Scientific Proceedings. 



35 



other compounds, containing a sulfur atom which is easily split 

 off, were tested (the sulfur unites in the body to form a little 

 poisonous sulfocyanate). The most efficient of these new sulfur 

 compounds were thialdin, carbothialdin, and potassium xanthog- 

 enate. Great differences in the extent of the antidotal action of 

 these bodies toward the various nitriles were noted. Thus thial- 

 din protected against nitriles toward which potassium xanthogenate 

 was without action ; toward other nitriles potassium xanthogenate 

 was the more efficacious. Many of these differences can be easily 

 explained on the hypothesis that the various nitriles and sulfur 

 compounds are differently distributed in the body. Unless both 

 the sulfur compound and the nitrile reach the same cells, and un- 

 less the conditions in these cells are favorable for the formation of 

 the sulfocyanate, no neutralization will take place. 



Especially interesting are the experiments on the antidotal 

 action of alcohol toward certain nitriles. It was found that small 

 doses of alcohol protected an animal against three to five times 

 the fatal dose of acetonitrile and formaldehydcyanhydrin, and that 

 after otherwise fatal doses of these substances, the animal recov- 

 ered if small doses of alcohol were given. It was suggested that 

 the explanation for this action may be that, because it is easily 

 oxidized, alcohol consumed the oxygen usually available for the 

 oxidation of the CH 3 and CH 2 OH groups of these compounds, 

 and for the consequent liberation of the HCN. Support for this 

 hypothesis was found in the fact that dextrose (another easily 

 oxidizable substance) also protects against acetonitrile. 



This seems to be the first case in which alcohol has been 

 clearly shown to have an antidotal action toward a poison. It was 

 suggested that alcohol may have an analogous action in certain 

 pathological conditions, in which physicians have long claimed a 

 beneficial result from its use. Toward HCN itself, and several 

 other nitriles, alcohol has no antidotal action ; in fact, in some 

 cases the toxicity of the nitrile was increased by it. 



34. " Toxicity of certain quinin derivatives " : REID HUNT. 



In one of the side chains of the quinin molecule there is, 

 according to the commonly accepted view, a vinyl group : 

 — CH = CH 2 . As the toxicity of many compounds (e.g., neurin 



