350 
Urinary  Antisepsis. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  19 1 8. 
urine  the  acid  properties  are  lost  on  account  of  the  buffer  value  of 
the  urinary  salts.  Furthermore,  the  monosodium  salt,  the  form 
used  clinically,  has  no  germicidal  action  even  in  water,  and  in  urine 
permits  the  growth  of  the  colon  bacillus  even  in  a  1 : 200  dilution. 
The  silver  salt  is  extremely  germicidal  in  water  (having  5,000 
times  the  strength  of  phenol),  but  in  urine  the  silver  is  precipitated 
by  the  chlorids,  and  the  germicidal  strength,  due  to  the  silver  ion,  is 
lost.  The  germicidal  properties  of  the  silver  salt  of  phenolsul- 
phonephthalein,  both  in  water  and  in  urine,  correspond  very  closely 
to  those  of  silver,  nitrate.  The  fact  that  the  chlorids  are  responsible 
is  shown  by  a  similar  disappearance  of  germicidal  action  when  the 
dilutions  are  made  in  physiologic  sodium  chlorid  solution.  Fur- 
thermore, when  the  silver  salt  is  injected  intravenously,  the  ionic 
silver  is  lost  in  the  body,  and  the  phenolsulphonephthalein  appears 
in  the  urine  free  from  silver,  probably  as  the  sodium  salt.  Mer- 
curous  and  mercuric  salts  and  the  cupric  salt,  although  having  some 
germicidal  value  in  urine,  were  discarded  because  of  their  toxicity. 
The  barium  salt  was  quite  inert. 
Conclusion. — The  metallic  salts  of  phenolsulphonephthalein  give 
no  promise  of  value  as  urinary  antiseptics. 
SuLPHONEPHTHALEINS. 
The  compounds  listed  in  the  accompanying  table  are  all  analo- 
gous to  phenolsulphonephthalein,  differing  from  the  latter  compound 
only  by  the  presence  of  various  substituent  groups  in  the  phenol 
nucleus.  All  of  these  compounds  excepting  two  are  practically  in- 
soluble in  water,  as  the  free  acid,  but  are  readily  soluble  in  the  form 
of  the  sodium  salt.  Pyrocatechinsulphonephthalein  and  guaiacolsul- 
phonephthalein,  however,  are  soluble  in  water  without  the  addition 
of  alkali.  Some  of  these  compounds  are  quite  germicidal  in  water 
(possibly  owing  to  excess  alkali  necessary  to  bring  them  into  solu- 
tion) ;  but,  with  the  exception  of  one  only,  it  is  a  uniform  rule  that 
they  lose  this  action  when  diluted  in  urine.  Pyrocatechinsulphone- 
phthalein, the  only  one  to  retain  its  value,  is  germicidal  in  urine  in 
a  dilution  of  1 :  500,  and  inhibitory  in  urine  in  a  dilution  of  1 : 1,000. 
Very  surprising  results  were  obtained  by  the  injection  of  these 
compounds.  Although  they  are  all  quite  closely  related  chemically, 
some  of  them  are  eliminated  by  the  kidney  with  the  same  marvelous 
rapidity  and  completeness  with  which  phenolsulphonephthalein  is 
