The use of menthol, camphor and eucalyptol in otorhinolaryngology extends back about fifty years. These drugs were introduced on the Continent by the French1 in 1879, and in 1884 the Germans2 began a study of them. At that time they were hailed as a panacea for all ailments of the nose and throat, and were used widely in ethereal and alcoholic solutions in concentrations up to 50 per cent. With the reports of several deaths following their use in the noses of children, a more careful study was made of this group, so that a rational dosage was worked out, and a more nearly pure drug was obtained.3 Today one finds a pure oil in use, free from the troublesome terpene and aldehyde constituents which previously rendered the drugs obnoxious, and rarely does one see them prescribed in concentrations greater than 10 per cent.
It is