144  On  New  Pulmonary  Medicaments.  {AmM&rcl'Jmtm' 
requiring,  as  it  does,  200  parts  of  cold  water  to  dissolve  one  part  of 
this  substance ;  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  alcohol 
in  order  to  obtain  active  solutions;  which  is  a  drawback  when  one 
desires  to  prescribe  it  for  diuretic  purposes. 
We  have  given  terpin  in  much  larger  doses  than  M.  Lepine ;  we 
have  administered  one,  two,  and  even  three  grams  a  day  without 
obtaining  any  well-marked  diuretic  effect;  so,  in  accordance  with 
Tanret's  suggestion,  we  have  substituted  terpinol  for  terpin. 
Terpinol  is  an  oily  liquid  body,  which  gives  forth  a  very  strong 
odor  of  tuberose  (Polianthes  tuberosa),  and  especially  of  gardenia 
(cape  jasmine).  Adrian  has  made  for  me  capsules  with  terpinol,  each 
containing  ten  centigrams  (one  and  two-thirds  grains),  and  we  give 
our  patients  six,  eight,  ten  and  even  twelve  of  these  capsules  a  day. 
Terpinol  may  also  be  given  in  pill  form,  and  here  we  give  Tanret's 
formula,  which  can  hardly  be  improved  upon :  Take  of  terpinol, 
benzoate  of  sodium,  of  each,  ten  centigrams  (one  and  two-thirds 
grains),  sugar,  q.  s.  for  one  pill.  These  pills  contain  the  same  quan- 
tity of  terpinol  as  the  capsules. 
We  have  made  several  experiments  on  animals,  and  have  noted : — 
(1)  The  rapid  elimination  by  the  respiratory  passages  of  terpinol, 
which  long  imparts  its  special  odor  to  the  breath;  (2)  Its  feeble 
elimination  by  the  urine,  which  also  gives  forth  the  odor  of  terpinol, 
though  much  less  markedly  than  the  breath. 
We  then  made  trials  of  terpinol  in  two  orders  of  complaints — pul- 
monary catarrh  and  affections  of  the  urinary  passages.  As  might 
have  been  foreseen,  it  was  in  pulmonary  catarrh  that  we  obtained 
the  best  results,  since  it  is  chiefly  by  the  pulmonary  surface  that  ter- 
pinol is  eliminated.  The  sputa  become  more  fluid,  their  bad  odor 
disappears,  and  expectoration  is  facilitated.  In  affections  of  the  urin- 
ary organs,  the  results  have  been  almost  nil.  As  a  diuretic  and  modi- 
fier of  the  urine,  it  has  shown  itself  very  much  inferior  to  turpentine. 
So  that  if  we  were  to  attempt  to  classify  these  three  substances, 
turpentine,  terpin  and  terpinol,  according  to  their  therapeutic  effects, 
we  should  say  that  for  the  catarrhal  affections  of  the  bronchi,  terpinol 
deserves  the  first  place  and  turpentine  the  last,  while  in  the  case  of 
catarrh  of  the  urinary  organs,  the  order  is  exactly  the  reverse.  This 
completes  what  I  have  to  say  at  present  on  the  subject  of  new  pul- 
monary medicaments  and  antiseptic  medications. — Medical  News,  Feb. 
20,  1886. 
