CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTION 441 



What was extremely interesting was the fact that by the intro- 

 duction of suitable radicals into this inert amido cocaine the alka- 

 loidal action could be restored. Thus when acetyl and benzoyl 

 groups are introduced into amido cocaine, cocaines are formed which, 

 although they are not anaesthetic, again possess this property of 

 acting on the liver. It is especially interesting, however, that the 

 cocaine urethane obtained by the action of chlorcarbonic acid on 

 amido cocaine again acts anaesthetically, in fact much more so than 

 the original cocaine. That is to say, if we nitrify cocaine, reduce it 

 to amido cocaine, and finally condense it to a urethane, we find that 

 the anaesthesiophore group is first diminished in power, then its 

 action is entirely lost, and finally heightened. We already know the 

 function of the toxopho: e group in a number of alkaloids, in atropin 

 for a single group, in strychnine for two. If only we had a deeper 

 insight into this function we might hope by means of substitutive 

 action on the toxophore groups (such as Einhorn and I have car- 

 ried out on the benzoic acid radical of cocaine) to modify the action 

 of the alkaloids to suit our purpose. 



In the synthetic field of pharmacology, however, a knowledge of 

 the groupings on which the selective distribution in the organs depends 

 would appear to be far more important. In the case of foodstuffs 

 and toxins I assume that the union is effected by a single definite 

 group, the "haptophore" group. Substances foreign to the body, 

 as already explained, lack such a single group and the laws of dis- 

 tribution in the organism are dependent on the combined action of 

 the separate components. In their distribution, therefore, the entire 

 constitution of the substance is the deciding factor. This we have seen 

 to be true with substances belonging to one group. Within this 

 group type, as we have described it in detail with the cocaine series, 

 modifications of the separate components can then be made within 

 wide limits. Starting from this point of view we obtain a new method 

 of synthetic-chemical pharmacology. If one is desirous of studying 

 organ therapy in this sense it will be necessary first to hunt up 

 bodies which possess a particular affinity for a certain organ. 

 Having found such bodies one can then use them, so to speak, as a 

 carrier by which to bring therapeutically active groups to the organ 

 in question. It is self-evident that in the selection of these groups 

 one is bound by definite limits; so also is the fact that all substituting 

 groups which themselves influence the distributive character (e.g. 

 acid radicals) must be avoided. All these are problems which ex- 



