Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-06-07
Medical Value of Peppermint Oil.

In addition to being, from Its potency aud
other advantages, tho best Of surgical anti
septics, It is possible that there lies IA oil OF
peppermint power for good and field OF
therapeutic utility vaster In extent aud i'm.
portance than any yet known or suspected
sumo cases of pythsis, In which | have EN-
ployed it as an inhalation, lead me TO hope
that We may find IN 1t a remedy against the
scourge to which we pay annually tribute OF
10000 lives.
In diphthera, the greatest Of all deshlerata
has always been such an antiseptlc as this
one which may be fearlessly applied In the
greatest quantity and the greatest frequency;
which Is innocuous, whether IL be swallowed
during its application, or be resplred into the
ar-passagcs aud which, by It's absorption
iuto the blood aud its ready volatility. is en-.
abed 10 penetrate To every recess, and be
carried through all the tissues, Two cases of
typical diphtheria In male adults, part OF q
small epidemic some among the victims OF
which died with It's worts features, have been
treated solely by applications of oil Of pepper
mint
These cases afford ground for believing,
therefore, that this drug may he also potcn
weapon in dypthera. Recovering so com.
petely and SO speedily as they dill, their pro-
gress resembles neither that of "Ordinaryh
liberated pharyDglt!s, treated or not b. the
usual means, nor TO dyptheria as 1t has pro-
crossed In cases have seen treated by the
inefficient local antseptcs In vogue.
Oh OF peppermint has been In use as n car
minatve from time immemorial. DIR. Lauder
Brunton's experiments show how remarkab bic Is
a.. - g.
they leave unexplained, however, its mode Of
action. Possibly some Of IL is due to its pre-.
venting fermeut changes set W by bacteria,
which II kills. DR.. BruntOn notes that the
aromatic oils TO which peppermint belongs
have more marked effects on life the lower
down N the scale It is placed. Thus, 10 kills
leeches with commissions aud, while DR..
Bruuton states that 1t has no effect gu
beetles have found that cockroaches aud
other insects are readily destroyed BY the
vapor-sbout one part In 10000 killing them
in an hour with commissions, ending IN par
nlNsis OF first, the last and then the anterior
limbs aud Appendagcs
In neither DR.. Neale's Digest nor DR..
Warnings "Bibiotheca Therapeutlcan is there
any account of the use of peppermint AS an
anllseptc; but, In common with other essen
tisl oils this use has probably been made OF
its virtues long since. The herbs" OF such
great curative value WREN applied to the
wounds OF medieval knights were those con-
tanning "aromaticl'' oils, no doubt, aud We're
very useful as antiseptics alter wound had
been "rummagei,' "a by Sir Baudewin, OF
Flanders In Mort a. Arthur From men
tion OF Glove water in Mr.. Lawson Ta;rs i'm
lrresling little book on Diseases Of Women
II would seem that he, too, uses something o.
this kind, whether on aesthetic or ecient: &c
grounds one can only snlrmisc The piny
Odors OF Arcachou and BOurnGmouth, and
other phthis cal resorts, would appear TO owe
their virtues TO similar aromatic oils. The
Chinese, | am told, rcpose great faith in pep
pcrIniut, and IL seems not to be misplaced.
llippocrutes knew It's value in collie, and re-
commended II for thrush. According to
Laurin, It would cure ucariY every disorder,
from ep lepsy to leucorrhgd. Ceus mentions
il In cholera aud in worms These are AL
bows drawn at II venture, but we may quote
as curious, in connection with the last, and
~ inn ortant in itself, the observation Of
Babes, who SAYS OF the essential oils of mus
tard and of peppermint: "Onc drop placed
under bell jar covering n cultivation of
cholera baclllI will kill both baclli aud spores
in forty-eight hours. -I.dHcsi.