— 129 — 
degree of anaemia, it is advisable to give a course of warm baths, 
to which has been added calamus - root , spirit of calamus, spirit of 
mustard, spirit of camphor, or eau de Cologne; these baths are 
willingly taken by the children, and they improve in a striking manner 
the condition of the skin, and indirectly also the composition of 
the blood. 
In neuralgic affections below the skin, (trigeminus-, intercostal-, 
ischiadicus-neuralgia) , in muscular rheumatism, chronic articular rheu- 
matism, in dry pleurisy, and in pericarditis, the legion of stimulating 
remedies which are rubbed on are turned to account. They very 
often contain oil of turpentine, oil of rosemary, camphor, oil of 
mustard, etc. A turpentine - ointment sold on a large scale bears 
the proud name of ''King's Ointment" — Unguentum basilicum. 
Not infrequently such mixtures are sold largely as proprietary medicines. 
For example, ^^Kloster- Balsam'' (friar's balsam?) is nothing but a vaseline- 
ointment containing turpentine. 
R. Heinz 1) has supplied an experimental work on the local in- 
flammation-producing action of oil of turpentine. The different varieties 
of oil of turpentine, such as pine-needle oil, oil from fir-cones, etc. 
differ in odour, but not in the action. The same applies to pine- 
needle oil from Pinus montana, to which I will return lower down. 
All the constituents of the various oils of turpentine appear to have 
a share in the local stimulating action, and the use of the individual 
and comparatively expensive constituents would therefore not be of 
much advantage. Oil of rosemary, whose toxic symptoms I have at 
one time studied jointly with P. Schreiber^), consists of pinene, 
camphene, cineol, camphor, and borneol. In the form of nerve-oint- 
ment, Unguentum rosmarini co^npositum, it is still in demand. The com- 
position readily explains the local stimulating effect of oil of rosemary. 
Tincture of arnica, which, unfortunately, is still popular with ladies, 
and the butter-like oil of arnica - blossoms which it contains in very 
small quantity, and which has not yet been examined chemically, are 
the worst of all skin- stimulants ; Hebra has already cautioned against 
their use in emphatic language, as they frequently produce severe in- 
flammation of the skin. Less harmful are the oils of marjoram and of 
balm. The oils of cumin {^Cuminum cymifium) and of fever-few (Matri- 
caria parthenium) have no connection with the womb (as might be 
assumed from the German names MutterkUmmel and Mutterkraut^^ but 
are at most only used as popular remedies, for rubbing on, when mixed 
with nutmeg-balsam. It is highly questionable whether they have any 
value whatever. Many of the local stimulants also belong at the same 
^) Studien liber die Entziindung seroser Haute. Miinch. med. Wochensclir. 
1900, No. 7. 
^) Das Rosmarinol. Thesis, Halle o. S., 1878. 
9 
