From...
Cancer and its Treatment
https://archive.org/details/canceranditstre00lewigoog

I. CHIAN TURPENTINE. 

This remedy, the internal administration of which 
as a remedy for cancer has recently been recommend- 
ed anew by Professor John Clay, obstetric surgeon to 
the Queen's Hospital, Birmingham, England, is a 
product of the Pistacia terebinthus^ a tree which in its 
native island of Scio, in the Mediterranean, grows to 
the height of thirty or forty feet. The gum is ob- 
tained from incisions into the bark, and the many im- 
purities which it contains are composed of sand, 
leaves, straw, and particles of the bark and fruit. As 
Professor Clay insists that its efficiency depends upon 
the genuineness of the drug, it is well to carefully 
consider the following description from Fluckiger and 
Hanbury's ** Pharmacographia " : 



— 3 — 

** Chian turpentine, as found in commerce and be- 
lieved to be genuine, is a soft solid, becoming brittle by 
exposure to the air; viewed in mass, it appears opaque 
and of a dull brown hue. If pressed while warm be- 
tween two slips of glass, it is seen to be transparent, of 
a yellowish brown, and much contaminated by various 
impurities in a state of fine division. It has an agree- 
able, mild terebinthinous odor, and very little taste. 
The whitish powder with which old Chian turpentine 
becomes covered shows no trace of crystalline struc- 
ture when examined under the microscope." 

It is believed that Strassburg and Venice turpen- 
tine and Canada balsam are often substituted for it, 
which can easily be detected by applying the tests as 
to taste,, odor, and appearance given above. 

The turpentine, as used by Clay in his first re- 
ported cases,* was given in the form of a pill, con- 
taining three grains, combined with two grains of 
flowers of sulphur. Two of these pills were given 
every four hours for many weeks, and in some cases 
for nearly a year. It was found that in some in- 
stances the turpentine in the pill form, was not well 
digested, and the latest recommendation of Professor 
Clay is to administer it in the form of an emulsion 
made as follows: 

One ounce of the Chian turpentine is to be dis- 
solved in two ounces of sulphuric ether. This solu- 



* Lancet, March 27th, 1880. 



— 4 — 

tion has been termed the turpentine essence, and the 
emulsion is made by adding one ounce of this essence 
to a mucilage of acacia (one ounce and a half of 
powdered gum Arabic and water to nine ounces), 
making a ten-ounce mixture, a teaspoonful of which 
contains about three grains of the drug. A dessert- 
spoonful, it will be observed, contains the same 
amount of turpentine as the two pills which were pre- 
viously recommended. In some cases resorcin has 
been added in doses of a grain. This emulsion is 
not of a disagreeable taste, as nearly all of my pa- 
tients who are under the treatment testify. 

Tonics have been used when indicated. In some 
instances local applications have been made, in others 
this internal remedy alone has been employed. When 
it has been taken for about three months it should be 
omitted three dajrs in every fortnight. The sulphur 
is often given in a separate pill, especially in cancer 
of the uterus and rectum. I have given this descrip- 
tion of the plan in order that we may have an ac- 
curate knowledge of what this Chian turpentine treat- 
ment really is. 

We are all familiar with the statements which 
Professor Clay has repeatedly made concerning its 
efficacy. He has seen a number of complete cures, 
not only of uterine cancer in advanced stages, but 
also of cancer of the rectum and surface epithelio- 
mata. In cancer of the breast he reports marked im- 
provement of symptoms and complete arrest of the 
new growth. 



- 5 — 

No report has yet been published, as far as I can 
learn, stating the precise changes in the tumor, but 
he maintains that the primary action is upon the peri- 
phery of the growth. The plan has been tested in 
the London Cancer Hospital, and, after a tolerably 
thorough trial, condemned by Dr. Marsden and Mr. 
Purcell. Another trial has recently been made, how- 
ever, and one of the surgeons of the same hospital 
declares the Chian turpentine to be a very useful 
remedy in many cases. 

Several patients in my service in the New York 
Skin and Cancer Hospital were placed upon the 
treatment early in 1888, and it was faithfully followed 
in eight of them for periods varying from three 
months to two years. Two were uterine cases; one 
of these was not affected in the slightest degree. 

The other came into the hospital with extensive 
ulceration of the cervix. There were three nodules 
in the vaginal wall, evidently cancerous. The patient 
was anaemic, sleepless, irritable; haemorrhage was of 
daily occurrence, and pain almost constant. Without 
the employment of any local treatment except carbol- 
ized douches, in twelve weeks the haemorrhage and pain 
had ceased entirely, the vaginal nodules had become 
soft, and the ulcer of the cervix was half its original 
size and seemed to be a healthy granulating surface. 
The patient believed she was well, and we were unable 
to prevent her return to her home. Three months 
afterward she was re-admitted with the disease again 




— 6 — 

active, and nothing impeded its fatal progress. It 
seemed certain that the marked improvement in the 
first instance was due to the drug, and I regret ex- 
ceedingly that the experiment was interrupted. 

One patient with extensive epithelioma of the 
face showed decided arrest of the ulceration, and gen- 
eral improvement in symptoms, as well as in the ap- 
pearance of the diseased surface. No absolute cures 
were effected, but I yet employ it in some cases, be- 
lieving that it is of sufficient value to hold a place in 
our meagre list of internal remedies for cancer.