210 
Tincture  of  Strophanthus. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1909. 
could  with  the  impure  specimens  in  their  possession.  Fraser's 
article  on  the  glucoside,  strophanthin,  appeared  during  1885  in 
the  British  Medical  Journal.  Fraser  had  previously  isolated  the 
active  principle  but  had  not  discovered  its  chemical  character,  and 
Hardy  and  Gallois  had  ascribed  to  their  "  strophantine  "  chemical 
characteristics  which  it  did  not  possess. 
All  observers  agreed  that  the  seeds  contained  more  of  the  active 
principle  than  any  other  part  of  the  plant.  Tinctures  of  various 
strengths  were  advised,  and  it  was  found  that  defatting  the  seeds 
materially  aided  percolation,  although  some  observers  thought  that 
the  defatted  tincture  was  weaker  than  one  not  so  prepared.  Fraser 
and  Martindale  7  proved  that  the  active  principle  was  practically 
insoluble  in  ether,  and  that  the  defatted  tinctures  were  therefore  of 
the  same  strength  as  those  not  defatted.  Most  of  the  investigations 
during  this  period  (1865— 1890)  were  obscured  by  confusion  as  to 
the  botany  of  strophanthus,  and  by  the  impossibility  of  obtaining 
pure  specimens.  To  Oliver,  of  Kew,  and  especially  to  E.  M. 
Holmes,8  is  due  the  credit  of  differentiating  the  various  species, 
and  to  the  latter  also  is  due  great  credit  for  insisting  that  pure  seed 
be  imported.  Finally,  in  1906,  Holmes  announced  that  the  seeds 
coming  into  England  were  to  be  relied  upon. 
Gilg,  Thorns  and  Schedel 10  worked  out  the  botany,  chemistry, 
and  therapeutics  of  Strophanthus  grains  which  contains  a  glucoside 
more  active  than  the  official  strophanthin. 
From  among  the  various  species,  S.  Kombe  (of  which  5*.  his- 
pidus  is  probably  a  climatic  variation)  has  gained  the  widest  use. 
For  the  purpose  of  this  investigation  a  supply  of  strophanthus 
seed  *  in  No.  60  powder,  "  ground  for  percolation,"  was  obtained 
from  Gilpin,  Langdon  &  Co.  This  was  thoroughly  mixed  and  used 
in  several  portions  for  the  preparation  of  tinctures  as  follows : 
Five  portions  of  100  grammes  each  were  prepared  as  the  Phar- 
macopoeia directs,  macerated  with  the  menstruum  (about  65  per 
cent,  alcohol)  for  48  hours;  percolated  at  different  rates  with  inter- 
vals of  maceration ;  and  the  tinctures  thus  prepared  were  tested  in 
the  manner  to  be  described  presently. 
Tincture  No.  1  was  made  with  58  hours  of  percolation  and  442 
hours  of  maceration  in  about  22  days. 
Tincture  No.  2  was  made  with  718  hours  of  percolation  and 
*  This  was  labelled  5.  hispidus.  The  Pharmacopoeia  directs  that  S. 
Kombe  be  used,  but  the  action  of  the  two  is  qualitatively  the  same. 
