336 PHARMACOPEIA!, DRUGS 



as well as the empyreumatic products of many related 

 trees, have been known to the common people, as a rule, 

 from the earliest records of history. The last editions 

 of the Pharmacopeia of the United States, under the 

 title Okum Terebinthina Rectification, direct that the 

 spirit obtained from the distillation of turpentine, 

 usually obtained from the Pinus palustris (Pinus aus- 

 tralis), be purified by redistillation from a solution of 

 sodium hydrate, former editions, e. g. 1890, employ- 

 ing lime water for this purpose. 



THYMOL (Thymol) 



Introduced into the U. S. P. in 1880. Official thereafter, 

 including the Ninth Revision, 1910. 



Thymol is a product of Thymus vulgaris, a native of 

 Portugal, Spain, Southern France, Italy and the moun- 

 tainous parts of Greece. For several centuries it has 

 been cultivated in England as a garden plant, and has 

 long been known to yield a highly aromatic, essential 

 oil. Under the name camphor of thyme, an apothecary 

 of Berlin named Neumann, 1725, described this sub- 

 stance, which was called Thymol by Lallemand (369a) 

 in 1853, thus giving a name to a substance that, in 

 little use in itself, had in its natural association and com- 

 bination as a part of oil of thyme ever been valued in 

 domestic medicine, as well as by the medical profession. 

 Under the name oil of origanum, oil of thyme has been 

 a popular product obtained by the distillation of this 

 herb, being used as an ingredient of domestic liniments 

 and in veterinary medicine. Its use by the medical 

 profession is even yet much limited. 



