230  Comment  on  the  Paper.  ?  Am.  jour.  Pharm. 
r  S    March,  1921. 
survival  period  of  the  controls  after  receiving  the  toxin  was  2  days, 
while  the  average  survival  period  of  the  echinacea  treated  animals 
was  2.33  days. 
The  authors'  conclusion  is  that  "it  does  not  appear  that  echi- 
nacea possesses  remedial  value  against  botulism,"  while  a  clinician 
might  urge  that  the  figures  in  the  table  actually  show  perceptible 
remedial  value  for  the  drug  in  such  cases. 
In  the  septicemia  experiments  13  animals  were  subjected  to 
doses  of  a  pathogenic  culture  of  Bacillus  bovisepticus.  Three  of 
the  animals  were  reserved  as  controls,  of  which  two  died  and  one 
recovered,  the  average  period  of  survival  of  the  two  which  died 
being  3  days. 
Of  the  ten  animals  which  were  treated  with  echinacea  one 
recovered  and  nine  died,  the  average  survival  period  in  the  fatal 
cases  being  3.88  days,  an  average  difference  of  more  than  eight- 
tenths  day  in  favor  of  the  treatment. 
The  conclusion  of  the  authors  is  that  "in  no  case  did  it  appear 
that  echinacea  either  increased  the  resistance  of  the  organism  to 
the  infection  or  served  to  modify  it  when  given  as  a  remedy," 
while  the  average  clinician  in  reviewing  the  results  would  be  likely 
to  claim  that  they  showed  a  decided  effect  of  the  drug  in  pro- 
longing the  life  of  the  infected  animals. 
In  the  series  of  experiments  with  anthrax  five  animals  were 
inoculated  with  a  suspension  of  Bacillus  anthracis,  two  of  the 
animals  serving  as  controls.  All  of  the  animals  died,  the  two  con- 
trols having  an  average  survival  of  6  days,  while  the  average  sur- 
vival period  of  the  three  animals  receiving  echinacea  was  only  3 
days,  or  just,  half  the  period  of  survival  of  the  untreated  animals. 
From  the  table  of  experiments  with  rattlesnake  poison  we  learn 
that  nine  animals  were  given  a  fatal  dose  of  venin,  the  dose  being 
based  upon  prior  experiments  to  determine  the  toxicity  of  the 
preparation.  Three  of  the  venin  poisoned  animals  were  kept  as 
controls,  while  the  remaining  six  received  treatment  with  one  or 
more  preparations  of  echinacea. 
The  controls  all  died,  while  the  animals  receiving  treatment 
with  echinacea  one,  or  16.6  per  cent,  of  the  number,  recovered. 
Judged  by  the  ordinary  methods  of  clinical  deduction,  therefore, 
the  chances  of  recovery  of  animals  receiving  a  fatal  dose  of  rattle- 
