ECZEMA. 293 
if the surface is denuded or has been torn or broken by scratching or biting; 
that is, the lotion is irritating, and would be too painful were the skin off: 
Menthol, two drachms; alcohol, three ounces. 
In cases in which it can properly be used, it may be applied as often as the 
itching becomes violent. Care must be taken that it does not get into the eyes 
of the patient or user, and lest they be touched by the fingers applying it be- 
fore they have been thoroughly washed. 
Where the eruption is mainly of papules, and there are not very many of 
them, generally they will disappear much quicker if they are lightly painted 
every third day with a solution composed of equal parts of pure carbolic acid, 
hydrate of chloral and tincture of iodine. 
Eczema is so rebellious at times and so persistently resists treatment, the 
reader should be fortified with quite a number of different applications, which 
he can try in turn if one does not act well; remembering always that seldom 
can a case of eczema be cured by a single means alone, and different ones must 
be used, according to the various causes and existing conditions. 
An agent of great worth, and only rarely appreciated in the treatment of 
skin diseases, is common whale-oil that has been properly refined. It not only 
speedily renders the skin soft, smooth, flexible and elastic, but being of lower 
specific gravity, penetrates more easily and deeply, and is absorbed with greater 
rapidity than any other animal oil. As a medium for the conveyance of medi- 
cines into the skin, it is therefore of exceeding value; and when combined 
with an equal part of chloroform, as an anesthetic it acts almost immediately, 
also very efficiently, upon the ends of the nerves that lie near the surface. This 
combination therefore constitutes an admirable application in cases of superficial 
pain, and in skin affections attended by itching, tenderness or soreness. More- 
over, it has the superior advantage of being non-poisonous; and even if the 
patient laps it, which is unlikely, it could not do him any harm. 
Whale-oil, or if that is not easily obtainable, cod-liver oil, may be advan- 
tageously combined as follows, in many cases: 
Whale-oil, one quart; oil of tar, one pint; oil of turpentine, two ounces; 
lac sulphur, sufficient to make the mixture fill a two-quart measure. 
The most suitable cases for its use are those in which the eruption is of dry 
form. One application often suffices if made to all hairy parts. That done 
faithfully, the patient should be confined for about four days, on clean straw, 
then thoroughly washed, soap being used in the operation. 
If this oily preparation appears to act well it can wisely be employed every 
four or five days until a cure is effected, or a gain is no longer occurring. 
An ointment which tends to allay itching, and may be used quite freely 
where the skin is off, is the following: 
Sulphate of morphine, four grains; powdered camphor, one drachm; ox- 
ide of zinc ointment, two ounces. 
