PHARMACEUTICAL chemists have long attempted to produce a satisfactory substitute for atropine sulfate. The desire to synthesize a substitute cycloplegic and mydriatic not related to the atropine series has been furthered by the fact that contact dermatitis and conjunctivitis occasionally develop in patients using atropine in treatment of iridocyclitis. This reaction may reach such serious proportions that it is necessary to discontinue administration of the drug. The management of the allergic manifestations usually requires discontinuation of the atropine, with substitution of homatropine, scopolamine or duboisine and the application of cold wet compresses. These substitute drugs present two disadvantages. First, none of the drugs produces a sufficiently strong cycloplegic or mydriatic action to be effective in the treatment of acute iridocyclitis. Second, the patient who is sensitized to atropine frequently demonstrates hypersensitivity to these substitute drugs, since they too belong to the atropine series.
The absence of an adequate substitute for