Advertising  Sheet  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
November,  [Terms  on  the  Cover.]  1879 
NEW  REMEDIES. 
Tl  "O  I  "T\  "Ps  4  PHYSICIANS  have  long  felt  the 
.lquor  Ergotae  ruriiicatiis. 
I     X  CJ  from  ihe  serious  drawbacks  so 
i"**®  largely  met  with  in  the  preparations  offered  under  the  guise  of  extracts,  ergotines  and  fluid  extracts. 
Many  of  these  preparations  contain  deleterious  ingredients,  which  exert  a  disturbing  and 
dangerous  influence  in  the  frequently  grave  emergencies  where  ergot  is  resorted  to.  Others,  again,  havo 
features  objectionable  in  either  requiring  some  previous  preparation  to  fit  them  for  administration,  or 
are  not  possessed  of  needed  keeping  qualities,  tending  to  deterioration  in  time,  or  to  become  unsightly 
on  standing.  Inferior  material  and  defective  methods  are  largely  responsible  for  this  misrepresentation 
of  a  really  excellent  drug. 
Our  desire  has  been  to  supply  the  want  referred  to,  and  to  that  end  we  have  undertaken  a  series  of 
experiments,  to  decide  upon  a  method  of  extraction,  which  should  be  selective  in  its  character,  so  that 
all  the  desirable  properties  of  the  drug  should  be  represented  in  our  preparation,  to  the  exclusion  of  those 
which  produce  dangerous  and  unwished-for  results. 
Chemical  analysis  and  physiological  experimentation  have  been  laid  under  contribution  to  bring  about 
this  result,  so  that  we  could  offer  a  tried  remedy,  with  the  consciousness  of  having  exerted  our  best  efforts 
towards  lightening  the  labors  of  the  physician,  and  placing  in  his  hands  a  worthy  weapon  in  combating 
disease. 
The  preparation  which  we  submit  under  the  above  title  is  characterized  by  uniformity  of  ingredients, 
constancy  of  strength,  and  freedom  from  those  properties  which  are  exerted  solely  in  disturbing  the 
healthy  functions,  without  a  corresponding  beneficial  result. 
It  will  be  found  a  faithful  representative  of  all  the  desirable  properties  of  ergot,  which  tend  to  acceler- 
ate labor  and  assist  nature's  protracted  efforts,  while  it  is  superior  in  its  application  to  other  uses  of  this 
drug. 
Our  method  of  preparation  in  its  general  features  consists,  first,  in  determining  the  value  and  Con- 
stituents of  the  very  best  obtainable  fresh  ergot,  selected  from  a  large  number  of  samples. 
Having  once  ascertained  the  maximum  value,  and  adopted  this  as  a  standard,  each  succeeding 
parcel  of  our  "Liquor  Ergotee  Purificatus"  is  made  to  conform  to  this  strength,  so  that  the  active 
principles  of  sixteen  Troy  ounces  of  such  standard  ergot  would  be  represented  by  sixteen  fluid  ounces  of 
our  finished  preparation. 
We  desire  to  lay  particular  Stress  on  the  value  of  this  liquid  for  administration  hypodermically.  As 
this  method  of  medication  can  be  depended  on  to  produce  much  speedier  results  than  by  the  mouth,  it  is 
a  desideratum  which  has  been  borne  in  view  to  furnish  in  this  an  ever  ready,  concentrated  and  non- 
irritant  preparation. 
We  would  urge  physicians  to  give  it  a  trial,  take  advantage  of  the  improvements  which  scientific 
methods  have  placed  at  their  disposal,  and  avoid  the  disappointment  inevitably  resulting  from  the 
employment  of  unskillfully  prepared  extracts  of  indeterminate  strength. 
When  prescribing  Ergot,  specify  Parke,  Davis  &  Co.'s  "  Liquor  Ergotae  Purificatus." 
PISCIDIA  ERTTHRIIs  A.  This  drug  is  now  for  the  first 
time  placed  before  the  medical  profession  of  the 
United  States  for  trial  as  to  its  general  merits  as  a  nar- 
cotic and  anti-spasmodic,  but  more  especially  as  a 
^     substitute  for  opium  as  an  anodyne.   According  to  Prof.  Fernando  Altamarano,  M.  D.,  of  Mexico, 
experiments  upon  animals  have  demonstrated  the  power  of  this  drug,  in  large  do«es,  to  produce 
prompt  paralysis  of  the  motor  nerves,  while  it  does  not  affect  the  great  centres  of  innervation  (cerebellum 
and  medulla),  the  great  sympathetic  nerve  or  the  smooth  or  non-striated  muscular  fibre.  Neither  does  it 
affect  the  seat  of  intelligence,  the  heart  rhythm,  the  temperature,  or  peristaltic  action. 
In  the  opinion  of  Prof.  Altamarano  piscidia  is  indicated  in  the  following  affections:  writers'  cramp, 
chorea,  tetanus,  poisoning  by  strychnia,  puerperal  eclampsia,  convulsions  in  children,  epilepsy,  hydro- 
phobia, and  angina  pectoris. 
Dr  William  Hamilton,  of  Plymouth,  England,  in  a  communication  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal, 
speaks  of  this  plant  as  a  powerful  narcotic  capable  of  producing  sleep  and  relieving  pain  in  an  extraordi- 
nary manner  He  was  induced  to  try  it  as  an  anodyne  in  toothache,  and  found  a  saturated  tincture 
exceedingly  efficacious,  not  only  affording  relief  when  taken  internally  but  uniformly  curing  the  pain 
when  introduced  upon  a  dossil  of  cotton  into  the  carious  tooth.  He  first  tried  it  on  himself,  when  labor- 
ing under  severe  toothache,  taking  a  fluid  drachm  of  the  tincture  in  cold  water  on  going  to  bed.  He  firbt 
felt  a  violent  sensation  of  heat  internally,  which  gradually  extended  to  the  surface,  and  was  followed 
by  profuse  perspiration,  with  profound  sleep  for  twelve  hours.  On  awaking,  he  was  quite  free  from 
pain,  and  without  the  unpleasant  sensations  which  follow  a  dose  of  opium. 
Dr  Hansen,  of  Jamaica,  writes  concerning  this  drug,  as  follows:— In  Brazil  the  bark  of  piscidia 
erythrma,  as  wel  as  that  of  erythrina  corallodendron,  is  extensively  used  under  the  name  of  mulungii 
or  murungi. 
At  present  no  one  denies  that  the  mulungu  has  an  established  reputation  as  a  nervous  sedative; 
it  is  applied  by  all  the  faculties,  which  proves  that  its  therapeutical  reputation  is  merited  and  confirmed. 
With  us  it  is  not  only  applied  externally  in  lotions,  but  internally  as  well.  Its  action  seems  to  be  over 
the  nerve  centres;  it  causes  sleep  without  producing  the  cerebral  hyperemia,  which  succeeds  opium 
and  the  active  principles  extracted  therefrom.  The  sleep  is  tranquil  and  refreshing;  it  soothes  bronchial 
cough,  and  moderates  the  paroxysm  in  asthma  and  nervous  coughs  It  has  also  been  pronounced  an 
excellent  remedy  against  chronic  hepatitis  and  obstructions  of  the  liver. 
When  prescribing  Dogwood,  specify  Parke,  Davis  &  Co.'s  44  Jamaica  Dogwood." 
PARKE,  DAVIS  &  CO., 
Manufacturing  Chemists, 
DETROIT- 
