The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-09-10
New Germ Killing Drug
 Produced From Oat HuILs

Norwich, N. Y, Sept. 10 - (UP) The yellow, glitering stuff I saw today looked like finely ground gold, but it wasn't. It was furacin.
 This is a new, powerful drug that promises to take its place alongside the worlds most effective germ killers.
 It is being manufactured in a series of spick and span laboratories in this picturesque Chenango River valley town. Unlike penicillin, which is made from mould, furacin is a chemical compound.
 Taken from Hulls
 It's common source is plain, or dinary oat hulls. The same oat hulls which come from the great plains of the Midwest.
 Furacin already has established itself for effectiveness in the treat ment of infected battle wounds. It is credited with saving 8 leg or an arm for many 8 soldier, who re- turned home with a wound that would not heal.
 F'rracin, as dressing, also has proved itself a weapon against in- lection in skin grating operations, in the treatment of diabetic gan- grene, furuncles, surface ulcers and infections resulting from burns F'uracin does bacteriologieal cleanup.
 It does double duty in that it at- tacks both positive and negative type bacteria. Tn some cases, it prevents growth of infections; in others, 1t kills.
 Continue Oral Tests
 As a dressing it is being used now only as topical treatment on hu- mans, but further oral tests are be- ing conducted on mice, rats, dogs, rabbits and monkeys.
 Tests made on mice show that of the negative types, furacin goes after and either stops or kills such bacteria as those which cause meat poisoning and parathyroid fever. The positive types 1t attacks in- cludes staph, aureus and strep, hemolyticus, common causes of in lection.
 Furacin also has been effective in mice against the trypanosome, the causative organism of African sleeping sickness. Test tube meth ods show effectiveness against the organisms causing lockjaw, tubercu- losis and anthrax.
 The toxicity of furacin is relative ly low. Unfavorable reactions of patients are rare.
 West virginian Developed It
 The man who developed this all- American produced drug, which has been accepted by the American Medical Association, is Dr. Albert B.. Scott. He is quiet hammered West Virginian who looks even younger than his 40 years.
 He admits he is conservative and that's why he insists that fura- cin is not a wonder drug.
 Scott went to work for Melvin c. Eaton, president of Eaton Labora- tories, before the war, on an assign ment to look around for something new"
 He immediately turned down the so-called "furan ring" of the chemi- cal compound world. Chemical literature was virtually blank on the subject. He had no precedents in which to find a lead.
 Test Furan Compounds
 With group of associates, he began experimenting, testing the furan compounds bacteriologically and trying different combinations of clements.
 One particular compound found in the process had unusually high activity against bacteria. It also had low toxicity, no skin irritation and no retardation of wound heal ing. It was compound of nitro, furaldehyde and semicarbazone groups.
 It was first given number. 2-20- 29-then officially called furacin.
 The new drug is comparatively simple to make. The raw furfural, the by product of oat hulls, looks like something like iodine and has a rather sweet odor. s
 Tiu,pid CoIorIaSS