46 



ACETANILID, ANTIPYRIN, AND PHENACETIN. 



ANTIPYRIN. 

 INTRODUCTORY RESUME. 



In the following bibliography of poisoning by antipyrin an attempt 

 has been made to classify the cases according to the pathological 

 effect produced. Thus, under the heading i; Cutaneous Eruptions " 

 there are grouped the cases in \vhich symptoms of the skin appear 

 from the published reports to have played the most prominent and 

 important part in the history of the cases. This method has been 

 adopted because it gives more information with regard to clinical 

 history than the mere title of the published report would convey, 

 and because it has been found to be impracticable to publish a full 

 abstract of each recorded case of poisoning by antipyrin. It will 

 readily be seen, however, that nothing approaching accuracy can be 

 secured in this way. In some of the cases no one symptom or group 

 of symptoms appears from the published reports to have stood out 

 very prominently in the clinical picture. What appears to have 

 been the most important feature of the case is often attended by 

 symptoms in other parts of the body which are almost if not equally 

 important. Thus many of the skin cases present in addition to 

 the cutaneous symptoms marked systemic depression or abnormal 

 symptoms of tlie kidneys, the digestive tract, or of other parts of 

 the body. Likewise, the cases grouped under the heading " Col- 

 lapse " often present also cutaneous or other symptoms. In spite 

 of the difficulty of classifying the cases accurately, however, it is 

 believed that the method possesses distinct advantage over a mere 

 alphabetical or chronological classification. The references are ar- 

 ranged alphabetically and chronologically under each heading. 



The total number of cases of poisoning by antipyrin herein re- 

 corded is approximately 488. As already stated, it is practically 

 impossible to determine the number of cases with accuracy, owing 

 to the indefinite character of some of the reports. The cases were 

 reported by 299 observers. Of the 488 cases 10, or about 2 per cent, 

 are reported to have resulted fatally. The distribution of the re- 

 corded cases by years from the time of the introduction of antipyrin 

 as a medicinal agent, in 1884, to the end of the year 1907, is shown in 

 the accompanying table. 



Cases of antipyrin poisoning reported annually. 



