In the medical circles throughout the country a good deal of interest and even enthusiasm over this new hypnotic is noticeable. Very few drug products have attracted so much attention as this one.
A really satisfactory hypnotic and sleep-inducer, which Calmine certainly seems to be, has been awaited expectantly for many years. Of course, we have always had agents of this sort—a new one has come out at frequent intervals—but none of them have “filled the bill”; they have been prescribed only because there was nothing better to be had.
Now this new and wonderful discovery is nothing but Veronal-sodium (sodium diethyl-barbiturate) under another name. It is the sodium salt of the more or less favorably known hypnotic, Veronal (diethyl-barbituric acid). It is also sold as Medinal, and differs from Veronal only in that the combination with sodium has made it more readibly soluble, and thus, it is claimed, its absorption is more prompt. Veronal is protected abroad by a trade-mark and in this country by a patent, and this, undoubtedly, is responsible for the introduction of this sodium salt under these fanciful names, because Veronal could not be sold without infringing on the patent. This in turn induced the manufacturers of Veronal, in self-protection, also to put the sodium salt on the market, and now we have it under the name of Calmine. This probably is only the beginning; soon we may look for it under a host of other names and the usual result will follow: thoughtless physicians who have had poor results with it under one name will try it under others. Or worse still, physicians will thoughtlessly combine Veronal with Calmine or with Medinal in the same prescription, thus giving a dangerous dose.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Jan. 14, 1911.)
CAMPHENOL
Camphenol is made by Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N. J. Under the name of the article on the carton appears the following formula: C10H16O─C6H4(CH3)OH═C6H5OH. This formula consists of the chemical formulas for camphor, cresol and phenol, written one after another, and from this one would conclude that Camphenol is a compound of camphor, phenol and cresol in molecular proportions. Examination shows, however, that Camphenol is but a modification of the well-known camphorated phenol (the liquid produced when solid camphor and phenol are triturated together). In Camphenol a part of the phenol, in the camphorated phenol, has been replaced by cresol, and this liquid has been diluted and emulsified with gelatin or some similar substance and perfumed. In other words, this preparation is an emulsion containing relatively small quantities of cresol, phenol and camphor and is another illustration of the attempts of would-be pharmaceutical houses to produce new synthetics in the simplest manner possible—that of writing the chemical formulas of the constituents of a remedy in a way to indicate a chemical combination.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 5, 1910.)
CHOLOGEN
The proprietary Chologen is interesting some of our readers and several have sent us samples and literature. Dr. Philip Marvel, Atlantic City, N. J., for example, writes: