970 7. MERCURIALS 



somewhat surprising that tumors could contain a component holding mer- 

 curials more tightly than in normal tissues, or at least more of a component 

 binding the mercurial strongly, but this would support ideas which have 

 been advanced relative to the abnormal state of SH group-containing sub- 

 stances in tumor cells. 



EFFECTS ON THE GROWTH OF MICROORGANISMS 



Mercurials have been used for years to control the growth of many types 

 of microorganism, invertebrate, and plant, and have been applied commer- 

 cially as fruit sprays, paint preservatives, mothproofers, grain insecticides, 

 anthelmintics, as well as antiseptics and disinfectants, and in antifouling, 

 crab grass control, bacterial plant diseases, and nematode control. One of 

 the most important commercial uses at the present is as fungicides in the 

 treatment of seeds, fruits, and plants, and for the most part certain organic 

 mercurials have been developed for this purpose. The clinical use of mer- 

 curials as antiseptics, first popularized by Koch (1881), has dechned some- 

 what due to the discovery of generally more selective antibacterial agents, 

 but most of the experimental work has been done with this group of aro- 

 matic mercurials. Inasmuch as the relation between these actions and met- 



NO, 



\^ /^ Hg NO3 



H3C 



Phenylmercuric nitrate Nitromersol 



(Merphenyl nitrate, Merphene) (Metaphen) 



HgOH 



Merbromin Thimerosal 



(Mercurochrome) (Merthiolate) 



abolic interference is vague, only a cursory treatment of the mercurials 

 as inhibitors of microorganism growth will be given. 



