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In the Ayurvedic system of medicine, the roots and rhizomes of an indigenous Indian plant Acorus calamus are used together with the roots of Rauwolfia serpentina for treating many mental ailments. The influence of asarone and beta-asarone (the trans and cis forms of 2,4,5-trimethoxy-1-propenyl benzene), two active principles of Acorus calamus, when given alone and together with either reserpine or chlorpromazine, has been studied on the conditioned avoidance response of trained rats, on the fighting behaviour of paired mice subjected to mild foot shock and on electro-convulsions. Except for electro-convulsions, asarone in small doses potentiates the effects of reserpine and of chlorpromazine; beta-asarone has no such effect. Estimation of the 5-hydroxytryptamine content of rat brain showed that neither acorus oil nor its active principles increase the concentration of 5-hydroxytryptamine; nor do these compounds cause an additional decrease in the 5-hydroxytryptamine content of the brains of animals treated with reserpine. It is concluded that the potentiating effect of these principles is unrelated to 5-hydroxytryptamine concentration. In experiments using electro-convulsions, asarone increased the percentage mortality of animals treated with chlorpromazine but not of those treated with reserpine.

SummaryNutmeg and its active component, myristicin, show evidence of central monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition by their ability to lower the convulsive dose of intravenous tryptamine in mice and to increase rat brain 5-hydroxytryptamine concentrations. They also show some ability to antagonize reserpine-induced ptosis of the eyelids. Myristicin is chemically unique as a nitrogen-free MAO inhibitor. Although its potency in this respect is not comparable to some of the more potent inhibitors such as tranylcypromine and iproniazid, it seems quite adequate when compared to its low toxicity. Other volatile components of nutmeg such as borneol, geraniol and safrole, do not show tryptamine potentiation, although some appear to cause C.N.S. stimulation in high doses. Further study is recommended for more direct evidence of nutmeg and myristicin as enzyme inhibitors and for their utility as anti-depressant drugs.

Triphenyltetrazolium chloride is proposed as a reagent in studies of cellular physiology. It has been employed to locate intracellular sites of dehydrogenase activity in sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) and as a valuable tool in correlating the action of antibiotics with inhibition of dehydrogenase systems.

ONE of us1 has earlier obtained a small amount of a crystalline compound (m.p. 241°, decomp.) of anethole with two moles of maleic anhydride, the main bulk of the reaction product being a hetero-polymer1,2,3. We found that, if a small amount of dimethylaniline is added, the formation of the hetero-polymer product is prevented and the yield of the crystalline adduct was as high as 60 per cent. We have confirmed the structure previously proposed1 and our work led further to the determination of the steric configuration of the compound.

IN a communication bearing this title, and when referring to our papers1 on the uncrystallizable compound (m.p. 311–312°) formed during the course of the reaction which takes place between anethole and maleic anhydride, Bruckner and Kovacs2 state that we have not recognized that this compound was a heteropolymer. In a series of other reports on the same subject published later, the heteropolymer character of the compound was established and, furthermore, its molecular weight was determined3 with the help of the cis-hexahydro-para-aminobenzoic acid lactam4. The product which is obtained first under Bruckner's working conditions and our own, when refluxed with chloroform, yields two compounds, one of them soluble (m.p. 245° decomp.), with a molecular weight equal to 738 (theoretical for 3: 3·735), and the other insoluble (m.p. 310° decomp.), with a molecular weight equal to 1,010 (theoretical for 4: 4.980).

Anise oil, anethole, and several related compounds inhibit the deposition of glycogen in the livers of fasted, adrenalectomized rats by adrenal cortical extract. This effect is reversed by increased levels of adrenal extract. Anethole blocks the effect of adrenal cortical hormones in reducing insulin sensitivity of adrenalectomized rats. Adrenal hypertropy of unilaterally adrenalectomized rats is increased by anethole. It is postulated that these compounds compete for an active carbohydrate intermediate formed during glycogenesis. The possible role of β-glucuronidase is also pointed out.

Groat (1941) called attention to the necessity of matching the refractive index of the tissue and clearer to obtain maximum transparency of in toto cleared specimens. Tissues that are refractively almost homogeneous, such as muscle, can be cleared after bleaching and dehydrating by placing in an oil of similar refractive index. Brain tissue, on the other hand, is composed of lipids and protein which have different refractive indices. Since protein forms the framework of the brain, it is, therefore, necessary to remove the lipids in order to have a tissue of a relatively uniform refractive index. The refractive index of brain tissue dehydrated in alcohol and extracted with ether, as determined on an Abbe refraetometer. is 1.560.

DANDIYA et al.1,2 have determined the effect on the central nervous system of Acorus calamus, a drug used in the Indian system of medicine for various ailments including some of the mental disorders. In the present work two fractions ‘asarone’ and ‘β-asarone’ (isolated by Baxter and Kandel) of the volatile oil of Acorus calamus have been investigated with regard to effects on the central nervous system and other pharmacodynamical actions which these drugs have.