Am.  Jour.  Piiarm. ) 
3Iay,  1901 .  J 
Oxygenated  Petrolatum. 
221 
line  as  a  base  and  vehicle  for  active  drugs.  The  writer's  attention 
was  especially  attracted  by  an  article,  contributed  to  the  Fharmaceu- 
tische  Centralhalle  (1900,  ^p.  631),  by  G.  Roch,  in  which  the  author 
describes  "  Vasogen  "  and  its  physical  properties,  and  also  gives  a 
formula  for  making  an  article  that  is  nearly  identical  in  appearance 
and  in  many  of  its  other  qualities.  The  formula  given  by  Roch  is 
as  follows:  Liquid  paraffine,  ico;  oleic  acid,  50;  aqua  ammonia, 
Ph.  Ger.,  25  ;  alcohol,  10.  Mix  in  a  flask  or  beaker  and  heat  on  a 
water-bath,  stirring  constantly,  until  the  liquid  is  perfectly  clear  and 
transparent.  The  resulting  product  is  practically  a  solution  of  an 
ammonia  soap  in  liquid  paraffine. 
A  preparation  oi  this  kind  seemed  to  offer  so  many  possibilities 
for  practical  application  that  the  writer  was  induced  to  make  some 
experiments  with  a  view7  of  still  further  simplifying  the  formula,  so 
as  to  avoid,  if  possible,  the  rather  tedious  process  of  boiling.  The 
following  formula  was  finally  adopted  as  giving  a  satisfactory  pro- 
duct with  little  or  no  possibility  of  failure,  even  in  the  hands  of  the 
veriest  tyro:  Liquid  paraffine,  100;  oleic  acid,  50 ;  spirits  of  am- 
monia, U.S. P.,  25.  Mix.  The  resulting  mixture  is  a  yellow,  oily 
liquid  that  readily  dissolves  iodine,  salol,  salicylic  acid  and  many  of 
the  alkaloids,  mixes  readily  with  chloroform  and  the  essential  oils, 
and  makes  a  stable  emulsion  with  water  in  almost  any  proportion. 
The  alcohol  remaining  in  the  preparation  does  not  seem  to  be  a 
disadvantage,  or  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  properties  of  the 
compound.  For  these  reasons  it  has  not  been  deemed  necessary  to 
get  rid  of  it. 
It  has  been  the  practice,  at  the  German  Hospital,  to  designate 
distinctive  compounds  and  substitutes  for  proprietary  preparations 
with  a  more  or  less  original  and  descriptive  title,  the  object  being 
to  facilitate  the  writing  of  orders  or  prescriptions  during  the  busy 
hours  of  the  day,  and  to  avoid,  if  possible,  any  violation  of  the  ex- 
isting patent  or  trade-mark  laws  of  the  country.  Following  this 
established  precedent,  the  name  or  title  decided  on  for  this  mixture 
was  a  combination  of  the  initial  parts  of  the  words  petrolatum  and  4 
oxygen,  and  it  is  as  "  Petrox"  that  we  shall  refer  to  this  compound 
in  the  remaining  portion  of  these  remarks. 
Petrox,  in  addition  to  its  solvent  action  on  many  of  the  more  ac- 
tive medicinal  compounds,  also  facilitates  the  absorption  of  these 
drugs  when  applied  to  the  skin  or  mucous  membranes.    The  exten- 
