seedlings  were  transferred  from 
the  cold  frames  to  the  garden  during  the  last  of  June  and  the  first 
of  July.    The  plants  made  an  excellent  growth  and  were  irrigated 
