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WILBUR W. OAKS, M.D.; JOHN F. DiTUNNO, M.D.; THOMAS MAGNANI, M.D.; HOWARD A. LEVY, M.D.; LEWIS C. MILLS, M.D.

AMA Arch Intern Med. 1960;105(4):574-582.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Cantharidin, commonly know as Spanish fly, was first isolated by Roviquet¹ in 1810. It is the active constituent contained in the ovaries, soft tissues, and blood of the blister beetle, Cantharis vesicatoria. Fifteen hundred different species of cantharidin-yielding beetles are estimated to exist throughout the world.² These are most abundant in southern Europe and western Asia, with several species occurring in the United States. Cantharidin, an anhydride of cantharidic acid, is a colorless substance,^1,3 almost insoluble in water but readily soluble in acetone (1:40) and its chemical formula is C₁₀H₁₂O₄.

It was used in the time of Hippocrates for the treatment of amenorrhea and dropsy.¹ Groeneveldt,⁴ in his treatise on The Use of Cantharides in Internal Medicine, stated that its use was indispensable in bladder and kidney infections, stone, stranguria, dropsy, and certain venereal diseases. It has been employed in the treatment of impotence and for many years was . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Philadelphia

Departments of Medicine and Pathology, Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital.

Footnotes
Submitted for publication June 26, 1959.

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