C  T  A  Ointments  J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
5A4  Uinimems.  \  November,  1900. 
the  fact  that  from  the  earliest  historic  times  they  have  been  included 
in  the  religious  practices  and  ceremonials  of  various  races.  Among 
the  Jews  temples  and  places  of  worship  were  consecrated  and  priests, 
prophets  and  kings  were  introduced  into  their  offices  by  anointing 
them  with  sacred  ointments. 
The  old  Egyptians  anointed  their  gods  and  temples  on  festive 
occasions,  and  from  here  the  practice  probably  spread  to  Greece 
and  other  countries  with  whom  the  Egyptians  came  in  contact. 
This  use  of  ointment,  as  a  part  of  religious  ceremonial,  has  been 
preserved,  and  in  both  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches  of  to-day 
the  sacred  ointments  form  an  essential  part  of  many  of  their  cere- 
monies. 
The  ancient  Greeks  made  use  of  ointments  to  anoint  their 
athletes,  so  as  to  make  their  joints  more  supple  and  to  give  them 
additional  strength  for  the  various  contests. 
From  a  pharmaceutical  point  of  view  ointments  are  of  especial 
interest  for  several  reasons,  one  of  them  the  periodic  discussions  as 
to  the  proper  or  most  satisfactory  base  to  be  used  in  their  prepara- 
tion. The  number  of  compounds  or  mixtures  that  have  been  recom- 
mended from  time  to  time  as  a  suitable  or  satisfactory  base  for  oint- 
ments are  too  numerous  to  even  enumerate,  to  say  nothing  of 
entering  into  a  general  discussion  as  to  their  relative  merits.  We  will 
confine  our  remarks,  therefore,  to  a  discussion,  or,  perhaps,  what 
would  seem  more  appropriate,  to  an  expression  of  opinion  as  to  the 
relative  value  and  adaptability  of  lard  and  petrolatum  as  a  base  for 
the  official  ointments. 
The  present  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  recognizes  twenty-three 
official  ointments.  In  twenty  of  them  lard  is  the  chief  ingredient 
of  the  base. 
The  same  Pharmacopoeia  also  defines  what  is  meant  by  the  term 
lard,  and  gives  a  number  of  tests  for  its  identification  and  the  detec- 
tion of  foreign  substances  or  adulterations. 
Such  pharmacists  as  have  ever  applied  these  tests  will  admit  that 
it  is  rather  difficult,  if  not  well-nigh  impossible,  to  obtain  lard  in  the 
open  market  that  will  come  up  to  all  the  requirements  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia,  and  that  practically  the  only  way  of  obtaining  a 
thoroughly  pure  and  satisfactory  article  is  to  make  it,  by  trying  out 
the  so-called  "  leaf  lard,"  although  at  times  this  is  rather  difficult  to 
obtain,  as  the  large  packing  houses,  who  practically  control  the 
