Butyn is the sulphate of a base similar to that of procaine, the ethyl being replaced by butyl and the ethanol by propanol.1 It is a very efficient anesthetic for mucous membranes, inducing a more rapid and more persistent anesthesia than cocaine, and in equal concentrations is more powerful than cocaine. It should not be used for infiltration anesthesia, as it is more toxic than cocaine or procaine.
For the past seven years I have been using butyn as a local anesthetic in the male and female urethra without any untoward results. The maximum strength of the solution has been 2 per cent. Recently, there have occurred two cases of poisoning by this drug, with a fatal termination in one case.
REPORT OF CASES
Case 1.
—A man, aged 58, a Mexican, was admitted to the City-County Hospital, Feb. 12, 1929, at 10:30 p. m., because