[1] Arsanilic acid saw long use as a veterinary feed additive promoting growth and to prevent or treat dysentery in poultry and swine.
[5] Still sometimes used in laboratories,[6] arsanilic acid's legacy is principally through its influence on Paul Ehrlich in launching the antimicrobial chemotherapy approach to treating infectious diseases of humans.
[11] In 1859, in France, while developing aniline dyes,[13] Antoine Béchamp synthesized a chemical that he identified, if incorrectly, as arsenic acid anilide.
)[14][16] Soon, however, Robert Koch found through an Atoxyl trial in German East Africa that some 2% of patients were blinded via atrophy of the optic nerve.
[11] Arsanilic acid gained use as a feed additive for poultry and swine to promote growth and prevent or treat dysentery.