Acting primarily on the heart and arterial systems through the nerve ganglia, a natural physiologic balance is established between the arterial and venous systems, whereby effusions ... are eliminated.... Coincident with this action there is a noteworthy _slowing_ of the pulse.... If the remedy is pushed, can be brought down to 20 or 30 beats per minute.... Its physiological action is to stimulate the cardiac motor-ganglia through the cardiac plexus of the sympathetic system and at the same time exert an inhibitory influence upon the cardiac fibers of the pneumogastric, thereby dilating the arterioles, slowing the heart’s action, and increasing the force of the systole.... The prolonged diastole allows the ventricle time to completely fill, and the more forcible contraction causes the mitral valve to close more thoroughly and at the same time increases pressure in the coronary arteries, serving thereby the double purpose of relieving pulmonary engorgement and increasing heart nutrition. Anasarcin will nauseate some persons. To appreciate fully the meaning of this description of the actions of Anasarcin, it should be compared with the effects of the digitalis group, to which squill belongs. The following account is quoted literally from a recent text-book of pharmacology (Sollmann): The phenomena of the therapeutic stage of digitalis action are said to be: 1. Slowing of the heart, with systole and diastole both lengthened. 2. Increased strength of beat, leading to greater efficiency of the individual contractions, and to an increase in the total efficiency. 3. A tendency to the systolic phase. 4. A rise of blood-pressure, due mainly to the increased action of the heart, but partly also to a vasoconstriction. The therapeutic action may be explained, in part, as follows: A larger amount of blood will be thrown into the aorta and coronary circulation. The first effect will be an improved nutrition of the heart.... The tonic action ... narrows the ring of the valves, brings them together, narrows the orifice.... The venous congestion will tend to be relieved. This relief ... will fall in the first place on the lungs.... The lowering of the venous pressure will tend to cause absorption of the effusions. The nauseant action of squill, which is alluded to in connection with Anasarcin, is too well known to require more than a mention.