Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  > 
April,  1914.  } 
Paraffin  Oil. 
153 
of  Europe  are  usually  of  the  denser  variety,  0.865  or  higher  at  150, 
but  this  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  there  the  oil  is  largely  used 
as  a  basis  for  ointments  and  the  various  other  uses  are  only  now 
being  developed. 
In  this  country  paraffin  oil  or$  as  it  is  better  known,  liquid  petro- 
leum, has  long  been  in  use  as  a  basis  for  oil  sprays  in  the  treatment 
of  affections  of  the  nose  and  throat  and  for  this  purpose  the  lighter 
and  more  limpid  oil  appears  to  be  preferred.  For  internal  adminis- 
tration Sir  W.  Arbuthnot  Lane  prefers  the  heavier,  European  type 
of  oil  and  this  is  now  available  in  this  country  and  is  being  intro- 
duced by  a  number  of  manufacturers  and  dealers  under  proprietary 
titles,  to  be  sold  at  fancy  prices.  Even  for  internal  use,  however, 
there  appears  to  be  a  definite  limit  to  the  solid  paraffin  that  an  oil 
can  hold  in  solution  and  be  palatable  or  readily  taken.  At  compara- 
tively low  temperatures  some  of  these  oils  are  nearly  solid  and  even 
at  ordinary  temperatures  they  are  so  viscid  that  they  do  not  readily 
leave  the  mouth  when  taken  internally. 
Up  to  the  present  time  it  is  by  no  means  positively  established 
that  the  comparatively  dense  or  the  viscid  oil  is  to  be  uniformly  pre- 
ferred for  internal  administration,  and  the  pharmacist  can  be  of 
service  not  alone  in  assisting  the  physician  to  determine  which  of 
the  two  products  is  the  preferable  one  but  also  in  devising  methods 
of  administration  and  preferable  flavors  to  overcome  the  objection- 
able taste  of  the  oil,  particularly  of  the  denser  variety  of  oil. 
One  further  question  that  may  be  discussed  briefly  is  the  dose. 
One  firm,  the  owner  of  the  product  most  widely  used  in  this  coun- 
try, says : 
"  Excellent  results  are  obtained  by  giving  the  oil  in  small  doses. 
In  mild  cases  a  tablespoonful  at  night  gives  prompt  relief.  In  longer 
standing  cases  make  it  almost  a  part  of  the  diet  and  give  one  or  two 
teaspoonfuls  just  after  meals." 
Dr.  Lane  and  many  of  his  followers,  on  the  other  hand,  give  the 
oil  in  much  larger  doses  and  insist  that  it  be  given  shortly  before 
meals  so  as  not  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  digestion  of  food 
which  it  probably  would  if,  as  proposed  above,  it  were  given  with  or 
immediately  after  meals  and  thereby  intimately  mixed  with  the 
stomach  content. 
Bastedo,  in  his  book  on  materia  medica,  pharmacology,  thera- 
peutics and  prescription  writing,  states  that  the  oil  is  only  mildly 
laxative  and  should  be  given  in  doses  of  30  c.c.  two  or  three  times 
