Opodeldoc
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205851552
2008-04-15T19:17:11Z
Atlan
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 204664948 by [[Special:Contributions/202.82.33.202|202.82.33.202]] ([[User talk:202.82.33.202|talk]])
'''Opodeldoc''' is a name given by the [[physician]] [[Paracelsus]] to a sort of [[liniment]] which he invented, or at least bestowed this name on. Paracelsus's opodeldoc was a mixture of [[soap]] in [[ethanol|alcohol]], to which [[camphor]] and sometimes a number of [[herb]]al essences, most notably [[wormwood]], were added. Paracelsus's recipe forms the basis for most later versions of liniment.
[[Kurt Peters]] speculates that the curious name ''opodeldoc'' was concocted by Paracelsus from syllables from the words "''opo''ponax, b''del''lium, and aristol''och''ia." ''[[Opoponax]]'' is a variety of [[myrrh]]; ''[[bdellium]]'' is ''[[Commiphora wightii]]'', which produces a similar resin; and ''[[aristolochia]]'' is a widely distributed [[genus]] which includes the [[snakeroot]] and many other species. The name suggests that these aromatic plants may have figured in Paracelsus's recipe.
The [[Pharmacopoeia]] of the [[United States]] (U.S.P.) gives a recipe for opodeldoc that contains:
* Powdered soap, 60 grams;
* Camphor, 45 grams;
* [[Essential oil|Oil]] of [[rosemary]], 10 milliliters;
* Alcohol, 700 milliliters;
* Water, enough to make 1000 milliliters
The name ''Old Opodeldoc'' was formerly used as a standard name for a [[stock character]] who was a physician, especially when played as a [[comedy|comic]] figure. [[Edgar Allan Poe]] used "Oppodeldoc" as a [[pseudonym]] for a character in the [[short story]] "[[s:The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.|The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.]]" Steer's Opodeldoc was a [[patent medicine]] that was widely promoted during Poe's life. As late as the early 1990s 'Epideldoc'(sic) was made up on demand by several pharmacists in the Northwest of England.
[[Category:Ointments]]
[[de:Opodeldok]]
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