660 AGENTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN 



chroDic eczema and urticaria ; in erysipelas; muscular and 

 articular rheumatic disorders ; and in bruised and strained 

 muscles, tendons and ligaments. The drug has proved of 

 great worth in the treatment of frost bites, burns, and in 

 causing absorption of lymphatic enlargements. Icthyol is 

 recommended as a cure for sarcoptic mange and scab. 

 It is doubtful whether the drug is an antiseptic, but is 

 stimulant to the skin, anodyne, and resolvent, locally. 

 Icthyol is most satisfactorily applied to the unbroken skin 

 in ointment, with lanolin or lard, 25 to 50 per cent. Solu- 

 tions in water, glycerin, oils or alcohol, are sometimes 

 employed of various strengths. Icthyol is rarely given 

 internally for chronic rheumatism. 



Thiol is a substitute for icthyol, lacking the unpleasant 

 odor of the latter medicament. Thiol is derived from brown- 

 colored paraffin or gas-oils, by a complicated process, and 

 consists of a mixture of sulphuretted hydrocarbons. The 

 drug exists in two forms: 1, thiolum liquidum, a thin, 

 brownish-black liquid, soluble in water and glycerin; 2, 

 thiolum siccum, occurring in lustrous scales. Thiol is 

 cheaper than icthyol and is said to be as efficacious as the 

 latter. This remains to be proved. Liquid thiol is employed 

 in 10 per cent, aqueous solution or in ointment ; and thiolum 

 siccum in powder, dusted on inflamed parts, as in acute 

 moist eczema. 



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