Camphoric acid. [Not official.] By the oxidation of camphor with nitric acid camphoric acid is produced. As it occurs in commerce it is crystalline in structure, whitish in color, slightly acid to the taste and in reaction, and it is without odor. It is nearly insoluble in cold water, freely soluble in hot water, and it dissolves in alcohol, ether, oils, etc. The best menstruum is vaseline oil, and this is the most suitable vehicle for hypodermatic injection.

The dose of camphoric acid ranges from 5 to 20 grains. It is best administered in wafer or capsule, but may also be prescribed in some alcoholic tincture, or in vaseline. If large doses are to be given, not more than two should be ordered in twenty-four hours.

Actions and Uses

In small medicinal doses (2 to 5 grains) camphoric acid stimulates digestion, improves the appetite, and hastens peristalsis. In large doses (20 grains) it causes a sense of heat, and eructations are apt to occur. In massive (toxic) doses it sets up gastro-intestinal inflammation, with the local and systemic states that belong thereto. It is a very diffusible substance, entering the blood and diffusing out again into the urine quickly, about five hours being occupied in the process (Bohland).

Camphoric acid has considerable antiseptic power; it destroys the germs of putrefaction, and is actively toxic against pathogenic organisms. It is said to render inactive the bacillus tuberculosis, and when administered as an antiseptic in tuberculosis of the intestines it was found to be effective in arresting the sweats of consumption. In catarrh of the bladder and putrefaction of the urine it has proved to exert a decided antiseptic influence.

The most important uses of camphoric acid are in the treatment of the gastro-intestinal troubles of phthisis—tuberculous diarrhoea—to arrest the sweats of phthisis, and as an antiseptic and topical remedy in catarrhal states of the genito-urinary apparatus. In the treatment of gastro-intestinal affections medium doses (about 10 grains) should be given three times a day, an hour or two after meals. To arrest the sweats of phthisis, a single full dose (20 grains) should be given at bedtime. As it is excreted in five hours after it is administered, should the sweats occur toward morning a second dose may be necessary after midnight. When used to act on the genito-urinary mucous membrane, small doses (5 grains) frequently repeated should be given. Of the quantity taken almost all appears in the urine.