THE STANDARDISATION OF ERGOT PREPARATIONS

The methods of standardization of ergot preparations can be divided into two groups, the methods which measure the alkaloidal content of ergot preparations, and the methods which measure chiefly the amine content of the preparations. The cock9s comb, the inversion of the adrenalin effect on the isolated rabbit9s uterus, and the inversion of the adrenalin effect on the cat9s blood pressure, all measure only the alkaloidal content of ergot preparations. These methods give results in fair accordance, as is shown in tables 2 and 3. All three methods gave values for sample 1 of liquid extract of ergot indicating an ergotamine content lying between 0.1 and 0.05 per cent. The isolated guinea-pig9s uterus and the cat9s uterus in situ measure chiefly the amine content of ergot preparations, and give results quite different from those given by the three first mentioned methods.