Am.  jour.  Pharm. )      Scientific  and  Technical  Abstracts. 
August,  1921.     S  1 
563 
SCIENTIFIC  AND  TECHNICAL 
ABSTRACTS 
A  New  Digitalis  Body. — From  experiments  performed  on 
cats,  using  the  Hatcher  digitalis-ouabain  method,  it  is  assumed  that 
there  is  present  in  digitalis  leaf  a  substance  having  a  characteristic 
digitalis-like  action,  but  the  effect  of  which  is  extremely  fleeting. 
This  assumption  is  deduced  from  the  fact  that  it  requires  a  much 
smaller  amount  of  a  digitalis  preparation  per  kg.  body  weight  to. 
produce  death,  injected  intravenously  into  cats  during  the  passage 
of  a  few  minutes  than  when  the  injection  is  carried  out  over  a  period 
of  hours.    In  the  case  of  digitoxin,  the  effect  is  exactly  the  opposite. 
The  statement  is  made  that  Hatcher  has  found  the  same  thing 
to  be  true  of  his  chloroform  soluble  fraction  of  the  drug,  but  in  a 
more  pronounced  degree. — M.  S.  Dooley,  Journ.  of  Pharm.  and 
Ex  per.  Therapeutics,  17,  277,  1921. 
W.  J.  McG. 
Chexopodium  Ambrosioides. — The  genus  Chenopodium  em- 
braces sixty  to  eighty  widely  distributed  species,  but  only  two,  viz., 
C.  Quinoa,  Linn.,  and  C.  purpurascens,  Jacq.,  have  attained  any  im- 
portance as  food  substances.  The  former  produces  the  starchy 
quinoa  seeds  of  Chili,  and  the  latter  has  been  cultivated  in  France 
for  its  leaves,  which  are  used  as  a  substitute  for  spinach.  C.  am- 
brosioides, Linn.,  is  the  only  one  of  medicinal  importance.  It  is 
probably  a  native  of  Mexico,  but  has  spread  all  over  North  and  South 
America ;  it  occurs  also  in  Africa,  India,  etc.,  in  numerous  varieties. 
It  has  been  used  for  colic  and  dysentery,  but  its  chief  value  is  as  an 
anthelmintic.  Usually  the  volatile  oil  distilled  from  the  plant  is  now 
employed.  It  is  recommended  for  cultivation  in  France  and  the 
French  Colonies ;  in  the  latter  case  the  properties  of  the  drug  should 
be  made  known  to  the  natives. — A.  Chevalier,  Bull.  d.  Sc.  Pharm.,  28, 
129;  through  Pharm.  Journ.  and  Pharm.,  June,  1921. 
Active  Constituents  of  Shepherd's  Purse. — The  authors 
have  shown  that  extracts  of  this  drug  (Capsella  Bursa-pastoris)  con- 
tain a  substance  which  causes  a  very  marked  depression  of  the  blood 
