The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-06
TESTING DRUGS ON ANIMALS.
Dogs Used to Ascertain the Strength of
Hasheesh.
From ns N,v Orlean, Times. Democrat.

From TIE N,w Orlean, Times. Democrat.
you've heard the theatrical expression.
trying 1t on dog" said local representa-
tive OF great manufacturing drug house. " 1t
means an experimental performance Of a new
play in some small city II the dog. otherwise
the small city, shows no great symptoms Of
distress they venture the thing in New York.
Well. in our line Of business We frequently try
1t on dog. also on a frog. a rat. n rooster. a
guinea pig. and other animals too numerous to
mention. Our trials are literal. not flRurative.
We make them to ascertain the strength of
certain drugs. which. for some reason or
other. defy chemical analysis. In such cases
we resort to what is called q physiolog-
zeal test. Suppose. for instance. we want
to find out the strength Of a sample OF digitais
which II IN good condition. has slim ulat ing
eject on the heart, The experts on the stan
the stuff into the stomach of small frog, which
kymoEraph that records its heartbcats on
strip OF paper. The dRitalis may be perfectly
mo chemist could tell the INTERCHANGEABLE the
Monograph gets at the truth with iniallble
eertadinty' and the simple Is graded according
two inches long and they are rather hard to
get, Some time ago We sent the house a con :.
to be too large. Why do we use such small
onesi Because it takes less of tn. drug to af-
Some Of the other tests arc still more Curl
GUS" continued the. drug man. and none
queerer than that Of ergot. To ascertain its
active properties small quantity IL injected
into a fu grown rooster. II the drug IL up to
standard strength the comb Of tho fowl soon
begins 20 turn blue and eventually becomes
almost black. The power of tho particular
sample on trial Is indicated by the decpncss of
the discoloraton. This test is tho only reliable
ono known and is exceedingly valuable. because
erGot has strange trick Of occas onally losing
all It's mcdcina! properties without showing
the slightest change in general appearance.
fiashe"sh which has figured SO extensively
In romanccs of the Orient. ia known scion
titrally aS CannabiS lndica 1t is tested on
dogs, When the drug is all right the dog
soon begins to get dopy.' stngg"r5 in its walk
AMI eventually kgels over and dreams dreams.
The necessity Of tcstinG hnsheesh grows out
OF very singular fact. As most people know
It is made from the blossom Of indian hem D.
but IL is only tho unfcrtllZci female flower
that has any narcotic properties. The malo
flowers and the seed bearing female flowers
are absolutely valueless. but all three look
alike to the naked eye. So docs the tincturo
prepared from them, and, like the other drugs
tests will give a fair idea Of the modern method
of getting at facts about medicines. They are
only few out of many. Altogether | SUD-
pose that upward OF dozen different animals
are used. each selected because OF its sensi-
tiyeneSs % some special preparation. Occa-
Rionally the s"ntimentalists raise a wall over
the poor guinea pigs and white rats and tho
but il 1t wasn't for the help Of those creatures
we won Id have to fall back on the old -fas hioned
method of distinguishing toadstools from
mushrooms. Cook them and eat Them was
are mushrooms"