Am  jour  Pharm. )     Scientific  and  Technical  Abstracts. 
May,  1921.      )  J 
357 
late,  cocoa,  and  certain  vegetables,  such  as  tomatoes,  mushrooms, 
rhubarb,  and  cucumber.  Any  protein  may  be  the  cause.  In  one  case, 
the  protein  of  oats,  and  also  of  potato,  caused  headache.  The  pro 
tein  extracts  such  as  meat  soups  and  fruit  juices  are  even  more 
potent  than  meat  or  fruit.  This  shows  that  the  harmful  protein  is 
soluble.  The  author  considers  that  the  usual  American  hospital  diet 
of  meat,  soup,  eggs,  and  fruit  juice  is  bad,  not  only  for  cases  of  pro- 
tein poisoning,  but  also  for  infectious  diseases,  since  it  has  a  tendency 
to  reduce  the  normal  alkali  reserve  which  is  needed  to  combat  infec- 
tion. Migraine  and  periodic  headache  are  primarily  due  to  inherited 
deficient  metabolism,  and  can,  in  every  instance,  be  cured  by  a  prop- 
erly restricted  diet. — Dr.  R.  C.  Brown,  Wisconsin  Med.  J.,  1920,  19, 
337;  /.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  1921,  76,  338. 
Improved  Infusion  of  Digitalis. — The  following  modus  ope- 
randi gives  an  infusion  which,  represents  the  full  therapeutic  activitiy 
of  the  drug,  such  as  is  not  attained  by  the  method  official  in  the 
U.  S.  P.  ix.  One  part  of  digitalis  leaf,  in  No.  60  powder,  is  treated 
with  100  parts  of  boiling  water,  and  kept  for  one  hour  on  a  boiling 
water  bath,  with  frequent  stirring.  It  is  then  filtered,  and  may  be 
kept  in  completely  filled  corked  bottles  sealed  with  hard  paraffin. 
Specimens  thus  prepared  and  stored  in  February,  19 18,  have  retained 
their  therapeutic  activity  unimpaired  to  date,  as  shown  by  the  car 
test.  Since  the  official  U.  S.  P.  infusion  does  not  represent  the  drug, 
the  standardization  of  the  leaf  does  not  ensure  the  uniform  activity 
of  the  official  infusion.  The  infusion  prepared  by  the  method  de- 
scribed above  has  not  that  defect.  It  is  fully  active.  The  dose  is 
exactly  ten  times  that  of  the  U.  S.  P.  1  :  10  tincture.  It  is  shown  that 
the  residual  marc  of  this  infusion  is  quite  inactive,  and,  therefore, 
completely  exhausted.  It  was  found  that  the  drug  is  completely 
exhausted  in  the  percolation  process  of  the  U.  S.  P.  tinc- 
ture. Therapeutically'  there  is  nothing  to  choose  between  this  tinc- 
ture and  the  equivalent  dose  of  the  infusion  prepared  as  directed. 
The  results  obtained  are  identical.  There  is  no  experimental  evi- 
dence to  support  the  view  that  a  necessary  qualitative  difference  ex- 
ists between  the  action  of  the  tincture  and  the  infusion  of  digitalis, 
when  the  latter  is  prepared  properly. — S.  Weiss  and  R.  A.  Hatcher, 
/.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  192 1,  76,  508. 
