Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1882, 
I  Rapid  Preparation  of  Mercurial  Oiniment,  55 
THE  RAPID  PREPARATION  OF  MERCURIAL 
OINTMENT. 
Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
In  the  December  number  of  the  Journal^  Mr.  PhiL  Hoglan  gives 
a  process  for  rapidly  making  mercurial  ointment  by  using  a  small 
quantity  of  old  mercurial  ointment  for  the  extinguishment  of  the 
mercury.  There  is  no  doubt  of  its  success.  In  fact,  any  old  oint- 
ment, whether  mercurial  or  not,  will  answer,  but  the  process  is  objec- 
tionable in  this,  that  the  little  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump,"  and 
soon  causes  the  ointment  to  become  rancid  and  irritating. 
We  had  occasion  a  few  months  since  to  make  some  mercurial  oint- 
ment in  a  hurry,  and  used  a  small  quantity — one  ounce  to  twelve — of 
old  ointment,  and  when  it  was  used  a  few  weeks  afterward,  it  caused 
an  irritation  and  soreness  that  was  several  days  in  healing,  so  that  we 
were  glad  to  dispense  with  its  use,  instead  of  dispensing  it  over  the 
counter.  Won't  you  please  give  us  your  opinion  of  the  proposed 
process?  J.  H.  Redsecker. 
Lebanon,  Pa.,  Dec.  29,  1881. 
Remarks  by  the  Editor. — The  injurious  effects  of  ^^old'^  rancid 
fat  when  mixed  with  good  fats  are  well  known  ;  our  valued  correspond- 
ent states  the  case  correctly  :  it  leaveneth  the  whole  lump,''  and  in  the 
case  of  mercurial  ointment  renders,  in  a  short  time,  the  entire  amount 
unfit  for  medicinal  use,  at  least  in  those  cases  where  it  is  to  be  applied 
to  tender  or  excoriated  surfaces.  Yet  it  does  not  necessarily  follow 
that  Mr.  Hoglan's  old  mercurial  ointment  should  also  be  rancid,  though 
it  is  undoubtedly  correct  that  even  if  preserved  in  a  cool  place  and  as 
much  as  possible  protected  from  contact  with  the  atmosphere,  the 
mercurial  ointment  of  our  present  and  of  most  other  pharmacopoeias, 
will  in  the  course  of  time  and  under  the  conditions  under  which  it 
must  necessarily  be  kept  and  occasionally  exposed,  gradually  become 
rancid.  That  a  rancid  mercurial  ointment  is  not  absolutely  necessary 
for  facilitating  the  extinguishment  of  mercury,  but  that  a  fresh  oint- 
ment may  be  used  with  the  same  good  result,  has  been  observed  about 
fifty  years  ago;  for  A.  Buchner  (^'Repert.,"  1834,  xlviii,  p.  267)  states 
distinctly  that  the  mercurial  ointment  used  for  extinguishiug  the  mer- 
cury need  not  be  rancid.  Tlie  same  fact  was  also  recently  proven  by 
E.  Dieterich,  an  abstract  of  whose  paper  will  be  found  in  tliis  Journal^ 
