OBESITY CURES.
The claims made for nostrums advertised for the reduction of corpulence
are, as a rule, rather less extravagant than usual. A reason for this
is not far to seek; it is important that the consumer of the medicine
shall be encouraged to persist in its use for a considerable time, and
statements as to rapid cure might very soon be found to be at variance
with the facts and would probably only lead to discontinuance of the
medicine, and therefore defeat the maker’s object. Nevertheless, the
emphatic and confident statements, backed by testimonials, so important
a weapon of the nostrum vendor, are by no means abandoned, as some
of the quotations below will show. The prices named for the various
articles described refer, as a rule, to the smallest size of package;
in most cases larger packages, containing sufficient for several weeks’
or months’ consumption, are supplied at proportionally lower rates, and
purchasers are urged to obtain these larger packages.
While certain of these preparations present no particular difficulty
to the analyst, the majority not only contain vegetable preparations
devoid of well-marked characters, but since the most important of
these, extract and fluid extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_, are not
prepared according to any official formula, and are naturally therefore
liable to great variation, it is not possible to arrive with perfect
certainty at the precise composition of such articles by analysis;
and when, as in the case of any nostrum, the maker can draw on all
unofficial and even non-medicinal substances for his ingredients, it
is inevitable that some shall remain not certainly identified. It may
fairly be assumed, however, that such unknown substances, possessing no
well-defined chemical characters, will not be likely to have much, if
any, therapeutic importance.
The belief that sucking lemons will make one thin is widespread, and
gave origin a few years ago to a passing fashion, so that it was
impossible to go anywhere, in private house or club, without meeting
some gouty man or too stout lady who asserted that a sure cure and
preventive for either condition was some drink made with a fresh lemon.
It was not surprising, therefore, to find that the chief ingredient in
two of the secret remedies first analysed was citric acid.
Bladderwrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_) is a common seaweed which has
earned, it is not quite easy to understand on what grounds, a
reputation for reducing corpulency. It contains sodium salts in rather
large quantities, and a small proportion of iodine, much less than many
other sea-weeds. In Ireland it was once thought to be good for pigs,
making them fat, and if it has an opposite effect on human beings, that
effect must be very slight and uncertain.
Still, if people like to pay an absurdly high price for citric acid
or extract of bladderwrack under other names, it would, perhaps,
be churlish to object, but the case is rather different with the
extract or other preparation of the thyroid gland found to be present
in two of the nostrums most recently analysed. Medical men are not
infrequently asked by patients for information or for their opinion
with regard to some substance that has been praised in a family
newspaper or other easily inspired or corrupted medium to which some
authority is ascribed, and the detection of thyroid gland in two of the
preparations analysed justifies a note of warning. The administration
of thyroid requires to be carefully regulated, and its employment
in self-medication cannot be regarded as a safe proceeding. Under
these circumstances it can hardly be necessary to say that postal
communication with the vendors of the medicines in question, even
when accompanied by the patient’s answers to printed questions and
description of his symptoms, is not only of no value, but may be a
source of danger by giving a false sense of security.
It is curious indeed to note that one of these secret preparations,
Marmola, does not appear to be advertised to the public as a
proprietary article at all, but is named as one ingredient among others
in a prescription which is recommended in a paragraph apparently
dictated solely by pity for suffering fat people; the chemist to whom
the prescription will be taken to be compounded, however, is the
recipient of advertising matter urging him to lay in a stock of the
article to be in readiness for the demand. It is to be hoped that no
chemist would dispense such a “prescription” without making it clear
to his customer that what is supplied is a proprietary article, about
the usefulness or innocuousness of which he knows nothing; otherwise
the customer, who finds it named along with preparations bearing the
letters “B.P.,” is likely to suppose that it is a known substance,
and that the dispensing of the prescription by a chemist indicates
that the mixture is a proper and safe one to take. Two of the other
preparations described are evidently usually or always supplied to the
public without the agency of any retailer, the vendor thus securing the
whole profit, which, it will be seen, is considerable. In both these
cases the attempt is clearly made to get the customer to pay at once
for as large a quantity as possible, presumably because he will be less
likely to do so after giving the medicines a trial. The most alluring
prospects are, of course, held out in the advertisements, but when the
customer has been drawn into correspondence, and especially after he
has begun to send his money, a process of “hedging” begins, as will be
seen from the extracts quoted from letters sent by the vendors.
Phenolphthalein—a chemical body sold sometimes under the trade names
purgen, laxoin, laxatol, laxen, etc.—appears as an ingredient in two of
the nostrums, and formamine (hexamethylene-tetramine)—which goes also
by many names, urotropine, cystamin, cystogen, metramine, and vesalvine
among others—in one, the preparation containing the latter is said to
have been devised as the result of an accident in the laboratory, in
which a piece of fat became changed into oil without the rupture of the
fat cells, a statement which suggests that the advertiser thinks that
fat in the human body is solid like tallow or lard.
ANTIPON.
This preparation is sold by a Company with offices in London. The
bottle in which it is sent out holds a little over 6½ fluid ounces and
costs 2s. 6d. It bears no label, but has the word “Antipon” blown in
the glass. A circular enclosed with the bottle gives a number of rules
on the subject of dietary, together with statements as to the merits of
the article, from which the following extracts are taken:
As a really permanent cure for corpulence, combining
remarkable fat-reducing properties with tonic
principles of the highest quality, “Antipon” is justly
regarded by the most competent authorities as one of
the most valuable discoveries in modern therapeutics,
solving once and for all the vexed question of the
radical cure of obesity without harmful after-effects.
“Antipon” absolutely and definitely replaces all the
weakening and frequently dangerous processes, systems
and medicines which have hitherto done duty as remedies
for the disease of obesity. It provides the medical
practitioner and the public with a powerful and
entirely harmless specific not hitherto within their
reach.
Within a day and a night of taking the first dose
there will be a reduction of weight varying from 8 oz.
to 3lb., in extreme cases even more. The subsequent
daily decrease will be persistent until normal weight
and dimensions are attained, when the doses may be
discontinued.
Directions for Use.—Take two dessertspoonfuls in half
a wineglassful of water, immediately after meals.
N.B.—After taking dose, cork the bottle securely.
Analysis showed the liquid to be a solution of citric acid in water,
of the strength of 39·3 grains in a fluid ounce; a red colouring
substance was also present, and O·4 per cent. of alcohol, the latter
being doubtless introduced with the colouring. The red colour could be
perfectly matched with cochineal, but the behaviour towards alkalies
and other reagents showed differences; cochineal, with the addition
of a little methyl orange, however, showed in most respects a similar
behaviour.
The estimated cost of ingredients for 6½ fluid ounces is 1⅓d.
RUSSELL’S ANTI-CORPULENT PREPARATION.
This preparation is sold from an address in London and like the
previous one, was in a bottle bearing no label; the letters “F.C.R.”
were blown in the glass, and the bottle, which held 12½ fluid ounces
and cost 6s., was enclosed in a perfectly plain case, with no printed
matter accompanying it. A pamphlet on the subject of the medicine was
posted separately to the person ordering it; in this it was explained
that:
Acting upon the many suggestions received, principally
from ladies, the bottles are packed quite plainly,
and without the ordinary trade labels usually found
upon medicines, etc. The box is quite devoid of
advertisements or anything whatever likely to denote
its contents. The servants and others attached to the
household may therefore be safely entrusted to open the
box; inquisitiveness, if present, will not be rewarded.
In this pamphlet very detailed directions were also given for taking
the medicine, and for diet and exercise. It was stated that:
In a very short space of time, say twenty-four hours,
a considerable quantity of the most unhealthy fat will
have been removed from that part of the system most in
need of relief from the adipose matter oppressing it
(the quantity varies from 8 oz. to 2 lb., or even more).
The dose is one tablespoonful in a half-wineglassful of
water, within, say, ten minutes after each meal.
Analysis showed the liquid to consist of a solution of citric acid in
water, containing 37 grains in a fluid ounce. The orange colour was
found to be due to iron, which was present to the extent of 0·012 per
cent.; and 0·4 per cent. of alcohol was also found. Addition of this
proportion of iron in the form of the ammonio-citrate was found to give
a practically identical colour, and the formula is approximately:
Citric acid 37 grains.
Iron and ammonium citrate ¼ grain.
Rectified spirit 2 minims.
Water To 1 fluid ounce.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 12½ fluid ounces is 2·1d.
ABSORBIT REDUCING PASTE AND J. Z. OBESITY TABLETS.
These two preparations are sold by a “Hygienic Skin Specialist.” The
paste, or, perhaps, both preparations, appear to be also known under
the name of “Zobeide,” as the paste was supplied in response to an
order for “Zobeida,” and the jar bore a label giving a so-called
“analysis” (which it is needless to say was no analysis) beginning,
“We have carefully examined the Zobeide Tissue Absorbers and Paste.”
The price of the paste was 3s. 6d., and the jar contained just over 2
ounces. The directions on the label were:
Rub in a circular direction, at night, where needed,
for five minutes or more; firm, even movements, and
only use as much as the skin will absorb.
The paste was a pink ointment, containing 93 per cent. of a fatty
basis, 4·8 per cent. of a substance which agreed in its characters with
dried bile, and was evidently ordinary “purified ox-bile,” and a little
carmine, the remainder being moisture. Further examination of the fatty
basis showed a considerable proportion of beeswax, and the analytical
results obtained agreed with a mixture of:
Beeswax 23 parts.
Lard 46 ”
Rapeseed (colza) oil 31 ”
It is not possible, however, to assign an exact formula to a mixture
of fatty substances like this. The composition of the paste was
approximately:
Purified ox-bile 5 per cent.
Beeswax 22 ”
Lard 44 ”
Oil 29 ”
Carmine q.s.
A trace of perfume was also present.
The estimated cost of ingredients (2 ounces) is 3d.
The tablets are sold in boxes, containing 25, price, 2s.
The directions were:
Two at night dissolved in the mouth as an ordinary
lozenge.
The tablets were flat oval lozenges weighing 19 grains each. Analysis
showed their composition to be as follows:—
Sulphur 24 per cent.
Ginger, about 4 ”
Sugar 61 ”
Acacia gum 8 ”
Moisture 3 ”
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 25 lozenges is ½d.
XL REDUCING PILLS AND REDUCING LOTION.
Hughes & Hughes’s XL Reducing Pills and Ointment are advertised from
an address in a seaside town. The pills are sold in boxes containing
28, price 2s. 9d. a box. The preparation was described, in a circular
enclosed with the box, as:
A remedy at once safe, speedy, and efficacious, and
of marked value from the health point of view, as it
combats the special ills to which the corpulent have
a liability. It is very easy to take, the pills being
tasteless, and does not necessarily oblige any special
course of diet.
The directions were:
2 pills, twice a day, after principal meals.
The pills were coated with French chalk, and coloured pink on the
outside. After removal of the coating they had an average weight of 3
grains. Analysis showed them to contain a vegetable extract, powdered
ginger, powdered liquorice, iron, potassium, phosphate, and iodide; in
addition to the mineral constituents just named, the ash showed all
the constituents of the ash of extract of bladderwrack; various other
tests applied to the pills indicated this extract to be present, and
failed to show any other ingredients. The quantities of the respective
substances were determined as accurately as possible, and the formula
found to be approximately:
Potassium iodide 0·15 grain.
Iron phosphate 0·35 ”
Powdered ginger 0·2 ”
” liquorice 0·1 ”
Extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_ 2·2 grains.
In one pill.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 28 pills is 1¼d.
The Reducing Lotion for external use only with the XL reducing Pills is
sold at 4s. 6d. a bottle, containing 2¼ fluid ounces.
Directions for Use.—To a little of the lotion add
three or four times the amount of water (to a spoonful,
three or four spoonfuls of water). The lotion is in
a highly concentrated form, and equals a bottle four
times the size. The lotion should be applied night and
morning, gently, without rubbing, by means of the hand,
or a piece of rag, to the part desired. Any part that
is abnormally enlarged can be so treated, except the
face, to which it should not be applied. The XL lotion
will not irritate the most delicate skin, but it should
not be used when there is any scratch or abrasion.
Analysis showed the presence of chloride, bromide, and iodide of
potassium, glycerine, and a small quantity of a resinous substance in
combination with alkali. The amount of the last constituent was very
small, the resinous substance only amounting to 0·08 per cent.; it
was somewhat bitter, with little colour, and showed no characteristic
reactions or properties by which it could be identified. The
proportions of the other ingredients were found to be:
Potassium iodide 9·7 grains.
” bromide 13·5 ”
” chloride 6·9 ”
Glycerine 105 minims.
Water To 1 fluid ounce.
The estimated cost of the ingredients (2¼ fluid ounces) is about ¾d.
TRILENE TABLETS.
These tablets are advertised from an address in London, in boxes price
2s. 6d., containing 66 tablets.
Enclosed with the package was a little book containing testimonials,
directions, etc., and also a small circular giving instructions as to
diet, with the addition:
We desire to say that such precautions are not
indispensable by any means, but we formulate the above
for the guidance of those in whom any peculiarity of
Constitution may render such care salutary, and to
promote rapidity of cure.
The directions were:
Three of the tablets three times a day 10 minutes
before meals, either dissolved on the tongue or taken
as pills. (_No change of diet being essential._)
It was also added:
The present supply lasts one week, in which time
the weight begins to lessen, but a marked change in
appearance naturally occupies _several weeks_ to
effect.
Two separate packages of the tablets were obtained for analysis at an
interval of several weeks; in the first supply the tablets were of a
dirty white colour and contained no dye, but in the second they were
bright yellow, and contained a yellow dye, which appeared to be one
of the coal-tar colours; the other ingredients were the same as those
found on the first occasion. The average weight of one tablet was 0·9
grain, and they were found to contain 87 per cent. of sugar, 2·4 per
cent. of moisture, and O·5 per cent. of ash; about three-quarters
of the remainder was starch, principally potato starch, but with a
little maize. The residual 2 or 3 per cent. was a gelatinous substance
which showed no marked reactions or characters, and exhibited only
traces of cell tissue when examined microscopically. Analysis of the
ash showed it to contain sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium
chloride, sulphate, and phosphate; these are the constant constituents
of the ash of extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_; an aqueous extract of the
tablets contained a small quantity of mucilage similar to that yielded
by the same drug. By taking some _Fucus vesiculosus_ in the wet state,
pounding it to a pulp and boiling it, a material was obtained agreeing
with the gelatinous substance from the tablets, and there appeared no
ground for doubting the identity of the two. Careful search was made
for alkaloids and other substances in small quantity, but without any
being found. The formula thus became:
_Fucus vesiculosus_, in pulp 3 per cent. (dry weight).
Starch 7 ”
Sugar 87 ”
Water 3 ”
Yellow dye q.s.
The estimated cost of the ingredients (66 tablets) is one-fortieth of a
penny.
HARGREAVE’S REDUCING WAFERS.
This preparation is supplied from an address in London in boxes price
1s. 1½d., containing 21.
The following extracts are taken from a circular enclosed with the box;
the circular contained also a number of testimonials, with directions,
etc.
Purely vegetable. Contain nothing harmful. Can be
taken at any time with perfect safety. Dose: Three
wafers daily. One after Breakfast, Dinner and Supper.
If Supper is not taken, one after Tea instead. May be
dissolved on the tongue or taken as pills. No change in
diet necessary.
The supply sent herewith lasts one week, in which time
the Fat commences to get less. In most cases, however,
to complete a cure takes about seven weeks, therefore
clients should now send for the further six weeks’
treatment.
The “wafers” were really compressed tablets of the ordinary shape,
coated with French chalk, and coloured pink externally with eosin.
After removing the coating the average weight of the tablets was
2·4 grains; they consisted of substances of “extract” nature, with
about 10 per cent. of powdered liquorice. Analysis of the ash showed
all the constituents of the ash of extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_
(bladderwrack), and other tests indicated that this extract formed
about one-half of the tablet; the other constituent (or constituents)
also of “extract” nature, showed no reactions or properties by which it
could be identified, and it was probably present merely as excipient.
ALLAN’S ANTI-FAT.
This substance is supplied by an American “Botanic Medicine Company”
from a London office, in bottles containing 6½ fluid ounces, price 6s.
6d.
On the wrapper appeared the words:
Purely vegetable. Perfectly harmless. Always
efficacious.
We call special attention to the efficacy of
our Anti-Fat in the cure of that distressing
complaint—indigestion or dyspepsia. It acts solely
upon the food in the stomach, regulating and putting
the liver and discharging organs in good working order.
A circular was enclosed with the bottle, entitled, “How to get lean
without starvation,” from which the following extracts are taken:
A very extensive observation has convinced us, since
our first circular treatise was issued, that in the
majority of cases the Anti-Fat must be taken for
from two to three, and, in rare cases, even four
weeks before the patient will begin to notice much
reduction of flesh, after which the loss goes on
rapidly—generally from three to five pounds a week. In
some cases the diminution in weight commences from the
first two or three days’ use of it.
The treatment of obesity has hitherto rested on no sure
basis.
Through the study of physiological chemistry, a
_specific_ has at length been discovered, which,
from the name of the discoverer, has been called
Allan’s Anti-Fat.
Directions: Take two teaspoonfuls of the Anti-Fat in a
wineglass full of water or sweet milk before each meal.
A small slip was also enclosed headed “CAUTION!!” which stated:
The color, as well as the flavor, of the Anti-Fat,
varies somewhat with age and exposure to light,
but neither in the least impairs its virtues. The
temperature of the weather at the time of the
manufacture of this remedy has also much to do with its
clearness, or transparency, but does not affect its
properties.
Analysis showed the presence of alcohol, glycerine, potassium iodide,
salicylic acid, and a vegetable extract which from its properties and
the analysis of the ash was evidently a purified extract of _Fucus
vesiculosus_. The proportion of the latter drug represented could not,
of course, be determined with certainty for the reasons already given,
but the amounts of the other ingredients were ascertained by analysis,
and the formula was approximately as follows:
Potassium iodide 0·3 grain.
Salicylic acid 1·0 ”
Glycerine 40 minims.
Fluid extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_ 70 ”
Water To 1 fluid ounce.
The estimated cost of the ingredients (6½ fluid ounces) is 3d.
MARMOLA.
This preparation is supplied by another American Company, which also
has a depôt in London. It is sold in packages, containing ½ ounce,
price 2s. 6d.
This preparation, which has been largely advertised in daily and
weekly newspapers, is not represented as a proprietary article, but
is mentioned as one ingredient of a prescription to be made up at a
chemist’s. The following advertisement is a sample:
Is Fatness a Social Offence?
“The female form, being capable of expressing a supreme
degree of grace, should be an inspiration in our daily
lives and lead up to higher ideals of beauty,” said
an art lecturer lately. Therefore the fat woman is an
enemy to the artistic uplift, for she is entirely too
heavy for any wings of fancy to raise.
Why should any woman remain fat when it is so easy
to reduce one’s flesh? A woman may take but little
exercise and enjoy the best of food, and still
preserve a beautiful figure. She has at hand a simple
fat-reducer that takes the place of starving and
gymnastics. It consists of a dessertspoonful after
meals and at bedtime of this simple mixture: One
half-ounce of Marmola, one ounce of fluid extract of
Glycyrrhiza B.P., one ounce of pure Glycerine B.P.,
and Peppermint Water to make six ounces in all. Every
over-fat person should try it. It’s quite harmless, and
will take off as much as a pound of fat a day. With a
chemist’s handy, anyone can have a good figure at a
reasonable cost.
A dessertspoonful of the mixture prescribed would contain about 9 or 10
grains of Marmola. The prescription and directions were reproduced on
the label of the package, and it was added:
If faithfully taken as directed for 60 or 90 days,
satisfactory results should be obtained.
which is a decidedly milder statement than that in the advertisement
that it “will take off as much as a pound of fat a day.”
The box contained a light brown powder, and analysis showed the
presence of (1) a large proportion of a powdered seaweed, agreeing well
in characters with the powder of _Fucus vesiculosus_, its identity
being further indicated by the composition of the ash; (2) a substance
of proteid nature, agreeing well in characters with the powder of
dried thyroid gland, its identity being further indicated by the
presence of iodine in organic combination; (3) phenolphthalein; (4)
sodium chloride (common salt); and (5) extractive. The last showed no
well-marked characters by which it could be identified, and differed
both in quantity and some minor properties from the extracts obtained
from a specimen of powdered fucus which was used for comparison. This
difference might quite well be due to differences in the drug or in
the treatment it had received, or the extract may represent some other
ingredient possessed of no distinctive characters; a trace of oil of
peppermint was also present.
Although it was easy to ascertain the nature of the ingredients the
determination of the proportions in which they were present in such a
mixture offered no little difficulty. It is not necessary to detail
here the methods employed, but it will suffice to say that while every
care was taken to make the results as accurate as possible, they cannot
in the nature of the case be more than approximate. The formula arrived
at was:
In one Dose.
Dried thyroid gland 14 per cent. 1·4 grain.
Phenolphthalein 4 ” 0·4 ”
Sodium chloride 7 ” 0·7 ”
Powdered _Fucus vesiculosus_ 50 ” 5·0 grains.
Extractive 25 ” 2·5 ”
Oil of peppermint trace trace.
Taking the “extractive” at the price of some of the commoner medicinal
extracts, the estimated cost of the ingredients for half an ounce is
about 4d.
FIGUROIDS.
The tablets sold under the name of Figuroids are or were recently
supplied by a London Company, price 2s. 9d. per bottle, containing 12
large and 12 small tablets.
They were described in a pamphlet enclosed in the package as
A Scientific Obesity Cure discovered through an
accident while making Scientific Investigations in the
Laboratory.
Other extracts from the pamphlet are as follows:
In looking through quantities of anti-fat literature
one finds all kinds of crude, ignorant explanations,
such as, for example, that the remedy absorbs the fat.
Now, a sponge absorbs water, or any dry thing will
absorb a liquid, but common sense will tell you that
a liquid taken into the body will not absorb fat; you
can clearly understand that point without further
explanation. Another remedy, it is claimed, simply
destroys the fat. This explanation is, as you can see,
equally preposterous. In Nature nothing is destroyed.
When a piece of coal is burned it is not destroyed, it
is only changed into gases and smoke, and fat is not
destroyed by any remedy.
Now here is the true and scientific explanation. When
Figuroids are taken, and the fat passes out of those
cells into the circulation, it is oxidized. This
produces chiefly water and carbonic acid gas. This
oxidation takes place while it is being carried along
in the circulating blood. This carbonic acid gas and
water vapour are eliminated from the system as already
explained.
When you take Figuroids, therefore, your extra fat
simply passes from the adipose cells through their
unbroken walls into the blood, and is there changed to
water and Carbon Dioxide, and thus leaves the body.
This is the scientific, simple, natural explanation,
and Figuroids is the only remedy which has the
effect....
If then you are exceedingly stout and suffering from
all the unpleasant symptoms resulting from that
condition, if you find your weight excessive, if you
suffer from heart palpitation, if you have redness
of the face with annoying perspiration and shiny
appearance of the nose and face, if the throat and
bosom are altogether too stout, and if the lines of the
figure have been lost, or if the abdomen has become
too prominent, if Gout and Rheumatism make themselves
manifest occasionally, and all the disagreeable and
often dangerous symptoms of Obesity are apparent, you
will know that in Figuroids you have a perfectly safe
remedy, while if you suffer but slightly from Obesity
and all the symptoms are less marked, you will also
know that Figuroids furnish you with an effective,
agreeable, and perfectly Safe cure....
When taking Figuroids it is not necessary to unduly
restrict yourself in the matter of diet. You may eat
and drink what you desire in reason. It would of
course, be foolish to drink or eat excessively of fat
or fattening foods.
In another enclosed circular the Company stated that:
They have decided to originate a No Cure No Payment
system, and will refund the purchase money to any
patient whose weight is not reduced by from two to six
pounds per month whilst taking Figuroids.... This offer
to refund purchase money is made on the understanding
that the Figuroid Company’s instructions are faithfully
observed and the conditions of their offer complied
with.
The directions on the label were as follows:
Each bottle contains an equal number of full doses
(large tablet) and half doses (small tablet).
Take regularly one full dose (large tablet) dissolved
in plain or soda water within 30 minutes after each of
the first three meals on the first day. Next day take
one half dose (small tablet) dissolved in plain or
soda water within 30 minutes after each of the three
meals. Third day take full doses again; and so continue
alternating.
Although it is here clearly conveyed, without directly making the
statement, that the large and small tablets only differ in being full
doses and half doses respectively, examination showed their composition
to be different, and it was necessary to analyse them separately.
_Large Tablets._
The large tablets had an average weight of 58 grains; analysis showed
them to contain an effervescing mixture of sodium bicarbonate and
tartaric acid, in which the former was in excess, so that the resulting
product was alkaline, together with sodium chloride (common salt),
phenolphthalein, formamine (hexamethylene-tetramine), talc, and gum.
The quantity of each of the ingredients was determined as accurately
as possible, with the results given below; it will be noted that these
quantities add up to 101·4 instead of 100, the reason being that the
whole of the soda is for convenience represented as bicarbonate,
whereas a portion of it had become converted to carbonate by loss of
carbon dioxide.
In One Tablet.
Sodium bicarbonate 62·0 per cent. 38·9 grains.
Tartaric acid 22·6 ” 13·1 ”
Sodium chloride 6·5 ” 3·8 ”
Phenolphthalein 2·0 ” 1·2 ”
Formamine 3·5 ” 2·0 ”
Talc 2·8 ”
Gum about 2·0 ”
Hexamethylene-tetramine or formamine, is perhaps better known by its
trade names—urotropine, cystamin, urisol, etc.; it does not appear to
have been described as of value for obesity.
_Small Tablets._
The small tablets had an average weight of 34·3 grains. Analysis showed
them to contain sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid, but in this case
the latter was in excess and the product acid; the other ingredients
were sodium chloride, phenolphthalein, and talc. The results of
quantitative determinations indicated the following formula (more
carbon dioxide had been lost in this case; the figures add up to 108·5,
the reason being that given above):
In One Tablet.
Sodium bicarbonate 34·8 per cent. 11·9 grains.
Tartaric acid 46·3 ” 15·9 ”
Sodium chloride 22·8 ” 7·6 ”
Phenolphthalein 1·6 ” 0·5 grain.
Talc 3·0 ”
The estimated cost of the ingredients of the contents of a 2s. 9d.
bottle is 1¾d.
FELL REDUCING TREATMENT.
In pushing this “treatment,” advertised by an Association giving an
address in London, the system of letters in series is resorted to, but
a small package, containing 112 tablets, can be purchased for 6s. 6d.
An advertisement ran as follows:
FAT PEOPLE GIVEN FREE TREATMENT.
We have such marvellous records of reductions effected
in hundreds of cases with the Fell Reducing Treatment,
that we have decided, for a limited period only, to
give free trial treatments.
7 LB. PER WEEK REDUCTION IS GUARANTEED,
without dieting. Perfectly harmless, pleasant; easy and
quick results. Send no money. Simply address the Fell
Formula Association, 340, Century House, 205, Regent
Street, London, W., enclosing stamp to pay postage,
when a free supply in plain wrapper will be immediately
forwarded.
A free supply was sent on application, accompanied by a letter and
sundry circulars; other letters followed at intervals, and extracts
from some of these will be given. They were printed in imitation of
typewriting, with the name and address typed in, so as to give the
appearance of being personal letters. It will be noted that when a
customer has been attracted by the advertisement that “7 lb. per week
reduction is guaranteed, without dieting,” very much smaller claims are
gradually substituted.
Esteemed Friend,
Your favour of recent date has received our careful
attention, and we take pleasure in sending you a three
days’ trial of the Fell Reducing Treatment. Before
taking it, weigh yourself, and then again in three
days, on the same scales and in the same clothes, you
will find you have lost some 3 lb. in weight.
An abnormal condition like corpulency requires that the
antidote directly reaches the seat of the complaint,
and by these Reducers the blood will be purified, and
all the organs of the body restored to natural healthy
action, while the germs of the disease will be entirely
eradicated from the system, so that the superfluous
fat, which will be removed will not return....
At the present stage of the disease in your case, we
can positively assure you that under our treatment a
marked improvement will begin at once, and continue
steadily until a complete reduction in weight, with all
the benefits to general health, is effected. Unlike
most other methods of treatment, the action begins
immediately and the sufferer feels better almost from
the beginning, and it is with confidence that we advise
you to begin a course of treatment with our Reducing
Preparation at once.
Our regular terms and prices are 26s. for a case
containing three 11s. boxes, whereby a saving of 7s. is
effected.
If you take up the treatment in this manner you can be
sure of having sufficient of the Tablets to take you
through to a quick reduction. Single boxes of Tablets,
however, are supplied at 11s. and smaller sizes at 6s.
6d. The 6s. 6d. box covers a ten days’ treatment, while
the 11s. boxes contain three times the quantity of the
6s. 6d.
This letter was not answered, but before long another was received
which contained the following passages:
In sending you the sample of the “Fell” Preparation,
we did so more to show the thorough nature of our
treatment than from the expectation that material
benefit would be realized from same. As you require to
bring about a certain reduction you must necessarily
undergo a certain course of treatment. A pound a day
reduction results in many cases, and there is every
reason to expect that such reduction can be effected in
yours. A serious affliction such as obesity is not to
be removed by any temporary remedy or with a few days’
treatment....
Remember, a 26s. case contains sufficient treatment to
reduce materially the most stubborn and long standing
case, while an 11s. box contains three times the
quantity of the 6s. 6d. box....
A supply was sent for and was accompanied by the following letter:
Dear Sir,
I have despatched to you the Tablets together with
directions and instructions. I ask you to carefully
observe same, and am confident if you do so, you will
very soon see most beneficial results....
I am confident that you will be highly delighted with
the splendid effects of the Tablets at the end of a few
weeks if you follow carefully my instructions and are
prompt and regular in taking the Tablets. I am sending
you herewith printed instructions and rules for diet.
You will note that our suggestion as to what you should
eat, if strictly followed, will not work any hardship,
and that you will never go hungry....
This letter, signed “________ ‘Adviser, Fell Formula Association,’”
was accompanied by a printed circular giving rules as to diet, etc.,
and by a “symptom blank,” to be filled up by the patient in order to
obtain particulars of “the Fell System of Simple Muscular Movements
for Reducing the Weight and Increasing the Strength, in combination
with the ‘Fell’ Reducing Treatment”; it appears from the latter that
particulars of these exercises are only supplied when the 26s. case is
sent for.
A fourth letter dealt with generalities and recommended taking the
reducing treatment in increased quantities, but after an interval a
fifth was received, enclosing a booklet advocating the use of “the
Century Thermal Bath Cabinet,” from which the following are extracts:
... We have strongly recommended the Home Turkish Bath
that it may be used at least once a week as an adjunct
to the Reducing Treatment; hence our affiliation to
the “Century Thermal” Bath Cabinet, Ltd., whose home
cabinet is built on such lines as to render it the best
device extant for taking Hot Air or Vapour Baths.
... in any event, it were better to spend the required
amount, for were the cost as much as £10 in all (it has
but rarely exceeded that) the expense is out of all
proportion to the ultimate benefit.
... with the Fell treatment no case of obesity, in
either sex, can fail to be reduced if assisted with the
regular use of the Hot Air Bath.
Booklets entitled _Corpulence or Obesity. Its causes, results, and
successful treatment: The Treatment of Obesity by the “Fell” Reducing
Treatment_: and _Make Muscle of your Fat_, were also sent at different
times. The following extracts from two of these scarcely appear
consistent:
A Guarantee to Reduce Weight.
It is not our purpose to indulge in empty talk only, or
in unconsequential boasts. We are prepared to, and do,
give a positive guarantee that the Fell Treatment, used
in conjunction with the Muscular System, will reduce
the fat of any person—provided our instructions are
adhered to—in the space of a very few weeks.
Do We Guarantee?
We are frequently asked this question personally and by
letter, and reply emphatically—No, we do not. To say
Yes—would be illogical and certainly demoralising.
A guarantee that any medical remedy or curative
will absolutely effect its stated purpose is
misleading, deceptive, delusive, and is a trap to
ensnare, not intelligent individuals, but the unwary,
the unsophisticated, and those utterly unable to
discriminate as to the merits or demerits of any
so-called specific.
The dose was stated to be:
Nine tablets daily. Three taken three times a day
before meals. They may be taken as pills or dissolved
on the tongue.
The tablets had an average weight of 1 grain. Analysis showed them to
contain 90·8 per cent. of milk sugar, 2·4 per cent. of greasy matter,
which appeared to be a mixture of stearic acid and paraffin, evidently
employed as a lubricant in making the tablets, and 6·8 per cent. of
an extract which agreed well in its characters with extract of _Fucus
vesiculosus_; its identity was further indicated by analysis of the
ash. Each tablet would thus contain:
Extract of bladderwrack 0·07 grain.
Milk sugar 0·91 ”
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 112 tablets is ¼d.
NELSON LLOYD SAFE REDUCING TREATMENT.
In this instance the bait of free trial for a fortnight is held out in
the advertisements issued from an address in London; the following are
extracts from one advertisement:
I myself am a member of a family many of whom died
prematurely after much mental and physical suffering,
arising from corpulence. While studying medicine for
my degree, I saw the signs of the family complaint
in myself. I naturally sought to avert what I for
some time feared as being my hereditary fate. It was
when I had almost given up hope that I discovered a
cure for my condition, which all the time grew worse,
in spite of my hopeful trials of all advertised and
unadvertised remedies for stoutness. I at last gave up
expecting a cure from other people. I experimented with
my own thought-out remedies, and, happily, at last my
perseverance—or, rather, my desperation—succeeded....
The result of several years’ study and experience
has only served to make my treatment more and more
successful....
I specially invite those who have tried other remedies
for reducing weight without success to write me for:
I. A copy of my book, “The Scientific Treatment of
Obesity” (just published, price 6d.), thoroughly deals
with the subject in a popular, readable style....
II. Two photos of the lady referred to above, with her
letter giving full particulars of her cure.
III. Everything required for a complete fourteen days’
free trial treatment.
I make no charge for all the above, but ask you to
enclose sixpence (by postal order), just to cover the
expenses of carriage, packing, and dispatch of parcel.
Application for the “Treatment” brought a box containing 42 tablets,
a copy of the booklet mentioned above, and a letter and form for
particulars. A few extracts will suffice to show what was claimed and
the methods adopted.
From the booklet:
Different cases vary so much that the same treatment is
never exactly suited to any two cases. Moreover, the
treatment has to be modified as the patient progresses,
the condition of the individual being periodically
allowed for.... I wish to make it perfectly clear that
not only do I offer every client the full benefit
of practically a life-study of the whole subject of
corpulence, but that I _guarantee_ to effect a
cure of every case I take up.
There are no “ifs” and “buts” about my promises to my
patients. I undertake to reduce corpulence by rational
individual treatment in each and every case entrusted
to me, and I undertake to promise (_sic_) that my
treatment is in no way weakening, that it is permanent,
and also that it has absolutely no ill effects.
From the first letter:
One of the Tablets should be taken after each of the
three chief meals of the day for the next fortnight. I
suggest that if convenient you weigh yourself before
beginning the course, and again in fourteen days’ time,
with the same scales and in the same clothes. You will
find you have lost weight, while improving in your
general condition.... My course of Treatment lasts a
month except in unusual cases. The tablets I have sent
you for the first fortnight will at once put a stop
to the fat-forming habit of the body; these tablets
are taken during the first fortnight in all cases,
and while excellent results follow even in this brief
period, they need to be followed up from the fifteenth
day by additional and different remedies, adapted to
each individual case.
In order to prepare this part of your Treatment I
shall need to have before me full particulars of your
case, which you can easily give me by filling up the
Consultation Form enclosed herewith....
My fee for a month’s course of Treatment is one guinea,
but you will see that I have given you credit for the
first fortnight’s Treatment sent you herewith, because
this is free in accordance with my offer through the
Press. This means that by sending at once you can
have one month’s complete treatment for half cost. To
secure this concession you must, however, send me the
Consultation Form filled up, and remittance for 10s.
6d. in time to continue your Treatment on the fifteenth
day, and I must have at least three clear days in
which to consider your case and prepare and post your
Treatment to reach you in time.
The “Consultation Form” contained questions as to age, height, weight,
chest and abdomen measurements, details of bodily condition, habits,
and diet; this was filled up so as to represent an ordinary case of
moderate obesity, and returned with 10s. 6d. In the next letter it was
stated:
I am preparing your second fortnight’s treatment, and
it will be forwarded in due course, but I feel I should
like to take this opportunity of pointing out to you that
there are special features about your case which, while
not preventing the accomplishment of the improvement
you desire, will, however, entail a little longer
course of treatment than one month.
In my opinion your case requires a two months’ course
of my treatment, at the end of which time the results
will be all that you can desire. I thought it only
right you should know this, and I would like you to
tell me if you will take the full course my experience
leads me to advise you.
My fee for the two months’ course is two guineas, but
you have already standing to your credit the sum of
one guinea, being one half-guinea allowed for first
fortnight’s free trial, and the other half-guinea you
have just sent me.
I should like you to take the full course my experience
tells me is necessary for you, and if you now send me
the one guinea balance, I will at once arrange for the
supply of all the necessary remedies to you at the
proper intervals.
The second fortnight’s treatment consisted of “special tablets” and a
liquid; these were accompanied by a further letter, a diet table, and a
report form, to be filled in and returned after 10 days.
The three kinds of medicine were examined with results as follows:
_The preliminary tablets._—There were 42 in the box, and the directions
were to take one three times a day after meals.
They were sugar-coated and coloured red externally; after removal of
the coating, they had an average weight of 4·7 grains. Analysis showed
them to consist principally of substances of extract nature, together
with an amount of liquorice fibre representing about 20 per cent. of
powdered liquorice; iodine was present in organic combination, and
a nitrogenous substance; the amount of nitrogen was 0·51 per cent.,
representing 3·2 per cent. of proteid; no tissue of thyroid gland
was present, and the nitrogenous material was probably contained in
an extract of this substance. The remainder possessed the general
characters of extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_, and its identity was also
indicated by analysis of the ash; some gum was also present, and some
indication was obtained of another substance also, which, however,
possessed no important characters, and was probably also of the nature
of excipient. The formula indicated by the results was thus:
Extract of bladderwrack 2·5 grains.
Proteid of thyroid gland 0·15 grain.
Powdered liquorice 0·9 ”
Excipient and moisture, etc. q.s.
In one tablet.
_The “special” tablets._—There were 33 of these in a box; the
directions were to take one after the mid-day and one after the evening
meal. They were sugar-coated but not coloured. After removal of the
coating, they had an average weight of 4·6 grains. Analysis showed
their composition to agree qualitatively with that of the preliminary
tablets, but the nitrogenous material and the liquorice were present
in somewhat larger amounts. The following formula was indicated by the
results:
Extract of bladderwrack 2·5 grains.
Proteid of thyroid gland 0·19 grain.
Powdered liquorice 1·4 ”
Excipient and moisture, etc. q.s.
In one tablet.
_The liquid._—Two fluid ounces were supplied, the directions being to
take 30 drops in a wineglassful of cold water the last thing at night
before retiring and on rising in the morning. Analysis showed this to
contain alcohol, glycerine, nitrogenous matter, a little iodine in
organic combination, and substances of extract nature; the character of
the extract and the composition of the ash again pointed to its being
derived from _Fucus vesiculosus_; the amount of nitrogen was determined
and the equivalent amount of proteid matter calculated; the alcohol and
glycerine were also determined quantitatively: the amount of extract
of bladderwrack could only be arrived at by difference, supported by
the probability that the alcohol was all, or nearly all, added in the
form of the fluid extract of this drug, and the figure can therefore
only be given with reservation; there were also indications of some
small amount of flavouring and colouring matter having been added. The
approximate formula appeared to be:
Proteid of thyroid gland 0·3 part.
Liquid extract of bladderwrack 32 fluid parts.
Glycerine 12 ”
In 100 fluid parts.
The amount of thyroid actually represented by the nitrogenous matter
found in these three preparations was too uncertain for an estimate of
the cost price to be of value.
CORPULIN, AND DALLOFF’S TEA “CONTRE L’OBESITÉ” GRAZIANA ZEHRKUR.
Of the German preparations examined by Dr. Zernik two
contain bladderwrack. One called Corpulin contains also
tamarind and cascara sagrada. The other, Dalloff’s Tea
“Contre l’Obesité,” as to which the advertisers assert
that “regular use leads to the removal of superfluous
adipose tissue and the person becomes healthy and
attains old age” was found to consist of a mixture
of the leaves of senna, bearberry (_Uvœ ursi_)
and lavender, and anthylla flowers. Any action it may
have depends probably on the senna leaves. It is sold
in boxes costing 7s. 6d. or 4s. 6d.; the smaller box
contains 80 grammes, or nearly 3 ounces of the powder.
Graziana Reducing Treatment (Zehrkur) is sent out
in parcels costing 3s. Each contains a packet of a
greyish-brown powder, a box of 40 starch capsules,
each containing 0·2 gramme of a light brown
finely-divided powder, and a box of 86 pills, each
weighing 0·22 gramme. The chief ingredient of each of
the preparations is powdered _Fucus_. The pills
contain some substance yielding emodin, the purgative
principle, or one of the purgative principles, of
aloes, rhubarb, buckthorn, and senna, and also some
sulphates and chlorides.