UROTROPIN (hexamethylenetetramine)  , known also in the United States under the name Uritone, a medicinal preparation due to the action of ammonia on formaldehyde . It consists of colourless granular crystals freely soluble in water and having an alkaline reaction . Urotropin is among the most powerful of urinary antiseptics . It was formerly thought that its action was due to the setting free of formaldehyde in the urine, but it is now known by the researches of P . Cammidge that this is not so . It is used to render the urine acid in cases where it is alkaline, loaded with phosphates or purulent, and is thus useful in cases of cystitis . It is slightly diuretic . Experimentally it has been shown to have a solvent action on uric acid, but its action in this direction in the body requires confirmation . Urotropin is very valuable in sterilizing the urine of patients who have suffered from typhoid fever and thus preventing the spread of the disease by what are known as " typhoid carriers." Analogous xxv11 . 26preparations are cystamine, helmitol and hetralin . Chinotropin is urotropin quinate, and borovertin is urotropin triborate .