CARBOLIC  ACID  PLASTER. 
349 
it  maj,  perhaps,  interest  Mr.  Gissing,  or  other  of  your  readers, 
to  know  how  much  better  a  plaster  can  be  produced  by  the  use 
of  resinous  extract  of  belladonna  root  than  that  made  with  the 
spirituous  extract  of  the  leaf. 
Instead  of  the  dark,  nasty  preparation  of  the  Pharmacopoeia, 
I  obtain  a  beautiful  plaster,  somewhat  resembling  empl.  cerat. 
sapon.,  which  adheres  very  nicely,  requiring  no  adhesive  mar- 
gin, neither  does  it  run  nor  exude,  so  that  it  may  be  worn  a 
month  or  longer  without  staining  the  linen  or  producing  any  dis- 
discomfort  whatever. 
When  this  plaster  is  made  with  a  third  of  its  weight  of  pure 
extract,  it  is  remarkably  soothing,  and,  judging  by  my  own  ex- 
perience, I  think  it  promotes  quiet  and  refreshing  sleep. 
I  am  not  aware  that  the  extract  of  the  root  has  ever  been  used 
in  this  way  before,  but  I  think  it  must  commend  itself  to  every 
pharmacist,  as,  besides  being  cleaner,  the  root  is  always  more  to 
be  relied  on  for  medicinal  activity  than  any  other  part  of  the 
plant.* 
I  am,  gentlemen,  yours  respectfully, 
John  Balmer. 
205  St.  John  Street  Road,  London,  E.  C,  April  20,  1869. 
— London  Pharm.  Journ.^  May^  1869. 
CARBOLIC  ACID  PLASTER. 
By  Joseph  Hirsh. 
Surgery  has  so  far  employed  carbolic  acid  in  three  shapes, 
viz.  :  that  of  carbolic  oil,  being  a  mixture  with  linseed  oil ;  of 
carbolic  lotion,  which  is  a  dilute  solution  in  water  ;  and  that  of 
carbolic  paste,  which  is  formed  by  its  mixture  with  chalk. 
The  preeminent  position,  in  which  the  success  with  this  drug 
has  placed  it,  in  surgery,  prompts  me  to  suggest  its  use  in  a 
more  portable  form,  which,  with  the  virtues  of  the  above  prepa- 
*  A  process  analogous  to  this  has  been  in  use  for  some  time  past  in 
Philadelphia,  and  the  Pharmocopoeia  Committee  of  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy  have  adopted  the  extract  of  the  root  of  belladonna 
as  the  basis  of  belladonna  plaster  in  their  revision. — Editor  A,  J. 
Pharm. 
