22 
Advances  in  Pharmacy. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
January,  1920. 
felt  that  it  is  as  easily  absorbed  through  the  skin  as  the  ordinary- 
blue  ointment,  they  advised  that  it  be  used  for  inunction  purposes 
and  advanced  a  formula  consisting  of: 
The  arguments  of  the  above  authors  as  to  its  absorbability  seemed 
so  convincing  that  Cole  and  Littman,  of  Cleveland,  began  to  use 
it  in  their  private  practice.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  191 7.  Since 
then  the  use  of  calomel  has  become  so  popular  that  a  manufacturing 
house  has  brought  out  an  ointment  of  calomel  which  is  a  little  more 
pleasant  than  the  ordinary  preparation,  though  probably  no  more 
efficient.  After  using  this  for  some  time  Cole  and  I^ittman  began  to 
feel  that  it  was  not  doing  what  was  expected  of  it.  For  one  thing, 
the  patients  never  became  salivated  with  it,  which  struck  them  as 
significant.  They  also  noticed  that  many  times  patients  did  not 
react  to  this  treatment  as  they  had  to  blue  ointment  inunctions  or 
injections  of  mercury.  These  results,  or  lack  of  results,  led  them 
to  carry  out  a  series  of  tests  in  a  scientific  manner  to  determine  the 
efficacy  of  calomel  inunctions.  Fresh  clinical  syphilis  in  the  venereal 
wards  of  the  Cleveland  City  Hospital  was  used  for  the  demonstra- 
tions. Tests  on  fifty-four  cases  were  carried  out  in  as  unprejudiced 
manner  as  possible.  The  investigation  was  undertaken  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Therapeutic  Research  Committee  of  the  Council  on 
<     ..Pharmacy  and  Chemistry  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 
,  <\  ,  The  cases  were  carefully  watched:  routine  Wassermann  tests 
'bn  the  blood,  Spirochceta  pallida  examinations  and  spinal  fluid  ex- 
aminations were  made  in  every  case.  Care  was  taken  in  all  in- 
stances in  using  the  ointments  that  patients  were  always  under  the 
observation  of  an  orderly  or  of  a  nurse  to  see  that  the  inunction  was 
rubbed  in  through  a  space  of  at  least  thirty  minutes  for  six  nights 
in  each  week,  with  a  hot  bath  on  the  seventh  night,  and  without  other 
medication.  In  nearly  all  the  cases  the  calomel  ointment  described 
above  was  used,  it  having  been  prepared  by  the  hospital  pharmacist. 
In  a  few  cases  a  proprietary  calomel  ointment  was  used.  It  was 
often  difficult  to  keep  the  patients  under  this  treatment  as  long  as  the 
investigators  would  desire  as  some  of  them  noticed  that  they  did 
not  improve  under  this  manner  of  treatment.  To  quiet  them  they 
were  given  saline  injection  as  a  placebo  so  that  they  would  be  under 
Hydrargyri  chloridi  mitis 
Lanolini  
Adipis  benzoinati  
3  .00  Gm. 
1  .00  Gm. 
2  .00  Gm. 
