Am'j^e"'i9ih3arm'}      Acetic  Fluidextract  of  Digitalis.  245 
THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTIVITY  OF  ACETIC  FLUID- 
EXTRACT  OF  DIGITALIS. 
By  W.  A.  Pearson. 
Recently  a  lot  of  Acetic  Fluidextract  of  Digitalis  (containing 
about  15  per  cent,  of  acetic  acid)  was  returned  to  us  with  the  state- 
ment that  "  it  was  of  unsatisfactory  physiological  activity."  From 
the  records  I  found  that  the  preparation  had  been  made  in  1912 
from  Digitalis  Leaves  which  I  had  previously  tested  and  found  to 
be  of  satisfactory  physiological  activity. 
Five  c.c.  of  the  acetic  fluidextract  was  diluted  to  50  c.c.  with 
physiological  salt  solution  and  various  amounts  of  this  dilution  in- 
jected into  eight  different  guinea  pigs  with  the  following  results: 
Pig  No.  1,  Weight  350  Gm.  Injected. — 1.0  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.1 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).    Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
Pig  No.  2,  Weight  268  Gm.  Injected. — 1.2  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.12 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).    Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
Pig  No.  3,  Weight  285  Gm.  Injected. — 1.5  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.15 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).    Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
Pig  No.  4,  Weight  290  Gm.  Injected. — 2.0  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.2 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).    Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
Pig  No.  5,  Weight  350  Gm.  Injected. — 1.0  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.1 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).   Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
Pig  No.  6,  Weight  268  Gm.  Injected. — 1.2  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.12 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).   Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
Pig  No.  7,  Weight  285  Gm.  Injected. — 1.5  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.15 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).    Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
Pig  No.  8,  Weight  290  Gm.  Injected. — 2.0  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.2 
c.c.  of  acetic  fluidextract).    Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
0.1  c.c.  of  a  Fluidextract  of  Digitalis,  U.  S.  P.  (1.0  c.c.  of  the 
1-10  dilution)  should  kill  a  250  Gm.  guinea  pig  within  two  hours 
after  the  development  of  typical  symptoms  of  digitalis  poisoning. 
As  there  was  some  question  if  any  acetic  fluidextract  of  Digitalis 
would  be  of  corresponding  physiologic  activity  two  fluidextracts 
were  freshly  prepared  from  the  same  ground  digitalis  leaves.  One 
fluidextract  was  made  according  to  the  U.  S.  P.  method,  the  other 
with  acetic  acid.  Each  of  these  samples  was  diluted  to  ten  volumes 
with  physiological  salt  solution  and  injected  into  guinea  pigs  with 
the  following  results: 
Pig  No.  9,  Weight  280  Gm.  Injected. — 1  c.c.  of  dilution  (0.1 
c.c.  of  Acetic  Fluidextract).   Result. — No  toxic  action  noted. 
