Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
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Chris -- 2011-03-08
If you don’t know what Prontosil is, don’t worry; it’s a bit of medical arcana. Prontosil was an antibacterial drug, now obsolete, developed in Germany in the 1920’s. It was the first sulfa drug and, for that matter, the first antibiotic. I’m dyslexic only when sleep deprived, but as a drowsy medical student I couldn’t help reading it as ‘Protonsil.’ And that makes sense because it’s just the sort of thing you’d use to help your tonsils fight off a strep infection. Others have committed the same creative misreading:
Antimicrobial Drugs
This drug was known as protonsil (or protonsil rubrum). ... Drugs like protonsil which are produced in the laboratory are referred to as synthetic drugs.
faculty.ivytech.edu/~twmurphy/txt_202/antibio.htm
the structure of Protonsil….
I have been trying to synthesize protonsil from benzene but am having trouble with the nitrogen double bond in the middle….
www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic…0 – United States
In 1932, after testing thousands of potential antibacterial agents, Domagk discovered a red coal-tar dye used on leather, Protonsil Rubrum, which exhibited …
pagerankstudio.com/.../gerhard-domagk-biography-life-and-career-facts-invented/ – United States
Protonsil was the first sulfa drug. It breaks down in the body to sulfanilamide, which is effective in destroying streptococci.
www.essay.org/school/english/chemlife.doc
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