TYREE’S ANTISEPTIC POWDER.
Tyree’s antiseptic powder was assigned for examination to a subcommittee of the Council, which made the following report:
To the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry: Your subcommittee, to whom was assigned Tyree’s Pulv. Antiseptic Comp., marketed by J. S. Tyree, Washington, D. C., reports as follows:
The label on the package states: “This preparation is a scientific combination of borate of sodium, alumen, carbolic acid, glycerin and the crystallized principles of thyme, eucalyptus, gaultheria, and mentha, in the form of a powder,” etc.
The statement that the powder contains the crystalline principles of thyme, eucalyptus, gaultheria and mentha is vague and misleading, since the chief medical constituents of eucalyptus and gaultheria are liquids, but it tends to convey the impression that the powder contains the essential constituents of these drugs, namely, thymol, oil of eucalyptus or eucalyptol, oil of wintergreen, or methyl salicylate, and menthol.
The literature supplied to physicians claims its composition to be: “Parts, sod. bor., 50; alumen, 50; ac. carbol., 5; glycerin, 5; the cryst. principles of thyme, 5; eucalyptus, 5; gaultheria, 5, and mentha, 5.”
The composition, therefore, might be expressed as follows:—
| Sodium borate (borax) | 50 parts, or | 38·46 per cent. |
| Alum | 50 parts, or | 38·46 per cent. |
| Phenol (carbolic acid) | 5 parts, or | 3·85 per cent. |
| Glycerin | 5 parts, or | 3·85 per cent. |
| Thymol | 5 parts, or | 3·85 per cent. |
| Oil of eucalyptus or eucalyptol | 5 parts, or | 3·85 per cent. |
| Oil of gaultheria (or menthyl salicylate) | 5 parts, or | 3·85 per cent. |
| Menthol | 5 parts, or | 3·85 per cent. |
Analysis of specimens purchased from different sources in the open market were made under our direction. The reports of the chemists show that Tyree’s antiseptic powder contains no borax, or mere traces only, and that it contains no alum, or mere traces only. Instead, the analyses show that boric acid and zinc sulphate are the essential constituents. The amounts of carbolic acid, thymol, menthol, etc., contained in the powder, if present, were far below the quantities indicated by the formula. The presence of glycerin could not be demonstrated, and if present the amount must be very small.
Our chemist reports:—