LIQUID VERSUS SOLID PENICILLIN IN OIL AND WAX: The Effect of Particle Size and Type of Penicillin

The incorporation of penicillin in oil and beeswax has been found to be a satisfactory method of prolonging the absorption of penicillin. Romansky and Rittman, 1 the originators of the method, showed that after the injection of 300,000 units of amorphous calcium penicillin in oil and wax 70 per cent of the patients so treated had demonstrable blood concentrations of penicillin for twenty-four hours. Several modifications of the original preparation have now been made and utilized clinically. 2 Crystalline sodium and potassium as well as the amorphous calcium penicillin were found suitable for use in the mixture. Furthermore, certain preparations were devised which were fluid at room temperature and did not require heating before injection. The liquid preparations of penicillin in oil and wax, which are fluid at room temperature (below 43.3 C. or 110 F.), 3 are now available commercially and are identical in composition with the original viscid