The salts are to be dissolved separately in the water, and then mixed, and after reaction the alcohol is to be added. Properly made, the resulting lotion is without odor, contains a whitish sediment, which when agitated gives the lotion a milky appearance. It is to be shaken, and the parts dabbed with it for from fifteen to thirty minutes twice daily, allowing it to dry on. Sulphur ointment and alcoholic sulphur lotion, such as are used in the treatment of acne, are also sometimes serviceable. Tincture of iodine, either alone or with an equal part of glycerin, painted over the parts once or twice daily until a coating forms, in some cases proves useful. The same may be said of the following formula:
| Rx. | Iodinii, Potassii iodidi, aa. | drachm iv; |
| Glycerinæ, | drachm j. |
M.—Sig. Paint over the part until a coating is produced. Painting pure carbolic acid over the patches is sometimes followed by good results. A mixture that is serviceable as a stimulant is the following:
| Rx. | Olei cadini, Alcoholis, Saponis viridis, aa. | drachm iij. |
M.—Sig. Rub into the patches night and morning.
Stronger applications are often necessary if the disease fails to yield to the simpler remedies. Pyrogallic acid in ointment, from forty to ninety grains to the ounce, and chrysarobin in the same strength, are serviceable. The latter is a dangerous remedy to use about the face, occasioning at times a violent conjunctivitis with oedema. Pyrogallic acid is safer, and sometimes proves more satisfactory when applied in flexible collodion or liquor gutta-perchæ than in ointment form, as in the following formula:
| Rx. | Acidi pyrogallici, | drachm j; |
| Liquor. gutta-perchæ, | fluidrachm iv. |
M.—S. Apply with a brush. This is to be painted over the patches several times daily until considerable reaction takes place or a crust forms, then discontinued, and as soon as the crust is removed or falls off the application is to be repeated. If there is much scaling, thirty grains of salicylic acid may be added to the above formula. In most cases it is advisable as soon as the crust forms to remove it, and immediately to resume the pyrogallic-acid painting. Cantharidal blistering fluid, repeatedly applied, has been recommended. Nitrate of silver, either in stick or strong solution, is a comparatively safe caustic, and is at times useful. Treatment by linear scarifications, especially in obstinate, sluggish, and infiltrated patches, is often valuable. The scar left is, as a rule, insignificant. Erasion with the curette is a method that sometimes proves of advantage in the severer and deeper-seated forms of the disease. Although in almost all instances stimulating or active treatment is demanded and well borne, there are cases occasionally met with in which, on account of the inflammation and pain, soothing applications must, for a time at least, be employed. These cases, it will be found, are aggravated by stimulating remedies.
Lupus Vulgaris.