ACETIC  TURPENTINE  LINIMENT. 
311 
Eclectic  Dispensatory,  edited  by  John  King,  M.  D.  I  have  seen 
even  other  forms  from  which  linimentum  album  has  been  formed, 
but  have  not  access  to  them.  Your  own  suggestions  and  recom- 
mendations I  know  will  be  received  with  much  pleasure  by  those 
in  the  trade.  I  know  there  are  others  like  myself  who  really  do 
not  know  which  (if  either)  is  the  proper  formula,  neither  are 
many  of  those  who  order  it  able  to  instruct  us. 
Very  truly  yours,  Laeno.* 
Baltimore,  April  29th,  1856. 
*[Note  by  the  Editor. — The  preparation  known  as  "  Stokes'  Liniment" 
is  occasionally  prescribed  in  Philadelphia,  but  it  is  usual  with  physicians 
to  write  out  the  formula.  These  prescriptions  are  found  to  vary  in  the 
proportion  of  ingredients,  as  they  have  been  taken  from  one  or  the  other 
writer,  or  as  varied  by  the  prescriber.  The  following  form,  taken  from 
Griffith's  Medical  Formulary,  2d  edition,  1854,  page  333,  is  called  "Acetic 
Turpentine  Liniment,"  and  is  attributed  to  Dr.  Stokes. 
Take  of  Oil  of  turpentine,  three  fluid  ounces, 
Acetic  acid,  five  fluid  drachms, 
Rose  water,  two  and  a  half  fluid  ounces, 
Essence  of  lemon,  four  fluid  scruples,  . 
Yolk  of  egg,  one.  Mix. 
No  directions  are  given  for  mixing  the  ingredients. 
The  manner  of  preparing  it  is  to  mix  together  the  volatile  oils  and  add 
them  gradually  to  the  yolk  of  egg,  previously  rubbed  down  with  a  little  of 
the  rose  water,  and  finally  the  acid  is  added  and  the  remainder  of  the  rose 
water  with  trituration.  At  first  this  liniment  tends  to  separate  by  stand- 
ing, the  oil  of  turpentine  rises  to  the  top,  holding  in  solution  the  coloring 
matter  of  the  egg.  With  occasional  agitation  a  permanent  emulsion  is  pro- 
duced, and  the  yellow  color  disappears. 
The  Liniment  known  as  "  St.  John  Long's  Liniment,"  and  which  ac- 
quired some  celebrity  as  an  application  fco  the  chest  in  pectoral  complaints, 
is  quite  analogous  in  composition  to  the  above,  being  according  to  Br. 
Beasley  (Prescription  Book,  page  350,  Amer.  Edit.)  composed  as  follows  : 
"R.  Terebinthinae  olei,  giij. 
Acid,  acet.  fort,  gss. 
Aquae  rosae,  ^iss. 
Olei  limonis,  rri  v. 
Ovi  vitelli,    q.  s. 
Misce  secundum  artem.    Fiat  Linimentum  pro  pectore."] 
