Thymol

“ A saturated solution (1 in 1000 of warm water) , thymol gauze and an ointment are used. Externally it is antiparasitic, and is used in certain stages of eczema and psoriasis, and the alcoholic solution has been used in ringworm; internally it has been employed as an intestinal antiseptic in typhoid fever. Its chief use is as an anthelmintic to destroy the Ankylostoma duodenale. Thymol may colour the urine green. Thymol iodide, official in the United States, is a compound of iodine and thymol ”

“ As found in commerce, thymol consists of irregular broken crystals, nearly transparent and colourless; the taste is burning and aromatic, sp. gr. 1·028, but lighter than water when fused; its melting point is about 44° C. When once completely fused and allowed to cool to the ordinary temperature, it will maintain itself in the fluid condition for several days, but the contact of a crystal will at once cause it to crystallise. It is freely soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, benzol, carbon bisulphide, fats, and oils, and but sparingly in water and glycerin. ”

“ Among the usual remedies for the expulsion of ancylostomes thymol certainly comes first, introduced by Bozzolo857 and since used by many other authors, partly with good and partly with less good results. The day before the beginning of treatment one should endeavour to procure a thorough evacuation of the bowels by means of calomel (Lutz,858 Grünberger,859 Smith860) or cascara sagrada (Mann861) , only fluid food should be taken the evening before, and on the day of treatment thymol is given in a quantity of 6, 8, 10 or 15 grm., in single doses of 2 grm. ”

“ One such course of thymol may suffice; but it is well, after a week has elapsed, again to examine the stools microscopically, and, if it be found that ova are still being passed, to repeat the course of thymol once or oftener.
Certain precautions have to be observed in employing this drug. At times it gives rise to a very unpleasant form of intoxication vertigo, excitement etc., and the urine may become dark, as in carbolicacid poisoning. It is advisable therefore for the patient, while taking the drug, to keep his bed and to lie down for several hours after the last dose. ”

“ Patients must be warned to avoid anything containing fats or alcohol while undergoing treatment as fats and alcohol dissolve the thymol and tend to cause poisoning. Under no circumstances should castor oil be used. People are apt to forget that butter, milk, etc., contain the dangerous fats.
Seidell has shown that about one-third of the thymol dosage is excreted in the urine and very little by faeces. This shows absorption of the drug. It is thought some of the drug may be excreted by the lungs. ”

“ Thymol was obtained in fine tubular crystals by Flückiger and Hanbury, who exposed oil of ajowan to a temperature of 0° C.; the oil so treated yielded 35 per cent. of its weight of crystallised thymol. Mr Gerrard says it is stated that oil of thyme yields as much as 50 per cent. ”

“ A suitable strength is 5 per cent.
Thymol.—This furnishes a not unpleasant, and very useful antiseptic soap, recommended especially for the cleansing of ulcerated wounds and restoring the skin to a healthy state. The normal strength is 3 per cent. It is preferable to replace part of the thymol with red thyme oil, the thymene of which imparts a sweeter odour to the soap than if produced with thymol alone. A suitable blend is 2-1/2 per cent. of thymol crystals and 1-1/2 per cent. ”

“ The alcohol used for the tooth and mouth-waters—more correctly tinctures—should be perfectly free from fusel oil, and of 95 to 96 per cent. strength. The best qualities of volatile oils should be taken, and the tinctures prepared with the greatest care.
The dentifrices for preventing caries, among which the thymol preparations are the most prominent, deserve special attention. The most celebrated physicians have long since recognized thymol as an antiseptic, it being much used in hospitals, and is frequently preferred to carbolic acid. ”

“ For this reason thymol preparations should be used for preserving the teeth. They render good service, especially in the case of hollow teeth, as they remove the foul odor and protect the sound teeth from becoming hollow. For cleansing artificial teeth thymol tooth-water can be especially recommended. Great care should, therefore, be exercised in the preparation of these thymol dentifrices. On the other hand, according to medical opinions, dentifrices containing salicylic acid cannot be recommended, the acid, it is claimed, being very injurious to the enamel of the teeth. ”

“ Thymol.) , Thymol Spray, N.F.—Thymol (1%) in light liquid petrolatum.
*Thymolis Iodidum (Thymol. Iod.) , Thymol Iodide, U.S.P. (Aristol) .—Chiefly dithymol-diiodide. Should contain not less than 43 per cent. of iodine.
A reddish-brown or reddish-yellow, bulky powder, with a very slight aromatic odor. Insoluble in water or glycerin; only slightly soluble in alcohol.
Action and Uses: Antiseptic; used chiefly as a dusting powder. Less efficient than iodoform.
Thymus (Thymus) , Thyme, N.F.—Tops.
Action and Uses: Aromatic and rubefacient; without advantage over camphor.
Dosage: 4 Gm. ”

“ In some cases thymol in the form of an ointment, from five to thirty grains to the ounce, proves of service. The mercurials may also be referred to, but it may be stated that they are not as valuable in this disease as they are in eczema. The most useful is white precipitate in the form of ointment, from forty to eighty grains to the ounce, which is especially valuable in psoriasis of the scalp and of the face. Lotions of corrosive sublimate will also sometimes be found of service. ”

“ Thymol, C6H3· (CH3) · (C3H7) ·OH, in oil of thyme, and carvacrol, its isomer, in oil of hops, are familiar examples.
Coumarin, the anhydride of cinnamic acid,; is an example of an acid substance which is classed as an essential oil, even though it is a solid at ordinary temperatures. It has an odor and flavor similar to that of vanillin, the essential flavoring material of the vanilla bean, and is often used as a substitute for the latter in the preparation of artificial flavoring extracts. ”

“ Crystals Growing in a Tube of Undercooled Sodium Acetate Solution. The amount of material required to inoculate a solution is very, very small, far beyond the sensitiveness of the most delicate balance. Nowhere in science is the importance of the fact that "the very small is as real as the very great" better illustrated than in the case of undercooled liquids; a human hair lightly brushed against a crystal of thymol will collect enough of this material to inoculate a flask of the undercooled liquid thymol. ”

“ Neither potassic bichromate nor mercuric chloride precipitates cytisine, even though the solution be concentrated. The best single test appears to be the reaction discovered by Magelhaes; this consists in adding thymol to a solution of cytisine in concentrated [389] sulphuric acid, when a yellow colour, finally passing into an intense red, is produced.
§ 468. Effects on Animals.—W. Marmé found subcutaneous doses of from 30 to 40 mgrms. fatal to cats; death was from paralysis of the respiration, and could be avoided by artificial respiration. ”

“ They may be rendered more pleasant by the addition of white sugar or glycerine. The addition of a small amount of some mild antiseptic—menthol, thymol, oil of eucalyptus, carbolic, sanitas, listerine, &c.—may give a pleasant flavour. ”

“ Marjoram (Origanum) is also closely allied. All these plants are remarkable for their essential oil, to which their fragrance is due. From this oil is produced by distillation the substance known as thymol. ”

“ To prevent their drying too rapidly a little glycerine may be added to the water and the lint covered with gutta-percha tissue or oiled silk. Moore recommends covering the face with a light mask of lint and oiled silk, having holes for the eyes, nose, and mouth. The lint is wet with a mixture of glycerin and iced water (fʒi-f℥i) . If preferred, a cold solution of boric acid may be used in place of plain water, and when there is an excessive and unpleasant odor present, thymol may be added to the solution. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ The thymus gland (Gr. θύμος, from a fancied resemblance to the corymbs of the Thyme) is a light pink gland, consisting of two unequal lobes, which lies in the superior and anterior mediastina of the thorax in front of the pericardium and great vessels; it also extends up into the root of the neck to within a short distance of the thyroid gland. It continues to grow until the second year of life, after which it remains stationary until puberty, when it usually degenerates rapidly. The writer has seen it perfectly well developed in a man between 40 and 50, though such cases are rare ”

“ Thyme is given also for epilepsy, when the fits come on, the smell of it reviving the patient; it is said, too, that epileptic persons should sleep upon soft thyme. It is good, also, for hardness of breathing, and for asthma and obstructions of the catamenia. A decoction of thyme in water, boiled down to one-third, brings away the dead fœtus, and it is given to males with oxymel, as a remedy for flatulency, and in cases of swelling of the abdomen or testes and of pains in the bladder. ”

“ Despite our ignorance of the true nature of gout, we do know that there is generally an excess of uric acid in the blood, and that to increase the content thereof is undesirable. Again, we know that in normal men, after ingestion of pancreas and thymus gland, the uric acid output in the urine is markedly increased. [346] But, on the other hand, many observers—Magnus-Levy, Vogt, etc.—have noted that after the eating of thymus by gouty individuals they found far less uric acid in the urine than in the case of normal persons. ”

“ It is only after the second year, or somewhere around that time, that the child begins to individuate, and distinct individual traits and a personality manifest their outlines. The thymus is the great inhibitor of all the glands of internal secretion. By its checking activity upon the other members of the endocrine system, the thyroid and pituitary in particular, it gives the baby time to grow in bulk, which is its chief business during the first two years of its existence. It quadruples its birth weight. The brain and nervous system complete their growth in mass by the end of the fourth year. ”

“ This plant is closely related to the garden thyme (T. vulgaris, L.) , and grows profusely in meadows, fields and gardens. Both species are very fragrant and it is to this characteristic that they owe their popularity. The ancient Greeks and Romans valued thyme very highly and made use of it as a cosmetic, in medicine and in veterinary practice, much as it is used at the present time. Thyme yields the oil of thyme which is a valuable antiseptic, used as a gargle and mouth wash, for toothache, in dressing wounds and ulcers, also for sprains and bruises, in chronic rheumatism, etc. ”

“ Scattered instances have been reported of children growing, putting on inches in height and expanding mentally, when thymus was fed to them, in whom every other measure previously tried had failed. A French study of over four hundred idiotic children with normal thyroids reported that over three fourths had no thymus at all. Everything points to the most direct and close relation between the gland and nutrition and growth, but with nothing tangibly definite like our knowledge of the thyroid and the pituitary. ”

“ Later, the epithelial mass thus formed becomes invaded by connective tissue, and by leucocytes which form lymph follicles, and the thymus gradually assumes the structure of a lymphoid organ. From its mode of development it has been suggested that the thymus owes its evolution to the metamorphosis and ingrowth of branchial filaments, [402] but it is also noteworthy that each embryonic rudiment of the organ closely resembles, both in position and origin, one of the developing branchial tongue-bars of Amphioxus. ”

“ Applied with wine, it removes tumours and fluxes, and, in combination with vinegar, callosities and warts. Mixed with wine, it is used as an external application for sciatica; and, beaten up with oil and sprinkled upon wool, it is employed for diseases of the joints, and for sprains. It is applied, also, to burns, mixed with hogs’ lard. For maladies of the joints of recent date, thyme is administered in drink, in doses of three oboli to three cyathi of oxymel. For loss of appetite, it is given, beaten up with salt. ”