A  jaSary  Jf'}    The  Apocynaceee  in  Materia  Me  die  a.  45 
It  crystallizes  readily  and  is  neither  a  glucoside  nor  an  alkaloid. 
Strophanthine  exists  in  5  Komb'e  in  the  proportion  of  0.4  to  0.9  per 
cent.,  while  ouabain  is  furnished  by  S.  Glaber  to  the  extent  of  4.5 
to  5  per  cent. 
Strophanthin  is  accompanied  in  the  seed  by  another  glucoside 
and  by  a  large  proportion  of  a  deep  green  fixed  oil  (according  to 
Catillon  32  per  cent).  Fraser  has  also  separated  an  acid  for  which 
he  proposed  the  name  of  kombic  acid.  In  addition  there  is  con- 
tained a  resin,  mucilage  and  an  albumenoid  substance. 
Physiological  and  Therapeutical  Action. — It  was  not  till  about 
1885,  that  physicians  following  Fraser's  experiments  commenced  to 
employ  strophanthus.  For  a  long  time  the  results  were  contradic- 
tory and  confusing.  The  same  cause  of  errors  which  were  fallen 
into  in  the  chemical  studies,  appear  here,  the  mixing  of  seeds,  im- 
properly named  or  falsified,  occasioned  differences,  and  the  results 
were  not  comparable.  On  the  whole,  strophanthus  is  a  muscular 
poison,  acting  upon  all  the  striated  muscles  but  more  especially 
upon  the  heart.  The  action  upon  the  heart  can  be  obtained  with 
the  exclusion  of  all  other  action  and  with  neither  accumulation  nor 
gastro-intestinal  troubles.  It  seems  established  that  sti'oplianthin  is 
not  diuretic,  nevertheless  stropliantlins  is  distinctly  so.  In  physiolo- 
gical dose  strophanthus  augments  the  force  and  the  amplitude, 
diminishes  and  regulates  the  number  of  the  pulsations.  By  a  toxic 
dose  the  paralysis  of  the  heart  is  accompanied  by  dyspnoea,  nausea, 
vomiting,  weakness  and  muscular  resolution.  It  is  certain  that  its 
direct  action  is  rapid  and  that  it  is  well  tolerated. 
In  answer  to  the  query  which  strophanthus  should  be  employed  ? 
the  author  favors  the  adoption  of  the  Strophanthus  Komb'e  for 
pharmaceutical  uses  for  the  reasons  that  it  is  most  frequent  in  com- 
merce, is  very  active  and  quite  easily  recognized. 
ANDERJOW  seeds. 
The  seed  properly  known  under  this  name  is  that  of  the 
Holarrhena  antidysenhrica.  Conessi  bark  is  a  product  from  the 
same  tree.  Both  of  these  drugs  have  been  admixed  with,  or  entirely 
substituted  by,  inert  products  obtained  from  Wrightia  tinetoria,  or 
other  species  of  Wrightia.  The  products  of  Alstonia  scliolaris  have 
likewise  been  confused  with  these  drugs.  These  substitutions 
explain  the  failures  that  have  been  obtained  in  Europe  with  drugs 
so  universally  employed  in  India. 
