664 
J. F. WINCHESTER. 
power very much. The drugs which do this most effectively 
are the carbonates of sodium and of potassium. By the alka- 
linization of the blood of rabbits he made a large per cent, of 
them refractory to anthrax. 
The alkali very frequently used by a great many is potash 
or some of its salts. The iodide of potass, closely resembles 
iodine, but is less powerful and devoid of local irritant action. 
It is an antiseptic. It promotes absorption of morbid products. 
Professors Thernassen and Nocard trust implicitly to the iodide 
in actinomycosis. In chronic poisoning with lead or mercury 
it removes the metals from the tissues and from the body. 
Potassium permanganate, although it has not the antiseptic 
power of corrosive sublimate, effectually destroys bacteria. 
Goldberg, in summarizing the results obtained by all authors on 
the irrigation treatment of gonorrhoea, shows 60 per cent, cured 
within ten days, 30 per cent, within two weeks, while 5 per 
cent, required a longer period, and 5 per cent, were recorded as 
failures. The success was brought about by the use of a solu¬ 
tion of permanganate of potassium (ordinarily one part to three 
thousand parts of water), all forms of internal medication and 
nauseous dosing being done away with. 
The volatile or essential oils are mostly of vegetable origin, 
being found generally in the flowers, leaves, fruit or seeds of 
plants, but they occur in all parts of the coniferse. Most are 
found ready formed, but some, as the hydrocyanated almond 
and mustard oils, are produced by a species of fermentation. 
The chemical constitution of the volatile oils differs from that 
of the fixed oils; most are pure hydrocarbons, with the mole¬ 
cular formula of oil of turpentine (C 10 H 16 ) and are termed 
terpines. The volatile oils are antiseptics and stimulants . Oil 
of turpentine in medicinal doses is an antiseptic and stimulant, 
especially of mucous and skin surfaces. Like other volatile oils 
it is an active antiseptic. In destroying bacteria spores Koch 
found it more effective than alcohol, ether, chloroform or 
benzol, as no spores germinated after being wet with it for five 
days. It is eliminated by the lungs; it acts as a stimulant, an 
