MONEY IN PROPRIETARY COMPOUNDS.
Proprietary Kings and How They Acquired Power--Patent Medicine
Secrets Given Away--Where Perry Davis Found His Recipe--The Parent
of the “Killers”--Men Who Made Their “Pile” in Pills--Fortunes in
“Bitters”--Electricity, or “Mustard Plasters”--The Story of a
“Discovery”--How a Man Made a Fortune With an Indian Cure--“What’s
in a Name?” The Mighty Lubec--Tons of Drugs Taken Every
Day--Triumph of “Soothing Syrup”--A New Patent Medicine for Every
Day of the Year--The Man Who Took Everything.
Owners of proprietary compounds have built up great fortunes in the sale
of their concoctions. Our drug stores are filled with patent medicines,
and millions of “cures” are sold annually. The names of some of these,
such as Hostetter, Brandreth, and Mother Winslow, have become household
words, proving how largely and universally their medicines have sold.
The story is told of one credulous hypochondriac, who, on the theory
that of many shot some one is likely to hit, actually took every kind of
patent medicine in the world, or at least of every sort he had heard
about. As there are more than three hundred and sixty diverse
concoctions, this genius must have taken a different kind for every day
of the year, or else have extended his experiments through a long
period, which seems impossible under the circumstances. It is said that
Perry Davis obtained his famous “Discovery” in the form of a recipe in
an old newspaper which he found in an outhouse. This was the foundation
of one of the largest fortunes in patent medicines, and it was the
parent of all the “Killers.” The men who have made their piles in
“pills” may be counted by the hundred. Perhaps the “Soothing Syrup”
success is the most signal example of “_multum in parvo_.” It is sold by
the million bottles, and yet it is nothing but a little paregoric
dropped in some sweet mixture. “Lubec” is a mighty name, but anybody can
be a Lubec so far as the question of perfumery goes. Among the anecdotes
of medicine venders we have only space for one or two. A man was crying
up the virtues of an electric belt, and it was found that he had
adroitly attached a strip of mustard plaster to the magic band, and this
when heated by contact with the warm skin produced redness and an
itching, which were supposed by the too trusting patient to be the
effects of the healing electricity. Another man has made a fortune with
an “Indian Plant.” He travels about the country with what he advertises
to be a “troop of Indians,” giving performances and hawking his “cures.”
The “Indians” are New York toughs, and the “medicine plant” is a common
pasture weed. We give no sort of countenance to these frauds, but,
dismissing them all, there are still both profit to the patient and
profit to the maker in the taking of proprietary medicines. To succeed
in this line one should first have an article of genuine merit, and then
advertise lavishly. Below are given some recipes quite as good as those
that have made fortunes for their possessors, and in some cases the
exact formulas of these widely renowned medicines are given.
298. HEALING OINTMENT.--One of the most celebrated of ointments is
composed of these simple ingredients: Butter, lard, Venice turpentine,
white wax and yellow wax. Here is a rule for another ointment: Fresh
butter, three-quarters pound; beeswax, four ounces; yellow resin, three
ounces; melt together; add vinegar of cantharides, one fluid ounce; and
simmer the whole with constant agitation for ten or twelve minutes, or
until the moisture is nearly evaporated; then add of Canada balsam one
ounce; express oil of mace, one drachm; balsam of Peru, ten or twelve
drops; again stir well, allow mixture to settle; and when about half
cold pour into pots previously slightly warmed, and allow it to cool
very slightly. There is nothing else but to put on your label and expose
for sale.
299. SPASM KILLER.--Acetate of morphia, one grain; spirit of sal
volatile and sulphuric ether, one fluid ounce each; camphor julep, four
ounces. Keep closely corked in a cool place and shake well before use.
Dose, one teaspoonful in a glass of cold water as required.
Here is another: Spirits of camphor, two ounces; tincture of capsicum,
one ounce; tincture of guaiac, one-half ounce; tincture of myrrh,
one-half ounce; alcohol, four ounces. This is Perry Davis’ famous
medicine.
300. ANTI-MALARIA.--One ounce each of Peruvian bark and cream of tartar,
cloves one-half drachm reduced to fine powder. Dose, one and one-half
drachm every three hours.
301. HOSTETTER’S BITTERS.--Here is the recipe for the famous bitters:
Calamus root, two pounds; orange peel, two pounds; Peruvian bark, two
pounds; gentian root, two pounds; colombo root, two pounds; rhubarb,
eight ounces; cloves, two ounces; cinnamon, four ounces; diluted
alcohol, four gallons; water, two gallons; sugar, two pounds.
302. TOOTHACHE EASE.--Liquor of ammonia, two parts; laudanum, one part;
apply on lint.
303. CANDY DIGEST.--Lump sugar, one pound; water, three ounces; dissolve
by heat; add cardamom seeds, ginger, and rhubarb, of each one ounce;
when the mixture is complete pour it out on an oiled slab or into
moulds.
304. COUGH LOZENGES.--Lactucarium, two drachms; ipecacuanha, one drachm;
squills, three-fourth drachm; extract of licorice, two ounces; sugar,
six ounces; make into a mash with mucilage of tragacinth, and divide
into twenty grain lozenges.
305. LOVERS’ HAIR OIL (Makes the hair glossy).--Castor oil, one pound;
white wax, four ounces; melt together; add when nearly cold, of essence
of bergamot, three drachms; oil of lavender, one-half drachm; essence of
ambergris, ten drops.
306. PURGATIVE POWDER.--Equal parts of julep and cream of tartar,
colored with a little red bole; dose, a teaspoonful in broth or warm
water two or three times daily.
307. CONSUMPTION WAFERS.--Two parts each lump sugar and starch in
powdered form; powdered gum, one part; made into a lozenge mass with
vinegar of squills, oxymel of squills, and ipecacuanha wine, equal
parts, gently evaporated to one-sixth their weight with the addition of
lactucarium in proportion of twenty to thirty grains to every ounce of
the powders, the mass being divided into half-inch squares weighing
about seven and one-half grains.
308. BEEF, IRON AND WINE.--Here is a recipe for Liebig’s famous extract:
Beef juice, one-half ounce; ammonia citrate of iron, 256 grains; spirit
of orange, one-half fluid ounce; distilled water, one-half ounce; sherry
wine sufficient to make sixteen fluid ounces. Dissolve the ammonia
citrate of iron in the water; dissolve the extract of beef in the sherry
wine; add the spirit of orange and mix the solution.
309. SPRING TONIC.--Calamus root, two pounds; orange peel, two pounds;
Peruvian bark, two pounds; gentian root, two pounds; colombo root, two
pounds; rhubarb, eight ounces; cinnamon, four ounces; cloves, two
ounces; diluted alcohol, four gallons; water, two gallons; sugar, two
pounds.
310. DR. PIERCE’S GOLDEN MEDICAL DISCOVERY.--Here is all there is of Dr.
Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery. It is no doubt a good thing, but you
can make it yourself. A one-dollar bottle holds 220 grains of a
brownish-colored, clear liquid, consisting of fifteen grains of pure
honey, one grain of extract of acrid lettuce, two grains of laudanum,
100 grains of diluted alcohol, with 105 grains of water.
311. BED-BUG EXTERMINATOR.--Corrosive sublimate, one ounce; muriatic
acid, two ounces; water, four ounces; dissolve, then add turpentine, one
pint; decoction of tobacco, one pint. Mix. For the decoction of tobacco,
boil two ounces of tobacco in one pint of water. The mixture must be
applied with a paint-brush. If well applied, this is a sure destroyer of
bed-bugs. It is a deadly poison.
312. CATARRH CURE.--One-half gram of carbolic acid; one-half gram of
camphor; and ten grams of common salt; which are to be dissolved in
four-sevenths of a liter of water and injected into the nostrils. You
can call it the “Excelsior,” for it is excelled by none.
313. LIP POMATUM.--For chapped lips, lard, sixteen parts; cacao oil,
twenty-four parts; spermaceti, eight parts; yellow wax, three parts;
alcana root, one part. The substances are fused for a quarter of an hour
at a gentle heat, then strain through a cloth, and mix with oil of lemon
and oil of bergamot, each one-sixth part, oil of bitter almonds,
one-fifteenth part; then the mass is poured into suitable vessels to
cool.
314. OINTMENT FOR CHAPPED HANDS.--Camphor, sixty grs.; boric acid,
thirty grs.; lanolin and white vaseline of each one-half ounce.
315. COD-LIVER OIL EMULSION.--Yolks of two eggs; powdered sugar, four
ounces; essence of oil of almonds, two drops; orange flower water, two
ounces. Mix carefully with an equal bulk of cod-liver oil. This is a
delicious emulsion. Of course, the dose is double that of the clear
cod-liver oil.
316. BEAUTY WATER.--(To remove freckles). Sulpho-carbonate of zinc, two
parts; glycerine, twenty-five parts; rose water, twenty-five parts;
spirits, five parts. Dissolve and mix. Anoint twice daily, keeping the
ointment on the skin from one-half to one hour, then wash off with cold
water. Wear a dark veil when exposed to the sun.
317. COUGH MIXTURE.--Syrup of poppies, syrup of squills, and paregoric,
each one-half ounce. Mix. Dose, a teaspoonful in a little warm water
night and morning, or when the cough is troublesome.
318. DR. SAGE’S CATARRH REMEDY.--Here is the famous secret: One-half
grm. of carbolic acid; one-half grm. of camphor and ten grms. of common
salt; which are to be dissolved in four-sevenths of a liter of water and
injected into the nostrils. Its reputation is believed to be well
deserved.
319. DIARRHEA MIXTURE.--Wine of opium, one fluid ounce; tincture of
valerian, one and one-half fluid ounces; ether, one-half fluid ounce;
oil of peppermint, sixty minims; fluid extract of ipecac, fifteen
minims; alcohol enough to make four fluid ounces. This is the formula
for a most celebrated patent medicine. The dose is a teaspoonful in a
little water every two or three hours until relieved.
320. BLOOD PURIFIER.--Equal to the best selling compounds. For a bottle
holding 220 grms., take fifteen grms. of pure honey; one grm. extract of
poisonous or acrid lettuce; two grms. laudanum; 100 grms. of diluted
alcohol; with 105 grms. of water. Make large quantities in like
proportion.