702 
Action  of  Adonis  Vernalis. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm.' 
October.  1920. 
THE  PHARMACOLOGICAL  ACTION  OF  ADONIS  VERNALIS. 
By  James  M.  Schmidt,  M.D. 
From  the  Biological  Laboratory  of  the  Upjohn  Company. 
Adonis  Vernalis,  or  Pheasant's  eye,  is  named  among  the  drugs 
which  possess  the  power  of  stimulating  the  heart.  Its  position  in  the 
group  of  digitaloid  drugs  is  dependent  upon  a  rather  Hmited  amount 
of  experimental  work,  and  a  few  instances  of  its  clinical  use.  In  the 
following  we  review  the  previous  work  upon  the  plant  and  add  the 
results  of  our  own  investigation. 
The  literature  with  reference  to  Adonis  Vernalis  may  be  briefly 
reviewed  as  follows: 
In  1882,  Cervello^  reported  on  the  pharmacology  of  adonidin^ 
the  "glucosidal"  active  principle  of  adonis.  This  report  consisted 
chiefly  of  the  clinical  results  of  its  administration  and  a  demonstra- 
tion of  its  action  upon  the  heart  and  blood  pressure  in  mammals. 
His  conclusion  states  that  adonis  is  very  similar  to  digitalis,  in  that 
it  slows  the  heart,  and  increases  the  blood  pressure  in  mammals; 
and  that  toxic  doses  will  stop  the  frog's  heart  in  strong  systole  with  the 
auricles  widely  dilated,  just  as  is  the  case  in  a  digitalis  heart. 
Fucklemann^  in  191 1,  reported  on  the  chemistry  and  pharmacol- 
6gy  of  the  drug,  also  giving  the  results  in  a  few  cases  of  its  clinical 
application.  >. 
During  19 13,  Slovtzov^  concluded  that  adonis  regulates  the  action 
of  the  heart,  slows  its  rate,  and  strengthens  its  beat ;  but  that  it  in- 
creases the  rate  of  the  heart  in  cold  blooded  animals. 
Chevalier^  stated  that  adonis  is  like  squills  and  not  like  digitalis, 
and  that  its  principle  effect  is  a  stimulation  of  the  kidneys.  During 
the  same  year,  1913,  Fucklemann^  said  that  adonidin  possessed 
digitaloid  effects. 
In  the  year  191 4,  Mercier^  repeated  Fucklemann's  experiments 
and  concluded  that  "adonidic  acid"  contained  in  adonis,  had  a 
paralysing  and  contracting  action  upon  the  heart  muscle,  and  is  very 
similar  to  the  digitonin  in  digitalis.  Also  in  1914,  Roch  and  Cramer^ 
claimed  that  large  doses  of  adonis  were  insufficient  in  cardiac  diseases. 
In  191 8,  Heyl,  Hart  and  Schmidt^  published  the  results  of  a 
thorough  chemical  examination  of  adonis  leaves.  They  analyzed 
various  extracts  of  adonis  and  compared  with  these  the  toxicity  as 
determined  by  the  one-hour  frog  assay. 
In  the  following  work  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  compare 
