Presented with the compliments of L. WOLFF & CO., Chemists, N. IV. 
cor. Chestnut and Twelfth Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. 
THE OLEATES AND 0LE0-PALM1TATES IN 
SKIN DISEASES. 
BY JOHN V. SHOEMAKER, M., M. D., 
OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., 
Physician-in-charge of the Philadelphia Hospital for Skin Diseases, etc. 
Reprints from Transactions of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and 
The Medical Bulletin. 
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 application to cutaneous dis- 
eases, and I also brought forward and showed, for the first time, 
specimens of the oleates of lead 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 chemical 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 presented results dif- 
ferent 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 cpiite as absurd as 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,«hnc solutions 2 
heretofore used; and by containing less of the expensive oleic acid, 
they are therefore less costly, an item which, for their practical appli- 
cation, is evidently a most important one. Oleate of mercury, as 
heretofore prepared, is well known to be unstable, and consequently 
unreliable, because of the presence of a large amount of free oleic 
acid, which, being a readily oxidizable bod}>, soon deprives the 
mercuric oxide therein of its oxygen, precipitating a greater portion 
of it, if not altogether, in form of murcurous oxide and metallic 
mercury, which all of you have probably observed is at the bottom 
of such preparations. Such cannot be the case in chemically com- 
bined 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 1x3 by the double decom- 
position of sodium oleates with solutions of neutral salts, and as a 
general method of their manufacture proposes a 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 pre- 
cipitated by the salt required; this precipitate washed and dried 
yields the oleate required. Of the manner of preparing each indi- 
vidual one, I will speak under their respective headings. For 
greater economy’s sake the oleo-palmitates—double salts of oleic 
and palmitic acid with the 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 mercurials. It is a yellowish chemical combination, with a 
fatty smell and of an unctuous consistence. It will produce, when 3 
used on the unbroken healthy skin, marked stimulation bordering 
on congestion; while upon any tumors, indurations, glandular en- 
largements, and thickening of the skin it has a most valuable 
resolvent and alterative action. Its advantages over the old mer- 
curial ointments now generally in use, are: 
First.—Its chemical combination, which makes it better absorbed 
by the skin. 
Secondly.—Its solubility in fats, contrary to the suspension of 
other mercurials therein, gives it great penetrating and absorbing 
action, manifesting itself in prompt remedial effect. 
Thirdly.—It possesses, also, the advantage of obviating the ran- 
cidity which is sure to occur with other mercurial ointments. 
Fourthly.—It is more economical and cleanly. It is more eco- 
nomical—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 disuse, this oleate can be advantageously used, especially when 
there is derangement of the gastro-intestinal canal. It is not neces- 
sary, 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 strong 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 surface on the 
skin, and will not dirty up the linen, or cause the vexatious rou- 
tine method of old mercurial inunction treatment. It will, how- 
ever, 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 obsti- 
nate ulcers, particularly the syphilitic; aud in cases of enlarged 
testicle. In the indolent and chronic stage of psoriasis, in which 4 
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 vegetable 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 mer- 
curial preparations which are suspended in a mechanical way. 
Lastly, the oleate of mercury may be employed advantageously 
in combination 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 sl<in eruptions, 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 oint- 
ment of the oleate of lead, acts quickly and decidedly. The oleate 
of mercury, in the proportion 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. 
OLEATE OF ZINC. 
Olcate 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 
results 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 com- 
bination of the oleic acid and zinc, a stimulating as well as an 
astringent action. It is par excellence the remedy for excessive 5 
sweating, or in cases of hyperdrosis and osmidrosis. I have been 
using it for more than a year, dusting it over the surface 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 permanently 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 commonest 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, marvelous results from dusting the oleate 
over those in whom the extremities, and even the trunk, had been 
covered with small vesicles, swollen, hot, inflamed, the parts con- 
stantly weeping, and the itching so intense that the patient would 
rub and scratch the surface until it had 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 axillai, 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 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 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 6 
surface, and allay irritation. It is also more readily absorbed than 
either 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 axillse, 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 bismuth 
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. 
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 oint- 
ment rapidly penetrates deeply into the parts, particularly into the 
follicles, and will produce slight stimulation. On the other hand, 
if brought in contact with broken skin, which it stimulates, an in- 
soluble albuminate is formed, which coats over the surface and sup- 
plies the place of the abraded skin. 
OLEATE OF COPPER. 7 
The most successful results that I have as yet had with the oint- 
ment of the oleate of copper has been in rapidly curing cases of 
ringworm. My attention was directed to this preparation in the 
following manner: For several years I have had patients tell me 
at the hospital and in my private 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, resisted 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 follicles at its lowest depth and invaded the 
hair bulbs it could not affect 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? Remembering the great penetrating ac- 
tion 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 numer- 
ous 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 cop- 
per should generally be used in cases of ringworm in the follow- 
ing 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 pro- 
portion to the size of the patch, should be lightly rubbed over the 
surface. The same procedure should be repeated night and morn- 
ing until all traces of the disease have disappeared. The parts 
should only be washed about once in ten or twelve days, as the fre- 
quent use of water may prevent the oleate from penetrating to the 
lowest depth of the follicle in order to successfully destroy the fun- 
gus. It may also be necessary to pluck out the diseased hairs or 
epilate in very inveterate cases, although I have cured some with- 
out 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 8 
healer. It acted 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 advantage around the arms, groin, 
or buttock of those who have excessive discharge 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, constringe the vessels by its antistyptic action, 
and checking or correcting the secretion of muco-pus. 
OLEATE OF BISMUTH. 
*Bismuth oleate can only be obtained by first preparing a crystal- 
lized bismuth nitrate, dissolving it in glycerine, and decomposing 
with this mixture 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 de- 
scribed before 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 pos- 
sesses an emollient and slightly astringent action, and is a most val- 
uable remedy in soothing and relieving cutaneous irritation. 
In pustular eruptions, particularly in sycosis, the oleate of bis- 
muth, lightly penciled 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 pricking 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. 9 
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 penciled over 
rosacea, or what is commonly known as a chronic inflammation of 
a portion of the face; it often subdues intractable cases of this 
disease, although I apply the ointment usually after thoroughly 
depleting the parts with a needle-knife. It soothes the hypersemic 
skin, relieves the engorgement of the glands, and thus brings com- 
fort and ease to the patient. It will also, when applied freely over 
the surface in cracked and sore nipples, not only soothe, but will 
arrest the dry and excoriated condition 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. 
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 combination about thirty per cent, of the 
oxide of iron, forming a powerful and important therapeutic 
remedy. 
It is free from local irritation when used topically, but when 
brought in contact with an ulcerating surface it has a very mild 
astringent action. It can, therefore, be used, as I 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 axilla; 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 ehalybeates, 
OLEATE OF IRON. 10 
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 ARSENIC. 
Arsenicum oleate must be derived by making arsenious chloride 
by the cautious saturation of hydrochloric acid with arsenicum 
metal. The solution thus obtained, precipitate from sodium oleate, 
the oleate required, which I employ in the quantities of twenty 
grains to one ounce of fatty base, as my ointment 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 ulcerating varieties, the constant applica- 
tion 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, provid- 
ing 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 likewise employed 
it after puncturing or scraping the surface to destroy warts condy- 
lomata naevi, corns, horns, and old granulations. In some instances 
I have incorporated in this oleate, with a very happy effect, opium, 
belladonna, hyoscyamus, and arnica. 
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, 
OLEATE OF SILVER. 11 
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 sur- 
face by combining with the albumen, and so protecting it from the 
air, but it 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 one ounce of lard, over the inflamed surface. It 
has reduced the active inflammation by being constantly applied in 
several cases of the superficial variety of lupus. It will be ser- 
viceable applied to boils and carbuncles, and may often arrest pus- 
tulation in its early stage. An intolerable itching that sometimes 
occurs around the meatus auditorious, 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 possesses 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. 
OLEATES OF NICKEL AND TIN. 
The unusual marked success which has attended the use of the 
oleates has prompted the writer to continue his investigations at 
the Philadelphia Hospital for Skin Diseases, which has resulted 
recently in the formation of the oleate of nickel and the develop- 
ment of a therapeutic value to the oleate of tin. This new 
chemical oleate, similar to the oleate of tin, quinine, and others, 
which I first described as chemical salts in 1879 before the 
Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and again in 1881, was 
prepared by Dr. L. Wolff, of this city. It is prepared by the 
double decomposition of the nickel sulphate and sodium oleate, the 
chemist using the oleic acid of the U. S. P. in preparing the latter 
ingredient. I might add in this connection that oleates made from 
the impure oleic acid—the so-called red oil of the candle-maker— 
while cheaper, are neither certain nor decided in their action, and 
will often set up an irritation upon the skin when the opposite 
effect is desired. Some years of patient and careful investigation 
of the oleates, and a comparison of the therapeutical effects of the 
salts made from the pure acid of the U. S. P., and the impure or 
red oil, has shown positive and excellent results with the former, 
and disagreeable and very often irritating effects with the latter. I 
refer especialIv to the subject upon this occasion, as the bad results 
which have followed their use, in some instances, are due entirely 
to the irritating action of the impure oleic acid or red oil used by 
manufacturers in the preparation of the oleates. The oleate of 
nickel just referred to is a green, amorphous, waxy, tasteless sub- 12 
stance, having most decided astringent action, almost bordering 
upon the effect of a caustic. I have tested its effect in some chronic 
cases of eczema of the extremities, the skin being hard and of a 
leathery state, with some good results. The salt was used in from 
five to fifteen grains to the ounce of lard. It is also now being 
tested upon some old ulcers and cancerous affections of the skin in 
the out-door department of the hospital. The oleate of tin, already 
alluded to, is prepared by the double decomposition of the tin chlo- 
ride and sodium oleate. It is of a grayish-yellow appearance, un- 
guent consistence, and possesses a marked metallic taste. It has 
been found to be of great utility in giving lustre to diseased nails 
that have been abnormal or deficient in growth. It assists by its 
local action in overcoming brittle, split, and soft condition of the 
nails that often follows certain skin affections and external injuries. 
It forms, especially when combined with a little carmine, an ele- 
gant article of toilet for the nails and surrounding cuticle, giving 
the parts a beautiful polish. It assists in relieving by its astringent 
action the ragged and attenuated skin of the base of the nails— 
agnails—that are so often observed from neglecting these important 
appendages.—Dr. John V. Shoemaker in Journ. of the Amer. Med. 
Association. 
The oleates of quinine, and those of morphia and also atropia, 
are made by precipitating a sodium oleate with the aqueous solu- 
tion of these salts; and for use should either be mixed with the 
requisite amount of olive or lard oil. 
The oleate of magnesium, lithium, calcium, antimony, 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 treat- 
ment of dermic affections I do not claim yet as having exhausted; 
and while daily I find new and valuable use for them, I will speak 
of them further at this time when they are still in their experi- 
mental stage, and would court the trial of them by other practi- 
tioners 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 formerly brought forward some of the same 
preparations as oleic solutions before the Society in 1879. 
A few years prior to that period, Mr. John Marshall, of Eng- 
land,. published a paper on the treatment of persistent inflamma- 
tions by the local applications 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, 13 
therefore, 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. Secondly.—Their freedom from 
rancidity. Thirdly.—Their cleanliness of application. Fourthly.— 
Their great economy ; and Fifthly.—Their antiseptic action. 
First.—Their deep penetration. The oleic acid in their combina- 
tion gives them active solvent powers and facility and ability to 
penetrate rapidly into animal textures, while rendering any chem- 
ical ingredient with which it is combined more active and effective 
in dermic medication. 
Secondly.—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. 
Thirdly.—Their cleanliness of application. The rapid absorption 
of the oleates into the tissues will prevent any unpleasant disfigure- 
ment of the parts, will not stain the linen, and will give comfort 
and ease in their application. 
Fourthly.—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. 
Fifthly.—Their antiseptic action. The oleic acid in combination 
has also a most happy and effective action in rendering the oleates 
antiseptic or deodorant, upon all discharges and suppurating surfaces. 
In addition to- the great advantages just enumerated, the oleates 
likewise possess the power of having incorporated into them almost 
any ingredient that can be used in dermic medication. Such prepa- 
rations 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), cin- 
chona, etc. I can better illustrate this point by appending a few of 
the prescriptions generally used at the American Hospital for Skin 
I) iseases, in Philadelphia, which will show the manner of combin- 
ing and incorporating other drugs. For instance, the following 
prescription we use in fissured eczema of the plantar and palmar 
surfaces:— 14 
r .—Hydrargyri Oleatis, 3 ss. 
Olei Cadini, * g ss. 
Cerati Simplicis, 3 ss. 
M. S.—Rub well into the part, after macerating in liot water, 
night and morning. 
Again, in infantile eczema the following is often used :— 
r.—Unguenti Plumbi Oleatis, 3ss. 
Pulveris Marantse, 
Cerati Simplicis, 3 ss. 
Olei Olivae, q. s. ft. Unguentum Mollis. 
M. S.—Apply lightly over the surface, and in case of much pus- 
tulation 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 advantageous. 
Further, the active inflammation of the blood-vessel sand tissues of 
the face, as in rosacea, may be checked by :— 
r.—Unguenti Plumbi Oleatis 
Bismuthi Oleatis, aa g] 
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 hist 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 :— 
r.—Bismuthi oleatis, 
Extract opii, gr. x. 
Extracti belladonna, gr. x. 
Cerati simplicis, 
M. S.—Apply frequently. 
The above are but a 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 ineffectually and at times injuriously. 
These objections are, first, to the ordinary ointments, 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 com- 
binations 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 out- 
side, fulfilling very often only the part of a protection to the dis- 15 
eased surface beneath. They also by the collection upon the sur- 
face soil the linen, run off or trickle down upon other parts, inter- 
fering with the cleanliness, and often disfiguring the person. Oint- 
ments 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, oint- 
ments 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 simply 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 manu- 
facture, 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 inflamma- 
tion. 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 
by simple cerate very soon became evident. Since making these 
observations I was pleased to find an eminent authority, Dr. Herr- 
man Hager, make similar statements in his celebrated work, On 
Pharmaceutical Practice, as follows: “The use of vaseline (cosmo- 
line) in place of lard, or an ointment in such mixtures which contain 
a remedial agent intended for absorption by the skin, is much to 
be discouraged, as vaseline (cosmoline) prevents the absorption 
thereof.” 
From all that I have stated you can readily see that all the 
objections both to the ordinary ointments and the petroleum pro- 
ducts 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 the lack of knowledge that the majority of pharmaceutical 
chemists have, at the present time, of their manufacture. 16 
On the Therapeutic Uses of Oleates—James Sawyer, 
M. I)., M. R. C. P., in the British Medical Journal, February 10th, 
1883, calls the attention of the profession to a very important point 
in regard to the oleates. In referring to what he honors by desig- 
nating an important paper read by Dr. John V. Shoemaker before 
the Medical Society of Pennsylvania, he refers to that gentleman’s 
claim to have been the first one to introduce the use of chemically 
pure oleates, in contradistinction to those previously prepared by 
the direct union of the acid with the base, with or without heat. 
He also refers to the fact that the new oleates are obtained by the 
double decomposition of sodium oleate with solution of neutral 
salts, the sodium oleate being prepared by the saponification of olic 
acid with a solution of sodium hydrate. A solution of the sodium 
oleate in eight parts of water is precipitated by a neutral salt, and 
the precipitate, washed and dried, is the oleate required. 
Dr. Sawyer says further that the Messrs. Southall, the well- 
known pharmacists, have prepared various oleates according to 
Dr. Shoemaker’s directions, and some of these, namely, the oleates 
of lead, zinc, and copper, he has examined and tested in practice. 
The new oleates present the great advantage, which practi- 
tioners will at once appreciate, that they can be used as dusting 
powders as well as in the form of ointments, so that they may 
be employed in those troublesome, acute, discharging affections 
of the skin in which greasy preparations of any kind cannot 
be borne. Zinc oleate, which is a fine, pearl-colored powder, 
with a soft, soapy feel, like powdered French chalk, or lead oleate, 
may be used alone as a dusting powder for the skin, or it may be 
so used diluted with powdered starch. “One drachm and a half or 
two drachms of either of these oleates, mixed with an ounce of 
petroleum jelly or benzoated lard, makes a good ointment, which I 
have found efficient in cases of subacute and chronic eczema. 
Dr. Shoemaker has introduced oleate of copper as a remedy for 
ringworm. I have used it in the form of ointment, of the strength 
of one drachm and a half of the oleate to six drachms and a half of 
petroleum jelly, in some mild cases of ringworm, with excellent 
results.” 
Dr. William Murrell, London Medical Record, November 15th, 
1883, in referring to Dr. Shoemaker’s paper on the “Oleates and 
Oleo-Palmitatcs in Skin Diseases,” says that Mr. Martindale has 
recently made for him some oleate of zinc, according to the method 
described in this paper, and it is undoubtedly a very great improve- 
ment over the old so-called oleate. As Dr. Shoemaker says, it is 
“a fine, pearl-colored powder, with a soft, soapy feel, very much like 
French chalk.” Mixed in thymol (1 in 500), and used as a dust- 
ing powder, it forms an excellent application in many varieties of 
local sweating. Dr. Murrell says that he has used- ii~udth much 
success in the night-sweating of phthisis.