246  Method  of  Cleaning  Digitalis.      {Am -AJ™£  Jen- 
sens the  formation  of  decomposition  products  one  of  which  may  be 
digitoxin.  It  is  our  opinion  that  the  green  color  zone  in  the  above 
test  is  due  to  digitalein  rather  than  digitoxin. 
The  Discarding  of  Fine  Portions. — The  question  of  the  ad- 
visability of  discarding  the  finer  portions  of  digitalis  during  the 
process  of  grinding  may  be  determined  only  by  taking  into  con- 
sideration a  number  of  factors.    In  any  event,  the  drug  should  be 
Fig.  2.  Schutz-O'Neill  Limited  Pulverizer,  used  for  the  preparation  of 
uniform  finely  powdered  digitalis  and  other  drugs.  One  of  seven  mills  in 
the  Drug  Milling  Laboratory,  College  of  Pharmacy,  University  of  Minnesota. 
cleaned  as  thoroughly  as  possible  before  grinding  and  the  nature 
and  ash  content  of  the  finer  portion  of  the  grind  should  be  de- 
termined before  it  is  eliminated.  By  the  use  of  the  Schutz-O'Neill 
Limited  Pulverizer  "  set  fine  "  and  run  at  a  speed  of  3,300  R.  P. 
M.  or  faster,  a  thoroughly  dried  digitalis  leaf  may  be  reduced  at 
one  operation  to  such  a  degree  of  fineness  that  75  per  cent,  or 
more  will  pass  through  an  80-mesh  bolting  cloth  at  the  first  sift- 
ing, a  large  proportion  of  the  powder  being  finer  than  a  number 
80.  In  such  powder  much  of  the  drug  may  be  in  fine  particles  of 
the  same  size  as  adhering  inorganic  matter  and  obviously  it  would 
be  a  mistake  to  throw  away  the  finer  parts  of  such  a  portion.  Grind- 
ing in  this  manner  is  advisable  for  the  preparation  of  digitalis  to  be 
dispensed  in  one-grain  capsules  on  physicians'  prescriptions.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  coarse  grind  of  digitalis  may  yield  a  relatively 
