A specific chemical compound formerly used as a treatment for syphilis and sleeping sickness in early 20th-century medicine.
From Greek a- 'without' + toxylon (possibly 'wood' or 'poison'). An early pharmaceutical compound name, ironically containing arsenic despite 'atox-' prefix.
Atoxyl was ironically misnamed—it actually contained arsenic and was quite toxic, yet doctors gave it to patients with syphilis because the alternatives were worse.
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