Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
April,  1914.  / 
Paraffin  Oil. 
and  might  have  some  value  in  the  treatment  of  certain  forms  of  con- 
stipation. It  was  also  thought  that  these  products  appeared  to  inhibit 
fermentation  and  would,  therefore,  be  of  value  in  the  treatment 
of  certain  forms  of  diarrhoea.  Some  fifteen  years  later,  Robert 
Hutchinson  of  England  reported  practically  the  same  observations 
and  this  report  led  to  the  then  quite  extensive  use  of  petroleum 
and  of  paraffin  oils  for  various  intestinal  disorders. 
The  at  one  time  widespread  use  of  purified  petroleum  products 
in  the  treatment  of  pulmonary  disorders,  is,  to  some  extent,  traceable 
to  the  administration  of  the  naturally  occurring  petroleum  products 
in  various  countries  and  at  various  times.  Crude  petroleum  has  been 
used  from  time  immemorial  as  a  medicine  and  perhaps  largely  be- 
cause of  its  disagreeable  odor  was  from  very  early  times  used  in 
the  treatment  of  diseases  of  the  respiratory  tract.  In  this  country 
"  Seneca  oil  "  had  considerable  vogue  from  time  to  time  and  was 
frequently  put  out  in  the  form  of  proprietary  or  "  patent  prepara- 
tions "  for  the  treatment  of  various  diseases.  After  the  introduction 
of  purified  petroleum  products  these  were  offered  as  substitutes  for 
the  formerly  used  crude  oil  and,  even  at  the  present  time,  the  adver- 
tising matter  put  out  in  connection  with  some  of  the  popularly  ex- 
ploited preparations  of  petroleum  do  not  satisfactorily  designate 
whether  or  no  the  crude  or  the  purified  product  is  being  advocated. 
During  the  past  three  or  four  decades,  purified  petroleum  products 
have  been  marketed  under  scores,  if  not  hundreds,  of  proprietary 
names  and  the  misleading  claims  and  statements  made  in  connection 
with  these  several  preparations  are  far  from  being  a  credit  to  the 
owners  or  to  the  persons  who  act  as  distributers  for  the  several 
articles.  That  there  is  some  element  of  truth  in  the  claims  that  have 
been  made  for  petroleum  products  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the 
use  of  petroleum,  crude  and  refined,  has  persisted  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  and  has  at  times,  like  the  present,  reached  amounts  that  were 
quite  considerable. 
With  the  renewed  interest  in  paraffin  oil  that  is  in  evidence  at 
present,  the  time  appears  to  be  particularly  opportune  for  pharma- 
cists who  are  willing  to  assist  in  making  for  true  progress  to  do 
missionary  work  and  to  point  out  to  physicians  in  a  rational  and 
sensible  way  that  paraffin  oil  and  other  petroleum  products,  while 
they  may  be  useful,  must  have  limitations,  that  many  of  the  claims 
made  for  the  proprietary  articles  are  unfounded  and  not  based  on 
fact,  that  in  the  event  that  the  physician  does  wish  to  experiment 
