Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1905-11-02
CAN CONTROL DRUGS.
WONDERFUL POSSIBILITIES
IN RECENT WORK BY LOEB
HIS ASSISTANT FINDS THAT MIC
oTiNE AND oUiNiNE CAN BE
CONTROLLED BY SALINE
SOLUTIONS.

Berkeley. Oct. 13.-As the result OF
a number Of experiments which are
still in progress T. b. Robertson, an
assistant Of DR.. Jacques Loeb of the
University of California, has announc'
ed a principle whereby the actions OF
drugs such as nicotine and quinine
may be controlled and modified by the
administration with them Of appropri
ate saline solutions. Should Mr.. Rob
ertson obtain similar results in the re.
markable set of experiments which he
is still continuing in the Rudolph
Spreckels physiological laboratory the
action Of all drugs will be within the
control of science and the medical prac.
titioners will have been put in posses
sion of principles that will in way
revolutionize modern methods.
Robertson's experiments were begun
at the suggestion Of Or. Loeb and have
a bearing on the great biologists In
vestigations into the secret of the life
principle.
In writing of his experiments Mr.
Robertson says:
1T is very generally conceded that
the actions Of the alkaloids upon life
phenomena are primarily due to the
formation Of a compound between the
alkaloid ana some constituent Of the
protoplasm. Assuming that this con.
stituent is the ion-proteid and that the
alkaloid is only toxic after It has com.
bined, then It seems probable that
since all alkaloids possess more or less
pronounced basic characters they
should be more toxic when the ion.
proteid has an acid character than
when 1t has basic character-since
they would more readily combine with
a molecule possessing acid properties
than with one possessing basic proper.
ties. Some alkaloids, however. have
both phenolic and basic characteristics
owing to the presence OF one or more
hydroxyl groups as well as the unsat.
urated nitrogen atom. Such alkaloids
should be toxic both when the ion.pre.
told is basic and when It Is acid. Since
the basic and phenolic characters are
not usually present in the alkaloid to
an equal degree, however, the toXicity
should vary. In the special case In
which the phenolic characters are pro-
nounced the ion.proteid is basic and
much less toxic when the ion.proteid
is acid.
THE experiments on the action Of
nicotine are of special interest because
of the localized action Of nicotine upon
certain parts Of the nervous system.
Should our hypothesis turn out to be
correct the action Of nicotine might be
used to indicate the nature OF the ion.
proteid in different parts of the nervous
system.
"The experiments upon the action Of
quinine upon unicellular organisms are
of special interest because OF the i'm.
portance Of thorough knowledge Of
the conditions affecting the action Of
quinine upon the plasmodium in mala.
ria"
In making his experiments the living
tissues used were earth worms placed
in finger bowls. The action Of the
drugs and the saline solutions upon
these organisms were noted and the
important results suggested above were
obtained. A second bulletin giving fur
Their accounts of the interesting inves.
legations will shortly be issued from
the university press.