170 



Scientific Proceedings (127) 



78 (2038) 



A note on the antiseptic properties of olive oil. 



By JUSTINA H. HILL (by invitation) and DAVID I. MACHT. 



[From, the Brady Urologieal Institute and the Pharmacological 

 Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University.] 



While studying the antiseptic properties of various benzyl 

 compounds described elsewhere, 1 the authors examined a num- 

 ber of drugs which were insoluble in water, in order to test 

 their bactericidal or antiseptic properties. Solutions of these 

 drugs were made in various oils and the effects of the oily solu- 

 tions were studied on staphylococcus pyogenes aureus. In this 

 connection some interesting observations on the effect of the oils 

 themselves were noted which were deemed worth while report- 

 ing in this place. In order to determine the antiseptic efficiency 

 of the drugs in oil check or control experiments were made with 

 the oils themselves by the following method. 



Twenty-four hour broth cultures of staphylococcus pyogenes 

 aureus were used for these tests, the cultures being filtered 

 through glass wool before use to remove clumps of organism. 

 2 c.c. of the sterile oil to be tested was inoculated with one 

 standard loopful of culture. Specimens for plating were re- 

 moved at the end of 1 minute, 1 hour, 3 hours and 5 hours, each 

 specimen being 0.1 c.c. drawn from the emulsion by means of a 

 capillary pipette attached by a rubber stopper to a Tuberculin 

 syringe. Dilutions in two parallel series were made in sterile 

 0.875 per cent, sodium chloride solution. Agar plates were 

 made from these dilutions, and after 48 hours at 37.5 C°., the 

 two parallel plates of the same dilution which showed the most 

 suitable number of colonies for counting were selected, the 

 colonies counted and the number of bacteria per c.c. estimated. 



The following oils were examined; olive oil, cottonseed oil, 

 liquid petrolatum or albolene (mineral oil), peach kernel oil 

 and oil of sweet almonds. The results obtained are expressed 

 in the subjoined table. It will be noted that olive oil exhibited 

 an action very different from all the other oils studied. It was 

 distinctly antiseptic and germicidal. The number of organisms 

 was rapidly decreased after one hour and the cultures were com- 



