1 
574  Progress  in  Pharmacy.  { ^J^eceXr.  mV"' 
6.5  per  cent,  and  0.5  per  cent,  acid  insoluble  residue.  Sindall  thinks 
the  standard  should  be  raised  to  7  per  cent,  total  ash  and  i  per 
cent,  acid  insoluble  residue. — /.  hid.  and  Eng.  Chem.,  191 1,  v.  3, 
PP-  753-754. 
Digitalis  and  Allied  Drugs. — Worth  Hale  reports  a  study  of 
the  effect  of  the  digestive  secretions  on  the  activity  of  digitalis,  digi- 
toxin,  digitalein  and  strophanthin.  He  concludes  that  while  there 
is  an  appreciable  deterioration  of  the  several  substances  the  rate  of 
decomposition  is  such  that  it  need  not  be  taken  into  account  in  ther- 
apeutics.— J.  Am.  M.  Ass.,  1911,  V.  57,  pp.  1515-1517. 
Epinephrine  Preparations. — A  report  of  the  Council  on  Phar- 
macy and  Chemistry  points  out  the  desirability  of  having  a  standard 
for  epinephrine  preparations  recognized  by  manufacturers  so  as  to 
insure  uniformity  of  composition.  The  report  outlines  a  method  for 
assaying  preparations  of  this  type  and  suggests  that  the  strength 
of  epinephrine  preparations  be  stated  in  terms  of  pure  epinephrine 
and  the  strength  of  the  preparations  should  not  vary  more  than  15 
per  cent,  from  the  strength  claimed,  when  tested  according  to  the 
method  outlined  in  the  report  in  comparison  with  a  known  quantity 
of  pure  epinephrine. — /.  Am.  M.  Ass.,  191 1,  v.  57,  pp.  1149-1150. 
Ergot. — Edmunds  and  Hnle,  in  Bull.  No.  76,  Hyg.  Lab.,  U.  S. 
P.  H.  and  M.-H.  S.,  discuss  the  physiological  standardization  of 
ergot.  They  review  much  of  the  literature  relating  to  the  standard- 
ization of  ergot,  compare  the  several  methods  that  have  been  sug- 
gested from  time  to  time,  report  on  a  number  of  commercial  prod- 
ucts, and  conclude  that  for  practical  purposes  the  cock's  comb 
method  is  the  preferable  one  at  present.  They  also  suggest  that 
ergot  preparations  be  marked  with  the  date  of  manufacture,  and 
that  until  more  reliable  methods  of  manufacture  are  found  it  would 
be  wise  to  exclude  all  claims  to  permanency  of  ergot  liquid  prepara- 
tions. 
An  editorial  (/.  Am.  M.  Ass.,  191 1,  v.  57,  p.  1211)  in  comment- 
ing on  the  Bulletin  by  Edmunds  and  Hale  points  out  that  the  pri- 
mary object  of  the  work  was  to  test  the  comparative  value  of  the 
several  methods  of  assay.  Incidentally,  however,  the  results  show 
that  the  available  preparations  of  this  drug  are  far  from  being  uni- 
formly reliable  or  fully  satisfactory.  Much  of  the  deterioration 
noted  is  no  doubt  the  result  of  aging.  The  editorial  concludes  with 
the  suggestion  that  to  insure  uniformity  in  preparations  of  ergot 
and  digitalis  it  may  be  desirable  to  have  the  U.  S.  Government 
