Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1886. 
Antifebrin,  a  Neio  Antipyretic. 
565 
the  Solanacese  alkaloids  was  positively  made  out,  and  had  become  gen- 
erally known,  their  physiological  modus  operandi  had  to  be  deter- 
mined. 
Ernst  Heinrich,  as  early  as  1821,  stated  in  his  famous  paper,  De 
Motor  Iridis  (p.  102),  that  belladonna  paralyzes  the  nerves  of  the 
muscular  sphincter  iriclis.  This  view  was  confirmed  by  the  experi- 
ments of  Biffi  (1845),  Cramer  and  Ruiter  (1853),  and  is  now  held 
exclusively  by  all  ophthalmologists.  Nevertheless,  this  view  is  only 
partially  correct,  for  the  most  recent  students  of  pharmacology  have 
demonstrated  that  we  have  to  deal  here  only  with  a  paralysis  of  the 
peripheral  ends  of  the  nervus  oculo-motorius,  while  the  nervus 
sympathicus  supplying  the  musculus  dilator  remains  absolutely  un- 
affected. 
Eraser,  of  Edinburgh,  discovered  in  1861  the  only  practically 
applicable  medium  of  pupillary  contraction,  viz.,  physostigmine  or 
the  extract  of  Calabar  bean.  Pilocarpine,  muscarine,  and  nicotine 
likewise  contract  the  pupil,  but  this  contraction  is  in  intensity  and  ex- 
tent far  inferior  to  that  produced  by  physostigmine,  and  is  of  little 
practical  importance. — Therap.  Gazette,  July,  1886. 
ANTIFEBRIN,  A  NEW  ANTIPYRETIC. 
By  A.  Cahn  and  P.  Hepp. 
The  body  to  which  this  name  has  been  given  is  a  well-known 
chemical  material,  acetanilid  or  phenylacetamide  with  the  formula 
C6H5NHC2H30.  It  is  a  pure  white,  crystalline,  odorless  powder, 
with  a  slight  burning  sensation  on  the  tongue,  is  almost  insoluble  in 
cold  but  more  readily  in  hot  water,  abundantly  soluble  in  alcohol 
and  alcoholic  fluids.  It  melts  at  113°  C.  and  boils  unchanged  at 
292°  C.  It  has  neither  acid  nor  basic  properties,  and  is  very  resist  en  t 
to  most  reagents. 
By  experiments  on  dogs  and  rabbits  the  authors  convinced  them- 
selves that  even  in  relatively  high  doses  it  produces  no  poisonous 
effects.    The  temperature  of  normal  animals  is  not  affected  by  it. 
The  clinical  observations  were  made  on  twenty-four  patients  with 
fever,  as  follows :  typhoid  fever  8,  erysipelas  5,  acute  rheumatism  2, 
pulmonary  phthisis  4,  abscess  of  the  lung  1,  fever  in  leucaemia  1, 
