Evening star., 1938-11-10
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
By THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
More than score of new European
drugs, for some of which notable medical
effects are claimed, were issued Ameri-
can patents this week.
All grew out of tests of chemical COM
binations of well-knoWn substances for
their physiological effects, usually on ex-
perimental animals. In each case the
effects of the new materials are described
in the claims of the biological chemists
to whom the patents were issued, but
these claims have yet to be verified by
physicians.
A patent was issued to Arthur Stoll
and Ernst Burckhardt of Basel, SWitzer-
land, for a new class of nerve quieters
for use especially in treating the insane.
The drugs consist of compounds of
calcium with various acids linked up
chemically with compound of calcium
and bromide. Bromides, or bronine COM
pounds, are ordinarily used at present
in the treatment Of 'jumpy nerves"
They slow down heart action and de-
press the motor centers of the brain.
One great objection to them is that in
quite small doses they cause serious skin
rashes.
The new calcium -bromine compounds,
according to the patent claims, have
essentially double the nerve sedative
action of their bromide content used
alone, but without any rash-producing
pffopt Tn, foo ha o1o
rash due to previous bromide treatment
disappears entirely when the new drug
is substituted.
The new compound is soluble in water
and can be given either by mouth or
as an injection.
new and paradoxical drug acting as
mild sleep producer was patented by
Otto Dalmer and Fritz Won Werder of
Darmstadt, Germany. 1t is a combina-
ton OF coumarin, the chemical which
Is responsible for the new-mown hay
odor Of perfumes, with substances hav-
ing the basic chemical formula of ephed-
rine, the Chinese drug used widely in the
treatment of asthma.
Ephedrine, used by Chinese doctors for
1000 years, but only introduced into
Western medicine in the past two decades
has an effect aping the action of the
sympathetic nervous system, responsible
for most Of the unconscious behavior of
the body. 1t is similar, but milder in it's
effects, to adrenalin, the magic working
hormone secreted by the adrenal glands,
which by its action on the heart has
Ii orc l1yyI irl,t
certain extraordinary circumstances.
The use of ephedrine and closely re-
lated chemical compounds is to bring
about deepened breathing and increased
blood pressure. Given in too great doses,
however, 1t causes convulsions and there
is relatively narrow margin between
the amounts which cause the good and
bad effects. The new and somewhat
complex coumarin combination, with
various ephedrine- like substances, the
inventors claim, has the same effect in
deepening the breathing but the con-
vulslve effect is replaced by a narcotic
effect, first manifesting itself in lethargy
and then in sleep. There is a much
wider margin of safety in the use of
Vic lleW III uR, lIley claim.
method of removing completely from
liver and some other organs the minute
amounts of the material which prevents
various forms of pernicious anemia in
humans was patented by Per Laland and
Aage KLEIN of Oslo, Norway. They have
found, the two inventors claim, that
this substance, whatever it may be, is
dissolved from liver extract by carbolic
acid, from which solution it can be ex-
, tracted by other chemical methods.
That the extraction is complete, they
claim, is shown by the fact that the
residue is without any anti-anemia prop
critics. The substance obtained appar-
emily contains very little foreign mate
rial and amounts to approximately three
tenths of one per cent of the original
liver. The chemical reactions they have
noted, the Norwegian biochemists claim.
give them clue to the nature of the
anti-anemic substance itself. It appears
to be a basic nitrogen containing ma
terial
Production of series of derivatives
from the brilliant red dye fuchsone, used
extensively in the textile industry, which
has marked effects as an antiseptic, and
Which the inventor claims has been
demonstrated to have. a notable. beneh-
cial action in certain forms of tubercu-
losis, was the basis of patent issued
to Zoltan Foldi of Bucharest. The SEN
sational effects of sulfonilamide as the
most notable medical discovery of dec
ade has led to search in laboratories
all over the world for therapeutic effects
of derivatives of other dye materials.
This is one of the first results to be
reported.