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.”