Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, from the Journal A. M. A., October 20, 1906.

TYREE’S ANTISEPTIC POWDER.

Tyree’s antiseptic powder was assigned for examination to a subcommittee of the Council, which made the following report:

To the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry: Your subcommittee, to whom was assigned Tyree’s Pulv. Antiseptic Comp., marketed by J. S. Tyree, Washington, D. C., reports as follows:

The label on the package states: “This preparation is a scientific combination of borate of sodium, alumen, carbolic acid, glycerin and the crystallized principles of thyme, eucalyptus, gaultheria, and mentha, in the form of a powder,” etc.

The statement that the powder contains the crystalline principles of thyme, eucalyptus, gaultheria and mentha is vague and misleading, since the chief medical constituents of eucalyptus and gaultheria are liquids, but it tends to convey the impression that the powder contains the essential constituents of these drugs, namely, thymol, oil of eucalyptus or eucalyptol, oil of wintergreen, or methyl salicylate, and menthol.

The literature supplied to physicians claims its composition to be: “Parts, sod. bor., 50; alumen, 50; ac. carbol., 5; glycerin, 5; the cryst. principles of thyme, 5; eucalyptus, 5; gaultheria, 5, and mentha, 5.”

The composition, therefore, might be expressed as follows:—

Sodium borate (borax) 50 parts, or 38·46 per cent.

Alum 50 parts, or 38·46 per cent.

Phenol (carbolic acid) 5 parts, or 3·85 per cent.

Glycerin 5 parts, or 3·85 per cent.

Thymol 5 parts, or 3·85 per cent.

Oil of eucalyptus or eucalyptol 5 parts, or 3·85 per cent.

Oil of gaultheria (or menthyl salicylate) 5 parts, or 3·85 per cent.

Menthol 5 parts, or 3·85 per cent.

Analysis of specimens purchased from different sources in the open market were made under our direction. The reports of the chemists show that Tyree’s antiseptic powder contains no borax, or mere traces only, and that it contains no alum, or mere traces only. Instead, the analyses show that boric acid and zinc sulphate are the essential constituents. The amounts of carbolic acid, thymol, menthol, 124etc., contained in the powder, if present, were far below the quantities indicated by the formula. The presence of glycerin could not be demonstrated, and if present the amount must be very small.

Our chemist reports:—

The result of analysis shows that different samples differ slightly in composition, but that the following indicates the average composition of the product:—

Per cent.

Zinc sulphate, anhydrous 15.56.

Boric acid 81.26.

Volatile matter at 100 C. for four hours 0.45.

The undetermined portion consists of salicylic acid, carbolic acid, menthol and eucalyptol; possibly other antiseptic agents may be present in very minute quantities.

From the above findings we conclude that Tyree’s antiseptic powder is a mixture of boric acid and dried zinc sulphate and antiseptic bodies, such as menthol, salicylic acid and carbolic acid, eucalyptol, etc. From this it can be readily seen that the label which is supposed to set forth the composition of Tyree’s antiseptic powder is not in accord with the facts. The powder does not contain either borate of sodium or alum, and the presence of glycerin could not be established. The antiseptic agents, exclusive of the boric acid, are present only in small amounts.

The report of another analyst concludes as follows:

It evidently contains less than the amount stated of the principles of thyme, eucalyptus, wintergreen and mint. It also contains a very small amount indeed of carbolic acid, much less than that stated. We have been unable to identify certainly the presence of glycerin, and it is doubtful if it be present.

From the result of the analysis we feel confident that the preparation is to all intents and purposes a mixture of boric acid and sulphate of zinc.

The carbolic acid, thyme, eucalyptus, wintergreen, etc., if present, are present only in sufficient amount to give the compound a satisfactory odor.

In view of the fact that J. S. Tyree has given wide publicity to a formula which the preceding report has shown to be a deliberate misrepresentation of fact, it is recommended that the article be refused recognition by the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, and 125that this report be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The recommendation of the subcommittee was adopted by the Council in accordance with which the report is published.

W. A. Puckner, Secretary.

In a letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Mr. Tyree admits changing the formula of the powder, and says that it had been his intention to state to the medical profession his reasons for making the change. In commenting on the letter it is noted that Mr. Tyree does not state whether the change was made one year ago or five years ago, but the sample for the first analysis was purchased last February, and the first chemist’s report was submitted to the Council March 5, 1906. On April 4th, Mr. Tyree was notified by the Council that the composition of “Tyree’s Antiseptic Powder” did not correspond with the formula published by him. Whether or not Mr. Tyree is justified in offering to physicians a preparation as composed chiefly of borax and alum, when in reality it is composed of boric acid and zinc sulphate, is left for physicians to judge.

FRAUD AND DECEPTION IN PREPARATIONS OF COD-LIVER OIL.

The Journal of the American Medical Association, October 13, 1906, exposes the fraud and deception practised by certain proprietary firms in putting on the market preparations purporting to contain cod-liver oil, when, in fact, they contain no oil at all. It is conceded by pharmacologists that the value of these remedies depends on the nutritive power of the fat, and any preparation which contains fat must respond to simple tests which the physician can personally apply. The preparations claiming to represent cod-liver oil are in liquid form, and if they contain oil it must be in one of the following forms:

(1) An emulsion of the oil which may be miscible with water, but from which the fat tends to separate and rise to the top. In this form the fat can be seen as globules under the microscope.

(2) A solution, resulting from the saponification of the oil, containing a soap which usually will be alkaline in reaction, especially when mixed with water, and from which fatty acids are separated as a precipitate when the solution is acidified.

126(3) A solution of fatty acids. This will be acid in reaction and will be precipitated by the addition of water, in which the fatty acids are not soluble.

An examination of one of these preparations, e. g., Waterbury’s Metabolized Cod-Liver Oil, which, it is claimed, “contains the metabolized product obtained by the action of ferments on cod-liver oil,” shows that it is neither an emulsion, a solution of soap, nor a solution of fatty acids, and more careful analysis shows that it contains no fat or fat acids (except the merest traces). No intelligent physician should be misled by the extravagant and unfounded claims made for this preparation.

Hagee’s Cordial of Cod-Liver Oil is a representative of a class of preparations which claim to “represent the oil, but contain no fat,” and are therefore practically worthless. The claims of therapeutic value for such preparations can not be substantiated. Some such remedies are advertised as extracts of cod-liver oil, when, in fact, they are made from cod livers, but not from cod-liver oil. These preparations, if honestly made, might be worthy of a trial, but they are not preparations of cod-liver oil, and should not be so termed. So far as we know, however, no satisfactory evidence is forthcoming that such extractives have any therapeutic value.

The attempt to modify cod-liver oil for therapeutic purposes may be pronounced a failure and the large variety and extensive sale of these preparations appear to be owing to the fact that physicians do not recall the ordinary facts of chemistry, but accept too readily the statements of the manufacturers.