PARAFFIN OIL

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 69, 23 March 1914, Page 7

PARAFFIN OIL

F()R ' MEDICINAL FtfRPOSESC^

WHAT IS IT WORTH ?

Same particulars of the remarkable ■extent to which .the sale of paraffin oil for medicinal purposes has attained in New Zealand are published by the Auckland Herald. The paper says it is very difficult to obtain a- definite opinion, as to whether paraffin does all. that is claimed for it or noti. It is a very old remedy. One Auckland chemist stated that'■; he has had a steady sale for it for the past 25 years. Not very long ago a paraffin emulsion was. sold as a specific for consumption, the claim being made that it was absorbed in, such, a way that it had a direct action upon the lungs. But that cure had, died' a natural death. It was helped to die. by,, the discovery'that every- drop of paraffin in the emulsion passed thorough the system absolutely undigested. - This very point is, one that is emphasised in connection with, the; present application of the oil as a cure for intestinal inactivity. In the backblbcks, years ago, before medicine chests, more or' less pretentious, were the rule, paraffin played an. important part in oamp equipment, apart from its use as a luminant. Farmers, bushmen, and others swore by it as a sovereign remedy for everything, from toothache to broken legs. It? was no uncommon thing to find men taking si teaspoonful daily. t Kerosene is a nauseating mixture, and its curative properties, like those of many other nostrums, seemed to derive themselves largely from its very pastiness. Some such recommendation was needl■ed to keep it in favor, since it had notr tihe backing of an eminent surgeon or of a great publicity. The modern preparation, which is practically a liquid, vaseline, is not unpleasant to take. Locally, the HeraM continues, medical opinion .seems divided between a modified enthusiasm and a modified tolerance. Quite a number of Auckland doctors prescribe paraffin—some " y&ry extensively, others in the tentative way they have N of discovering whether a neyr idea is good or not. Some pin their faith to it; others say that the faith of the patients,in it'is worth more than the oil. The least enthusiastic admit that it must have at* least some small value as a lubricant, and, consequently, as an aid to those who have trouble with the lower -part of the intestines. They say, however, that it is greatly overrated. The doctors are not quarrelling about paraffin; thpy are either satisfied from their own experience that it, or the patients' belief in it. is <a success, or else they disregard it. The fact is that it is being taken by a great .number of people many of /whom claim, that they are being benefited, and it is one of the thousand a.nd one remarkable and expensive things that have entered into civilised diet, because civilisation has ordered people

to eat more well than wisely, and to j exercise no more than, they can help. \