Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
November,  1920.  ) 
Tincture  of  Strophanthus. 
831 
The  questions  to  be  considered  are  as  follows : 
1.  Is  strophanthus  of  sufficient  importance  to  the  medical  pro- 
fession to  warrant  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  glucosides  found 
in  the  various  species? 
In  reply  to- this  I  can  only  repeat  Mr.  Umn^y's  statement  that 
tincture  of  strophanthus  is  rapidly  going  out  ci  use  owing  to  its 
variable  strength  and  the  uncertainty  of  its  resun  . 
2.  As  at  the  time  of  writing  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  unmixed 
seeds  of  Strophanthus  Komhe  (which  are  alone  official  in  the  British 
Pharmacopoeia)  in  sufficient  quantity  to  meet  the  demand,  which 
variety  would  he  the  best  substitute?  This  question  can  only  be 
answered  by  a  more  thorough  investigation  of  the  various  species. 
3.  Is  it  practicable  for  the  collection  of  the  most  suitable  variety 
to  be  under  the  supervision  of  a  competent  botanist?  It  should  be 
possible  for  the  importers  to  make  some  arrangements  for  this,  even 
if  higher  prices  had  to  be  paid  for  the  seeds. 
4.  Could  the  glucoside  strophanthin,  which  is  official  in  the 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia  and  in  the  French  Codex,  or  a  prepara- 
tion of  it,  be  employed  to  replace  the  tincture  in  pharmacy?  If  the 
glucoside,  or  mixture  of  glucosides  obtained  from  a  definite  species 
were  made  official,  then  it  would  be  desirable  to  describe  its  char- 
acters in  order  to  ensure  the  purity  of  the  product  and  uniformity  of 
medicinal  action.  Unfortunately,  the  chemical  and  physical  char- 
acters of  the  various  glucosides  found  in  the  different  species  are  not 
sufficiently  known  for  the  fixing  of  a  definite  standard. 
I  do  not  propose  to  burden  this  note  by  summarizing  the  re- 
searches carried  out  by  various  workers  on  the  glucosides  found  in 
the  different  species,  especially  as  the  results  are  considerably  at 
variance,  but  I  would  like  to  point  out  that  no  definite  standard 
is  laid  down  by  the  U.  S.  P.  monograph  for  strophanthin,  while  the 
French  Codex  gives  a  melting  point  of  185  °  for  strophanthin  obtained 
from  Strophanthus  hispidus.  According  to  Cohen  {Y.  B.  P.,  19 13,  p. 
134)  /z -Strophanthin  from  S.  hispidus  sinters  at  160°,  but  does  not 
melt  at  190°,  g-Strophanthin  from  S.  gratus  sinters  at  185°,  and  k- 
Strophanthin  from  5.  Komhe  sinters  at  170°. 
5.  If  physiological  standardization  is  to  be  adopted,  what  is  the 
best  method  of  procedure? 
Possibly  an  agreement  could  be  arrived  at  between  the  respective 
Revision  Committees  of  the  British  and  United  States  Pharmaco- 
poeias.   The  chief  objection  to  physiological  standardization  is  that 
