According to the Dios Chemical Company, Palpebrine is “A Reliable External Ocular Antiseptic” having, it is said, the following composition:
“... each fluid ounce contains 1⁄116 grain Sulphate of Morphia, 1⁄7 grain Sulphate of Zinc, 1⁄11 grain Bi-Chloride of Mercury, 53⁄8 grains Boric Acid, 3⁄4 grain Salicylic Acid.”
The essential virtues ascribed to Palpebrine, according to its makers, are its harmlessness and its therapeutic efficiency due, presumably, to its complex composition:
“Attention is called to the constituents of this formula, each one of which is used by ophthalmologists. Their combination in Palpebrine is such as to blend their action in a very happy manner. Palpebrine acts as an antiseptic, an irritant, an astringent, and a nerve tonic to the mucous membrane of the eye.”
“Palpebrine is superior in its action to the remedies now in use. It contains all the constituents of Aqua Conradi ... But to these are added a number of other agents which will prove it to be of much greater value and give it a broader field for action.”
In all external afflictions of the eye the free use of Palpebrine is suggested in such statements as:
“They [general practitioners] will therefore gladly receive from our hands an efficacious preparation which may be used with perfect safety.”
“The name of our preparation—Palpebrine, is derived from the Latin palpebra, the eyelid, and is well fitted, as it designates at a glance the sphere of action of Palpebrine.”
“With the assistance of Palpebrine the general practitioner can successfully treat all cases of external eye disease ordinarily encountered in his practice.”