Hog’s lard 4 oz.
Oil of turpentine 1 oz.
Powdered cantharides 1 oz.—Mix.
Melt the lard by a gradual heat; remove it from the fire, and stir in
the turpentine, then add the cantharides, and continue stirring until it
is cold.
Or,
Hog’s lard 6 oz.
Oil of rosemary ½ oz.
Oil of origanum 2 dr.
Powdered cantharides 6 dr.
Solution of sublimate in muriatic acid, one
fluid drachm or sixty minims.
Mix as above.
Or,
Oil of turpentine 2 oz.
Sulphuric acid, by weight 1 oz.
Mix cautiously, under a chimney, or in the open air, and avoid the
suffocating vapour which will arise. When perfectly united, add hog’s
lard, from six to eight ounces, or more, according to the strength
required. When a blister is wanted, take two ounces of this ointment,
and rub up with it from two to three or four drachms of recently
powdered cantharides. This ointment may be made still stronger by the
addition of a little calomel or sublimate at the time it is wanted; but
the latter must be used only in a small proportion, and with caution, as
it is apt to ulcerate the skin, and cause sloughing and a permanent
blemish. It should therefore be applied to a small surface only, as in
bone spavin or splent. Neither the cantharides nor the calomel, or
sublimate, should be kept ready mixed with the above ointment, as it is
probable they would undergo some change, and be rendered inert after a
little time. The above recipes may be varied by substituting mercurial
ointment, oil of bay, or any other unctuous substance for hog’s lard, or
oil of origanum, for oil of turpentine. And if a more solid form is
desired, it may be obtained by the addition of a little bees-wax, suet,
or resin.