Amjl™-J£™}  Varieties.  311 
general  relaxation  ;  it  also  produces  a  veratroid  contraction.  The  opium  alkaloids 
all  have  a  dominant  action  on  the  nervous  system,  causing  first  increased  exaggerated 
functions,  and,  if  the  dose  is  large  enough,  a  paralysis  of  them.  In  the  warm- 
blooded animals  this  action  is  both  on  the  spinal  cord  and  cerebrum. — Detroit  Lancet, 
March. 
Thymol — The  essential  oils  of  thyme,  of  American  horsemint  and  of  the  Ptycbotis 
ajowjan  contain  a  substance,  a  homologueof  phenol  or  carbolic  acid,  having  the  compo- 
sition represented  by  C10HuO,  and  known  as  thymol   For  more  than  two  years  this  has 
been  used  by  German  surgeons,  and  is  now  being  introduced  among  ourselves.  It 
was  discovered  in  1719  by  Caspar  Neumann,  examined  chemically  by  Lallemand 
and  Leonard  Doveri,  and  first  used  to  deodorize  unhealthy  wounds  by  Bouillon  and 
Paquet,  of  Lille,  in  1868.    In  1875  several  German  surgeons  published  investigations 
of  its  antiseptic  properties,  which  are  estimated  to  be  from  4  to  25  times  as  powerful 
under  certain  circumstances  as  those  of  carbolic  acid.    Thymol  is  a  crystalline,  nearly 
colorless  body,  with  a  pleasant  odor  and  an  aromatic  burning  taste.    Its  specific 
gravity  is  1  028,  and  it  melts  at  44°C.    It  dissolves  in  1,200  parts  of  cold  water,  1 
part  of  rectified  spirit,  120  parts  glycerin,  and  in  ^  part  of  caustic  alkalies.  Fats 
and  oils  also  dissolve  it  readily.    It  is  prepared  from  the  oils  of  either  of  the  plants 
before  mentioned,  but  pharmacists  should  beware  of  experimenting  on  English  sam- 
ples of  oil  of  thyme,  as  but  few  of  them  are  genuine,  or,  at  least,  contain  any 
thymol.    The  oil  is  said  to  yield  as  much  as  50  per  cent,  of  thymol  on  the  Conti- 
tinent.    Thymol  can  be  manufactured  from  these  oils  by  treating  them  with  an 
equal  volume  of  a  20  per  cent,  solution  of  caustic  soda,  separating  the  alkaline 
liquid,  and  neutralizing  with  hydrochloric  acid,  when  the  thymol  will  float  to  the 
surface.    It  may  also  be  obtained  by  submitting  the  oils  to  a  low  temperature  for  a 
few  days,  when  the  thymol  crystallizes  out.    Its  powerful  antiseptic  action,  exceed- 
ing under  some  conditions  that  of  carbolic  acid,  its  small  activity  as  a  poison — about 
one-tenth  of  that  of  carbolic  acid — and  the  absence  of  irritating  effect  when  it  is 
applied  to  the  skin,  all  point  to  its  use  as  a  substitute  for  carbolic  acid  in  the  now 
well-known  antiseptic  treatment  of  surgical  cases  elaborated  by  Professor  Lister. 
This  substitution  has  been  made  with  great  success  by  Professor  Volkmann,  of 
Halle.    For  the  spray  solution,  this  gentleman  uses  a  mixture  of  1  part  thymol,  10 
alcohol,  20  glycerin,  1,000  water  5  but  we  understand  that  a  solution  in  water  only, 
which  will  not  deposit,  may  be  made  by  adding  1  part  of  thymol  to  1000  of  hot 
water.    For  the  gauze  dressings  used  by  Professor  Lister,  others  were  substituted, 
made  by  saturating  1,000  parts  of  bleached  gauze  with  a  mixture  of  500  parts  sper- 
maceti, 50  resin  and  16  of  thymol.    This  prepared  gauze  is  extremely  soft  and  pli- 
ant, and,  to  use  the  words  of  the  reporter,  sucks  up  blood  and  the  secretions  of  a 
wound  like  a  sponge.    The  fibres  of  the  gauze  being  impregnated  with  spermaceti, 
cannot,  of  course,  become  saturated  with  the  secretions,  so  that  they  do  not  become 
stiff.    Thymol  has  been  used  for  various  skin  diseases  by  Dr.  R.  Crocker,  but  the 
results  of  his  experiments  have  not  yet  been  published.    As  an  internal  remedv, 
thymol  does  not  seem  to  make  much  way.    It  has  proved  useful  in  diseases  of  the 
stomach,  accompanied  by  fermentation,  and  Mr.  W.  H.  Stone  reports  in  the  "  Med- 
ical Times  and  Gazette"  that  he  has  found  it  useful  in  cases  of  chorea,  one  form  of 
