APIOL. — Obtained from the volatile oil of parsley, and at low temperatures, is a stearopten or camphoraceous solid made up of needle-like crystals; but at higher temperatures resolves itself into a yellow or straw-colored liquid. It has a slightly-acid reaction and is soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform. Most of the apiol of commerce is nothing but an oil of parsley, though the best has usu ally a percentage of the latter added in order to insure fluidity at all temper atures. It may be prepared in various ways, but the methods of manufacturers as published are usually obscure, and often open to severe criticism. So-called green apiol is the oil of parsley loaded with chlorophyl and vegetable fats. The red apiol that appears in the market, as well as the proprietary so-called "apio line," is merely the yellow apiol oxidized by means of sulphuric acid.
Dose.—Owing to unpleasant odor and acrid taste, apiol is best administered in gelatin capsules or perles, each holding from 3 to 5 grains. Two to four capsules may be taken daily, preferably night and morning, beginning two or three days before the expected menstrual flow.
Physiological Action. Apiol is thought to mainly act upon the vascular system, causing congestion, and at the same time on the muscular tissue of the uterus. This view is based upon its action as an emmenagogue and by its effects upon the menstrual flow; yet it is also a regulator of uterine function.
Therapeutics. — According to Griffith and Cerna, apiol (apioline) may be re garded as the best emmenagogue at present known. It is indicated in amen orrhoea due to an2emia from whatever cause. W. A. Newman Dorland believes, however, that, in order to insure the best results, it should be combined with some preparation of iron; he also sug gests that iron be given uninterruptedly until a few days before the expected ap pearance of the menses. Then, continu ing the iron, apiol may be prescribed in 5-minim doses, two or three times a day, until the appearance of the menstrual .discharge.
Apiol (apioline) strongly recommended for the relief of dysmenorrhoea and amen orrhoea. Hill (Virginia Med. Monthly, Apr., '91); Delmis (Le Prog. Med., Apr. 25, '91).
In the treatment of dysmenorrhceal cases, where there is no tangible pelvic lesion demanding strictly local attention, or operative interference, I have of late come to rely on a single remedy: apiol, the active principle of Petroselinum sativum. Three illustrative cases of the neurotic variety of dysmenorrhcca, dem onstrating the marked value of the drug as a therapeutic agent, D. S. Maddox (Med. and Surg. Reporter, June 5, '97).