The 
Oleates and Oleo-Palmitates in 
Skin Diseases. 
By John V. Shoemaker, A. M., M.D., 
Of Philadelphia, Pa. 
Physician-in-charge to the Philadelphia Hospital for Skin Diseases, etc. 
[From the Transactions of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society.] 
DETROIT: 
GEORGE S. DAVIS, MEDICAL PUBLISHER. 
1883. THE OLEATES AND 0LE0-PALM1TATES IN SKIN 
DISEASES. 
BY JOHN V. SHOEMAKER, A. M., M. D., 
OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., 
Physician-in-charge to the Philadelphia Hospital for Skin Diseases, etc. 
At the meeting of the Society in 1879, I called attention to the oleates 
for dermic medication, and spoke at length upon the great value that they 
possessed over the ordinary ointments then in general use. At that time the 
oleic solutions of mercury, atropia, and morphia were considered in their ap- 
plication to cutaneous diseases, and I also brought forward and showed, for 
the first time, specimens of the oleates and bismuth. These supposed oleates 
were only oleic solutions, and their high price, indefinite and unstable character 
caused Dr. Lawrence Wolff, of Philadelphia, who had been informed by me of 
many negative results from their use, to make a series of experiments, which 
resulted in the production of chemically true oleates. 
Oleates must not be considered merely as solutions of oxides in oleic 
acid, as previously described, for, according to our present views of chemical 
philosophy, they were nothing else as heretofore manufactured, but rather as 
definite chemical compounds or salts having no excess of either their acid or 
basic radicals. While the oleic solutions could not have therapeutically pre- 
sented results different from those of the oxides employed in solution, the 
oleates themselves present a much different action by being in a chemically 
readily diffusible state. To speak of a five or ten per cent, oleate is quite as 
absurd as to do so of a five or ten per cent, sulphate of quinine, morphia, or 
atropia, which we know to be compounds of a definite character. These salts, 
while possessing more efficacy at once, are of a stable character, very different 
from the oleic solutions heretofore used; and by containing less of the expen- 
sive oleic acid, they are therefore less costly, an item which, for their practical 
application, is evidently a most important one. Oleate of mercury, as hereto- 
fore prepared, is well known to be unstable, and consequently unreliable, be- 
cause of the presence of a large amount of free oleic acid, which, being a 
readily oxidizable body, soon deprives the mercuric oxide therein of its oxygen, 
precipitating a greater portion of it, if not altogether, in form of mercurous 
oxide and metallic mercury, which all of you have probably observed at the 2 
bottom of such preparations. Such cannot be the case in chemically combined 
or true oleates, whose action will be a uniform and reliable one. 
Dr. Lawrence Wolff, of Philadelphia, has found the best and most ready 
method for preparing oleates to be by the double decomposition of sodium 
oleates with solutions of neutral salts, and as a general method of their manu- 
facture proposes the preparation of the former by a saponification of oleic acid 
with a solution of sodium hydrate. A solution thereof in eight parts of water 
is then precipitated by the salt required; this precipitate washed and dried 
yields the oleate required. Of the manner of preparing each individual one, I 
will speak under their respective headings. For greater economy’s sake the 
oleo-palmitates—double salts of oleic and palmitic acids with metals or bases 
required—may come into use; and, in fact, when manufactured from a soap of 
the oil of sweet almonds—which contains less palmitic acid than other oils— 
may for dermic medication answer almost as well. 
OLEATE OF MERCURY. 
Oleate of mercury is prepared by precipitating a solution of sodium 
oleate with mercuric chloride. Or a mercuric oleo-palmitate may be derived 
by using the sodium oleo-palmitate instead. The precipitate will readily form 
on boiling the solution. It may, for use, be mixed with either the paraffinates, 
or, better still, lard or lard oil. An ointment containing one part oleate to three 
parts lard will give what I term a twenty-five per cent, ointment of oleate of 
mercury; while, if mixed with equal parts of lard oil, it forms a fifty per cent, 
ointment. 
It is the best local stimulant and alterative application of all the mer- 
curials. It is a yellowish chemical 'combination, with a fatty smell, and of 
an unctuous consistence. It will produce, when used on the unbroken healthy 
skin, marked stimulation bordering on congestion; while upon any tumors, in- 
durations, glandular enlargements, and thickening of the skin, it has a most 
valuable resolvent and alterative action. Its advantages over the old mercurial 
ointments now generally in use, are:— 
First.—Its chemical combination, which makes it better absorbed by the 
skin. 
Second.—Its solubility in fats, contrary to the suspension of other mer- 
curials therein, gives it great penetrating and absorbing action, manifesting 
itself in prompt remedial effect. 
Third.—It possesses also the advantage of obviating the rancidity 
which is sure to occur with other mercurial ointments. 
Fourth.—It is more economical and cleanly. It is more economical— 
as a small piece suffices for its remedial action. It is cleanly—for by its rapid 
absorption into the tissues it will not stain the linen. 
In the inunction treatment of syphilis, which has unjustly fallen into dis- 
use. this oleate can be advantageouslv used, esoeciallv when there is deran^. 3 
ment of the gastro-intestinal canal. It is not necessary, in my experience in 
using this oleate for inunction, to give the patient any preparatory treatment, 
such as diet and baths, prior to an application, to render the skin supple and 
better able to absorb the mercurial; neither will it be necessary for the patient 
to be enveloped in linen or cotton, or to apply the mercurial under very high 
temperature. It can be applied in a simple, cheap, and clean manner, when 
the patient retires at night, by gently rubbing in a small portion of the stronger 
ointment, about the size of a small marble, on the thighs, the limbs, or on the 
sides of the trunk. It will be rapidly absorbed, will only leave a reddened sur- 
face on the skin, and will not dirty up the linen, or cause the vexatious routine 
method of old mercurial inunction treatment. It will, however, be necessary 
to apply cautiously this powerful remedy, as its deep penetration into the skin, 
and its quick diffusion, will often bring about more rapid constitutional effect 
than the ordinary mercurial ointments. 
I employ it with success in indurations after abscesses; in excess and 
deficiency of pigment, either as a disease or from applications, or as an effect 
of disease; in indolent papules, tubercles; in obstinate ulcers, particularly the 
syphilitic; and in cases of enlarged testicle. In the indolent and chronic stage 
of psoriasis, in which the patches are thickened, harsh, dry, and cracked, the 
application of the oleate causes them to rapidly disappear. It is necessary, 
however, in case of psoriasis, before applying the oleate, to remove the scales 
by alkaline baths, oils, water-dressing, or wet packing. In all forms of vege- 
table parasites the oleate, lightly smeared over the surface, will not only kill 
the parasite on the surface, but will frequently, by its great penetrating and 
diffusive action, pass into the hairs, the follicles, and sebaceous glands and 
destroy the fungus that may have been propagated beneath the skin. In 
phthiriasis, or lousiness of any part of the body, the oleate destroys alike the 
parasite and the nits, which sometimes escape other mercurial preparations 
which are suspended in a mechanical way. 
Lastly, the oleate of mercury may be employed advantageously in com- 
bination with other oleates. Thus, ten or twenty grains of it, mixed with one 
drachm of the ointment of the oleate of lead, is often very effective in chronic 
acne and eczema, especially in the fissured variety of the latter, which is so 
common on the plantar and palmar surfaces. In all the syphilitic skin erup- 
tions, and in superficial ulcers, one drachm of the oleate of mercury with three 
drachms of the oleate of bismuth, or the same quantity of the ointment of the 
oleate of lead, acts quickly and decidedly. The oleate of mercury, in the pro- 
portion of one or two drachms to one ounce of oil of ergot, forms one of the 
best and most efficacious oily applications that can be used to that common 
affection, loss of hair, in which the scalp, or the parts on which it occurs, looks 
harsh and dry, the hairs being dull and lacking their peculiar lustre. 4 
Oleate of zinc is made by decomposing a sodium oleate, with a saturated 
solution of zinc sulphate; boiling out and drying the precipitate, and then 
reducing it to an impalpable powder, which is rapidly accomplished. One part 
thereof, melted with three parts of a fatty vehicle which yields the ointment, I 
have been in the habit of using. I have obtained, however, the very best re- 
sults with the oleate of zinc alone, and not mixed with a fatty diluent; which is 
a fine pearl-colored powder, with a soft, soapy feel, very much like powdered 
French chalk. 
When dusted over a denuded surface it will have, by the combination of 
the oleic acid and zinc, a stimulating as well as an astringent action. It is par 
excellence the remedy for excessive sweating, or in cases of hyperdrosis and 
osmidrosis. I have been using it for more than a year, dusting it over the sur- 
face in patients suffering from an increased flow of sweat about the palmar and 
plantar surfaces and around the axillae and genitalia. It has relieved and per- 
manently cured some of the most distressing cases suffering with excessive 
secretion about the feet, in which the epidermis had macerated and peeled 
away, leaving a tender and exposed skin, and giving rise to a very disagreeable 
odor. It is likewise most efficacious as a lady’s toilet powder, particularly to 
those who are afflicted with shining faces in the summer, called seborrhoea 
oleosa. It is the most valuable and the most reliable remedy in that common- 
est variety of eczema known as eczema visiculosum. I have witnessed, and 
also those who have been in attendance in my clinics during the past winter, 
marvellous results from dusting the oleate over those in whom the extremities, 
and even the trunk, had been covered with small vesicles, swollen, hot, in- 
flamed, the parts constantly weeping, and the itching so intense that the patient 
would rub and scratch the surface until it become perfectly raw; in such cases 
I have frequently seen the discharge dry up, and the swollen and inflamed skin 
resume its normal condition, by the threefold action of the oleate, in protecting, 
stimulating, and astringing the parts. If this oleate be dusted on an inflamed 
surface that is hot and tumid, such as is found in erythema about the groins 
and axillae, and in herpes, particularly of the genitals, it will cling to the skin 
and will not fall or brush off like ordinary dusting powders. These advantages 
prove beyond a doubt the superiority of the oleate of zinc over the ordinary 
ointments and powders in the class of skin eruptions I have just named. 
OLEATE OF ZINC. 
OLEATE OF LEAD. 
Lead oleate is derived by precipitating a sodium oleate with a solution 
of lead sub-acetate. The washed and dried precipitate melted with equal parts 
of lard gives the ointment I designated as ointment of lead oleate. 
This ointment of the oleate of lead, which I also first described in 1879, 
differs very materially from the imperfect oleic solution I presented at that 5 
time. The present ointment of the oleate of lead is cream-colored and semi- 
solid, of the consistence of simple cerate. It has, when applied to the denuded 
skin, both a combined sedative and astringent action, and will arrest morbid 
discharges, protect the surface, and allay irritation. It is also more readily ab- 
sorbed than Goulard’s cerate or Hebra’s litharge ointment, and it is more easily 
and cheaply prepared. It is of the greatest benefit, and often very successful 
in allaying the inflammation, and checking the discharge and itching of pustular 
eczema that is so annoying to young infants. In papular eczema, and in that 
variety of the same affection that is often found in the flexures of the joints, 
around the axillae, the inner part of the thighs, and the perineum, this oleate 
very effectually allays the intense irritation, and very often quickly restores the 
parts to their natural healthy state. It is a useful remedy in simple lichen, and 
in those hard, indurated papules in acne about the face and back, and in the 
second stage of rosacea; and its value is often very much enhanced in these 
affections to add to two drachms of the ointment about one drachm of the bis- 
muth oleate spoken of below. It has very often a beneficial effect in that well 
known fissured form of eczema present on the palmar and plantar surfaces. 
Should, however, the inflammation and cracking be very severe and deep, and 
require a marked stimulation, the addition of twenty or thirty drops of the oil 
of cade to two drachms of the ointment of this oleate will increase very much 
the curative action on the parts. In ordinary cases of scabies or itch, four 
drachms of this ointment mixed with half a drachm of milk of sulphur, yields 
more promptly than when the latter salt is combined with other bases. The 
ointment of the oleate of lead soothes the irritation set up by the parasite, 
while by its great penetrating action it carries the sulphur deeper into the skin, 
and permits the latter ingredient to act more decidedly on the parasite. 
OLEATE OF COPPER. 
Copper oleate is obtained in a similar manner as the lead oleate, by 
double decomposition with a saturated solution of copper sulphate. The 
washed precipitate melted with either four or nine parts of cosmoline, fat or 
lard, gives respectively a twenty or ten per cent, of oleate of copper ointment. 
When applied to the unbroken skin, the oleate of copper ointment 
rapidly penetrates deeply into the parts, particularly into the follicles, and will 
produce slight stimulation. On the other hand, if brought into contact with 
broken skin, which it stimulates, an insoluble albuminate is formed, which coats 
over the surface and supplies the place of the abraded skin. 
The most successful results that I have as yet had with the ointment of 
the oleate of copper has been in rapidly curing cases of ringworm. My atten- 
tion was directed to this preparation in the following manner: For several 
years I have had patients tell me at the hospital and in my practice that they 
cured this or that member of the family of ringworm by putting an old copper 
penny in vinegar and applying the liquid to the patches. Some, however, re- 6 
sisted this treatment, and members of the latter class were usually brought to 
me with the statement that they had cured other children by the copper penny 
in vinegar, how was it that it did not do this case any good? Judging that 
while this coppery liquid might destroy the fungus on the surface, if the parasite 
after a time passed into the follicle at its lowest depth and invaded the hair 
bulbs, it could not effect it in any way, I therefore reasoned that if the copper 
solution had the power to kill the parasite on the surface, why could it not do 
the same within the follicles, providing it could be carried there? Remember- 
ing the great penetrating action of oleic acid, I had it combined with copper 
and mixed with a fatty base, and applied on an inveterate and extensive case of 
ringworm on the scalp of a child that had been treated by numerous remedies 
in vain, and in six weeks the case was completely cured. Other cases, both of 
ringworm on the scalp and body, were tried with equally good results. The 
ointment of the oleate of copper should generally be used in cases of ringworm, 
in the following manner: The parts should be first washed with soap and 
water, and in case the hairs be involved the hair should be cut short, and, after 
drying, a small piece of the ointment of this oleate, in proportion to the size of 
the patch, should be lightly rubbed over the surface. The same procedure 
should be repeated night and morning, until all traces of the disease have dis- 
appeared. The parts should only be washed about once in ten or twelve days, 
as the frequent use of water may prevent the oleate from penetrating to 
the lowest depth of the follicle in order to successfully destroy the fungus. 
It may also be necessary to pluck out the diseased hairs or epilate in very in- 
veterate cases, although I have cured some without being compelled to get rid 
of the diseased hairs in this manner. If this method is carefully followed, the 
oleate just named will no doubt effect a complete cure in some of the most 
obstinate cases. I have also used this ointment, spread on old muslin, for 
indolent ulcerating surfaces, and have found it an excellent cleanser and healer. 
It acts by condensing the tissues and constringing the blood vessels, and thus 
lessens the determination of blood to the part. It will relieve, and some of my 
patients have reported cures, from its application to hard and horny warts, corns 
and bunions. 
OLEATE OF ALUMINIUM. 
Aluminium oleate is also prepared by decomposing sodium oleate 
with aluminium sulphate; the washed precipitate mixed with equal 
parts of lard gives the ointment of aluminium oleate I shall 
speak of. The ointment thus prepared is semi-solid, dark brown in 
color, and has a most powerful astringent action. It has the most decided 
action of all the other oleates in checking muco-purulent discharges that occur 
in one of the varieties of eczema. For this purpose it can be applied with ad- 
vantage around the arms, groin, or buttock of those who have excessive dis- 
charge from the friction of those parts, particularly in infants and children, and so check the profuse secretion, or bring the parts into a suitable state for other 
remedies. It can also be employed with success as a dressing in foul ulcers, 
abscesses, sinuses, burns and scalds, from its power to coagulate albumen, con 
stringe the vessels by its antistyptic action and checking or correcting the secre 
tion of muco-pus. 
• 
7 
OLEATE OF BISMUTH. 
Bismuth oleate can only be obtained by first preparing a crystallized 
bismuth nitrate, dissolving it in glycerine, and decomposing with this mix- 
ture the sodium oleate. It is of ointment consistence, and should be used as 
thus obtained. 
This combination, which I first used some years ago, and described be- 
fore the Society in 1879, was manufactured at that time in but a crude manner 
in comparison to the pearly gray and soft bland ointment I have been using 
for the past two years. It possesses an emollient and slightly astringent ac- 
tion, and is a most valuable remedy in soothing and relieving cutaneous irrita- 
tion. 
In pustular eruptions, particularly in sycosis, the oleate of bismuth, 
lightly pencilled over the surface with a camel’s hair brush, will greatly relieve 
the engorgement of the parts; it will also often abort the pustules, and will 
cause to disappear the prickling and itching feeling that so often annoys and 
wears out the patient. It is equally efficacious in superficial erysipelas, and in 
sunburn, by soothing and relieving the high inflammatory action of the parts 
The various varieties of eczema, especially that form, the papular, which is 
usually met with in the flexures, are very amenable to the application of this 
oleate. It is particularly useful pencilled over rosacea, or what is commonly 
known as a chronic inflammation of a portion of the face; it often subdues in- 
tractable cases of this disease, although I apply the ointment usually after 
thoroughly depleting the parts with a needle-knife. It sooths the hyperaemic 
skin, relieves the engorgement of the glands, and thus brings comfort and ease 
to the patient. It will often, when applied freely over the surface in cracked 
and sore nipples, not only soothe, but will arrest the dry and excoriated condi- 
tion of the parts. 
Although bismuth, in the form of a mixture, has long been used as an 
injection in sub-acute gonorrhoea and gleet, yet I know of no medicine that will 
act so well in many cases of these affections as the oleate of bismuth. I have found 
it very serviceable in sub-acute gonorrhoea and gleet to pass a bougie covered 
with the oleate of bismuth, and allow the instrument to remain in the canal for 
a few moments. In more obstinate cases, I have had good results in wrapping 
a wax bougie with a thin layer of cotton, covering the surface with oleate of 
bismuth, and passing the combination into the urethra. 8 
Iron oleate: Precipitate with ferrous sulphate from sodium oleate on 
boiling is soon converted into ferric oleate, and as such may either be used 
pure, or if mixed with an equal amount of a fatty base, as my ointment of iron 
oleate. , 
When prepared in the above manner it occurs in a reddish-brown paste, 
inodorous, having a styptic taste, and readily soluble in fats which hold in com- 
bination about thirty per cent, of the oxide of iron, forming a powerful and im- 
portant therapeutic remedy. 
It is free from local irritation when used topically, but when brought in 
contact with an ulcerating surface it has a very mdd astringent action. It can, 
therefore, be used, as 1 have tested it, both for a constitutional and local effect. 
I have already had some excellent constitutional (systemic) results by having 
a small piece of this ointment rubbed in the axillae and inguinal regions two or 
three times a day. The effect of this ointment has been very good on some 
upon whom I have applied it, who had a deranged state of the digestive organs, 
and inability to bear the ordinary chalybeates; weak pulse, and a pale and 
flabby condition of the skin. I have also been using it with marked effect in 
some cases of scrofula. I am now testing its therapeutic action, not only in 
cutaneous affections, but also in many other diseases, from which I expect 
shortly to hear favorable and satisfactory results. It will, no doubt, take the 
place of other chalybeates, particularly when the latter are not well borne by 
the digestive organs, and will probably constitute one of the best constitutional 
tonic and local astringent remedies. 
OLEATE OF IRON. 
Arsenicum oleate must be derived by making arsenious chloride by the 
cautious saturation of hydrochloric acid with arsenicum metal. The solution 
thus obtained precipitates from sodium oleate the oleate required, which I em- 
ploy in the quantities of twenty grains to one ounce of fatty base, as my oint- 
ment of arsenicum oleate. It is in this form a soft yellowish ointment, having 
no change on the skin except where abraded, or in wounds, ulcerating and 
granulating surfaces, in which condition it will excite active inflammation and 
destroy the tissue of the parts to some depth. In lupus, especially the ulcera- 
ting varieties, the constant application of the ointment of arsenicum oleate will 
destroy cell infiltration in a mild and comparatively painless manner. It may 
be applied with almost as good result in the tubercular form of lupus, providing 
the parts be thoroughly scraped so as to bring the oleate in contact with an 
abraded surface which will greatly enhance its action. It can be used very 
satisfactorily in the ulcerating variety of epithelioma, and will be better borne 
for a longer period to the parts than any other form of arsenic. I have like- 
wise employed it after puncturing or scraping the surface to destroy warts, 
OLEATE OF ARSENIC. 9 
condylomata, nsevi, corns, horns, and old granulations. In some instances I 
have incorporated in this oleate, with a very happy effect, opium, belladonna, 
hyoscyamus, and arnica. 
OLEATE OF SILVER. 
This new oleate, like the others, is prepared by precipitating the sodium 
oleate with a saturated solution of silver nitrate, washing the precipitate with 
boiling water and drying it, after which it is reduced like the zinc oleate to a 
fine powder. One drachm of this dissolved in an ounce of fatty vehicle forms 
what I have employed as ointment of silver oleate. Made in this manner it 
occurs as a pulverulent salt of brownish-yellow color, which, if mixed with lard 
in the proportion from ten to sixty grains of the oleate of silver to one ounce 
of lard, forms a dark brown, soft, and pliable ointment. 
This oleate in its natural form sprinkled over old chronic ulcers, bed 
sores, and exuberant granulations, will set up a healthier state in the parts. 
The best effects I have experienced from using the ointment of this oleate, 
which not only coats over an abraded surface by combining with the albumen, 
and so protecting it from the air, but also causes powerful contraction of the 
blood-vessels and thus condenses the tissues. It is a safe and efficacious 
remedy in erysipelas, and can be used either around the margins to prevent the 
inflammation from extending, or can be applied weak, ten to twenty grains to 
the ounce of lard, over the inflamed surface. It has reduced the active inflam- 
mation by being constantly applied in several cases of the superficial variety of 
lupus. It will be serviceable applied to boils and carbuncles, and may often 
arrest pustulation in its early stage. An intolerable itching that sometimes 
occurs around the meatus auditorius, the anus, and the genitalia may often be 
quickly relieved by applying this ointment either alone or combined with opium 
and belladonna. The advantages that the ointment of the oleate of silver pos- 
sesses over the ordinary silver ointments are, its stability and prompt action, 
and by being less painful and milder in its curative action, and still penetrating 
deeper into the affected part. 
The oleates of quinine, and those of morphia, and also atropia, are made 
by precipitating a sodium oleate with the aqueous solution of these salts; and 
for use should be mixed with the requisite amount of either olive or lard oil. 
The oleate of magnesium, lithium, calcium, antimony, tin, and others, are 
also readily made by similar processes, but are at present of little therapeutic 
value as far as dermic medication is concerned, and are mentioned only for the 
benefit they may ultimately prove for internal exhibition. 
While my experiments with these new preparations cover a period of 
almost two years, their efficacy and application in the treatment of dermic affec- 
tions I do not claim yet as having exhausted; and while daily I find new and 
valuable use for them, I will not speak of them further at this time, when they 10 
are still in their experimental stage, and would court the trial of them by other 
practitioners, and communications from them as to their results. 
I have thus, in a brief and practical manner, endeavored to describe, for 
the first time, the therapeutic action of chemically true oleates; although I for- 
merly brought forward some of the same preparations as oleic solutions before 
the Society of 1879. 
A few years prior to that period, Mr. John Marshall, of England, pub- 
lished a paper on the treatment of persistent inflammations by the local applica- 
tions of solutions of oxide of mercury and morphia in oleic acid. It will be 
observed, however, that these preparations, too, were only solutions, and not 
the true chemical oleate compounds that I have just considered. While, there- 
fore, the credit is due to Mr. Marshall for suggesting the oleic solutions referred 
to, I claim to have first used the true chemical oleates, and to have used and 
published an account of the oleates of lead and bismuth (see Transactions of 
State Medical Society of Pennsylvania for 1879) long before a description of 
these oleates was published and claimed by some of the foreign journals for 
Drs. Crocken and McCall Anderson. 
The oleates, in the form in which I have shown, enjoy the widest range 
of therapeutic application. The superior advantages which they possess over 
the ordinary ointments, I will consider under the following five heads: 
First.—Their deep penetration. Second.—Their freedom from ran- 
cidity. Third.—Their cleanliness of application. Fourth.—Their great 
economy; and Fifth.—Their antiseptic action. 
First.—Their deep penetration. The oleic acids in their combination 
gives them active solvent powers and facility and ability to penetrate rapidly 
into animal textures, while rendering any chemical ingredient with which it is 
combined more active and effective in dermic medication. 
Second.—Their freedom from rancidity. The same acid held in the 
combination, will always keep the fat, with which the oleate is mixed, pure, 
sweet, and free from rancidity. 
Third.—Their cleanliness of application. The rapid absorption of the 
oleates into the tissues will prevent any unpleasant disfigurement of the parts, 
will not stain the linen, and will give comfort and ease in their application. 
Fourth.—Their great economy. The oleate should not be rubbed in 
vigorously like the ordinary mechanical ointments, which require considerable 
friction; they only require to be lightly smeared or applied over the surface in 
very small quantities, hence, their great economy. 
Fifth.—Their antiseptic action. The oleic acid in combination has also 
a most happy and effective action in rendering the oleates antiseptic or deodor- 
ant, upon all discharges and suppurating surfaces. 
In addition to the great advantages just enumerated, the oleates like- 
wise possess the power of having incorporated into them almost any ingre- 11 
dient that can be used in dermic medication. Such preparations in different 
proportions, according to the amount desired to be used, as carbolic acid, 
creasote, sulphur, tar, arrow-root, starch, iodine, iodide of potassium, chloral, 
camphor, belladonna, opium, hyoscyamus, nux vomica, ergot (particularly the 
oil thereof), cinchona, etc. I can better illustrate this point by appending a 
few of the prescriptions generally used at the American Hospital for Skin Dis- 
eases, in Philadelphia, which will show the manner of combining and incorpora- 
ting other drugs. For instance, the following prescription we use in fissured 
eczema of the plantar and palmar surfaces: 
5 Hydrargyri Oleatis, - - - § ss. 
Olei Cadini, 3 ss. 
Cerati Simplicis, § ss. 
• 
M. S. Rub well into the part, after macerating in hot water, night and 
morning. 
Again, in infantile eczema, the following is often used: 
ft Unguenti Plumbi Oleatis, - - § ss. 
Pulveris Marantae, - - - - 3 j. 
Cerati Simplicis, - - - - § ss. 
Olei Olivae, q. s. ft. Unguentum Mollis. 
M. S. Apply lightly over the surface, and in case of much pustulation 
of the surface or a swelling of the glands, the addition of one-half to one- 
quarter of a drachm of the oleate of mercury to the above will be very advan- 
tageous.’! 
Further, the active inflammation of the blood vessels and tissues of the 
face, as in rosacea, may be checked by: 
ft Unguenti Plumbi Oleatis, 
Bismuthi Oleatis, - - - - aa 3 j. 
M. S. Apply a very small piece, about the size of a toilet pin, night 
and morning. If the parts should become much thickened and indurated, add 
one or two drops of creasote. 
As a last illustration: In eczema of the anus, particularly when the 
trouble is due to external piles, the following will give very great relief from the 
incessant and intolerable irritation of the parts, and often cure the disease: 
ft Bismuthi Oleatis, - - - - 3 ij. 
Extract Opii, gr. x. 
Extract Belladonnse, ... gr. x. 
Cerati Simplicis, - - - - § ss. 
M. S. Apply frequently. 
The above are but a very few examples of the addition of other drugs 
that can be made advantageously to the oleates. Now that I have given the advantages of the oleates, I wish to add in 
conclusion the objections—for an emollient and soothing action—to using the 
commonly accepted applications to the skin that are now used often ineffectu- 
ally and at times injuriously. These objections are, first, to the ordinary oint- 
ments, and, secondly, to the petroleum products. 
It is a well-known fact to you all that the ordinary ointments have no 
power of penetrating deeply into the derma; that the combinations which they 
form with other ingredients, with which they are incorporated, are usually 
mechanical, and as a result the fat and the drug are usually found after 
application caked upon the outside, fulfilling very often only the part of a 
protection to the diseased surface beneath. They also by the 
collection upon the surface soil the linen, run off or trickle down 
upon other parts, interfering with cleanliness and often disfiguring the per- 
son. Ointments likewise kept for any length of time will become rancid, and 
if applied in such a decomposed state—which I have seen in many instances— 
will excite continued inflammation. Again ointments must necessarily be 
costly, as they are usually prepared and prescribed in large quantities, and as 
considerable amount is required to cover a given spot or surface, allowing for 
the waste on the adjoining parts and that which runs off and stains the linen. 
I next pass to the consideration of my objections against using the 
petroleum preparations. These products are as objectionable as bases as the 
other ingredients usually used for ointments. They even possess feebler power 
to penetrate the skin, if any at all, than animal fats which have more affinity for 
the integument. They are also melted by the temperature of the parts, and 
run off largely on the surrounding surface; and will thoroughly saturate all the 
linen brought in contact with them. Further, the petroleum products retain 
some stimulating constituent left after their manufacture, which will prevent 
them from having an emollient action, and which proves a very great hindrance 
to their use as external remedies, providing you wish to soothe and allay active 
inflammation. In addition to this I will state that the craze for these paraffinate 
or petroleum products seems gradually on the wane, not only here but also in 
Europe. 
In investigating this subject I have found that their absorptive power 
for a penetrating action into the skin is so feeble as to almost cause them to be 
excluded as such. Irritant ointments of veratria and other substances which I 
had made respectively of cosmoline, vaseline, and of simple cerate, manifested 
themselves in the former two preparations, as almost inert; while the activity of 
that made with simple cerate very soon became evident. Since making these 
observations I was pleased to find an eminent authority, Dr. Herrman Hager, 
make similar statements in his celebrated work on Pharmaceutical Practice, as 
follows: “The use of vaseline (cosmoline) in place of lard or an ointment in 
such mixtures which contain a remedial agent intended for absorption by the 
12 13 
skin, is much to be discouraged, as vaseline (cosmoline) prevents the absorption 
thereof.” 
From all that I have here stated you can readily see that all the objec- 
tions both to the ordinary ointments and the petroleum products, are overcome 
in the active solvent powers of the oleates; their deep penetration, their 
chemical combination, their freedom from rancidity, their great economy and 
their antiseptic properties. A great drawback, however, to the general adoption 
of the oleates will be lack of knowledge that the majority of pharmaceutical 
chemists have, at the present time, of their manufacture. 
A most striking instance of this kind recently occurred to me. Whilst 
bowing a patient out from my office, I was saluted by an individual, who 
informed me in very loud words, so as to be heard by those who were sitting 
around, that he had received a prescription of mine, which called for the oleate 
of zinc to be dusted over the surface. “ Now, Doctor, I must inform you that 
no such preparation exists! The oleate of zinc is used as an ointment.” A 
few moments’ conversation clearly showed me that the individual had no knowl- 
edge whatever of the manufacture of the oleates, and I distinctly told him so in 
the presence of my patients for his impertinence and rudeness in endeavoring 
to correct a supposed blunder I had committed, in that public manner. 
I experience almost similar difficulties daily in my private practice. 
Thus I will often prescribe a certain oleate and be surprised to see no change in 
my patient, but after careful investigation, which I have made in several 
instances, by having the patient bring me the oleate, I have found either a 
substitute or an oleic solution in place of the remedy ordered. Again it has 
been my misfortune to have some pharmaceutical chemist decry the action of 
the oleate to my patient, and from these persons I have also learned that they 
knew nothing whatever about its manufacture. An ordinary mechanical oint- 
ment full of lumps more easily mixed in the old stereotyped manner, or a spatula 
full of a petroleum product incorporated with some metal, was their idea of a 
proper kind of a salve that should be used and would be efficacious. You will, 
nevertheless, find good, honest and straightforward chemists, who, if they do 
not understand the manufacture of the oleates, will procure them for you, or 
will go to work and make them under your direction, but be careful to examine 
their products and see that they possess all the physical properties which I 
show you in these most excellent specimens of true and staple oleates. Concerning Fluid Extracts. 
We are frequently made aware of the existence of serious misapprehension in the 
minds of some very worthy physicians, and even druggists, in regard to the functions 
and properties of fluid extracts, particularly such as necessarily are and should be pre- 
pared with a strongly alcoholic menstruum. We have not far to look for the cause of 
these misconceptions, and it is in order to correct them that we desire to call the atten- 
tion of our friends to some of the more salient features presented by these preparations. 
There is a large class of drugs of which we can name, for illustration, such indi- 
viduals as buchu, eucalyptus, cannabis indica, aconite, yerba santa, cubebs, lupulin, 
savin, valerian and ginger, in which the activity of the drug depends entirely, either on 
the volatile oil, resin or alkaloid, or on their combinations. These principles being most 
largely soluble in strong alcohol and almost insoluble in water, the use of the first named 
liquid is, of course, made imperative when it is proposed to manufacture a fluid extract which 
shall properly and fully represent the drug. A re statement of the well known general 
properties of these drugs might seem almost superfluous, considering that the pharma- 
copoeias and text books are so explicit on these points, were it not for the fact that a 
later education has been attempted, in a very sordid and unworthy interest, by which it 
is proposed to unlearn this knowledge, or at least to blind us to it by interposing appar- 
ent excellencies in so-called fluid extracts which a close inspection shows, however, to 
be superficial and unreal. We refer now to a class of manufactures with which some of 
our competitors are endeavoring to flood the market, and the claim of superiority in 
regard to which is based principally on the fact that they will make a much clearer mix- 
ture with aque us liquids than old-fashioned, honestly-made extracts. As an illustration 
of the principle involved we will select cannabis indica, whose active ingredient, of a 
characteristic resinous nature, is insoluble in water, soluble in strong alcohol, and solu- 
ble to but a limited degree in a mixture of the two, or diluted alcohol. Were we to 
prepare from sixteen Troy ounces of this drug, a pint of fluid extract with strong alco- 
hol, and from another sixteen Troy ounces a like quantity of extract with diluted 
alcohol, we should certainly find that the extract prepared with dilute alcohol would make 
a handsome*, clearer mixture with an aqueous liquid than the one made with stronger 
alcohol. Need we ask why? Is it not self-evident that the preparation with dilute spirit 
is woefully deficient in the resinous ingredients of the plant, and that, therefore, a heavy 
discount must be made on its activity as compared quantitatively with the other? And 
yet this class of fluid extracts is presented to the profession with claims for preference 
based entirely on this feature of their making a handsome appearing mixture, at the sacrifice 
of medicinal activity! While it has always been our desire to minister to the innate taste 
for the beautiful, which requires by preference an elegant preparation, and which stimulates 
all improvements which tend to that end, we cannot admit that a sacrifice of principle is 
ever justifiable in the attainment of that object. In the case of cannabis indica just referred 
, we have always proceeded by using. in the first olace. an assayed drug, known to rn«- CONCERNING FLUID EXTRACTS. 
tain sufficient resin to conform to an established standard, and then exhausting the drug 
with the proper liquid, strong alcohol. 
Our preparation, therefore, will, and should make a turbid mixture with water or 
aqueous liquids, from separation of the resin which is insoluble in such fluids. The ex- 
tent to which the resin separates, and renders water turbid, may be even used as an 
approximate test of the strength of the preparation; for it is very evident that the more 
resin, oleoresin or other substance insoluble in water, is present in the alcoholic liquid, 
the greater will be the amount separated when this is thrown into water, and the 
greater, therefore, the consequent turbidity. 
These remarks will apply equally to all the drugs mentioned as members of this 
class; so we need, therefore, not multiply instances to impress a fact which becomes self 
evident when the premises are taken into consideration. We have enumerated but a few 
of the drugs whose virtues are constituted so as to require the use of a strongly alco- 
holic liquid for extraction, and likewise a liquid of the same composition for holding 
these principles in solution after their separation from the parent drug. 
In view of these facts, there is then serious mischief threatened in the introduc- 
tion of fluid extracts which from poverty of spirituous contents, although possessing a 
handsome appearance and other apparently desirable properties (particularly a low price), 
do not act handsomely, and besides bring about one vicious result:—they lead to the 
employment of larger doses, for it does not take the prescriber long to discover that his 
patient can bear larger and still larger doses with impunity, and in fact needs such ap- 
parent over-doses to produce the desired effect. Let such a prescriber, however, obtain 
a conscientiously prepared extract in place of the one he has been using and give the 
same doses, and curiously enough, his spleen is usually vented on the really good repre- 
sentative of the drug for having produced unlooked for, or perhaps even serious results, 
from a very evident overdose, and the preparation, instead of a perverted education and 
misplaced confidence, receives the blame. 
We think it will need but little argument to convince those who have had the 
least experience, that of different methods of administration, that one should certainly 
have the preference in which exactness of dose is not only possible but inevitable, while 
the other which combines chance convenience with uncertainty of dose should be as 
much avoided. 
Now, in regard to the method of administration of this class of fluid extracts, we 
desire to make a few suggestions. In accordance with the proposition that that method 
should have the preference by which exactness of dose is secured, we recommend > 
where it is absolutely necessary to dilute such a fluid extract prior to the moment of ad- 
ministration, the employment of a viscid liquid for this purpose, such as mucilage, syrup 
or glycerine. Much better, however, is the method of dropping the dose, at the moment 
it is wanted, into water, milk or other diluent, and administering while the portion pre- 
cipitated, and insoluble in water, is still in a finely suspended condition, and before its 
particles have had time to separate and cohere. This latter method renders impossible the 
gathering of such separated resinous or oily particles into a clot, which may and oc- 
casionally does, convey in one dose the active and often powerful ingredient intended 
for distribution among a much larger number of doses, thereby introducing the element 
of uncertainty and risk in the administration of the remedy. 
PARKE, DAVIS & CO., Detroit aiid/J[ew York. PURE OLEATES 
FROM THE LABORATORY OF 
Parke, Davis & Co., 
NEW YORK BRANCH: 
60 Maiden Lane and 
si Liberty Street. 
Manufacturing Chemists, 
DETROIT, MICH. 
Dermatic medication has heretofore been rendered unpopular by reason of the unscien- 
tific character of, and the many objections to, the agents in use. These objections, so ably 
detailed in Dr. Shoemaker’s monograph on the subject, are fully met and surmounted by 
the elegant and efficacious line of Pure Oleates now manufactured by us. The profession is 
no longer compelled to choose between rancid ointments on the one hand, and the employ- 
ment of vehicles whose very nature must prevent the operation of any medicinal agent, on 
the other. The metallic oleates may be truly termed “elegant and scientific preparations.” 
They embody the therapeutic virtues of the metals in their most eligible form for the pur- 
pose required, are cleanly as well as effective in their application, and themselves act as pre- 
servatives of the vehicles used to convey them, while their penetrating character ensures 
prompt action on the disturbing cause. Their purity and efficiency necessitating the employ- 
ment of a smaller quantity, they are also desirable from the point of economy. In short, 
the oleates bid fair to supplant the less desirable agents now in use, and to considerably 
enlarge the practice of dermatic medication. 
Our preparation of the oleates is conducted with the utmost care, and the product 
handled with a special view to permanency and uniformity. Our line of these products 
includes the following : 
Aluminium, Arsenic, .Bismuth, 
Copper, Iron, Lead, 
Mercury, Silver, Zinc. 
OLEATES OF ALKALOIDS (In Solution). 
These oleates produce the same proportionate effect as the simple agents. They are of 
great benefit where the remedies may not be administered in the usual way, or where local 
action is required. 
Aconitine, 2% of the alkaloid; Atropine, 2% of the alkaloid; 
Morphine, io£ of the alkaloid; Quinine, of the alkaloid; 
Morphine and Mercury, 5# of the alkaloid, 20% Mercuric Oxide; 
Strychnine, 2% of the alkaloid; Veratrine, ic* of the alkaloid. 
OLEATES OF METALS. 
The following ointments are offered as representing the most desirable strength of these 
preparations. The percentages annexed indicate the proportion of oleate in the ointment. 
Aluminium oleate, ; Arsenic oleate, 5# ; 
Copper oleate, 20# : Iron (ferric) oleate, ; 
Lead oleate, 50# ; Mercuric oleate, ic* ; 
Silver oleate, 5* ; Zinc oleate, 25*. 
OINTMENTS OF OLEATES. 
Send for Price List and descriptive circulars. 
PARKE, DAVIS & CO., 
DETROIT, MICH