Oleum Cajuputi.
Oil of Cajuput, Oil of Cajeput.
A volatile oil distilled from the leaves and twigs of several varieties of Melaleuca Leucadendron, Linné (and others...MM) (Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae). The white or broad-leaved tea tree of the Moluccas and adjacent islands.
Description.—A light, thin, bluish-green liquid (after rectification colorless or yellowish) having an agreeable and decidedly camphoraceous odor, and a bitterish aromatic taste. With an equal volume of alcohol it forms a clear solution. Dose, 1 to 10 drops.
Principal Constituents.—Cajuputol (Cineol or Eucalyptol) (C10H16O) (over 65 per cent), a constituent of many oils; terpineol and a small quantity of terpenes.
Preparations.—1. Mistura Cajuputi Composita, Compound Cajuput Mixture (Hunn's Drops; sometimes called Hunn's Life Drops and Compound Tincture of Cajeput). Contains oils of cajuput, clove, peppermint, and anise, of each 1 fluidounce dissolved in 4 fluidounces of alcohol. A popular antispasmodic during the Cincinnati cholera epidemics of 1849-51. Dose, 10 to 60 drops well diluted, or in syrup, mucilage, brandy, or sweetened water. Large and repeated doses will cause gastro-intestinal inflammation.
2. Linimentum Cajuputi Compositum, Compound Cajuput Liniment (oils of cajuput, sassafras, and hemlock, 1 ounce each; soap, an adequate amount to form a liniment).
Action and Therapy.—The compound liniment of cajuput is a useful stimulant and discutient. It is principally used in mammitis. The compound tincture of cajuput is effective in the relief of pain, as neuralgia, pleurodynia, myalgia, chronic joint inflammations, and in nervous headache. The oil applied to the cavity of a carious tooth sometimes relieves toothache.
Internal. Oil of cajuput may be used for the same purposes as the other aromatic oils, chiefly as a stimulating carminative to relieve intestinal pain, spasmodic colic, and cramps, and to alleviate hiccough, nervous vomiting, and congestive dysmenorrhea. It is also a good stimulant in the cough of phthisis, and chronic forms of bronchitis and laryngitis.
The Compound Cajuput Mixture is a most valuable agent in cholera morbus, being used by Eclectic practitioners oftener than any other medicine, except in severe cases when the conjoint use of morphine is necessary.
