354 
Urinary  Antisepsis. 
Am.  Tour.  Pharm. 
May,  19 18. 
This  class  further  shows  that  the  sulphonic  acid  group  is  .not  es- 
sential for  rapid  excretion. 
As  germicidal  agents,  all  four  are  inert  excepting  rhodamin, 
which  comes  very  close  to  filling  all  the  requirements.  Rhodamin, 
which  differs  from  fluorescein  in  that  the  two  hydroxyl  groups  are 
replaced  by  amino  groups,  is  chemically  stable  and  nontoxic,  is  rap- 
idly excreted,  and  kills  the  colon  bacillus  in  one  hour  in  a  dilution 
of  1 : 2,000,  in  water ;  but  when  the  compound  is  diluted  in  urine,  this 
property  is  entirely  lost.  An  investigation  of  the  nature  of  this  in- 
terfering action  in  urine  has  not  been  completed,  but  present  experi- 
ments indicate  that  the  loss  of  antiseptic  power  of  rhodamin  in 
urine  cannot  be  accounted  for  merely  by  the  buffer  value  of  the 
urinary  salts,  which  would  tend  to  neutralize  any  acid  or  basic 
properties  that  a  drug  might  possess. 
It  is  hoped  that  these  experiments  may  call  attention  to  the  in- 
adequacy of  the  urinary  antiseptics  in  general  use,  and  stimulate  in- 
terest in  the  possibilities  offered  by  synthetic  chemistry.  These  in- 
vestigations are  at  present  being  continued,  and  the  properties  of 
various  related  compounds  studied,  some  of  which  are  old  and  well 
known,  and  others  of  which  are  new  compounds,  synthesized  so  as 
to  contain  various  chemical  groups  that  have  been  shown  to  produce 
desired  biologic  properties. 11 
11  In  addition  to  the  references  already  given,  the  following  will  be  found 
of  interest: 
Clark,  W.  M.,  and  Lubs,  H.  A.,  "  The  Colorimetric  Determination  of 
Hydrogen  Ion  Concentration  and  Its  Applications  in  Bacteriology,"  Jour. 
Baderiol.,  1917,  2,  1. 
White,  E.  C,  and  Acree,  S.  F.,  "  On  the  Quinone-Phenolate  Theory  of 
Indicators :  The  Electrical  Conductivity  of  Solutions  of  Phenolsulphoneph- 
thalein  and  of  Its  Bromo  and  Nitro  Derivatives,"  Jour.  Am.  Chem.  Soc,  1917, 
39,  648. 
White,  E.  C,  "  On  the  Quinone-Phenolate  Theory  of  Indicators :  The  Re- 
actions of  Phenolsulphonephthalein  and  of  Some  of  Its  Derivatives,"  Thesis, 
Univ.  Wisconsin,  1915. 
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Comment. 
