In 1895, Radcliffe-Crocker1 published a paper on the advantages of using sodium salicylate in psoriasis and some other diseases of the skin. Later he substituted salicin for the salicylate, as the latter is likely to upset patients in various ways, whereas salicin rarely, if ever, disagrees with them.
As I worked with the late Dr. Radcliffe-Crocker for about seventeen years, both in his hospital clinic and in his private practice, I shall discuss the salicin treatment of psoriasis and give details of his experience and of my own in the handling of the drug in order to obtain the best results. I would emphasize that salicin is not to be given in any manner, at any time and in all cases of psoriasis.
Salicin (salicinum) is a glucosid obtained from the bark of various kinds of willow (Salix fragilis, S. purpurea, S. alba, etc.). It was first introduced as