196         Kairine,  Thattine,  Hydrochinone,  Resorcin.  {AmAiS*'S£rm* 
THE  INFLUENCE  OF  KAIRINE,  THALLINE,  HYDRO- 
CHINONE, RESORCIN,  AND  ANTIPYRINE  ON 
THE  HEART  AND  BLOODVESSELS. 
By  Dr.  H.  G.  Beyer. 
Chemists,  for  a  number  of  years,  have  been  industriously  experi- 
menting, hoping  to  find  a  way  to  produce  quinine  artificially.  The 
result  has  been  the  discovery  of  a  number  of  substances,  some  of  them 
belonging  to  the  phenol  series  of  organic  compounds,  and  possessing 
to  an  eminent  degree  the  power  of  reducing  hyperpyrexial  tempera- 
tures. Of  these,  kairine,  thalline,  hydrochinone,  resorcin,  and  anti- 
pyrine,  have  all  been  found  to  reduce  abnormal  temperatures  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  in  almost  all  febrile  disorders  promptly,  though 
perhaps  not  permanently.  An  experimental  inquiry  into  the  probable 
relations  of  these  new  antipyretics  to  the  circulatory  apparatus  has 
been  made  by  Dr.  Beyer,  and  the  results,  which  he  gives  in  an  elabo- 
rate article  on  the  subject,  justify  the  attempt  to  solve  the  problem. 
The  experiments  have  been  arranged  into  two  groups :  I.  Experi- 
ments on  the  work  done  by  the  heart  when  isolated  from  the  central 
nervous  system.  II.  Experiments  on  the  bloodvessels:  on  the  flow 
through  the  vessels  of  animals  the  brains  and  spinal  cords  of  which 
had  been  destroyed;  on  the  lingual  vessels  of  curarized  frogs.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  a  short  account  of  the  influence  of  these  drugs  upon  the 
corpuscular  elements  of  the  blood  and  the  coagulation  of  blood  is  given. 
Dr.  Beyer's  experiments  show  that  kairine  reduces  temperature,  both 
by  diminishing  heat  production  and  by  increasing  heat  radiation. 
The  distinctive  influence  it  exerts  on  the  red  blood-corpuscles,  how- 
ever, and  the  weakening  effect  upon  the  heart,  render  its  employment 
objectionable  and  dangerous. 
Thalline,  like  kairine,  reduces  temperature  by  diminishing  heat 
production,  and  by  increasing  heat  radiation ;  as  an  antipyretic  it  is  less 
dangerous,  but  no  less  objectionable,  than  kairine,  for  while  its  effect 
upon  the  ventricle  of  the  heart  is  less  depressing  than  that  of  kairine, 
its  influence  upon  the  blood-corpuscles  is  sufficient  to  condemn  it. 
The  action  of  hydrochinone  is  similar  to  that  of  kairine  and  thalline. 
Resorcin  reduces  the  temperature  by  increasing  heat  radiation  by  the 
dilatation  it  produces  in  the  capillaries  and  veins,  especially  the  latter. 
Antipyrine  reduces  temperature  purely  by  increasing  heat  radiation, 
owing  to  its  extensively  dilating  the  veins  and  capillaries;  but  what 
stamps  it  as  an  excellent  antipyretic  is  that,  besides  dilating  the 
