The salicine may be given dissolved in milk or enclosed in wafers; the salicylate of soda, in a solution of any aromatic water, to which extract of liquorice or syrup of lemon and a few drops of spirits of chloroform may be added. The French add a little rum to flavor the mixture. Should severe cardiac inflammation exist, and, even although not severe, should there exist signs of failure of cardiac power, salicylates and salicine had better be avoided. If the secretion of urine diminish considerably under their use, or hæmaturia supervene, or organic disease of the kidneys exist, they must be employed cautiously, and may require prompt suspension. If marked debility exist, stimulants, especially the alcoholic, should be combined with them. The oil of wintergreen has recently been well spoken of by F. P. Kinnicutt of St. Luke's Hospital, New York,[182] as a substitute for salicylate sodium. It is itself a methyl salicylate 90 per cent., plus terebene 10 per cent. Its officinal name is oleum gaultheria, and it is given in doses of minim x-xv every two hours except during sleep, and in severe cases of articular rheumatism during the twenty-four hours, either by floating the oil upon a wineglass of water or milk or in capsules or upon lumps of white sugar. It resembles in its influence upon acute rheumatism very closely the sodium salicylate, for which it may perhaps be substituted, and Kinnicutt maintains that it is quite as effectual, pleasanter to take, and free from the intoxicating properties of the salt and the salicylic acid. It requires to be continued during convalescence just like the salicylate. [Footnote 182: _Med. Record of New York_, Nov., 1882, 505.] {60} The alkalies--in this country at least--were the favorite remedies in the treatment of acute articular rheumatism before the powers of salicine and salicylic acid became generally known, and there are still authorities who maintain their excellence, if not their superiority over the salicylates, in protecting the heart against the recurrence of rheumatic inflammation (Flint, Dickinson, Sinclair, Stillé).