During the past year or two liquid petrolatum has attracted considerable attention as a remedy in the treatment of intestinal stasis or chronic constipation, the practice of using it having been developed largely through its recommendation by Sir W. Arbuthnot Lane and his associates. This use of liquid petrolatum and of petrolatum products generally is by no means novel. N. A. Randolph[70] of Philadelphia was among the first to suggest its use for this purpose in an article published in 1885. Randolph also appears to have been the first to experiment with petrolatum and to determine its non-absorbability from the intestinal tract. In an article[71] in 1884 he concludes that “pure petrolatum while entirely unirritating to the digestive tract is valueless as a foodstuff.” [70] Randolph, N. A.: Therap. Gaz., ix, 732. [71] Randolph, N. A.: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc., Philadelphia, 1884, p. 281. The experiments recorded by Randolph were evidently prompted by the fact that vaseline and a number of imitation products then on the market were being sold as substitutes for lard and butter, and opinions regarding the food value of petroleum products appear to have differed very materially. Following the experiments of Randolph, Robert Hutchison in 1899 made a series of experiments to demonstrate that petroleum, petrolatum, paraffin and related products were absolutely unassailable by any of the digestive fluids, despite the “large vogue that had of late years been given to various petroleum emulsions, chiefly by ingenious and unterrified advertising.” He came to practically the same conclusions arrived at by Randolph fifteen years earlier and pointed out that “liquid paraffin in one sense may be regarded as an artificial intestinal mucus and might in that way have some value on certain forms of constipation.” William Duffield Robinson[72] reports on the use of a perfectly refined colorless and odorless petrolatum, supposedly of American origin. He was able to show that all of the product passed unchanged through the intestinal tract and could be regained from the feces. In his conclusions he expressed the belief that the effect of the administration of these petroleum products is far more than as a simple intestinal lubricant. In over fifty selected cases in which nutrition, digestion and body-weight were impaired, and the purest oil administered in 1- or 2-dram doses each day for a period of from four to six months, there was in every instance an improvement of weight, health and feeling of well-being. The administration of refined paraffin oil gave no discomfort in any instance, even in cases in which nearly a pint was given in a few hours. [72] Robinson: William Duffield: Med. News, 1900, lxxvii, 56.