Chem. [app. f. Gr. καιρ-ός proper time, opportunity + -INE5.] A chinoline-compound, oxy-methyl-quinoline tetrahydride, sometimes used in medicine as a strong antipyretic.
1883. Times, 2 Aug., 10/1. He [Professor Fischer, of Munich] found that … a substance can be obtained, in the form of a white crystalline powder, from coal tar, which greatly resembles quinine in its action on the human organism. Fischer has given it the name of ‘kairin.’
1892. Thorpe, Dict. Applied Chem., s.v., The hydrochloride … crystallises in colourless, lustrous, monoclinic forms … and was at one time employed as a febrifuge, under the name of kairine.
