Tutocain

WLMD ID: akgi

Tutocain was synthesized in Germany by a team of Bayer AG scientists led by pharmacologist Werner Schulemann (1888-1975). The earliest articles on Tutocain were published in 1924, at a time when researchers were steadfastly searching for a local anesthetic that could effectively block pain without imposing significant adverse effects. Physicians were eager for an alternative to the few other options, which included cocaine, eucaine, amylocaine and procaine. Tutocain was up to eight times less toxic than cocaine, yet twice as powerful as procaine.

This vial once contained 10 Tutocaine tablets. During the first half of the 20th Century physicians often received local anesthetics in the form of powder or tablets. Before a local anesthetic could be administered to the patient, the physician had to dissolve the tablet in a liquid, and sterilize the solution with heat.

The label on this vial lists both The Winthrop Chemical Company and Bayer. After World War I, Bayer brand products were made and sold in the US through business arrangements made by Sterling Drug (the parent organization of Winthrop Chemical Co.), and IG Farben (the parent organization of Bayer AG.) Bayer drugs manufactured in Resselaer, New York, and sold by the Winthrop Chemical Co., include the anesthetics Tutocain and Avertin, and the sleeping pill, Phanodorm.

Catalog Record: Tutocain

Access Key: akgi
Accession No.: 2007-05-01-1

Title: Tutocain : brand of butamin / Winthrop Chemical Company, Inc.

Corporate Author: Winthrop Chemical Company, Inc.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: 10 tablets of tutocain.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Tutocaine.

Publisher: New York : Winthrop Chemical Company, Inc., [1925-1946].

Physical Descript: 1 vial : wood, glass, cotton ; 7 cm x 1.5 cm. dia.

Subject: Drug Packaging.
Subject: Anesthetics, Local.
Subject: Tutocaine hydrochloride.

Note Type: General
Notes: Dates based on the first publications in which Tutocain is discussed and on
when Winthrop Chemical Company was incorporated in to Winthrop-Stearns Inc.

Note Type: General
Notes: According to the Smithsonian’s catalog record for the archive of the Sterling
Drug, Inc. Records, 1867-1995, (see https://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.
jsp?uri=full=3100001~!238454!0) the papers of the Winthrop Chemical Company
are located in the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
https://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!238454!0
(noted March 7, 2013).

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Chandler AD, Hikino T. Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism
Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press; 1990:573.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Hannaway C. Biomedicine in the Twentieth Century: Practices, Policies, and
Politics. Amsterdam: The Netherlands; 2008:294.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Holldorf AW. Schulemann, Werner. Deutsche Biographie website. https://www.
deutsche-biographie.de/xsfz117231.html. Published 2007. Accessed March 7,
2013.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Slater LB. War and Disease: Biomedical Research on Malaria in the Twentieth
Century. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 2009:72.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Wilkins M. The History of Foreign Investment in the United States, 1914-1945.
Cambridge, Mass : Harvard University Press; 2004:238, 251.

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: 1 wooden vial for tablets with a telescoping lid; A paper label covers most
of the exterior of the vial; A glass vial is fixed to the interior of the
wooden vial; The glass vial measures approximately 1 cm in diameter and is
topped by a soft wooden or cork stopper with cotton on the end; Text printed
on the label includes, “No. 4″, 10 TABLETS of [new line] TUTOCAIN”,
“TRADEMARK REG. U S. PAT. OFF”, “Brand of BUTAMIN [new line] (with
EPINEPHRIN)”, MADE IN U.S.A.”; Winthrop Chemical Company, Inc. logo, “Each
table contains: Tutocain 0.05 Gm. [new line] Epinephrin 0.000125 Gm.”, One
table in 10 cc (2 1/2 drams) physiologic salt solution gives a 1/2% solution.
“, “WINTHROP CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC. [new line] 117 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, N
Y. [new line] CANADA, WINDSOR, ONT.”, Bayer logo, “Tutocain,” the trademark
of Winthrop Chemical Company, Inc., indicates its reliable brand of
Hydrochloride of p-aminobenzoyldimethylaminomethylbutanol, the descriptive
name of which is “Butamin.” The Bayer Company, Inc., Resselaer, New York, U.S
A., manufactures for Winthrop Chemical Company, Inc. The name Bayer and the
Bayer Cross thus assure the genuineness of the products so labeled and their
conformity with the original standards.”

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. Steve Donisch on January 14, 2013.

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. Steve Donisch on January 14, 2013.

Note Type: Historical
Notes: Tutocain (or tutocaine) was synthesized in Germany by a team of Bayer AG
scientists led by pharmacologist Werner Schulemann (1888-1975). The earliest
articles on Tutocaine were published in 1924. This was 19 years before
xylocaine (Lidocaine) was first made, and when researchers were still
steadfastly searching for a local anesthetic that could effectively block
pain without imposing significant adverse effects. Physicians were eager for
an alternative to the few other options, which included cocaine, eucaine,
amylocaine and procaine.

Note Type: Historical
Notes: This vial once contained 10 Tutocaine tablets. During the first half of the
20th century physicians often received local anesthetics in the form of
powder or tablets. Before a local anesthetic could be administered to the
patient, the physician had to dissolve the tablet in a liquid, and sterilize
the solution with heat.

Note Type: Historical
Notes: The label on this vial lists both The Winthrop Chemical Company and Bayer.
After WW I, Bayer brand products were made and sold in the US through
business arrangements made by Sterling Drug (the parent organization of
Winthrop Chemical Co.), and I.G. Farben (the parent organization of Bayer AG)
Other Bayer drugs manufactured in Resselaer, New York, and sold by the
Winthrop Chemical Co., include Phanodorm (a sleeping pill), Prontylin (an
antibiotic), and Avertin (an anesthetic).

Note Type: Publication
Notes: Cunningham OD. Tutocain; a local anesthetic in rhino-laryngology.
Laryngoscope. November, 1926;36(11):837–854.

Note Type: Publication
Notes: Schulemann W. Tutocain als Oberflächen- und Infiltrationsanaestheticum. Klin
Wochenschr. April, 1924;3(16):676-678.

Note Type: Publication
Notes: Tutocain. Lancet. May 10, 1924;203(5254):965-966.

Note Type: Exhibition
Notes: Chosen for the WLM website (noted February 26, 2013).