Cinchonine : C[20]H[12]NO / by Joseph Ince.

Ince, Joseph

Date:: 1863

Credit: Cinchonine : C[20]H[12]NO / by Joseph Ince. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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$Le sulfate cle cinclioniue, qui est tres-soluble dans I'eaii et clans ralcool, et I'acetate, qui ne Test bien que dans un exces d'acide, ont seuls et6 experinientes en niedecine. D'apres les essais de M. Magendie, ces sels, ainsi que la cinchonine elle- meme, n'exercent aucune action sur les chiens, auxquels on les donne, ou danslesveines desquels onles injecte. Quant a leur action medicinale, elle se confond tellement avec celle de la quinine et de ses sels, qu'il nous serait ditBcile, sous ce raiDport, d'en isoler I'liistoire. On avait cru d'abord, cependant, d'apres une observation de M. Cho- mel, que la cinchonine etait beaucoup moins active que la quinine ; mais les observations de [list omitted J ont prouve que leurs sulfates peuvent reellement se suppleer I'un I'autre. MM. Nieuwenhuis, Mariani et Bley- nie out en outre constate, par des faits multiplies, que ces bases, au moins aussi actives que leurs sels, peuvent 6tre substituees avec avantage, soit comme moins alterables et moins fa- ciles a sophistiquer, soit comme plus agreables a prendre, soit enfin comme moins couteuses. Again, vol. v. page 596 :— Quoi qu'il en soit, ces alcaloides et leurs sels ofFrent, du moins sous le point de vue therapeutique, taut d'analogie que nous n'avons pas dvi en isoler I'liistoire. The sulphate of cinchonine, which is very soluble in water and alcohol, and the acetate, which is only so in au excess of acid, have alone been tried in medicine. According to the experi- ments of M. Magendie, these salts, as well as cinchonine itself, liave no action on dogs, either when adminis- tered or when injected into their veins. With regard to their medical action, it is so.closely allied to that of quinine and its salts, that it would be diffi- cult for us, on this head, to offer a separate account. It was first thought however, from an observation of M. Chomel, that cinchonine was much less active than quinine, but the observations of have proved that their sul- phates may be mutually interchan- ged. MM. Nieuwenhuis, Mariani and Bleynie have moreoy^ shown, by multiplied facts, that -fheSe bases, at least as active as their salts, could be substituted with ad\ anf atje, whe- ther as being less changcalilc fftitl less easy of sophistica^jj^j^jjj: us being more agreeable less expensive. Be that as i and their salts o: rapeutical point of logy that ^ e have furnish a separate account. lasUy N these alkaloi'^' i^east in^n^^- iG ^p-nruwxana- not thought fit to Finding then the impossibility of isolating the effects of Quinine and Cin- chonine, these painstaking authors treat of them under one head,—in itself one of the strongest arguments in favour of Cinchonine, When Dr. Barrow was once preaching before Charles II., the monarch remarlted at the conclusion of the discourse that the doctor was the most unfair divine he knew, for he so thoroughly exhausted his theme that he left nothing for any one else to say. The royal compliment may be extended to Merat and De Lens. Should we how- ever be more influenced by an English authority, the short statement of Dr. Eoyle may be adduced (' Materia Medica,' p. 515):— Cinchonice Disulphas.—The salt of ciuchonia is much more soluble than that of quina, being dissolred by fifty-four parts of cold water, and six of al- cohol. It crystallizes in short, oblique prisms. It is considered by Percira and others to be equal in medicinal activity to the disulphate of quina. It may be given in the same doses to produce the same effects, and will form a valuable substitute in the case of a failure of yellow bark. There is, however, a strong prejudice among medical men in favour of the quina salts.'' Still more decisive is the opinion of Dr. Christison :— Prejudice, together$

Cinchonine : C[20]H[12]NO / by Joseph Ince.

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