THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
NOVEMBER,  1881. 
OLEATES  AND  OLEO-PALMITATES. 
By  L.  Wolff,  M.D. 
Read  at  the  PhamaGeutical  Meeting^  October  18. 
Since  the  publication  of  my  article  on  Oleic  Acid  and  the  Oleates, 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy/'  1879^  page  8,  there  has  been  much 
written  on  the  subject  of  the  oleates  and  much  complaint  made  of 
their  instability^  their  indefinite  character  and,  above  all,  their  price. 
That  the  oleates  were  destined  to  play  a  most  important  part  amongst 
therapeutics,  and  largely  applicable  for  dermic  medication  instead  of 
many  of  the  unsightly  and  often  inert  ointments  in  use  until  now,  is 
a  fact  that  cannot  well  be  disputed.    That  a  substance  which  is 
aj)plied  to  the  cutaneous  surface,  dissolved  in  tlie  vehicle  containing  it, 
will  prove  more  efficacious,  by  penetrating  deeper  into  the  tissues 
than  an  insoluble  powder  distributed  on  the  surface  can  also  not  be 
denied. 
When  the  oleates  were  first  proposed  on  theoretical  grounds,  and 
introduced  in  medicine,  they  were  thought  to  be  the  desiderata,  by 
which  dermic  medication  could  be  accomplished ;  but  alas,  like  many 
a  priori  conclusions,  the  practical  results,  while  in  many  instances  very 
satisfactory,  left  in  general  much  to  be  desired. 
The  cause  of  this  is  possibly  largely  attributable  to  the  fact  that,  so 
far,  our  oleates  have  been  of  a  character  scarcely  entitling  them  to 
that  name,  for  a  solution  of  a  metallic  oxide  in  acid  without  a  reaction 
or  the  presence  of  water  cannot  be  considered  a  salt  according  to  the 
present  views  of  chemical  knowledge.  That  they  are  oleic  solutions 
and,  as  such,  of  therapeutic  value  is,  however,  not  to  be  disputed, 
though  even  as  such  they  are  of  indefinite  strength,  if  we  take  the 
so-called  oleate  of  mercury  as  example,  for  when  the  j^roper  amount 
of  mercuric  oxide  is  added  only  a  small  quantity  of  it  remains  in 
solution  while  the  greater  part,  especially  if  the  acid  is  not  pure,  is 
very  soon  reduced  to  metallic  mercury  and,  as  such,  precipitated.  If 
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