Am'Ma"i'i£3arm'  J       Keeping  Properties  of  Digitalis.  207 
saponin  body  of  digitalis,  and  found  that,  while  it  caused  "  systolic 
effect,"  its  action  was,  "  .  .  .  produced  instantaneously,  but  is  not 
complete,  the  auricles  and  part  of  the  ventricles  continuing  to  beat 
for  some  hours."  Further,  he  found  that  in  the  concentration  of  0.01 
mg.  per  c.c.  of  Ringer's  solution  it  has  no  action,  while  the  action 
described  above  is  produced  when  the  concentration  is  raised  to  0.1 
mg.  per  c.c.  of  fluid.  It  is  probable  that  the  results  reported  by 
Moran  were  not  due  to  saponin  alone,  for  it  is  doubtful  if  this  sub- 
stance is  present  in  the  tincture  in  sufficient  concentration  to.  have 
any  effect  on  the  heart  such  as  that  described.  This  is  supported  by 
Kiliani,7  who  states  that  there  are  but  the  merest  traces  of  digitonin 
in  digitalis.  Certain  it  is  that  the  end  reaction  of  systolic  arrest  is  a 
typical  digitalis  action,  and  is  not  what  Moran  terms  a  "  saponin 
effect."  If  we  consider,  as  we  are  almost  compelled  to  do,  that  the 
systolic  arrest  seen  by  Moran  was  due  to  digitalis  action  and  not  to 
saponin,  then  his  twenty-four  year  old  tincture  still  possessed  60 
per  cent,  of  the  activity  of  his  undeteriorated  tincture,  and  the  nine- 
teen year  old  extract  showed  no  deterioration. 
Moran's  own  conclusions  are  to  the  effect  that  a  tincture  should 
retain  its  activity  for  two  or  three  years,  but  it  is  difficult  to  inter- 
pret Moran's  results. 
Goodall,8  in  a  note  on  the  keeping  properties  of  the  tincture 
of  digitalis  concludes  that  the  "  tincture  of  digitalis  probably  re- 
tains its  full  activity  for  one  year,  but  that  after  that  period 
deterioration  of  its  potency  to  an  important  extent  is  likely  to  take 
place."  His  experiments  are  not  given  in  detail,  hence  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine  the  exact  value  which  is  to  be  placed  upon  his 
findings,  particularly  as  the  information  given  suggests  certain 
decided  defects  of  technic  and  control. 
Haynes  (cited  by  Goodall  without  reference)  is  stated  to  have 
found  that  tincture  of  digitalis  would  keep  for  two  years  without 
material  change  in  activity.    He  kept  his  specimens  in  the  dark. 
We  have  cited  sufficient  evidence  to  show1  the  trend  of  opinion, 
and  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  pharmacopeias  of  several  coun- 
tries, namely,  the  French,  Swiss,  and  German,  require  that  the 
supplies  of  digitalis  leaf  be  renewed  annually.  The  German  phar- 
macopoeia has  adopted  the  recommendations  of  Focke  to  the  effect 
that  the  leaf  should  be  dried  over  calcined  lime  and  kept  in  small, 
7  Arch,  der  Pharm.,  ccxliii,  p.  7. 
8  Brit.  Med.  Jour.,  I,  1912,  p.  887. 
