4§ 8  A  merican  Pharmaceutica I  A  ssociation .  { ^pfembeTSf ' 
and  Russian  ergot."  He  applied  Keller's  method  of  assay  for  this  drug  to 
samples  obtained  in  New  York.    The  results  were  as  follows: 
) 
German  ergot— (a)  .  .  .  0-15  per  cent,  cornutine  of  Keller 
(b)  .  .  .  o"i4      "  "  "  I.  mean,  015  per  cent 
(c)  .  .  .0-15  " 
Spanish  ergot— (a)  .  .  .  0*29      *«  "  " 
(b)  .  .  .  0-28      "  I  mean,  0*29  per  cent. 
(c)  .  .  .  0-29    it-<:u"      u  J 
Russian  ergot — (a)  .  .  .  <riS      "  "  "  ~\ 
(b)  .  .  .0-19      "  "  "  y  mean,  o-iS  per  cent. 
(C)  .  .  .  OT7   .-  ^!  f  "  "J 
The  author  thought  that  until  we  know  more  of  this  cornutine  of  Keller,  the 
best  we  can  saj^  is  that  Spanish  ergot  is  more  valuable  than  Russian  ergot  and 
this  more  valuable  than  German  ergot. 
QUERY  15. — IS  THE  DECIDEDLY  DIFFERENT  YIELD  OF  PILOCARPINE  DUE 
TO  TWO  SPECIES  OF  PILOCARPUS  ?  IF  SO,  WHAT  ARE  THE  SPECIES  AND  WHAT 
IS  THEIR  RELATIVE  CONTENT  OF  ALKALOIDS  ?  IF  NOT,  WHY  HAS  PILOCARPINE 
BEEN  SO  SCARCE  ? 
Mr.  Dohme  also  presented  a  paper  to  deal  with  this  question.  He  said  that 
the  appearance  in  the  market  of  the  small  jaborandi  leaves,  called  Pilocarpus 
microphyllus,  was  well  known,  and  that  in  order  to  decide  the  query  he  had 
assa}'ed  several  samples  of  this  variety,  as  also  of  the  variety  pennatifolius,  by 
Keller's  method,  which  involves  the  titration  of  the  alkaloids  with  decinormal 
acid  solution. 
The  following  results  were  obtained  : 
Philocarpus  pennatifolius  I.  purchased  in  1893 — 0  33  per  cent,  total  alkaloids. 
"  "  II.       "         "  1894—0-18      "  "  *' 
"  "  III.     "         "  1895—  0*19      "  "  " 
"  microphyllus  I.       "         "  1894— 016      "  "  " 
II.       "         -  1895-0-19 
From  these  results  it  would  appear  that  Pilocarpus  pennatifolius,  formerly 
obtained,  contained  more  alkaloid  than  the  leaves  recently  obtained  in  this 
market.  P.  microphyllus,  which  has  only  made  its  appearance  in  this  market 
during  the  last  few  jTears,  contains  as  much  alkaloid  as  the  P.  pennatifolius 
now  in  the  market,  and  both  contain  less  than  the  jaborandi  leaves  formerly 
obtained.  The  answer  to  the  query,  then,  would  be  that  the  cause  of  the 
scarcity  of  pilocarpine  is  not  the  preponderance  or  substitution  of  any  new 
variety  of  jaborandi  leaves,  but  the  deterioration  of  the  drug  in  general,  the 
yield  having  decreased  during  the  past  few  years.  Poehl1  some  time  since 
obtained  as  much  as  1*97  per  cent,  of  alkaloids  from  jaborandi  leaves,  which  he 
claimed  were  hairy  and  not  smooth,  while  Budee  and  Miller2  obtained  from 
the  ordinary  smooth,  large  leaves,  such  as  we  usually  meet  with  in  this  coun- 
try, only  as  much  as  0*19  per  cent,  alkaloids.  Whether  the  hairy  leaves,  which 
yield  the  large  percentage  of  alkaloids,  are  or  are  not  any  longer  raised,  the 
fact  remains  that  the  leaves  which  are  now,  and  have  been  for  some  time, 
brought  to  this  market,  and  apparently  to  Europe  also,  are  of  the  smooth 
variety,  and  contain  very  much  less  alkaloid.    It  is  hence  probable  that,  until 
1  Poehl— Untersuchung  der  Blatter  von  Pilocarpus  officinalis,  St.  Petersburg,  1879. 
-Budee  and  Miller— Archiv  fur  Pharmacie,  216,  p.  25,  1880. 
