( 379 ) 



XII. — Studies on the Pharmacological Action of Tetra-Alkyl-Ammonium 

 Compounds. By Professor 0. R. Marshall. 



(Read December 15, 1913. MS. received March 24, 1914. Issued separately July 29, 1914.) 



II. THE ACTION OF TETRA-ETHYL-AMMONIUM CHLORIDE. 



The pharmacological action of tetra-ethyl-ammonium chloride has been investigated 

 to a limited extent by Tillie,* Santesson and Koraen,! Tappeiner,} Boehm,§ and 

 Hober and Waldenberg,|| in the course of other researches. Tillie, and Santesson 

 and Koraen, describe its action on frogs ; Tappeiner merely states that it has 

 no paralysing effect on the respiration of the rabbit ; Boehm, and Hober and 

 Waldenberg, refer only to its effect on the isolated frog's muscle. The descriptions 

 of the action of the iodide, which has been investigated by Jordan,! Brunton and 

 Cash,* # Rothberger,! t Jacobj and Hagenberg,^ and Barger and Dale,§§ in the 

 course of other work, are also somewhat meagre. Brunton and Cash, and Jacobj 

 and Hagenberg, describe its action on frogs, and Brunton and Cash its action on 

 rabbits ; but Jordan merely says that it produces on frogs a curare-like action but 

 no muscarin effect, and Barger and Dale only state that it has no sympathomimetic 

 action. The investigation of Rothberger was limited to its antagonistic action 

 towards curarin. 



A point of some importance, which I have not seen mentioned, is the instability 

 of the chloride when kept under ordinary conditions. It is not only hygroscopic, but 

 it also decomposes and relatively quickly becomes acid. A specimen which had been 

 kept in the laboratory in a well-stoppered bottle for over a year was found on 

 analysis to contain 15 per cent, of water and 14'8 per cent, of hydrochloric acid. 

 The remainder, as shown by a determination of the ethyl groups and the chloride 

 content, was pure tetra-ethyl-ammonium chloride. Two other specimens obtained 

 from reliable firms contained 4 '5 per cent, and 8 per cent, hydrochloric acid 

 respectively when received. The commercial chloride, and this salt purified by 

 dissolving in the smallest quantity of absolute alcohol, neutralising, filtering and 

 drying, finally in a desiccator, were used in the investigation. 



General Effects. 



On Frogs. — The most prominent symptoms produced in grass frogs by injections 

 into the dorsal lymph-sac were muscular contractions and trem'ors. Besides these, 



* Arch.f. exp. Path. u. Pharmak., xxvii. p. 17 [1890]. t Skand. Arch. f. Physiol, x. p. 225 [1900]. 



% Arch.f. exp. Path. u. Pharmak, xxxvii. p. 349 [1896]. § Ibid., lviii. p. 267 [1908]. 



|| Pftiiger's Arch., cxxvi. p. 337 [1909]. IT Arch.f. exp. Path. u. Pharmak, viii. p. 15 [1877]. 



** Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., clxxv. p. 201 [1884]. tt Pftiiger's Arch., xcii. p. 424 [1902]. 



IX Arch.f. exp. Path. u. Pharmak, xlviii. p. 58 [1902]. " §§ Journ. of Physiol, xli. p. 28 [1910]. 



TRANS. ROY. SOC. EDIN., VOL. L. PART II. (NO. 12). 53 



