ZEMACOL
W. A. Puckner and W. S. Hilpert
Attention has been called to the vague and mysterious statements regarding a preparation called Zemacol, manufactured by the Norwich Pharmacal Co., Norwich, N. Y. Because of the unsatisfactory statements regarding the composition of the preparation, it was considered of sufficient interest to make an analysis and determine its chemical constituents. Accordingly specimens of the preparation were obtained and examined.
The preparation Zemacol (Norwich Pharmacal Co.), as found on the market, is a thick, pink, mucilaginous liquid, highly perfumed and having besides a suggestion of a phenolic odor. The bottle bears a label on which appear the following statements:
“A colloidal emollient containing extract of the rete mucosum of the healthy yearling lamb, combined with glycerin, salicylic acid and other antiseptic and aromatic oils. Useful in eczema and diseases of the integument where cell destruction is a prominent factor.”
In the advertising matter the following claims are made:
“An advance in animal therapy....”
“... increases the nutritive activity of the cell tissue of the skin through the absorbable extract of the rete mucosum.”
“... clinical tests show its efficacy in both the so-called moist and dry eczematous conditions of all parts of the cutaneous surfaces.”
“... rich in animal cells.”
Since nothing could be found in the literature regarding the therapeutic action of an extract of the rete mucosum of the sheep, it was thought possible that the statements on the label were given simply as a vague and mysterious means of indicating the presence of wool-fat (lanolin), and tests were made to determine the presence or absence of the latter substance. A substance was isolated from Zemacol which had the physical properties of, and responded to some of the chemical tests for, wool-fat; but it was found in such small quantities as to indicate that it was not present as an active constituent. Since there are no definite tests for the detection of serums or animal extracts the presence or absence of these could not be demonstrated. Further examination indicated the presence of salicylic acid, a gummy material, having the properties of tragacanth and glycerin. It is practically free from inorganic matter. By distillation a small quantity of oil was isolated, which possesses the characteristic odor of the preparation.
Quantitative estimations[103] indicated the presence of the above-mentioned constituents in approximately the following quantities:
| Per Cent. | |
Gummy matter having the properties of tragacanth | 2.02 |
Salicylic acid | 0.67 |
Matter having the general properties of wool-fat (lanolin) | 0.20 |
Glycerin | 5.50 |
Volatile matter (water and alcohol) | 91.00 |
Aromatic oils and phenol-like bodies | Trace |
The results of the above analysis, together with advertising matter regarding Zemacol, were submitted to Dr. William Allen Pusey, professor of dermatology and clinical dermatology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Chicago, and past chairman of the Section on Dermatology of the American Medical Association, with the inquiry whether or not there was any record of investigations regarding the therapeutic value of an extract of the rete mucosum of the sheep and whether in his opinion the claims made for Zematol would be warranted. The following reply was received:
“So far as I know, nobody ever thought of or proposed the use of an extract of rete mucosum as a therapeutic agent and if a serious suggestion of that sort had ever been made I believe I would know it. I can conceive of no service which such an extract could render and I think the suggestion of it is a highly fantastic idea. From the analysis which you furnish I should say that the mixture described is substantially the ordinary 2 per cent. solution of tragacanth in glycerin and water with a little antiseptic added to keep it from decomposing. That is a commonly known lotion, modifications of which are used in practically every hospital as a hand lotion, and has no magical virtues whatever. Incidentally, I should think it cost, aside from the labor, about twenty cents a gallon to make it.”—(From The Journal A. M. A., May 14, 1910.)