The valuable properties of which chinoline has been found to be
possessed have led to its admission as a therapeutic agent, and the
discoverer of these properties, Jul. Donath, of Baja, in Hungary, in a
paper sent to the _Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft_,
September 12, 1881, gives the following further details as to this
interesting substance.
_Antiseptic Properties._--Chinoline appears to be an excellent
antiseptic. The author found that 100 grammes of a Bucholze's solution
for the propagation of bacteria, charged with 0.20 g. of chinoline
hydrochlorate, had remained perfectly clear and free from bacteria
after standing forty-six days exposed to the air, while a similar
solution, placed under the same conditions, without chinoline, had
turned muddy and contained bacteria after only twelve days' standing.
_Antizymotic Properties._--Chinoline, even in the proportion of 5 per
cent., does not prevent alcoholic fermentation, while in as small a
quantity as 0.20 per cent. it does not prevent lactic acid
fermentation.
_Physiological Effects._--The author gave a healthy man during several
days various doses of chinoline tartrate, which in no way affected the
individual operated on, nor was any trace of chinoline found in his
urine. The author, therefore, considers that the base is oxidized by
the blood to carbopyridinic acid, which is a still more powerful
antiseptic than chinoline itself. Chinoline taken internally would,
therefore, be a useful and safe agent in cases of internal putrid
fungoid or other growth.
_Chemical Reactions._--Chinoline yields very characteristic reactions
with a number of chemical reagents, for a description of which we
refer to the original paper.--_Chemist and Druggist._
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