PHARMACOPCEIAL VEGETABLE DRUGS.

TEREBINTHINA RESINA

Turpentine. Oil of Turpentine. Resin.

The sticky juice of many trees, as the pine, the larch, and otherconiferous trees, is known by the general name, turpentine, qualifiedby an adjective descriptive of its botanical origin or the countryproducing it; for example, Strasburg turpentine, Canada baisam, etc.This resinous, balsamic exudation has been used from all times asa baisam or pitch, or, when the wood of the tree is subjected to theaction of heat, as a product of decomposition known as tar. Thiswriter (1906) observed a fragrant oleaginous tar brought into Smyrnain sheepskins from the interior of Asia Minor, which enjoyed a domesticpopularity in that part of the country. The Indians of North Americaemployed Canada baisam as an application to wounds, it being anexcellent antiseptic dressing for such purposes (see Indian Cap-tJvities, Guiie's Narrative (198). The distillate of the natural tur-pentine, had once a widely known domestic use in America as aremedy for worms, whilst the resin (rosin), which remains after thedistillation of the spirit, is much employed in domestic treatment ofthe horse. All these forms of turpentine, as well as the empyrheumaticproducts of many related trees, have been known to the common peo-ple, as a rule, from the earliest records of history. The last issue ofthe Pharmacopeia of the United States, under the title Oleum Terebin-thin<z Rectiücatum, directs that the spirit obtained from the distillationof turpentine, usually obtained from the Pinus australis, be purifiedby redistillation from a Solution of sodium hydrate.

THYMOL

Thymol is a product of Thymus vulgaris, a native of Portugal.Spain, Southern France, Italy, and the mountainous parts of Greece.It has for several centuries been cultivated in England as a gardenplant, and has long been known to yield a highly aromatic essentialoil. Under the name camphor of thyme, an apothecary at the courtof Berlin named Neumann, 1725, described this substance, which wascalled thymol by Lallemand (369a) in 1853, thus giving a name toa substance that, in little use in itself, had ever been valued in domesticmedicine as well as by the medical profession in its natural associationand combination as a part of oil of thyme. Under the name oil of ort-ganum, oil of thyme has been a populär product obtained by the distil-lation of this herb, being used as an ingredient in domestic linimentsand in veterinary medicine. Its use by the medical profession is evenyet much limited.

TRAGACANTHA

This gummy exudation (gum tragacanth) is a gift of Asia Minor,the shrub yielding it being very widely distributed. To locate exactlyits first use would be to antedate historic records. It has ever beenbefore the people in the cradle of humanity, where as a natural product

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