216  Chemical  Assay  of  Ergot.  { Am"MaTi9Po9arm' 
20  c.c.  of  water,,  filtered  off  the  precipitate  on  a  weighed  filter, 
washed  with  a  small  quantity  of  water,  dried  in  a  thermostat 
and  weighed.    The  results  were  as  follows : 
Physiologi-  Weight  of 
Preparation.  cal  Test.1  Precipitate. 
1  o  14 
2  10  48 
3  10  68 
4  21  96 
While  these  figures  cannot  be  expected  to  give  accurate  information, 
they  were  nevertheless  suggestive  enough  to  encourage  further 
investigations  on  this  point. 
The  following  method  was  then  tried  : 
To  10  c.c.  of  fluid  extract  add  20  c.c.  of  water;  shake  out  with 
repeated  portions  of  10  c.c.  each  of  benzole  until  the  benzole  after 
shaking  remains  colorless.  Unite  the  various  portions  of  benzole 
and  evaporate  in  a  tared  dish  on  the  water  bath,  dry  in  a  thermo- 
stat at  a  temperature  of  400  C.  until  the  weight  is  constant,  and 
then  weigh.  Eleven  fluid  extracts  were  assayed  in  this  manner 
besides  several  other  galenicals  prepared  from  ergot.  The  results 
as  compared  with  the  results  of  the  physiological  tests  of  the  same 
preparations  are  shown  in  Table  2. 
Physiologi- 
Per cent. 
Preparation. 
cal  Test. 
Benzole  Extract. 
Ai. 
33 
0.68 
Bi. 
32 
0.58 
C. 
21 
0.58 
D. 
30 
0.52 
Ei. 
22 
0.48 
F. 
20 
0.45 
G. 
15 
0.42 
A2  • 
13 
0-39 
B2. 
10 
0.37 
E2. 
12 
0.34 
H. 
6 
0.27 
I. 
0 
0.09 
J. 
0 
0.06 
Especial  attention  may  be  called  to  the  samples  denominated  in 
this  table:  Ai  and  A2,  Bi  and  B2,  and  Ei  and  E2.    Each  pair 
1  The  figures  in  the  column  "  physiological  test "  were  obtained  by  the 
method  described  by  Dr.  Hofer  and  myself  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
Medical  Bulletin,  February,  1909. 
