Am.  Tour.  Pharm. 
May,  19 1 S. 
Urinary  Antisepsis. 
343 
ity  and  completeness ;  but  it  has  no  antiseptic  properties,  excepting 
in  water  in  its  free  acid  form.  (Clinically  it  is  used  as  the  mono- 
sodium  salt.)  This  remarkable  compound,  synthesized  in  1898  by 
Sohon,1  at  Remsen's2  suggestion,  investigated  later  in  Abel's3  labora- 
tory, and  introduced  into  clinical  use  by  Rowntree  and  Geraghty4 
twelve  years  later,  has  become  the  basis  of  the  most  widely  used 
and  the  most  satisfactory  of  all  the  tests  of  renal  function.  This 
is  due  to  the  remarkable  rapidity  and  completeness  with  which 
phenolsulphonephthalein  is  eliminated  by  the  kidney,  and  to  its  non- 
toxicity.  Rowntree  and  Geraghty  have  given  1  gram  doses  to  dogs 
without  evidence  of  renal  injury.  Its  marvelous  rapidity  and  com- 
pleteness of  elimination  is  realized  when  one  considers  that  a  6  Mg. 
dose,  given  intravenously,  and  therefore  diluted  about  a  million 
times  by  the  blood  stream,  appears  in  the  bladder  in  about  two 
minutes;  and,  after  one  hour,  from  60  to  70  per  cent,  has  been 
excreted  by  the  normal  kidney.  Furthermore,  about  30  or  35  per 
cent,  of  this  amount  appears  during  the  first  fifteen  minutes,  and 
about  40  or  50  per  cent,  during  the  first  half  hour.  In  view  of  these 
remarkable  properties,  it  was  thought  worth  while  to  attempt  a 
modification  of  the  phenolsulphonephthalein  molecule,  with  the  hope 
that  an  antiseptic  compound  might  be  produced  which  still  retained 
the  properties  of  the  original  drug.  As  the  problem  gradually  in- 
creased in  scope,  it  was  found  advisable  to  investigate  a  large  number 
of  compounds  distantly  related  to  phenolsulphonephthalein,  as  well  as 
those  closely  related.  The  total  number  of  compounds  experimented 
with  at  present  is  about  195,  the  antiseptic  properties  of  which  will 
be  enumerated  in  subsequent  publications.  This  is  a  preliminary 
report  dealing  only  with  compounds  closely  related  to  phenolsul- 
phonephthalein. 
These  compounds  were  not  easily  obtained.  The  original  few 
were  supplied  by  Mr.  H.  A.  B.  Dunning,  of  Hynson,  Westcott  and 
1  Sohon,  M.  D.,  "  An  Investigation  of  Some  Derivatives  of  Orthosulfo- 
benzoic  Anhydride,"  Am.  Chem.  Jour.,  1898,  20,  257. 
2  Remsen,  I.,  "  On  a  New  Class  of  Compounds  Analogous  to  the  Phthal- 
eins,"  Am.  Chem.  Jour.,  1884,  6,  180. 
3  Abel,  J.  J.,  and  Rowntree,  L.  G.,  "On  the  Pharmacological  Action  of 
Some  Phthaleins  and  their  Derivatives,  with  Especial  Reference  to  their  Be- 
havior as  Purgatives,"  Jour.  Pharmacol,  and  Exper.  Therap.,  19x39,  1,  231. 
4  Rowntree,  L.  G.,  and  Geraghty,  J.  T.,  "An  Experimental  and  Clinical 
Study  of  the  Functional  Activity  of  the  Kidneys  by  Means  of  Phenolsulpho- 
nephthalein," Jour.  Pharmacol,  and  Exper.  Therap.,  1909,  1,  579. 
