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.