PIGEON EMESIS AND DRUG ACTION

¹ From the Department of Pharmacology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

Ergot preparations may be standardized by the use of pigeon emesis as an end point. The method is capable of an accuracy of 10 to 20 per cent as determined from over 600 injections.

Digitalis standardization may be carried on after the suggestion of Hanzlik, but with certain fundamental modifications, which also apply to ergot standardization.

If the lot of pigeons is first tested for reactivity to the drugs, and the hypersensitive and the hyper-resistant discarded; and if the pigeons are not used more often than once a month (to obviate the danger of conditioning), the pigeon emetic method may be used for the standardization of ergot and of digitalis. Though these precautions render the method cumbersome and expensive, the method retains its attractiveness in possessing a distinct end point. This is a valuable advantage in the standardization of ergot preparations. Since the same bird may be used repeatedly, it is possible to compare two or more drugs on the same animals.