A.m.  Jour.  Pharm, 
Jan.,  1880. 
Mollisine, 
9 
MOLLISINE. 
By  William  C.  Bakes,  Ph.G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  December  15,  1879. 
The  increasing  popularity  of  petroleum  in  its  various  forms,  as  a 
medicinal  agent,  has  led  to  the  introduction  of  several  proprietary  pre- 
parations which  claim  to  be  made  exclusively  from  petroleum.  The 
convenience  to  the  pharmacist  of  having  a  stable  and  reliable  prepara- 
tion of  his  own  make  to  offer  in  place  of  such  proprietary  articles  will 
be  apparent. 
Last  summer  my  attention  was  called  to  a  brief  note  in  the  "Ameri- 
can Druggists'  Circular,"  suggesting  a  formula  for  a  substitute  for 
cosmolin  and  vaselin. 
I  procured  some  of  the  spindle  oil  and  made  a  number  of  experi- 
ments with  various  substances  ;  paraffin  did  not  answer  a  good  pur- 
pose— it  produced  a  flakey  ointment  which  was  quite  unsightly. 
Yellow  wax  seems  much  better  suited  as  a  congealing  substance, 
and  I  find  the  following  to  yield  a  nice  unguent  of  good  consistence 
and  permanent. 
The  proportions  are  as  follows  :  Spindle  oil  (Downer's),  29°  gravity, 
4  parts  ;  purified  yellow  wax,  i  part. 
Melt  the  wax  in  the  oil  by  the  aid  of  a  gentle  heat,  then  set  aside  to 
cool ;  the  result  is  a  smooth  ointment  readily  fusible  without  any 
odor  of  petroleum.  I  have  given  the  name  of  Mollisine  to  this  pro- 
duct from  "  Mollis,"  soft,  pliant,  sweet,  easy,  delightful,  smooth, 
and  "  ine,"  belonging,  relating  or  pertaining  to. 
This  serves  as  an  excellent  base  for  a  variety  of  substances,  in  com- 
bination with  carbolic  acid.  I  have  prepared  a  Carholi%ed  Mollisine  in 
the  proportion  of  i  part  carbolic  acid  to  16  parts  of  Mollisine. 
A  very  satisfactory  zinc  ointment  may  be  made  in  the  usual  propor- 
tions, substituting  Mollisine  for  lard,  and  adding  balsam  of  Peru  in  the 
proportion  of  i  drachm  to  each  ounce. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  GERMAN  JOURNALS. 
By  Louis  von  Cotzhausen,  Ph.G. 
The  Volatile  Oil  of  Myroxylon  peruiferum,  Lin.,  has,  according 
to  Dr.  Theod.  Peckolt,  the  specific  gravity  0-892  at  -j-i3°C.  and  0*852 
