122  Researches  upon  Santonin.  {kudS^,mt^ 
gram.  A  cup  of  tea  prepared  in  the  ordinary  way  from  5-6  grams  of 
Pekoe  tea  contains  also  about  0*1  to  0*12  grams  of  caffeina.  Caffema. 
acts  upon  the  spinal  cord  and  causes  tetanus  in  doses  of  0*005  gram  for 
frog,  injected  subcutaneously ;  for  a  rabbit,  0-120  gram  (injected  into 
the  jugular  vein) ;  for  cats,  0*200,  injected  in  the  same  way  ;  and  tlie 
same  quantity  for  dogs.  It  has  a  peculiar  action  on  the  muscles  of 
frogs,  especially  when  directly  applied  to  them,  causing  them  to  be- 
come rigid  and  white,  apparently  from  coagulation  of  the  myosin-  It 
does  not  exert  this  action  on  the  muscles  of  mammalia.  The  tetanias, 
is  removed  by  artificial  respiration,  and  if  this  process  is  kept  up  for 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  no  recurrence  of  the  tetanus  takes  place*., 
even  though  the  respiration  is  then  discontinued,  showing  that  the 
caffeina  is  quickly  eliminated  or  destroyed  in  the  organism.  Occa- 
sionally it  produces  a  paralysis  of  the  hind  legs  in  rabbits,  but  the- 
author  is  uncertain  to  what  cause  this  is  to  be  attributed.  It  quickens 
the  heart  and  at  the  same  time  reduces  the  blood  pressure.  The  ef- 
fect he  believes  to  be  due  to  stimulation  of  the  cardiac  ganglia,  com- 
bined with  diminution  of  what  he  regards  as  cardiac  tone,  due  to  par- 
alysis of  the  nerves  passing  from  these  ganglia  to  the  muscular  sub- 
stance. 
The  action  of  caffeina  does  not  explain  the  stimulating  and  reviving^ 
action  of  coffee. — The  Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans.,  Dee.  21 ,  from 
Journ.  Chem.  Society. 
RESEARCHES  UPON  SANTONIN.* 
By  M.  L.  De  Saint-Martin. 
Santonin  is  the  active  principle  of  Semen  contra,  and  has  been  pre- 
pared for  some  years  past,  upon  a  large  scale,  for  therapeutic  use.. 
The  reactions  of  this  principle  have,  however,  as  yet  been  little 
studied.  It  remained  outside  any  methodic  classification  until  Ber- 
thelot,  in  his  Traite  Elernentaire  de  Chimie  Organique,  included  it  in 
the  grand  class  of  organic  compounds  which  in  1860  he  instituted 
under  the  name  of  phenols.  The  author,  therefore,  undertook  aft  in- 
vestigation in  order  to  ascertain  its  chemical  relations.  The  investi- 
gation included  its  reactions  with  reducing,  oxidizing  and  decompos- 
ing agents  ;  but  the  present  paper  only  deals  with  some  reducing  ex- 
periments. 
*  Memoir  read  before  the  Academie  des  Sciences,  Nov.  11th,  1872  (Complex 
Rendus,  lxxv,  1190). 
