Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with ichthyol / by William Odell.

  • Odell, William, 1851-1925.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with ichthyol / by William Odell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    8 As there are lay, as well as medical, Members of this Conference, it might be well to say that Ammonium ichthosulplionate consists of Ammonium salts of the Sulphonic acids, prepared from ichthyol—the oily product of the destructive distillation of a greyish bituminous schist (“ oelstein ” or “ stinkstein ”) found in the Karwendel Mountains which separate Bavaria from the Tyrol, the bulk of the crude oil, or ichthyol, being produced in the vicinity of the village of Seefeld. The schist is composed largely of the remains of fishes and other marine creatures, and yields from 1 to 10 per cent, of sulphur. On treating the oil with sulphuric acid, ichthosulphonic acid is formed, and this, when neutralised with ammonia, yields impure ammonium ichthosulphonate, the substance which is known in commerce under various trivial names. It occurs as a blackish brown, viscid liquid, with a powerful and characteristic odour. Dried on a water bath it loses half its weight. It is entirely soluble in water, partly soluble in alcohol and ether, entirely in a mixture of equal parts of alcohol and ether. It mixes with glycerine and oils. Ichthyol has now been successfully employed for several years in the treatment of Tuberculosis. Although any direct action of the remedy on the germs of the disease may be considered excluded, it lias been proved by numerous trials that the internal administration of Ichthyol promotes nutrition, retards the waste of albumen, stimulates digestion, and increases the appetite, thus altogether raising the strength of the patient and renovating the powers of resistance of the enfeebled organism. Ichthyol has a reducing action on tissues and is antiphlogistic, analgesic, and antiseptic, having a direct influence upon pathogenic bacteria, especially the streptococcus and diphtheria bacillus. Internally it improves digestion, increases appetite, and regulates the bowels. Writing in 1898, Dr. Moritz Cohn regards Ichthyol as being of use in increasing the strength of the organism and placing it in a position to carry on a successful warfare against the bacilli.