Du Mez—The Galenical Oleoresins. 
967 
History 
The oleoresin of aspidium, or Huile de Fougere Male as it 
was originally known, was first prepared by Peschier in 1825. 1 
The advantages of Peschier’s preparation over the forms in 
which male fern was being administered at the time were quickly 
noted and it received almost immediate recognition throughout 
Europe. The rapidity with which it was taken up by the 
medical profession is evidenced in the fact that it was mentioned 
in the Vereinigte Pharmacopoeen der Londoner, Edingurgher 
und Dubliner Medicines Collegien, a German translation of the 
pharmacopoeias of London* Edinburgh and Dublin, which ap¬ 
peared in 1827, and, that two years later (1829), it became of¬ 
ficial in the Prussian Pharmacopoeia. Its introduction into 
other European pharmacopoeias followed, as a general rule, in 
the chronological order of their appearance or revision, whereas, 
it was the last of this class of preparations to be admitted to the 
United States Pharmacopoeia previous to the ninth revision, 
having been recognized for the first time in the edition of 1870. 
At the present time, it is the only preparation of this kind 
which is official in all of the national pharmacopoeias. How¬ 
ever, it is only in the United States where it is officially recog¬ 
nized under the title oleoresin, it being classed as an extract 
in all of the foreign pharmacopoeias. For a better apprecia¬ 
tion of this fact, see the preceding table of synonyms. 
A better idea of the popularity of this preparation and the 
rate at which it came into prominence will be obtained from 
the following table in which are chronologically enumerated the 
names of the pharmacopoeias of the countries, states and muni¬ 
cipalities where it first received official recognition, also, the 
dates of appearance of the succeeding editions in which it occurs. 
Prussian Pharmacopoeia—1829, 1846, 1862. 
Pharmacopoeia of Baden -— 1841. 
Austrian Pharmacopoeia—1844, 1869, 1889, 1906. 
Pharmacopoeia of Schleswig-Holstein — 1844. 
1 Gebhardt in 1821, and Morin in 1824, in their analyses of male fern, 
extracted the rhizomes with ether and obtained what they termed a thick, 
green, fatty oil. This was, of course, the Huile de Foug&re of Peschier. 
Neither of these investigators, however, pointed out its value as a galenical 
preparation, although, the latter stated that he considered it to be the ther¬ 
apeutically active principle of the rhizomes. 
