164  New  Agent  in  Pulmonary  Ttiberculosis.^^\^v°^-^Tm- 
is  interesting,  showing  that  from  the  earliest  times  the  subject  of 
inhalation  has  held  an  important  place.  As  early  as  1664  this  method 
was  applied  by  Bennett  in  the  treatment  of  pulmonary  tuberculosis. 
Laennec  in  1810  employed  it  with  considerable  success ;  Schneider 
and  Valz  constructed  the  first  nebulizer  in  1829,  and  Auphan  applied 
pulverization  and  nebulization  in  the  treatment  of  chronic  diseases 
of  the  respiratory  tract  in  1847.  About  the  same  year  Salles-Girons 
established  an  inhalatorium  at  Pierrefonds,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
question  was  raised  of  the  possibility  of  reaching  the  lungs  by  these 
methods.  A  lively  discussion  followed,  and  repeated  experiments  by 
such  investigators  as  Dumarquay,  Fournie,  Bourouilloux,  Gratiolet 
and  Travenier,  Poggiale,  Gerhardt,  Waldenburg,  and  Solis-Cohen 
have  finally  demonstrated  that  by  pulverization  and  nebulization 
remedies  may  be  efficiently  administered,  the  latter  observer  even 
going  so  far  as  to  state  that  a  physician  had  not  done  his  full  duty, 
in-  some  cases,  unless  he  resorted  to  such  methods.  Many  other 
studies  of  this  subject  have  been  made,  among  the  more  recent  being 
those  of  Heryng  (1902),  Freund  (1907),  Foxwell  (1907),  Cointet 
(1909),  and  Bulling  (1909),  the  general  result  of  which  has  been 
one  of  approval.  Though  the  therapeutic  and  even  the  germicidal 
action  of  inhaled  sprays,  especially,  has  been  confirmed,  such  action 
seems  to  be  limited  to  the  surface  of  the  respiratory  mucous  mem- 
brane, and  the  influence  upon  pathogenic  conditions,  such  as  tubercle, 
in  the  lung  tissue,  is  very  problematic. 
The  ethereal  oils  and  the  balsams  have  been  found  to  be  the  most 
useful  substances  for  inhalation,  oil  of  turpentine,  oil  of  eucalyptus, 
oil  of  cade,  the  balsams  of  Peru  and  Tolu,  and  creosote  having  been 
employed  with  more  or  less  success,  either  in  vapor  form  or  nebulized 
by  means  of  atomizers  and  nebulizers. 
Oil  of  turpentine  and  some  of  the  other  volatile  oils  owe  their 
therapeutic  value  to  terpenes.  The  terpenes  are  hydrocarbons  having 
the  composition  represented  by  C10H16,  or  some  multiple  of  that 
formula.  The  principle  common  to  all  terpenes  is  pinene.  It  is  a 
constituent  of  the  volatile  oils  of  the  pine  family  and  of  several  other 
families  of  plants.  This  study  deals  not  with  turpentine,  the  complex 
oleoresin  of  the  pine  tree,  but  with  its  chief  constituent,  pinene.  To 
it  are  attributed  the  physiologic  and  therapeutic  actions  of  oil  of 
turpentine. 
Locally,  pinene  is  a  powerful  stimulant  to  the  skin  and  mucous 
membranes.    It  is  also  antiseptic  and  bactericidal,  and  appears  to  be 
