AnAugusrt\if9a9rm-}     Digitoxin,  Principle  of  Digitalis.  381 
55  (1896),  29)  have  again  attracted  attention  to  digitoxin,  which 
latter  is  alleged  to  be  the  most  potent  constituent  of  digitalis  leaf, 
and  then  makes  a  plea  for  standardizing  digitalis  preparations  on  the 
basis  of  the  amount  of  digitoxin  they  contain. 
Replying  to  a  criticism  by  Keller,  of  his  results  of  investigation 
concerning  the  constituents  of  digitalis  leaves,  Kiliani  claims  that 
digitalis  leaves  contain,  besides  digitoxin,  a  crystallizable  glucoside 
in  considerable  quantities,  which,  like  digitoxin,  is  soluble  in  chloro- 
form, and  which  also  produces,  with  solution  of  iron  in  glacial  acetic 
and  sulphuric  acids,  the  blue  color  regarded  by  Keller  as  character- 
istic of  digitoxin.  Kiliani  proposes  for  the  new  substance  the  name 
of  digitophyllin,  and  gives  its  physical  and  chemical  properties 
(Arch.  d.  Pkarm.j  Aug.  17,  1897,  525-429>  v^e  Proc.  A.  Ph.  A.,  1898, 
795)- 
Professor  Boehm,  while  in  general  acknowledging  the  value  of 
Keller's  method  for  the  estimation  of  digitoxin,  warns  against  an 
absolute  reliance  upon  it,  as,  in  his  opinion,  the  efficacy  of  digitalis 
depends  not  alone  on  the  digitoxin  present,  but  rather  on  the  sum 
total  of  all  its  constituents  {American  Druggist,  June  25,  1898,  342  ; 
from  Gehe  &  Co.'s  Bericht). 
According  to  Kiliani,  the  leaves  of  digitalis  contain  neither  the  so- 
called  Digitalin  verum  (i.  e.,  Schmiedeberg's  digitalin)  nor  digitonin, 
while  Keller  (Ueber  die  Wertbestimmung  von  Drogen  und  galen- 
ischen  Praparaten.  Diss.  Zurich,  1897)  states  that  digitalin  and 
digitonin  are  present.  M.  Cloetta  has  gone  into  this  knotty  problem, 
and  finds  that  the  leaves,  as  well  as  the  seeds,  contain  digitalin,  digi- 
toxin, digitonin,  and  coloring  matter  common  to  both.  He  did  not  find 
any  digitalein  in  the  leaves.  The  seed  contains  much  more  digitalin 
than  digitoxin,  while  the  leaves  contain  less  (1898,  Arch.  exp.  Pathol, 
u.  Pharm.,  4.1,  421,  vide  Am.  Jour.  Phakm.,  1899,  90). 
From  this  it  will  be  seen  how  hopelessly  at  variance  the  authori- 
ties are  upon  the  subject  of  the  actual  chemical  nature  of  the  proxi- 
mate principles  of  digitalis  leaves. 
There  is  one  phase  of  the  controversy,  however,  which  may  be 
profitably  considered.  If  it  be  true  that  digitoxin  represents 
the  medicinal  virtues  of  digitalis  leaf,  it  follows  that  it  should  give 
clinically  all  the  therapeutic  results  yielded  by  the  leaf  or  its  prepara- 
tions, and  as  promptly.  Further,  if  this  is  so,  it  is  apparent, 
since  digitoxin  is  wholly  insoluble  in   water,  that  the  infusion 
