584 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



benzoic acid in the intestine. Duotal and creosotal, prepared 

 by the Bayer Company, are respectively the guaiacol (XXXVa) 

 and creosol carbonates, 



^c^ /O . C,H, . OCH3 



^^\0 . QH4 . OCH3 



XXXVa. 



which exert a favourable action on tuberculous conditions without 

 irritating the stomach. 



Synthetical Suprarenine 



The synthetical medicaments described above have been 

 employed as substitutes for the naturally occurring drugs, from 

 which they generally differ entirely in chemical structure. The 

 antipyretics of the phenacetin and antipyrin series have been 

 used successfully as quinine substitutes, but nevertheless they 

 do not resemble this alkaloid in chemical constitution. These 

 differences are, moreover, not without their physiological 

 counterpart, for in one respect at least the synthetical febri- 

 fuges differ from quinine, and that is in having no specific 

 action in malaria, a malady in which the alkaloid exerts a 

 well-defined beneficial influence. In this section an example 

 of the successful synthesis of a naturally occurring drug will 

 be discussed. 



In 1901 Takamine and Aldrich, working independently, 



succeeded in isolating in a crystalline condition the active 



principle of the suprarenal capsules. This substance, which 



exerts an extremely potent influence in raising the blood-pressure, 



is the most powerful haemostatic and astringent known. Its 



constitution was investigated by Von Furth, Pauly, and Jowett ; 



and in 1904 the last of these investigators indicated three 



formulae for the base, stating that he considered that of these 



the following (XXXVI.) was the most probable : 



OH 

 OH 



CH.OH 



I 

 CH,.NH.CH3 



XXXVI. 



A compound having this constitution has since been S3mthesised 

 by Messrs. Meister, Lucius & Briining, which appears to 

 have chemical and physiological properties identical with 



