T.N.T. poisoning and the fate of T.N.T. in the animal body.

Date:
1921
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: T.N.T. poisoning and the fate of T.N.T. in the animal body. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    59/94 (page 53)
    By H. H. Dale, C.B.E., M.D., F.R.S. April 29, 1919. In the Memorandum on T.N.T. poisoning by Dr. Benjamin Moore, an account is given of experiments carried out by Mr. Webster under Dr. Barger’s supervision, to determine the form in which T.N.T. leaves the body. Attention was chiefly directed to the chromogen responsible for the urinary reaction discovered by Webster. The chromogenic substance actually isolated was the azoxy compound formed on partial reduction of one of the nitro groups of T.N.T. The fact, however, that most of the extracts from the urine had undergone treatment which would convert the corresponding hydroxylaminodinitroluene into the azoxy com¬ pound, led to the suggestion in Dr. Moore’s Memorandum that the former was probably the derivative actually excreted. On the other hand, the fact that Webster, as the preceding paper shows, had on occasion obtained the azoxy compound from urine, without treatment such as should have decomposed the hydroxyl amino compound, left the matter in some doubt. The point has some significance, in that the hydroxylamino derivative was found by Wyon to be much more poisonous than T.N.T., whereas the azoxy compound is so very insoluble that it can have little significance, at least as an acute poison. It seemed desirable, therefore, to repeat the isolation of the chromogen from urine, under conditions which could not lead to the conversion of the hydroxylamino compound, if present, into the azoxy compound. It will be seen that the result was to identify the chromogen definitely as the azoxy compound. No evidence of the presence of the hydroxylamino compound could be found. There were other points, of more importance, on which information was not yet available. The chromogen is easily detected in small amounts, and there had been a natural tendency to regard it as the only, or at least the most important, end-product of T.N.T. meta¬ bolism in those species in which it appears in the urine. Such an assumption could only be justified strictly by a quantitative deter¬ mination, showing that a high percentage of the T.N.T. taken into the body reappears in the urine in this form. The fact that in some species (carnivora) no chromogen is found in the urine showed that there were other possible paths for the metabolism of the substance ; and the fact that these species were found to be more susceptible to T.N.T. poisoning than those excreting the chromogen suggested that such alternative paths might be more closely associated with the toxic action. The sensitiveness of these species made it very difficult to follow the fate of T.N.T. in them, since they would not tolerate a dosage sufficient to give a reasonable chance of isolating and identifying the end-products in the urine. It seemed more important