Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  "1 
February,  1899.  J 
Pharmacological  Notes. 
93 
EUPHTHALMINE. 
Trentler  {Klin.  Monatsbl.  f.  Augenheilk,  September,  1897,  Archives 
of  Ophthalmology,  xxvii,  p.  106)  states  that  euphthalmine  is  the 
hydrochloric  acid  salt  of  the  mandelic  acid  derivative  of  n-methyl- 
vinyldiacetonal-kamine.  It  is  a  white  crystalline  powder,  readily 
soluble  in  water.  It  bears  the  same  relation  to  eucaine  "  B  "  that 
homatropine  does  to  tropacocaine.  It  may  be  employed  in  2,  5  and 
10  per  cent,  solutions.  The  instillation  of  the  solution  causes  but 
slight  burning  sensations.  As  a  mydriatic,  a  5  or  10  per  cent,  solu- 
tion is  about  equal  in  effect  to  1  per  cent,  homatropine,  but  it  affects 
the  accommodation  less  and  both  disappear  much  more  quickly.  It 
is  more  powerful,  but  slower  than  cocaine,  and  does  not  similarly 
affect  the  corneal  epithelium.  A  2  per  cent,  solution  will  give  mod- 
erate mydriasis  in  half  an  hour  without  disturbing  the  accommoda- 
tion which  will  disappear  entirely  in  two  or  three  hours.  Thus 
far  no  unpleasant  constitutional  effects  have  been  noticed. — Bos- 
ton Med.  and  Surg.  Jour.,  November  17,  1898.  J.  L.  D.  M. 
Wilcox  {Medical  News,  November  12,  1898)  writes  on  the  use 
of  urotropm  as  a  urinary  disinfectant.  This  substance  is  formed 
from  the  union  of  ammonia  and  formaldehyd,  and  appears  in 
the  form  of  colorless  crystals.  The  drug  causes  alkaline  urine 
to  become  acid,  thereby  clearing  its  turbidity,  and  has  such  an 
inhibitory  effect  upon  the  development  of  microorganisms  that 
they  do  not  grow  in  urine  in  which  it  has  been  excreted,  even  after 
artificial  inoculation.  Wilcox  reports  a  number  of  cases,  one  of 
enlarged  prostate  and  heart-failure, another  of  phosphaturia,  a  third 
ot  acute  specific  urithritis,  and  a  fourth  of  cystitis  with  renal  dis- 
ease, in  all  of  which  excellent  results  were  obtained.  He  concludes 
that,  in  doses  of  30  grains  per  day,  it  renders  alkaline  urine  acid, 
prevents  the  development  of  bacteria,  and  it  is  indicated  as  a  disin- 
fectant before  operation  on  the  urinary  tract. — Phil.  Med.  Jour.,  p. 
Ehrlich's  Drazo-Reaction  in  Urine. — Krokiewics  (Wiener  Klin.  Woch.)  has 
examined  1105  different  cases,  of  which  he  made  16,167  tests  for  Bhrlich'sdiazo- 
reaction  and  recommends  the  test  on  account  of  the  prognostic  value  in  typhoid 
and  tuberculosis. — The  Med.  Age,  1898,  572. 
UROTROPIN,  A  NEW  URINARY  DISINFECTANT. 
I057-, 
J.  L.  D.  M. 
