AmjiS?,rili.arm'}    Action  of  Morphine  and  Derivatives.  25 
ON  THE  ACTION  OF  MORPHINE  AND  ITS 
DERIVATIVES.1 
By  D.  J.  Leach. 
The  paper  of  Dr.  Stockman  and  Mr.  Dott  is  an  important  con- 
tribution to  our  knowledge  of.  the  influence  of  chemical  change  on 
physiological  action  as  well  as  to  the  pharmacology  of.  morphine. 
Recent  researches  have  indicated  that  morphine  (C17H19N03)  con- 
tains two  hydroxyl  (OH)  groups,  and  its  formula  is  often  written 
C17  H17  NO  OH  OH,  though  many  points  with  regard  to  its  exact 
•constitution  yet  remain  to  be  determined.  It  has  been  shown,  too, 
that  certain  of  the  hydrogen  atoms  can  be  replaced  by  more  or  less 
complex  radicles  (CH3,C2H30,  etc.),  the  hydrogen  atoms  of  the 
hydroxyl  groups  being  most  easily  replaced,  and  one  of  them  more 
easily  than  the  other.  New  bodies  can  likewise  be  formed  by  adding 
radicles  to  the  morphine  molecule  itself. 
It  is  manifest  that  the  difference  between  the  physiological  action 
of  morphine  and  the  new  compounds  formed  by  substituting  radicles 
for  hydrogen  elements  in  the  morphine  molecule  or  by  adding 
radicles  to  the  molecule  itself  will  give  a  clue  to  the  physiological 
influence  of  these  radicles. 
Stockman  and  Dott  have  prepared  a  large  number  of  new  sub- 
stances both  by  substitution  and  addition  of  radicles,  and  compared 
their  physiological  effects  with  that  of  morphine  ;  in  the  present 
paper  they  give  a  summary  of  their  results.  The  details  of  the 
experiments  have  been  communicated  to  the  Royal  Society  of 
Edinburgh. 
The  authors  first  give  their  views  concerning  the  action  of 
morphine. 
It  is  well  known  that  morphine  primarily  affects  the  nervous  sys- 
tem. If  small  doses  (2  to  5  eg.)  of  a  soluble  morphine  salt  be 
injected  into  a  frog,  there  is  first  narcosis  and  depression  of  the 
junction  of  the  spinal  cord,  but  in  about  an  hour  the  reflexes  are 
exaggerated  and  tetanic  spasms  occur.    It  has. been  assumed  that 
1  The  Medical  Chronicle,  Novbr.,  pp.  138-143  ;  an  abstract  prepared  from 
two  papers  by  R.  Stockman  and  D.  B.  Dott,  on  The  Pharmacology  of  Morphine 
and  its  Derivatives  {Brit.  Med.  Journ,,  July  26,  1890)  ;  and  by  E.  Tauber,  on 
The  Fate  of  Morphine  in  the  Animal  Organism  (Ueber  das  Schicksal  des 
Morphins  im  thierischen  Organismus.  Archil1  fur  Experimentelle  Patho- 
logie  und  Pharmakologie,  July  24,  1890). 
