Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry Specific lactagogues--drugs which stimulate the secretion of milk--are unknown to science. Yet medical publications give space to advertisements of a proprietary--“Nutrolactis”--which is said to increase the milk supply of nursing mothers. Since dependence on a preparation of this kind is likely to cause neglect of the only means of increasing a scanty milk supply of nursing mothers--care of the general health and a sufficient quantity of proper food--this proprietary and the drug “goat’s rue,” (_Galega officinalis_) which the proprietors hint as being the potent constituent, were subjected to a critical study to determine their possible influence on milk secretion. For this purpose the Council secured the help of A. J. Carlson, Ph.D., professor of physiology, University of Chicago. Dr. Carlson, with the aid of A. Woelfel, M.D., and Marian Lewis, Sc.M., undertook to estimate the effect of Nutrolactis and of goat’s rue on nursing dogs and goats with the intention of extending the study to nursing mothers if the animal experiments so warranted. The contribution, “The Alleged Galactagogue Action of Galega and Nutrolactis,” by Marian Lewis and A. J. Carlson from the Hull Physiological Laboratory of the University of Chicago, which appears below, shows that Nutrolactis and goat’s rue are without influence on the milk secretion in nursing animals. The Council endorsed the work of Lewis and Carlson and held that the claimed galactagogue effects of Nutrolactis and goat’s rue are not substantiated. W. A. Puckner, Secretary. THE ALLEGED GALACTAGOGUE ACTION OF GALEGA AND NUTROLACTIS[D] Marian Lewis, Sc.M., and A. J. Carlson, Ph.D. CHICAGO [D] From the Hull Physiological Laboratory of the University of Chicago. [D] This investigation was begun in 1915 by Drs. A. Woelfel and A. J. Carlson. It is well established that the food best adapted to the energy and growth requirements of the infant is normal mother’s milk. Any decrease in quantity or deterioration in quality of the maternal secretion is soon followed by a parallel impairment of growth, loss of weight, or lowered resistance to infection in the infant. The widespread occurrence of deficient milk secretion is a matter of common knowledge. The discovery of true lactagogues, or specific substances which increase the quantity and quality of the milk on being administered to nursing mothers, would therefore be of very great importance. In view of this great medical and economic interest in true lactagogues it is not surprising to find that the medical and biologic literature records discoveries of lactagogues based on hope rather than demonstration, and that spurious lactagogues are on the market.