Cajuput Oil - Historical Note

Historical Note

In October 1832 while in the port of Manila, the Asiatic or spasmodic cholera suddenly made its appearance on board the USS Peacock (1828). The first case was in a sailor named Peterson, sixty-three years old. The surgeon administered six grains of opium, in three doses; bad symptoms increasing, fifteen drops of cajeput oil were given in brandy and water, and repeated in half an hour. This treatment, however, apparently did not help the patient; Peterson died about eleven hours after being stricken, as did seven others, of the terrific and appalling effects produced by one of the greatest scourges that ever visited the world.

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