USE  OF  BENZOIN  IN  OINTMENTS. 
33 
ON  THE  USE  OF  BENZOIN  IN  OINTMENTS. 
By  Thomas  Doliber. 
In  1865  I  accepted  the  query  in  regard  to  benzoinated  lard. 
The  query  consisted  of  three  distinct  clauses,  of  which  the  first, 
as  to  the  best  process  of  benzoinating  lard,  was  answered  in  a 
paper  read  before  the  Association  last  year,  (see  Proc.  Am. 
Pharm.  Ass.  1866,  p.  224.)  Continued  experience  has  confirmed 
me  in  the  belief  that  the  formula  there  given  is  at  least  as  good 
as  any  that  has  been  made  known.  Having  been  told,  however, 
by  one  or  two  persons  that  they  were  unsuccessful  in  preparing 
benzoinated  lard  by  that  formula,  the  preparation  sometimes 
having  a  yellowish  tinge,  I  would  say  that  the  tincture  should 
always  be  made  from  the  best  selected  benzoin  ;  the  lard  should 
be  obtained  in  the  "leaf"  and  rendered  in  the  laboratory. 
Lard  as  found  in  the  markets  will  not  always  answer  the  purpose, 
having  been  improperly  prepared. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  answer  the  second  clause,  in  regard 
to  its  use  in  mercurial  ointment,  which  was  only  partly  success- 
ful, the  ointment  not  having  been  made  long  enough  to  become 
rancid.  In  June,  1866,  three  portions  of  mercurial  ointment 
were  made.  At  the  end  of  14  months  they  are  found  in  the 
following  condition  :  the  first,  made  in  accordance  with  the 
formula  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  is  thoroughly  rancid.  The  second, 
in  which  the  ointment  of  benzoin  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  was  sub- 
stituted for  lard,  is  rancid,  but  somewhat  less  so  than  the  first. 
The  third,  in  which  benzoinated  lard  was  used  instead  of  lard, 
still  remains  perfectly  sweet  and  unchanged.  These  ointments 
have  been  exposed  to  the  air,  although  covered  lightly  with 
paper,  on  a  high  shelf  in  a  warm  room  during  the  winter,  and  at 
the  ordinary  temperature  during  the  summer,  as  have  also  all 
the  cerates  and  ointments  experimented  upon  which  are  men- 
tioned in  this  paper. 
So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  it  is  the  universal  opinion 
of  those  physicians  who  have  used  the  benzoinated  ointments, 
that  their  medicinal  properties  are  not  injured,  but  are  improved 
by  the  process.  Especially  is  this  the  case  with  benzoinated  • 
ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc,  which  has  been  used  for  the  past  ten 
years  in  this  city  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  and  the  use  of 
3 
