Moschata [Nutmegs], prepared according to a special formula and from
specially selected fruits_).
In the more recent pamphlet no information is given as to what it is
prepared from. The dose is given as twenty to thirty drops in water,
three times daily.
Analysis showed it to contain:
Alcohol 51.05 per cent. by volume
Ash 0.22 „
Reducing sugar 1.0 „
Fat and extractive 2.1 „
A tincture of nutmeg was prepared (not, however, “according to a
special formula”) and compared with it, and the two were found to agree
in all respects. No indication was obtained of any other ingredient;
the proportion of nutmegs appeared to be about 1 part to make 5 parts
of the tincture.
The cost of the contents of a 2s. 9d. bottle would be about 2d.
No. VIII is for whooping-cough; but little is said about it in the
book, and it was not examined.
No. IX is described as:
The specific for mechanical hæmorrhages (_and is aloes, prepared
according to a special formula_).
It was not analysed.
No. X is described as the specific for bruises, to which is added in
the book (“_and is ‘Wallace’s Formula’ of Arnica Montana_”), but in the
later pamphlet nothing is said about the drug from which it is made. It
is stated that
it does not produce the slightest erysipelatous swelling or other
irritation of the skin, which is so frequently experienced with
the ordinary homœopathic mother tincture of _arnica_. For this
reason the curative action or healing power can be pushed to such a
demonstration as to surpass ordinary credibility.
The “diseases, symptoms, conditions, and mechanical injuries for which
‘No. X.’ is the specific remedy” include
bruises, strains, sprains, shocks (electric or otherwise).... Effects
of tight-lacing.... Corns resulting from mechanical pressure. Painful
effects of straining with constipated movements of the bowels....
Effects of violent fits; of miscarriages,
etc.
The dose for adults in chronic cases is _seven_ to _ten_ drops three
times daily in a wineglass of water, and in acute cases the same every
three hours. It is also to be applied externally.
Analysis showed it to contain:
Alcohol 26.6 per cent. by volume
Ash 0.38 „
Reducing sugars 0.55 „
Extractive 1.27 „
It did not possess the characteristic odour of arnica, but had a vinous
odour resembling that of sherry; in other respects it agreed with a
weak tincture of arnica in characters and behaviour to tests. The
official tincture of arnica contains nearly three times as much alcohol
as this; the cost of a weak tincture, which would be scarcely affected
by adding enough sherry to give the vinous odour, would be about 1¹⁄₂d.
for the quantity in a 2s. 9d. bottle.
No. XI. is described as the specific for cholera, and a long extract
is given in the book from “a Pamphlet, entitled ‘Cholera, its Cause
and Cure,’ by Joseph Wallace.” In this it is stated that the specific
remedy is “_Coffœa Cruda_, or Tincture of Raw Mocha Coffee,” the adult
dose being _three_ to _ten_ drops in a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful
of water every five minutes, prolonging the intervals gradually as
amelioration sets in.
It is stated that:
In the early stages of Cholera, when purging, or purging and vomiting
has commenced for a short time, three or four doses at five-minute
intervals I have always found sufficient to restore the bowels and
stomach to as perfectly natural a state as if there had not been the
slightest derangement. Such cases with me have never exceeded twenty
minutes....
If the patient has been allowed to pass into the state of collapse,
and when every energy of the body and mind has been prostrated, the
same course of treatment will produce a like result, but I would
advise the dose of _ten_ drops to be repeated every five minutes till
amelioration takes place, _three_ to _five_ drops after. I would add
hot applications to extremities and sides, hand-rubbing as before,
and in addition, where practicable, _prolonged breathing through a
handkerchief over the region of the heart_; this last will restore
the vital spark when apparently fled.
The formula is given as follows:
Steep one pound weight (avoirdupois) of well-dried and pulverised
raw MOCHA coffee in three and one-third pints (imperial measure) of
strong alcohol for two weeks. Shake it well occasionally: filter
through blotting paper, and it is ready for use.
Analysis of “No. XI.” showed it to contain:
Caffeine 0.1 per cent.
Sugars (chiefly cane sugar) 0.7 „
Ash 0.26 „
Alcohol 51.05 per cent. by volume
Extractive 2.1 „
The tincture was darker in colour than a tincture of raw coffee, and
appeared rather to be made like “No. III.,” from pale roasted coffee,
the proportion of the latter in this case being only about one part
for twelve parts of tincture. No indication was obtained of any other
ingredient. The cost would be about 1¹⁄₂d. for the quantity in a 2s.
9d. bottle.
No. XII. is described as the specific for ringworm, for which it is
to be taken internally, in the dose (for adults) of twenty drops in a
little water every eight hours, and also applied externally, though
nothing is said about external application in the book, where the dose
is said to be one to three minims in a little water every three to
eight hours. This “specific” is stated in the book to be a tincture of
Hydrastis Canadensis; it was not analysed.
CHAPTER XV.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE HAIR.
The number of proprietary preparations for the hair which are
advertised widely is very considerable. They include preparations
for increasing the growth of the hair or curing baldness, and
preparations for altering the colouring of the hair. The line of
division, however, is not a sharp one; of the articles sold for
altering the colour of the hair some are plainly called dyes, but
others are stated to restore the colour of hair that is turning grey
without dyeing it, and for some of these it is also claimed that they
increase the growth of the hair. It is, therefore, more convenient to
arrange hair preparations in three groups--namely, hair growers, hair
“restorers,” and hair dyes. In this chapter the results obtained by
analysing a small number of preparations selected from each of these
groups are given, together with some extracts from the statements
made in regard to them by the proprietors, either on the labels or in
circulars, letters, or newspaper advertisements.
A.--HAIR GROWERS.
TATCHO.
(THE “GEORGE R. SIMS” HAIR RESTORER.)
It appears from the label that there are three varieties of this
much-advertised preparation, known as “Tatcho” oily, “Tatcho” non-oily,
and “Tatcho” (concentrated). The non-oily, described as “A brilliant
spirituous tonic, free from all grease,” was taken for analysis. A
bottle of this, containing 5¹⁄₄ fluid ounces, was priced 2s. 9d. It is
thus described:
The certain, trusty, genuine, right, honest Hair-Grower. There is no
other.
Without “Tatcho” loss of hair is inevitable, but Mr. Geo. R. Sims has
altered all that.
If your hair has become scanty or grey, get “Tatcho” to-day. It will
bring back the hair of your youth, make a new being of you, and give
you a new grip upon life.
The label and wrapper bear the following:
Certificate.
I guarantee that this Preparation is made according to the Formulæ
recommended by me.
Geo. R. Sims.
The directions are:
Sprinkle a few drops on the head each morning, and brush the hair
thoroughly after application.
Analysis showed the composition to be:
Borax 2.7 parts
Glycerine 2.5 „
Quinine 0.006 part
Formaldehyde solution (40 per cent.) 0.38 part
Colouring matter (brownish-yellow), and perfume traces
Alcohol 2.4 parts by measure
Water, sufficient to produce 100 parts by measure.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 5¹⁄₄ fluid ounces is ¹⁄₂d.
EDWARDS’ HARLENE.
Some of the most conspicuous and recent advertisements of this have
been largely devoted to a method of treating the hair called “Harlene
Hair-drill.” The preparation is supplied by a firm in London.
The package contained a booklet on “Harlene Hair Drill,” from which the
following extracts are taken:
Among all the scores of preparations for the Hair which are offered
to the public (and it may be taken for granted that the proprietors
of “Harlene” have analysed them all very carefully) many prove to
be so wide of the mark as to be actually injurious in a very high
degree, while a few may do no particular harm, but certainly no
good; for, as we have said, Nature’s requirements must be met in the
precise measure--neither in a greater nor a less....
“Harlene” alone answers all requirements; it has the property of
penetrating direct to the roots of the hair, stimulating them to
renewed vigour, cleansing the cells which line the way; and, above
all, it conveys to the hair-bulbs the peculiar food which they
require--the only food Nature has ordained can act as nourishment
for them, the food they otherwise obtain from the blood. No other
preparation contains this ingredient, and therefore no other
preparation can be successful....
The proprietors of “Harlene” recognising that users of their specific
have an undoubted right to look to them for the best information
obtainable on this subject have, over a considerable period,
conducted experiments to test thoroughly every method of “drill” not
requiring the use of instruments.
Elaborate details follow of the method of carrying out the “drill,” of
which a sample may suffice:
The manner in which a cat moves among shrubbery is a good
illustration as to the way the fingers should be moved through the
hair; the manner in which a cat kneads its bed before laying on
it, placing its paws on the material on which it will sleep, and
pressing it down in a kneading manner until suitable, the paws never
being lifted and brought down, but only relaxed before the pressure
is applied, is exactly how this movement in the “drill” should be
carried out.
Analysis showed the liquid to contain:
Borax 0.5 part
Additional alkali, equivalent to anhydrous sodium carbonate 0.04 „
Solution of ammonia (10 per cent.) 0.12 „
Glycerine 0.4 „
Brown colouring matter and perfume traces
Alcohol 5.7 parts by measure
Water, sufficient to produce 100 parts by measure.
The small quantity of alkali, in excess of what was present as borax,
may have been in combination with the colouring matter.
The estimated cost of ingredients for 6 fluid ounces is 1d.
KOKO.
This preparation is sold by a limited company in London. A 4s. 6d.
bottle contained 12¹⁄₄ fluid ounces.
The following extracts are from a circular accompanying the bottle:
Eradicates Scurf. Promotes Growth. Prevents Hair Falling. Contains
No Dye. Will positively Stop Hair from Falling Out, and prevent it
turning Prematurely Grey. Will certainly Increase the Growth of
the Hair, and if consistently used will make it Bright, Soft, and
Wavy.... The strong assertions of interested sellers of preparations
cannot be relied on, and testimonials, as a rule, cannot be safely
taken as genuine unless the position of the writer places him or
her above suspicion. We often think that the public must be sick of
seeing the eternal “This is the best” attached to every conceivable
article which is offered for sale; and for this reason we usually
refrain from saying much about Koko, leaving it to our illustrious
patrons to speak of its good qualities.
The directions for use are:
The best plan is to apply Koko freely, and brush the scalp until a
warm glow is produced. This treatment should be practised once or
twice a day, or at intervals of a few days, according to the state of
the scalp.
Analysis showed it to contain:
Borax 1.4 parts.
Glycerine 1.7 „
Formaldehyde solution (40 per cent.) 0.1 part.
Perfume a trace.
Alcohol 3 parts by measure.
Water, sufficient to produce 100 parts by measure.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 12¹⁄₄ fluid ounces is 1d.
B.--HAIR RESTORERS.
LOCKYER’S SULPHUR HAIR RESTORER.
This article is supplied by a limited company in London, who also sell
other proprietary articles. The price of a bottle containing 12 fluid
ounces is 1s. 6d. It is described as:
The Best. The Safest. The Cheapest.
Restores the colour to Grey Hair. Instantly stops the Hair from
fading. Occasionally used, Greyness is impossible. If the Hair is
actually Grey the Sulphur Restorer in six or seven days effects a
great alteration. By a gradual action, scarcely perceptible even to
watchful observers, several darker shades will be attained. In a
period of three weeks a complete change occurs, and a colour exactly
resembling that lost will became manifest.
Where the Sulphur Restorer is applied scurf cannot exist, and a sense
of cleanliness, coolness, etc., prevails.
Directions:
Well shake the bottle, and immediately apply the Restorer to the
roots of the hair. A very small sponge is convenient for this
purpose. At first it should be used daily, but when the required
shade is obtained, two or three times a week will suffice.
Analysis showed it to contain:
Precipitated sulphur 1.3 parts
Lead acetate 1.6 „
Lead sulphate 0.4 „
Glycerine 9.6 „
Rose water sufficient to produce 100 parts by measure.
The lead sulphate was probably due to some reaction having occurred
between the lead acetate and sulphur, with oxidation; assuming this
to be so, the amount of lead acetate originally present would be 2.1
parts.
The estimated cost of ingredients for 12 fluid ounces is 2d.
MEXICAN HAIR RENEWER.
A bottle of this preparation, which is sold by another limited company,
contained 7³⁄₄ fluid ounces; the price was 3s. 6d.
It is described as:
For restoring grey hair to its original colour without dyeing it.
For renewing or causing hair to grow on bald spots.
For preventing dandriff and the hair from falling out.
For making the hair soft, glossy, pliant, and luxuriant.
Daily application of this preparation for a week or two will
surely restore Faded, Grey, or White Hair to its natural colour
and richness. If properly applied, it never fails; but it should
be well shaken before using. It is not a dye, nor does it contain
any colouring matter or offensive substance whatever. Hence it does
not soil the hands, the scalp, or even white linen, but produces
the colour within the substance of the hair. In many cases it has
been successful in causing new hair to grow on bald spots, and it
can be confidently recommended in all cases, unless the hair-glands
are decayed; for if the glands are decayed and gone, no stimulant
can restore them; but if, as is often the case, the glands are only
torpid, “The Mexican Hair Renewer” will renew their vitality, and a
new growth of hair will follow.
Directions for use:
First.--Turn the bottle cork downwards and shake it thoroughly.
Turn a little into a saucer, apply it briskly to the bald spots,
and thoroughly wet all the grey hair every morning for a few weeks,
and, unless the hair glands are decayed, new hair will grow, and the
grey hair turn to its original colour, then an occasional use is
sufficient.
Analysis showed it to contain:
Precipitated sulphur 1.4 parts
Lead acetate 0.13 „
Glycerine 19.0 „
Rose water sufficient to produce 100 parts by measure.
A second bottle, however, contained 0.97 part of lead acetate in 100
parts by measure, or about eight times as much as the first bottle.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 7³⁄₄ fluid ounces is 2d.
VILIXIR.
A preparation called “Vilixir” is sold by a limited company whose
address is given as a “Hydro” in Kent. A 12s. 6d. bottle contained 5¹⁄₂
fluid ounces. This preparation has been largely advertised of late, the
advertisement in some cases taking the form of a half-page display in a
newspaper so worded as to convey the impression that it was published
as news. The following extracts are from such an advertisement:
Great interest has been aroused by the recent announcement in this
paper of a unique and useful discovery made at the ... Hydro, near
London, of a method of actually restoring the natural colour to
faded, grey, or white hair.
So much curiosity has been aroused, indeed, that the authorities
have been compelled to publish in pamphlet form the full particulars
of this discovery (a copy of this interesting publication may be
obtained on application to the person and address given later in this
second review of the discovery and its possibilities of usefulness to
the Public)....
No actual colouring agent is employed in the new dye-less and
stainless method. Instead, the hair’s sleeping pigmentary process is
reawakened....
The new way of making people’s hair show true colours is, happily, an
inexpensive one.
The following extracts are from letters received from the Vilixir
Company, after application for the pamphlet mentioned above:
The “Vilixir” Treatment differs from all other ways and means of
colouring the hair. It does not put on an artificial colour--it will
bring out the natural colour of your hair....
At this Hydro we have assistants who have become expert in the
obtaining of the best possible results from the Treatment, and if you
would like to have us do all that is necessary for you, I shall be
happy to quote you terms to include a short stay at this Hydro....
It is not necessary to the success of the Treatment, however, that
you carry it out at this address. I can send the “Vilixir” and full
directions to enable you to restore the natural colour of your hair
in the privacy of your own home.
... the “Vilixir” Treatment is absolutely non-injurious either to the
skin or to the hair; its action is wholly beneficial in every way. It
promotes growth on the bald patches (unless the roots are absolutely
perished); it thickens and lengthens the growth over the whole of the
head; it stops falling out, and, most important of all, its effects
are comparatively permanent.
The directions on the label are:
Shake the bottle and apply the liquid night and morning to the scalp
with a small brush, rubbing in for two or three minutes, and finally
brush the hair for a few seconds with the brush moistened with
“Vilixir.”
The bottle of liquid that was sent in return for 12s. 6d. was
accompanied by about ¹⁄₄ ounce of shampoo powder, for shampooing the
head before the first use of “Vilixir.” This powder was found to
consist of
Borax 4.6 per cent.
Powdered soap 24.4 „
Partly exsiccated sodium carbonate 71.0 „
Analysis showed the liquid to contain:
Precipitated Sulphur 3.2 parts.
Lead acetate 1.8 „
Glycerine 5.7 „
Rose water, sufficient to produce 100 parts by measure.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 5¹⁄₂ fluid ounces of the
liquid and ¹⁄₄ ounce of the powder is 1d.
C.--HAIR DYES.
W. SEEGER’S HAIR DYE.
This preparation bears a copy of signature “W. Seeger,” and the words
“made in Germany” on the package, but no address.
A bottle, price 2s., contained 1¹⁄₃ fluid ounces.
Directions for use:
Before applying Seeger’s, wash the hair in lukewarm water in which
you have melted a piece of ordinary household soda of the size of
a walnut to each quart of water you use. Then, when the hair is
perfectly dry, pour a little of the dye into a clean saucer, dip
the teeth of a perfectly clean fine tooth comb into the dye in the
saucer, and pass the comb several times through the hair where it is
required to be dyed. Now allow the dye to dry on the hair. While the
hair is drying, comb it now and then, so that the dye, which does not
become visible for some hours, may come in contact with the air and
an equal shade be obtained. The day following, the dye which has not
dried in can be washed out with clean water without soda.
The dye is prepared in three shades, for blonde, brown, and black; the
“brown” was taken for examination.
Analysis showed it to contain, in 100 parts by measure:
Pyrogallic acid 3.8 parts.
Cupric chloride (anhydrous) 1.8 „
Hydrochloric acid (_B.P._ strength) 0.75 part
Sulphuric acid 0.07 „
The liquid was much darker than a solution freshly prepared according
to this formula; but the dyeing effect of the two was practically
identical, and the difference in appearance appeared to be due to
decomposition of a part of the pyrogallic acid having taken place in
the original.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 1¹⁄₃ fluid ounces is ¹⁄₂d.
SHADEINE.
This preparation, sold from an address in London, was in a bottle which
contained 3¹⁄₂ fluid ounces, and was priced 3s. 6d.
It is thus described:
Shadeine is a new and important chemical discovery which regenerates
and develops the original colour of grey and faded hair, at the same
time tinting it a perfectly natural colour.... It contains neither
lead, silver, mercury, sulphur, nor any objectionable stain.
Directions for use:
Wash the hair, if in the least greasy, with soda and warm water. When
dry, pour a little Shadeine into a saucer, and with a small brush
apply evenly over the parts to be coloured, then allow it to dry. A
small quantity only should be used at a time, and the colour allowed
to develop during the day. As soon as the shade is satisfactory, wash
or brush off superfluous stain.
This preparation is made in seven colours. The one that was taken for
examination was labelled “Brown.”
Analysis showed it to contain in 100 parts by measure:
Pyrogallic acid 2.1 parts.
Cupric chloride (anhydrous) 1.3 „
Hydrochloric acid (_B.P._ strength) 0.3 part.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for 3¹⁄₂ fluid ounces is ³⁄₄d.
JUVENIA.
The hair dye called “Juvenia” is made in Paris, and supplied by a
firm having addresses in London and Birmingham. A package, price 4s.,
contained two bottles, Nos. 1 and 2, each containing about 2¹⁄₃ fluid
ounces; the liquids to be mixed at the time of using.
It is thus described:
This marvellous dye is guaranteed not to contain mercurial salts, it
is altogether of a vegetable nature and harmless.
“Juvenia” instantly restores white hair and grey beard to their
original colour, from auburn to the most jet black tints.
We specially recommend persons who wish to dye their hair or beard to
follow our advice word for word.
It is well known that subjects suffering from arthritis, herpes, or
eczema ought to abstain from eating sea-fish, shell-fish, sorrel,
strawberries, etc., under penalty of provoking eruptions or eczema
spots. Accordingly, generally speaking, such persons ought to
entirely give up the use of all instantaneous dye, and make use of
nothing else than our progressive regenerators alone, the use of
which we advise for them, in preference to any other.
If, in spite of our advice, those persons subject to the
above-mentioned affections persist in dyeing their hair, they ought
at any rate to consult their doctor.
It is necessary, in fact, to have oneself thoroughly examined as far
as the scalp is concerned before the application of a dye, and this
recommendation may especially be given to ladies. At times they may
prick themselves with their combs, their hat or hair-pins, the result
being small sores which ought not to be irritated or skinned. The
scalp ought to be absolutely intact, and if need be, one must wait
till all flaying is well healed.
Analysis showed the “liquid No. 1” to be a solution of hydrogen
peroxide containing 2 per cent. of real peroxide, or two-thirds the
strength of the ordinary “10 volume” solution. Liquid No. 2, or
“Juvenia” itself, was found to contain:
Paraphenylene-diamine 0.9 per cent.
Solution of ammonia 0.6 „
with a trace of fixed alkali, probably dissolved out of the glass of
the bottle.
A solution prepared in accordance with this formula gave an exactly
similar result in dyeing hair. The estimated cost of the ingredients
for the contents of the two bottles is 1¹⁄₂d.
The danger of using paraphenylene-diamine as a hair-dye has often been
pointed out, and is well known. When used in this way symptoms of
poisoning are sometimes quickly produced, but in other cases they do
not occur until after it has been used for weeks or even months. In
addition to urticaria and eczema produced locally, general symptoms of
poisoning may result, and in some cases deaths have occurred from this
cause.
CHAPTER XVI.
SOME MISCELLANEOUS MEDICINES.
TWO PREPARATIONS FOR SEA-SICKNESS.
Many proprietary and other medicines for sea-sickness have been put
forward from time to time, both as preventives and cures, but usually
without attaining to any very wide adoption. The first of the two
preparations here described has been very widely advertised in the
last few years; the second one, which is shown by analysis to be very
similar in composition, appears to be of Canadian origin.
ZOTOS.
This is supplied by Zotos, Limited, London; the price is 2s. 9d. per
box containing twelve capsules.
It is described on the outside of the package as “the infallible remedy
against sea sickness”; on the inner package it is stated that
Zotos is an infallible remedy against sea sickness, train sickness,
etc.
Zotos not only prevents sickness but stimulates the appetite.
Zotos contains no injurious drug and produces no bad after-effects.
A circular contained in the package gives a so-called “analytical
report” on the preparation, in which it is stated that the capsules are
“free from any noxious ingredient,” and that the contents “consist of
compounds of high therapeutic activity.”
Somewhat lengthy directions are given, the principal part being as
follows:
The capsules to be swallowed whole and to be taken before, not after,
a meal.
Take a capsule half an hour before the steamer sails, another just
as the steamer leaves, and a third (though this is rarely required)
half an hour later. Afterwards, if any uneasiness be caused by the
movement of the vessel, capsules may be taken from time to time up to
6 per day. If travelling by night, take a capsule on going to bed and
another half an hour before getting up.
The capsules were found to contain a pink powder, the average weight
of the contents of one being 6.3 grains. Analysis showed the powder
to consist of a mixture of sugar of milk and chlorbutol, with traces
of colouring and flavouring matters. Chlorbutol, or trichlor-tertiary
butyl alcohol, is better known under the trade name, Chloretone. It is
described in the _British Pharmaceutical Codex_ as “a local anæsthetic,
analgesic, and antiseptic.” “Its anæsthetic properties are specially
exerted upon the stomach, small repeated doses being used to allay
post-operative vomiting and sea sickness.”
The proportions of the ingredients were found to be:
Chlorbutol 76.9 per cent.
Lactose 23.0 „
No other substance was found, except the traces of colouring and
flavouring matters already mentioned.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for twelve capsules is 5d.
MOTHERSILL’S SEASICK REMEDY.
This preparation is supplied by a limited company giving addresses in
London and Montreal. The package bears the words “Made in Canada.”
It is stated on the label that it--
Stops and Prevents any case of Seasickness, Trainsickness, and all
nausea caused by motion, climbing, etc. Guaranteed not to contain
cocaine, opium, morphine, or chloral. It does not affect the heart or
liver, or cause unpleasant symptoms.
A 2s. 3d. package contained six capsules, three containing pink powder
and three brown. The dose is given as one of each kind, taken together,
so that the package contained three doses.
The average weight of the contents of the three capsules was 11¹⁄₄
grains. Analysis showed the powders to have the following composition:
_Pink Powder._
Sugar of milk 33.3 per cent.
Caffeine 8.2 „
Stearic acid 18.0 „
Chlorbutol 40.1 „
Colouring matter a trace.
_Brown Powder._
Powdered cinnamon 29.4 per cent.
Caffeine 8.4 „
Stearic acid 17.4 „
Chlorbutol 44.5 „
The stearic acid is probably added as a lubricant, to facilitate the
filling of the powder into the capsules, although the amount is large
for the purpose.
The estimated cost of the ingredients for the six capsules is 2¹⁄₂d.
A CURE-ALL.--KORPUSDOON.
In addition to the many proprietary medicines which are widely
and generally advertised, a very large number are advertised only
or principally in some particular locality, and such preparations
sometimes attain a very considerable local sale. The claims made for
these medicines do not show any more modest pretensions than those more
widely advertised, while the ignorance of the makers is sometimes even
more evident.
A medicine of this class, made in a Lancashire town, is called
“Korpusdoon.” It is stated on the label to be “Prepared only by Mrs.
Ann Briggs, Health Specialist (for the Korpusdoon Medicine and Health
Food Co.).” The price is 2s. 3d. per bottle, and the bottle bought for
examination contained 25¹⁄₂ fl. oz. The dose is given as, for an adult
one teacupful every other morning; for children, half dose every other
morning.
The nature of the claims made for it is shown by the following
extracts, the first of which is from a newspaper advertisement, and the
second from the label on the bottle:
Why suffer from Influenza when Korpusdoon puts a check on all
poisonous acid from which all diseases originate, and cleanses from
the system all bad germs.
The Virtues of this Famous Medicine “Korpusdoon.”
It kills and clears away from the Stomach and Nasal Passages all
the accumulation of poisonous acids--which, after 20 years of
keen and careful observation, I find to be the cause of all the
ailments the body is liable to, such as Catarrh of the Stomach,
Nasal Catarrh, Fermentation of the Stomach, Influenza, Hay Fever,
Eczema, Gall Stones, Gout, Goitre, Rheumatism, Lumbago, Neuralgia,
Appendicitis, Consumption, Irregularities of the Heart, Loss of
Memory and Nerve trouble, Paralysis, Bright’s Disease, Whooping
Cough, Measles, Scarlet Fever, Typhoid, Diphtheria, and Small-pox. A
sure preventative of Tumour and Cancer.
It is a great beautifier of the Skin and Hair.
In the newspaper advertisement the maker’s name and address are
followed by the words “At Home Mondays and Saturdays,” which is
presumably an intimation that she can be consulted professionally at
those times.
Analysis showed the mixture to contain magnesium sulphate and an
extract of liquorice, flavoured with aniseed and sassafras, and further
sweetened with a little chloroform. Careful search did not afford any
indication of any other constituent. The colour was much darker than
the colour which results if the ordinary liquid extract of liquorice is
employed, and the latter contains alcohol, which was absent from the
mixture; but it was found that by taking ordinary “stick liquorice,”
and boiling it with the Epsom salts, a dark liquor was obtained
agreeing closely with the original. Possibly the flavour of aniseed
and sassafras is got by boiling these drugs with the Epsom salts and
liquorice, but a mixture in which they were added respectively as the
water and the essential oil was practically indistinguishable from
“Korpusdoon.” The quantities of the different ingredients found were as
follows:
Magnesium sulphate 624 grains.
Extract of liquorice (from “stick liquorice”) 550 „
Chloroform (= chloroform water 4 fl. oz.) 5 minims.
Oil of sassafras 3 „
Aniseed water 5 fl. oz.
Water to 25 „
Estimated cost of ingredients, 2¹⁄₄d.
A RADIUM SALVE.
Long advertisements have appeared recently in the daily papers of a
radium salve stated to have been discovered by Dr. S. Saubermann,
who gives an address in Berlin. The salve is sold in this country by
a company which describes itself as “manufacturing chemists to the
medical profession.” We are told in a pamphlet issued by this company
that Dr. Saubermann’s formula has been embodied and improved upon in
the radium salve they sell. It is stated further that the salve is
impregnated with the “radium salt in the proportion of 1 in 500,000,”
a quantity which “must not be exceeded, as otherwise the absorption by
the skin and the well-known action of the strong and penetrating rays
will do more harm than good.” It is described as a remedy for lupus,
cancer, and all diseases of the skin, with a bountiful “etc.”
The company also sells various other preparations: A medical soap, a
blood purifier, and an elixir of life. A certificate purporting to
have been given by Dr. Saubermann in December, 1907, states that the
ore which the company has acquired was “uranium refuse concentrated
from the mines at Joachimsthal.” In the advertisement a list is given
of “leading scientists on radium,” but the advertisers do not go so
far as to say that any of them have anything to do with the radium
salve. There is also a quotation from _The British Medical Journal_,
which we need hardly say had no reference whatever to the salve or its
manufacturers.
The salve is “sold at 2s. 9d., 5s., 10s., 20s., and 30s., according
to radioactivity.” Mr. Frederick Soddy, M.A., Lecturer on Physical
Chemistry and Radioactivity in the University of Glasgow, has been good
enough to examine the salve for us, and the following is his report:--
“I received the two pots of radium salve you sent me, and have
examined the radioactivity of the stronger preparation--namely, that
marked ‘Strong, 5s.’ The alpha radioactivity of the preparation is
just detectable, and is about one-hundredth part of that of uranium.
The beta radiation is too feeble to be detected by a sensitive
electroscope. For comparison I might mention that the residues from the
uranium ore of Joachimsthal, which forms the initial raw material from
which radium is extracted, have an alpha radioactivity about four times
that of uranium.”
A RINGWORM CURE.--“DETHBLO.”
“Dethblo,” or Wilson’s Patent Ringworm Cure, is supplied by an
individual in a small town in the home counties, a 1s. 1¹⁄₂d. package
contained a bottle holding rather less than 2 fluid drachms of the
preparation, and a brush for applying it.
It is advertised in the following terms:--
THIS PREPARATION has been used by the Proprietor for many years in
the treatment of Hundreds of Cases, and has never once failed to
Cure....
An improvement is visible after one application. Two or three
dressings in any but exceptionally severe cases are sufficient to
effect a Cure.
No necessity for Cutting the Hair or Shaving the Head.
It Cures when all other remedies have been tried and failed.
Obstinate cases, after eighteen months of other treatment, have
yielded to a few applications of “Dethblo.”
It is Harmless to Hair or Scalp of even the youngest children;
infants in arms have been successfully treated on many occasions.
The directions on the label are:--
Apply with brush enclosed, well penetrating the infected parts with
“DETHBLO.” Treatment should be given every other day, for a few
days, and the infected part should not be washed until satisfactory
improvement is noticed.
Analysis showed the liquid to contain ferrous sulphate and acetic acid;
a trace of coloured organic matter was also present, such as would be
due to a small portion of the acetic acid having been added in the
form of vinegar, and the odour of the liquid resembled that of vinegar
rather than that of acetic acid only. The quantities found were, in 100
parts by measure:--
Ferrous sulphate 33.7 parts
Acetic acid (calculated as glacial) 11.9 „ by measure
Careful search did not reveal the presence of any other ingredient.
Estimated cost of ingredients of 2 fluid drachms, ¹⁄₅₀d.
MISCELLANEOUS GERMAN NOSTRUMS.
Reports published by Dr. F. Zernik on various proprietary medicines
sold in Germany include the following:--
_Sprengel’s herbal juice_, is a preparation which Bernhard Sprengel
of Hanover claims to be harmless, and as it consists of blood
purifying herbs and roots, and not a secret remedy, he recommends it
for all sorts of diseases, especially for diphtheria, trichinosis,
whooping-cough, etc. The bottle (which costs M.1.25, about 1s. 3d.)
contains about 30 c.cm. of a turbid brown fluid of acid reaction.
It contains powdered jalap bulbs, suspended in a watery extract of
frangula (or some similar drug), to which alcohol and liquorice
have been added. Its jalap content renders the free sale of this
preparation unlawful in Germany.
_Dealin Powder_, a Berlin preparation, is described as an antiseptic
medicament for wounds containing “a highly active oxygen combined
with a dry fatty substance.” On examination no dry fatty substance
was found, and the “highly active oxygen” was represented by sodium
perborate. The chief constituents of this preparation were: 20 parts
of sodium perborate, 10 parts of boric acid, 10 parts of zinc oxide,
and 60 parts of a mixture of talc with traces of starch and magnesium
carbonate.
_Hochfelder Pitch Plaster_ is advertised by the manufacturers as a
porous plaster prepared with gum elastic, and as the best external
medicament for the treatment of painful affections which follow
cold, blows, over-exertion or other disturbances of the nervous or
muscular activity. The examination showed that the preparation did
not contain any pitch at all, and that its composition was similar to
that of “_Collemplastrum capsicum_,” a plaster, which according to
an Imperial Order dated November 22nd, 1901, must not be offered for
sale in drug shops. As pitch plaster is not included in this Order,
the manufacturers considered that they would be safe in applying this
description to the plaster.
_Franz Lammersdorf’s universal chilblain cream_, a Hanover
preparation, to be applied thinly on the chilblain and covered with
wool and a bandage, and renewed every twenty-four hours, was found to
consist of about 25 grams of extract of malt. Dr. Zernik points out
that this is a curiously original medicament for chilblains.
_Jehnol_ is advertised as differing from all other preparations in
its power of allaying all forms of toothache, including the most
severe. It is a fluid, and three or four drops are to be applied on
a piece of cotton-wool to the cavity of the tooth. A small bottle
containing about 3 c.cm. of an alcoholic solution of oil of cloves
and other ethereal oils, and possibly also cajeput and camphor, and
coloured green with chlorophyll, costs 30 pfennigs, that is, about
3³⁄₄d.
_Epocol_ is advertised by a Vienna firm, as a “new, absolutely
non-poisonous cresote preparation, possessing extraordinary
disinfecting properties.” The dose mentioned is from 1 to 10 grams a
day, according to the age of the patient. No details are given with
regard to the composition of the preparation, and Zernik concludes
from the results of his analysis that this “new” preparation is
a mixture of 45 per cent. sodium benzoate, 30 per cent. ammonium
sulpho-guaiacolate, and 25 per cent. potassium sulpho-guaiacolate.
The ammonium salt of sulpho-guaiacolic acid is not used in medicine,
the potassium salt is used under the name of _thiocol_, while the
calcium salt and the sodium salt are also used. The action of the
sulpho-guaiacolates is sufficiently well known, and the claim of
novelty cannot, therefore, be sustained. Zernik does not consider the
preparation worth further criticism.
_Bauch’s Busennährcreme_ (bosom nutrient cream) is sold at 4s. 6d.
for two boxes, which are said to be necessary for the production of
full breasts. The actual value of the boxes and their contents is
between 4d. and 5d., the cream consisting of mineral fat perfumed
with oil of rose. The Karlsruhe authority has issued a warning on the
ground that the substance cannot possibly produce the effect claimed
in view of its composition.
_Ninetta_ is a similar preparation. It is described as an Oriental
strengthening and nutrient powder. It consists of a powdered
leguminous flour with sugar and lecithin.
_Büsteria_ (made by D. F. Steiner, of Berlin) is another “Oriental
strength-giving powder,” which is sold at an absurdly high price. The
Berlin police have issued a public warning against it. It consists of
bean and pea flour.
_Oxygar_ is supposed to be a vegetable preparation saturated with
hydrogen peroxide. The vegetable substance is agar-agar. It is
supposed to contain about 10 per cent. H₂O₂, but the manufacturers
call attention to the fact that the preparation loses in strength
after a time. Frerichs found that fresh oxygar contained hydrogen
peroxide varying in amount from 0.6 to 14.4 per cent., that the
amount decreased within a short time, and after a few weeks even
sank to _nil_. In cold water all the hydrogen peroxide was liberated
within a few minutes. It thus appears very doubtful whether the
peroxide would not be liberated in the stomach, in spite of the fact
that the manufacturers claim as an advantage of the preparation that
the H₂O₂ is not liberated until the intestine is reached, and then
only slowly.
_Spiritol_ is supposed to be an ideal substitute for spirit and to
have nearly all the physical qualities of spirit, to be free from
acid and alkali, to be miscible in all proportions with water or
spirit, and to volatilize without residue. It is introduced for the
preparation of cosmetic and pharmaceutic preparations, etc. The
analysis revealed that it consisted chiefly of methyl alcohol, which
was not even pure.
_Verophen mouth water_ is advertised as a protective against all
infectious diseases. It consists of a 0.2 per cent. solution of
chinosol in water. A bottle containing 100 c.cm. of the fluid costs
1s. 6d. “Verophen” for mouth washes is also sold at 1s. 6d., while
Verophen for the telephone costs 3s.
According to the law in Germany, chemical combinations of antipyrin
may be sold to the public, but simple mixtures of antipyrin and other
known substances may not be sold, save on a medical practitioner’s
prescription. _Sulfopyrin_ is one of these mixtures which was offered
for sale as a sulphanilate of antipyrin. Another is _Meligrin_,
which is described as a condensation of dimethyloxychinicin and
methylacetamide. These terms are technical but rarely used names for
antipyrin and exalgin. The analysis revealed that the preparation
was a mixture of 86 parts of the former and 14 parts of the latter.
Exalgin has been practically withdrawn from the market in favour of
the more active and better acetanilide.
A chemist named Taubert produces a “pleasant tasting headache
powder (ammon. spiric. puriss.),” which is supposed to act rapidly
in migraine, influenza, neuralgia, rheumatism, colds, etc. It
appears that ammonium salicylate has an obscure synonym, “ammonium
spiricum.” Since the ammonium salt is scarcely ever used in medicine,
the law does not mention it as well as the sodium salt among those
medicaments which may not be sold without medical prescription. The
chemist therefore sells it without fear. The weight of the single
powders varied between 0.39 and 0.6 gram.
In dealing with false description, Zernik mentions _Mergandol_,
which is recommended by its producers as an antisyphilitic remedy
for intramuscular injection and for external application. It is
described as a solution of sodium mercury glycerate in glycerine;
1 c.cm. of the solution is said to contain 0.0035 gram of mercury.
Sodium glycerate is recognised as an unstable compound, but neither
a mercury glycerate nor a sodium mercury glycerate is known. The
analysis showed that mergandol is a mixture of perchloride of mercury
and sodium chloride (0.5 of the former and 0.1 of the latter)
dissolved in 100 parts of diluted glycerine. Each cubic centimetre
would therefore contain 0.0044 gram of Hg. The bottle, containing
50 c.cm., costs 2s. 2¹⁄₂d., which is at least twice as much as any
chemist is allowed to charge for making up a similar prescription.
_Eulatin_ is a white, almost odourless, mildly acid-tasting
powder. It is supposed to be an amido-bromine-benzoate of
dimethyl-phenyl-pyrazolon. Dr. Friedmann has described this
preparation as a useful remedy for whooping-cough when given
in doses of 0.1 to 0.5 gram every three or four hours.
Dimethyl-phenyl-pyrazolon or antipyrin was found to be present, but
the analysis failed to reveal a trace of amido-bromine benzoic acid,
a compound which has definite chemical characteristics. The rest of
the substance was found to consist of parabromine benzoic acid and
orthoamido-benzoic acid; two parts of the former with antipyrin in
molecular proportions were present to each one part of the latter,
also with antipyrin in molecular proportions. The mixture thus
differs very materially from the supposititious chemical compound
described by the manufacturers. Dr. Zernik considers that Dr.
Friedmann should have been more careful in expressing himself with
regard to the composition. The value of antipyrin in pertussis is
well recognised.
Barkowski’s _Irrigal_ tablets are advertised as containing all the
active components of wood vinegar in dry form, delicately perfumed
and being easily soluble in water. One or two tablets are supposed
to be dissolved in a glass or cup of hot water, and added to warm
water in an irrigator. A glass containing 40 1-gram tablets costs 3s.
The solid form of wood vinegar possesses an alkaline reaction! On
analysis it was found to consist mainly of dehydrated sodium acetate
with traces of tar and creosote. This is very different from wood
vinegar, which contains tarry substances, free acetic acid, and some
empyreumatic substances.
_Vilja cream_ is now described correctly. Its constituents are
diluted aqueous extracts of indifferent vegetable substances, wool
fat, ceresin, and vaselin, and some ethereal oils, which smell like
the oil of rosemary.
_Automors_ is a widely advertised disinfectant, prepared by Heyl
Brothers and Co., Charlottenburg. The advertisements claim that it
is a new, strong, and harmless disinfectant, acting five times as
strongly as carbolic acid. The analysis showed it to consist of about
3 per cent. phenols and carbohydrates, about 16 per cent. phenol
sulphate, with 15 per cent. of free sulphuric acid. It would appear
that this is an old preparation under a new name; formerly it was
known as sanatol. The free sulphuric acid content renders it not
harmless but actually highly poisonous. Its disinfecting power is
far weaker than that of carbolic acid, save in a very exceptional
circumstance, while its claims to act against flies are also false.
JOHN P. HAIG’S “CURE” FOR GOITRE.
Some information with regard to Haig’s goître cure is given in a
paper by J. Kochs in the _Apotheker-Zeitung_, abstracted in the
_Pharmaceutical Journal_ for April 14th, 1906, p. 447. According to
this the “cure” comprises: Powders, consisting of sodium bicarbonate,
coloured pale red; ointment, consisting of a sodium soap with yellow
soft paraffin; pastilles, consisting of sodium bicarbonate, aloes,
and a little oil of caraway; pastilles, consisting of extract of
hydrastis.
CHAPTER XVII.
UNQUALIFIED PRACTICE THROUGH THE POST.
It will have been observed that the various articles described in
the preceding chapters and in the earlier volume show considerable
variations in regard to the procedure by which they are placed in the
hands of the public. They may be roughly divided into three classes;
the first, and probably largest class, consists of those which are
supplied to the public through the ordinary retail channels, such as
chemists, stores, etc. The second class consists of similar articles,
also sold under the proprietary medicine stamp, but supplied only, or
chiefly, direct from the maker or proprietor to the consumer through
the post, and not through retailers; in this case the proprietor
reaps the full retail price, and having the names and addresses of
consumers, is able to plant advertising matter or letters where they
are most likely to take effect, and to apply later for “unsolicited”
testimonials. In the third class also the medicine is supplied
direct to the consumer, but before it is sent, a list of questions,
or “symptom form,” is submitted for answers to the questions to be
filled in by the patient, on the pretext that the medicines will
be “modified” or “selected,” according to the nature of the case;
here, again, the full retail price goes to the proprietor, and with
the particulars supplied by the patient, future letters--urging
continuance of the “treatment,” or the taking of some stronger or
additional article--can be made more effective; no doubt, also, such
particulars are of use in working up an account of the case which
shall be of the nature of a testimonial, when the purchaser has been
persuaded that he is cured, or has really been cured by or in spite
of the medicine.
In some advertisements the departure from the mere recommendation of
a particular nostrum goes further, and the advertiser claims to be a
“specialist” in some particular kind of disease, and to treat each
case individually, according to the particulars furnished by post, or
sometimes to treat any and every disease on the information supplied
in the same way. The border line between these and the preceding
class is very indistinct. In this chapter some further particulars
are given of advertisers of these two classes.
The nostrums already reported on have included one or more in which a
“symptom form” has figured in each of the following groups: “female
medicines,” medicines for obesity, sexual weakness, skin affections,
“bad legs,” alcoholism, rheumatism, and deafness. In most cases
the first supply of medicine was followed up by letters insisting
on the great importance of taking it uninterruptedly, or asking
for particulars of the results attained. In the case of medicines
for amenorrhœa, in every instance the article first supplied was
accompanied or followed by recommendations of a stronger one, said
to be certain to succeed if the first failed, and, of course, sold
at a higher price. In many cases where the original communication
was not an order for medicine but merely an inquiry, the letter
sent in reply was followed at intervals by a number of others,
emphasising in a sensational manner the terrible seriousness of delay
in obtaining the “cure,” and frequently offering the latter at a
gradually diminishing price, as at a cheap-jack’s “Dutch auction.”
This offer of reduced price is sometimes made conditionally on the
purchaser supplying six names of other persons known by him to be
suffering from the complaint in question; so that if the terms were
accepted the vendor would be kept supplied with a list of names and
addresses, ever increasing on the “snowball” principle, of persons
likely to be susceptible to his letters. The letters sent usually
appear on casual inspection to be type-written communications written
to the individual, who is frequently addressed by name as “Dear Mr.
(or Mrs.) ----,” or as “Dear Friend”; but closer examination has
almost always shown that they are really circulars produced by one
of the multiple copy processes with a typewriter, the individual’s
name being inserted afterwards. These circulars usually contain
expressions of strong or special interest in “your case,” even when
no case has been mentioned and the “symptom form” has not been filled
up. In fact, there is every reason to suppose, in regard to most
nostrums sold in this way, that the composition of the medicine sent
is in no way modified in consequence of the details supplied.
Extracts from one or two typical letters may be given as examples.
THE NATIONAL COLLEGE OF HEALTH, LTD.
In Chapter XI. we gave some account of certain medicines supplied by
the “National College of Health, Ltd.” After an interval the person who
had ordered the medicines analysed received the following:--
Dear Mrs ----,
We are extremely sorry that you have not allowed us to see your case
through to a successful termination. We are taking a special interest
in your case, and as you have gone to some expense, and as we want
to be of real help to you, it is a pity for you to throw away this
opportunity of being permanently cured.
Let us implore you as a friend not to neglect the advice we gave you
in our last letter, for if you do we fear you will not get well,
or if so will not remain permanently cured. If you neglect the
simple precaution of purifying your blood and keeping it pure for a
reasonable period, it will be your own fault if you do not get well
and remain so, which is what we earnestly desire.
To effect a permanent and lasting cure, it is absolutely necessary
that you should take the Blood mixture for a reasonable period.
Neglecting this is not fair either to yourself or to the Tremol
Treatment, which has done so much good for those who carry it out
conscientiously.
The date, name and address, and the words “Dear Mrs. ----” are seen on
careful examination to have been added with a typewriter to a circular
letter. From this it would appear that the number of those who purchase
the “Tremol Treatment” but do not feel sufficiently encouraged by the
results to “carry it out conscientiously” is large enough to make it
worth while to have a circular ready to send to them; also that it is
a routine matter to assure them that “we are taking a special interest
in your case.” It appears impossible to doubt that large numbers of
people are lured by such assurances into sending their money for such
“treatment.” But there are two considerations affecting this kind of
practice which are so obvious that it might have been supposed that
they would occur to anyone. The first is that the absentee prescriber
is an anonymous and unknown person--for example, the letter quoted
above is signed (with a stamp) “J. S. Chatterton, Doctor’s Secretary”;
the “doctor” does not appear. In other cases it is “our consulting
physician,” our “specialist,” or “our medical staff,” etc., never
anyone whose qualifications and experience can be ascertained. In
the second place, it can hardly be supposed that writing down a few
answers to questions can supply a prescriber with an adequate knowledge
of a given case such as can be obtained by personal consultation and
examination. The meagreness of the information which will satisfy these
anonymous prescribers is remarkable.
THE SUTTON MEDICAL COMPANY.
Another circular in imitation of typewriting which is before us, headed
“The Sutton Medical Co.,” looks like an attempt to imitate the Kidd
Company’s methods, though on a more restricted scale. It is dated from
Clerkenwell, London, and commences:
Dear Friend,
Do you or any of your friends stand in need of medical treatment? We
make a speciality of kidney and bladder trouble and rheumatism, in
fact all complaints arising from uric acid poisoning....
To introduce these remedies we are going to give away 10,000 Proof
Sample Treatments. They will be sent post-paid and absolutely free.
You are one of the ten thousand selected to receive a Proof Sample
Treatment, because we believe that if they cure you your influence
in your neighbourhood will secure other patients.... We will also
send you entirely free a copy of “Sutton’s Talk on the Kidneys.” ...
Answer the questions on the printed form and post it to-day.
The printed form was filled up with the details of an imaginary case;
but whether, in the interval that had elapsed between receiving the
circular and sending for the medicine, the Sutton Medical Company had
concluded that they were mistaken in the belief that “your influence in
your neighbourhood will secure other patients,” or whether the giving
away “10,000 treatments” had caused them to collapse, or from some
other reason, no medicine or answer of any sort was received.
THE J. W. KIDD COMPANY.
One of the most extensive businesses of the kind we are considering
is that run by the J. W. Kidd Company, of Fort Wayne, U.S.A., some
particulars of which have previously been given (_Secret Remedies_,
Vol. I., p. 177). Although the letters are ostensibly signed “Dr.
James W. Kidd,” the remarks made above as to the real anonymity of the
prescriber apply no less, as the business is run by a company and, on
the evidence submitted, is far too large for any one individual to
attend to the cases. The letters contain the usual sort of references,
such as “With my staff of skilled specialists, I have successfully
treated more serious chronic cases than any other doctor.” This
company, although established in America, sedulously cultivates
business in this country. Besides newspaper advertising, it appears
to obtain the names and addresses of persons to whom it seems worth
while to write. It has been asserted, and so far as we know without
any contradiction, that in America, at least, there is a regular trade
in old letters, orders, etc., from purchasers of nostrums, and that
a firm desiring to push a preparation for any particular disease can
purchase from a broker thousands of letters from people who have bought
some other preparation for that ailment, in order to bombard them
with letters recommending the new nostrum. Perhaps that is how the
Kidd Company gets names and addresses; one of the letters sent by the
company states that “I have decided to favour you because I am informed
that you need expert medical attention, and because I believe you will
tell your friends about my successful treatment after I have cured
you.” Of course, modesty in advancing the company’s claims would be
absurd, as diffidence in disparaging legitimate practitioners would be
out of place. A single extract may serve as a specimen:
My Treatment: Do not waste your time and money on worthless patent
medicines, on incompetent doctors, or on One remedy--no one remedy
can possibly cure all cases or all diseases. The free treatment I
will send you will consist of as many kinds of medicine as I have
found advisable in cases like yours--remedies pure, effective, and
successful--the kind I have used in curing thousands of others.
The fact that my patients receive treatments especially prepared
to suit their individual cases is also largely responsible for my
great success. Simply mail me the enclosed Symptom Blank soon, and
with your free remedies I will send you one of my Books--not an
advertising pamphlet, but a valuable medical book entitled “The Ills
of Humanity.”
The “symptom blank” contains only a few questions, including, “If other
doctors have tried to cure you, what did they call your disease or
diseases?” and a general invitation to “write me freely, in your own
words, about your diseases, symptoms, or pains”; and the following aid
to diagnosis is added:
I am specially successful with the following diseases--simply make a
mark (X) side of any one of them you have:--
Rheumatism
Constipation
Diarrhœa
Indigestion
Nervousness
Torpid Liver
Impure Blood
Piles
Dropsy
Pimples
Malaria
Eczema
Asthma
Catarrh
Lumbago
Neuralgia
Headache
Dizziness
Epilepsy
Scrofula
Prostatitis
Lung Trouble
Chronic Cough
Heart Disease
Female Trouble
Kidney Trouble
Bladder Trouble
Partial Paralysis
The “diagnosis” and medicine sent in a given case are described in Vol.
I of _Secret Remedies_. In _Truth Cautionary List_, under “Kidd, ‘Dr.’
James William,” appears the following:
Advertises profusely all over the world, offering to cure all
diseases, and to send a sample of his treatment “free.” The remedies
appear to be absolute humbug, and are supplied in quantities at
extravagant prices, as much as £4 having been obtained from victims
in some cases.
These exposures, however, have not yet sufficed to drive the company
out of the field, as shown by the recent receipt of its circulars.
AN “EYE AND EAR SPECIALIST.”
An advertisement which is to be found in very many newspapers is that
of “Mr. Thomas Ison, oculist and aurist, Ison’s Eye and Ear Dispensary,
Limited,” inviting consultations by post for all diseases of eye and
ear, which are stated to be cured without operation. From one of the
circulars sent it appears that the advertiser also attends at certain
times at given hotels in many of the northern towns, twenty of which
are named, to be consulted. An application for advice in a case of
failing sight brought a printed circular enclosing
Printed form of questions to be answered appertaining to your case,
which please fill up and return to me by early post, together with
cheque or postal order for my fee, when suitable remedies will be at
once forwarded to you with full directions for their use.
A written postscript stated:
The charge is 10s. 6d. for special remedies and advice. My treatment
is very successful and there is no pain and no inconvenience
attending the use of the remedies.
The promise of no pain and no inconvenience, before any information has
been sent as to the nature of the trouble, seems to imply an intention
not to undertake any very serious treatment, whatever the case might
prove to be. The printed form was as follows, the answers that were
given being here printed in italics:--
Established 1871.
Ison’s
Eye and Ear Dispensary, Limited,
----,
Mr. Thomas Ison,
Oculist and Aurist.
A new method of treatment for the
Rapid Cure of Diseases of the Eye and Ear
without Operation.
Attendance at Leeds every
Tuesday and alternate Saturdays.
Hours: 10 to 7
Other days by appointment only.
By this new system of treatment nine cases out of ten can be cured
without a personal interview or the patient leaving home or business,
thus saving time and expense. The postal arrangements are now such
that persons may be treated in the most distant parts without delay.
The special remedies applicable to each case are forwarded in a
portable compass to any part of the world, with full directions.
Each patient is requested to fill in, as correctly as possible,
answers to the following questions, and return the same by post:--
1. State name, age, and full postal address.-- ---- ----, _34_, ----
----.
2. State profession, business, or occupation.--_Clerk._
3. Is the constitution strong or weak?--_Strong._
4. How is the general health? Are the functions of the body performed
regularly? If not, state particulars.--_Good. Yes._
5. State whether the right or left eye, or both, are
affected.--_Right eye only._
6. How long have the eyes or eye been affected?--_It has been
steadily coming on for about 3 months._
7. Do you feel any pain? If so, where? At the back of the eyes,
across the forehead, in the temples, or over the eyebrows?--_Yes, at
the back of the eye._
8. Do the pains occur in the daytime, or in the night?--_All the
time, but worse at night._
9. Are the eyelids affected? If so, describe the symptoms.--_No._
10. What part of the eye is affected? Is the white of the eye
bloodshot wholly or in part, greyish, or of any other unnatural
colour? Are there any spots on the eye, or discharge? If so,
state particulars.--_The white of the eye is greyish. No spots or
discharge._
11. Is the iris (the coloured ring which surrounds the pupil of the
eye), light or dark, or has its natural colour otherwise changed? If
so, state particulars.--_Light naturally, unchanged._
12. Has the pupil of either eye increased or diminished in size,
and has it changed from its natural round form? If so, state
particulars.--_No._
13. Are you naturally near sighted or far sighted, or do you squint?
Do you use spectacles? If so, state whether with flat glasses, and of
what colour, and of what number, if you know.--_No._
14. What treatment (if any) has been employed up to the present time,
and with what result? State, as near as possible, what has been done
or used. Send any prescription that may have been given or used; it
will be returned.--_None._
15. Is your mother or father subject to any affection of the
eyes?--_No._
Any other observations which may suggest themselves, please write on
the other side.
Note: It being our desire to bring each case to a successful issue
as early as possible, it is highly important that we should have the
co-operation of our patients in every particular, in order to assist
us to this end.
This was sent with the 10s. 6d. required, and the package received in
return contained a 2-drachm bottle of “Drops” and a 1-ounce bottle of
“Lotion,” and a dropping-tube of the kind supplied wholesale at about
1s. 9d. per dozen, accompanied by a letter which stated:--
I send herewith remedies to be used according to the printed
instructions. Please persevere and you will do well. Write me a day
or two before the remedies are finished, and I hope to have a good
report.
A printed sheet of instructions for use was sent, giving directions
for “The Drops,” “The Lotion,” “The Embrocation” (for forehead and
temples), and “The Ointment” (for edges of eyelids). The two latter
were crossed out; the others were:--
The Drops.--Two Drops to be dropped in the inner corner of the
affected eye (the eye to be well open) by the aid of the Drop Tube
two or three times a day.
The Lotion.--Linen cloths wet with the Lotion to be applied to the
Eyelids for a few minutes night and morning.
Note.--Add the contents of the bottle to a bottle containing a
half-pint of cold water before use.
Analysis showed the drops to consist of:--
Boric acid 2¹⁄₂ grains
Glycerine 2 „
Water, to 2 fluid drachms
The lotion was found to consist of the Liquor Hamamelidis of the
_British Pharmacopœia_. In both cases careful search was made for
small quantities of other substances, but nothing else was found. The
cost of both together would be about one penny; the bottles, dropper,
and postage would amount to a few pence more. It is not necessary to
comment on the value of such “treatment”; it is sufficient to contrast
it with such statements from the circulars sent as:--
Many hopeless cases, given up by the medical profession as incurable,
have been brought under his special treatment, and, to the surprise
of their friends, they have recovered their sense of hearing or
seeing after having been deaf or blind for many years.... This is
not accomplished by means of painful operations, poisonous drugs, or
compounds, but by means of a special treatment he has introduced,
as the result of thirty years’ practice and the experience of his
fore-elders.
A “HERBAL SPECIALIST.”
An advertisement which may be met with in many papers is that of a Mr.
J. George, medical herbalist, usually beginning with a reference to
“Lost strength restored,” offering a free book which should be read
by all men suffering from loss of nerve power, etc., and concluding:
“No Drugs or Minerals used. Nature’s Remedies only. 30 years’ success.
The Treatment that Cures.” Application to the address given brought a
circular resembling a typewritten letter with the name and date typed
in, a “consultation form,” and two pamphlets. These were both entitled
_The Treatment that Cures Lost Health and Strength_, one being marked
“18th edition” and the other “26th edition.” Both contain a number of
testimonials, and the one marked “18th edition” contains several dated
1911, including one of March 2nd, 1911. As the pamphlets were obtained
in April, 1911, the interval between the 18th and 26th editions would
appear to have been a short one, but it seems to have sufficed for a
marvellous extension of the powers of the Herbal Remedy. In the “18th
edition” the following appears:
Special Notice.
In asking you to read carefully the following testimonials (which are
taken from some hundreds that I have received during the last five
years) I am convinced that no greater proof can be produced of the
Wonder-working qualities of the Herbal Remedy in all cases of Lost
Manhood and Vitality, Nervous Debility, Spermatorrhœa, Premature
Decay, all disorders of the Nervous System, Urinary Organs, etc.,
etc. It is an undeniable fact that the Herbal Remedy has given health
and strength to large numbers of men and women who have become old
and debilitated long before their time. If space would permit, I
could print such statements from men that have suffered (but whom I
have cured), that would convince the greatest doubter. Therefore, I
ask you to read these testimonials which are from living persons,
daily in communication with me, and think, if you are a sufferer from
any of the symptoms mentioned give the Herbal Remedy a trial, and
avail yourself of a Safe, Sure, and Speedy Cure.
In the “26th edition” appears a similar paragraph, but the list of
disorders following the words “in all cases of” has been changed to
Asthma, Bronchitis, or any Chest or Lung Disease, Indigestion, Loss
of Appetite, Liver Trouble, Kidney or Water Complaint, Backache,
Weakness, Lassitude, Piles, Costiveness, Impurities of the Blood,
Eruptions, Blotches or Itching of the Skin, Anæmia, Dyspepsia, Female
Irregularities, or any complaint incidental to the Human System.
It then continues: “It is an undeniable,” etc., as above.
In the “18th edition” it is stated that:
In placing your case under the treatment of Mr. J. George, the Herbal
Expert, you are placing yourself into the care of a Practitioner that
has had upwards of 40 years’ experience in diseases of the urinary
and generative organs.
In the 26th, however, we read that
In placing your case under the treatment of Mr. J. George, the Herbal
Expert, you are placing yourself into the care of a Practitioner that
has had upwards of 40 years’ experience in all diseases and ailments
incidental to the human system.
As the advertisement referred to above, which appeared this year,
speaks of “30 years’ success,” it would appear that the first ten out
of the forty years were given to failure. But a further inconsistency
is supplied by the letter, in which it is said that
The Remedy is one that I have used with the greatest success during
the past 20 years, previous to which it was used by a near relative
(a well-known Herbalist in the South of England with over 50 years’
extensive practice).
The price of the Herbal Remedy is, one month’s treatment, 8s. 6d.; two
months’, 15s. 6d.; three months’, 21s.
The “consultation form” was filled up with particulars of an imaginary
case, and sent with 8s. 6d. A box of 29 powders was received in return;
these had an average weight of 57 grains, but single powders varied
from 47 to 69 grains. The material had a bitter taste; it contained
about 25 per cent. of maize flour, and the remainder consisted of
vegetable tissue which appeared to be derived from a bark, but did
not agree in characters with any drug in ordinary use. It showed no
alkaloidal or other principles by which it could be identified, and no
other substance was found to be present.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE ADVERTISING OF PROPRIETARY MEDICINES.
The methods of advertising adopted by the proprietors of secret
medicines are many and various. Some employ big posters on hoardings,
others--an increasing number--have fringed the chief railway lines of
the country with great boards bearing the names of their nostrums;
almost all agree in making large use of newspapers, magazines, and
other periodicals, and of copious distribution, through various
agencies, of circulars and pamphlets. It is impossible to read any of
the popular newspapers or magazines without seeing that the extent
of such advertising is very great. As a particular example, there
lies before us a letter recently sent to retailers by the makers of
certain proprietary medicines, in which it is stated that
We have already largely increased our advertising, and over 800
newspapers and magazines, embracing the whole of Great Britain, are
regularly carrying very effective advts.
Ten million leaflets have been ordered to be insetted in all the
principal periodicals and magazines during the next three months.
Booklets will be distributed from house to house throughout the
Country during the whole summer.
In the case of another nostrum, a single article, which was before
the courts a few years ago, it was proved in evidence that in five
years 83 million pamphlets had been issued, and that, in the words of
the judge, “they had flooded the English-speaking world with their
advertisements.”
While the undifferentiated “man (and woman) in the street” represents
the millions of potential customers to whom the nostrum maker wishes
to appeal, both the number and nature of the advertisements of
proprietary medicines in any given periodical do not by any means
depend only on its circulation, and the operation of certain general
rules may easily be traced. There is an obvious relation between
the intelligence and education of the readers on the one hand, and
the extent to which they can be appealed to by such advertisements
as we are considering on the other, these varying in inverse ratio.
A striking illustration of this may be seen by comparing the
established reviews and the monthly magazines, or the _Times_ and
some of the halfpenny dailies. A reference to the current issues of
the _Fortnightly Review_, the _Quarterly Review_, and _Blackwood’s
Magazine_ shows one advertisement of a proprietary medicine in each
of the first two, and none in the last; while a single one of the
illustrated magazines--the _Strand Magazine_--provides twenty-six,
and a Christmas number of the same contained sixty-three. Similarly,
on an arbitrarily chosen day, the _Times_ contained one such
advertisement occupying one column, while the _Daily News_ contained
eight occupying four columns, the _Daily Mail_ four occupying three
columns, the _Daily Express_ eleven occupying three and a-quarter
columns, the _Evening News_ four occupying two-thirds of a column,
and the _Star_ five occupying two columns. A close connection may
easily be traced, also, between the number of advertisements of
patent medicines and the character of the other advertisements, the
fact that a large amount of credulity on the part of the readers
can be counted on being as evident from the one as the other. For
example, advertisements of clairvoyants, palmists, “astrologers”
who offer to foretell a person’s future from the date and hour of
his birth, preparations for removing superfluous hair, preventing
blushing, or developing the bust are frequent in those publications
most favoured by the proprietary medicine maker.
Some of the Sunday papers which have very large circulations show a
very full share of advertisements of nostrums; an unselected copy
of one of these which is before us contains no less than forty-one
such advertisements, occupying nearly seven columns. Some of these
papers have gained a good deal of notoriety for the large amount of
space which they devote to reports of divorce suits and sensational
crimes, and it is not surprising therefore to find the majority
of proprietary nostrums advertised in them belonging to the most
undesirable classes. For example, out of the forty-one just referred
to, seventeen are of medicines for “female complaints,” five for
“lost manhood,” and two for diseases of the urinary organs. Such
advertisements are also abundant in the low-class “comics”; one of
these taken at hazard contained eleven of female remedies, along with
advertisements of “rubber preventives,” “chic female pictures,” and
the like.
“Religious” papers appear to be a fairly good hunting-ground for the
advertisers of nostrums. In one of these--a weekly--we find eighteen
advertisements of such preparations, along with “galvanic rings for
rheumatism,” “1s. for £1,” “£2 weekly made by selling remnants,”
“blushing cured,” “superfluous hair removed,” etc.; and on another
page the announcement, “The prayers of the readers of this journal
are requested for the blessing of God upon those who conduct it,
and also upon the sermons and narratives which are printed in it.”
The smaller provincial papers are in a good deal of favour for
advertisements of secret medicines; as a rule a few local products of
this kind are advertised as well as those of wider sale. A feature
which is often to be noticed in such papers is that advertisements
are accepted which from their headings and general appearance look
like news paragraphs, and they are sometimes so worded that an
ordinary reader might never suspect their real significance, and no
warning “[Advt.]” or other indication appears at the end.
The feelings of disgust and annoyance which are aroused when
advertisements of this kind are met with in such abundance in
newspapers are of very little importance in comparison with the far
greater evil of the power over the press which thus passes into
the hands of the owners of the various quack medicines. Certainly
one of the most effective ways of preventing people being imposed
on by such articles is to publish as widely as possible authentic
information as to their composition and real value; but in this task
little assistance is to be obtained from the lay press, on account
of the large pecuniary interest which such advertisements give it in
supporting the trade. The great concentration of the ownership of
newspapers, magazines, etc., in the hands of a comparatively small
number of companies, is not without influence in the matter; for a
newspaper which does not obtain enough advertisements of medical
nostrums to give it an interest in supporting them is effectually
prevented from printing anything adverse to their interests if it
is the property of a firm or company owning other papers which
do receive such advertisements largely. The importance of this
consideration can be at once seen in connexion with any proposals
for legislation; if there should appear any likelihood of an Act of
Parliament being passed which would interfere with the liberty to
fleece the public by means of secret remedies, the proprietors of
such things can practically order the greater part of the press of
the country to misrepresent what is proposed, and in every way to
stir up hostility to such a measure. This consideration should not
be lost sight of in judging of the proceedings or the findings of
the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into the subject of “patent”
medicines.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE “EXPERT” BEHIND THE PROPRIETARY MEDICINE.
The reports which appear in the preceding pages and the first volume
of this book, contrasting the composition of various proprietary
medicines with the claims made for them, show that a favourite
feature in the advertising of many of those of most recent origin is
a pretence of personal attention to the details of each case by an
expert. It is sometimes professed that this attention is given by a
qualified medical practitioner, but whether alleged to be qualified
or not, the “expert” is usually said to have made a life-long study
of the particular complaint to be treated, and to know far more about
it than any doctor practising his profession in the ordinary way. We
have shown in many cases the hollowness of the pretence of personal
attention to individual cases, and some of the evidence given at a
recent inquest at the Hammersmith Coroner’s Court throws light on the
kind of “expert” knowledge placed at the disposal of those deluded
by such advertisements. The case was one in which the deceased had
been taking the “Nelson Lloyd Obesity Cure,” the results of the
analysis of which were published in _Secret Remedies_, Vol. I., p.
100. As will be seen from the extracts from advertisements which are
there given, the appeal to sufferers from obesity is in the form of
a promise of personal treatment by “J. Nelson Lloyd,” who says, “I
am myself a member of a family many of whom died prematurely after
much mental and physical suffering, arising from corpulence”; and
“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.” The value of this
“guarantee,” and the real facts as to the proprietor’s knowledge of
the disease he guarantees to cure, are shown by his own evidence
at the inquest referred to. The following is from a report of the
proceedings in the _West London Observer_:--“Mr. Frank Derry, the
proprietor of Nelson Lloyd’s Obesity Cure, recalled by the coroner,
said his medical knowledge was confined to what he had learnt twenty
years ago as secretary to a medical man. He had not been in the
present business very long. The Coroner: Since the last hearing I
have had the advantage of reading your book. Did you write it? It
is signed ‘Nelson Lloyd.’--Witness: Of course, Nelson Lloyd is an
imaginary person. The book was written for me. In your book you say,
‘While studying for my degree?’--That represents the man who wrote
the prescription. He assisted in the business. But you are said to
be Nelson Lloyd?--Yes, it is a joint effort. When was the book first
published?--In the spring of last year. In the book you say, ‘After
I had succeeded in curing myself I decided to take up the cure of
obesity instead of that of medical practitioner’?--That represents
the medical man who assisted me. Obesity, you say, should only be
treated by a specialist?--Yes. You also say that you have made a
life-study of it. Is that correct?--As for me, no, but as for the
medical man, yes. Do you undertake the diagnosis of a case?--With the
assistance of a medical man. John Holmes, of Herne Hill, said he was
a qualified medical man in America, but not in this country. As an
employee of Mr. Derry he went over the consultation forms and ordered
the treatment.” The statement of the proprietor, who is responsible
for the letters and pamphlets sent out concluding, “I am, yours
truly, J. Nelson Lloyd” (the signature being a facsimile of writing),
and for the personal form of the advertisements, that “_of course_,
Nelson Lloyd is an imaginary person,” appears to show a correct
appreciation of the degree of truthfulness usually pervading such a
business.
In connection with the above and with another nostrum for obesity--A.
Gordon Wallace’s “Treatment”--dealt with in Chapter VII. of this
volume, the following extract from “‘Truth’ Cautionary List for 1912”
is of interest:--
“Wallace, A. Gordon.--A mythical ‘specialist’ in fat-producing
and fat-removing, originally the joint creation of a Mr. Alfred
John Warner and a Dr. J. H. Hart. Warner was a medical student
and chemist’s assistant, employed by Nelson Lloyd. Dr. Hart, who
was struck off the register in 1898, was in the same employment.
They produced Wallace as a fat-remover, and transferred him to the
Rational Remedies Co., Limited. The company went into liquidation,
and the ‘specialist’ passed into possession of the International
Remedies Co., Limited, which also went into liquidation. Warner
became bankrupt, and Gordon Wallace then became a fat-dispeller.”
CHAPTER XX.
SOME ECHOES OF VOLUME I.
The first volume of this book, published in 1908, aroused a very
large amount of public interest. Its reception by those primarily
concerned was of varying character; two or three incidents in this
connection appear worth recording here.
SEIGEL’S SYRUP AND “SECRET REMEDIES.”
We have received from a correspondent particulars of letters which have
passed between the proprietors of Seigel’s Syrup and himself. They
are characterised by a direct terseness on his side, and the opposite
qualities on the other, that make them somewhat entertaining reading.
The correspondence opens with a letter from the makers of this nostrum,
which is self-explanatory:
Dear Sir,
We received to-day by post a wrapper which had enclosed one of our
Mother Seigel pamphlets addressed to you, and on which the sender
had copied the stupid so-called analysis of our Syrup from the
publication of the British Medical Association. You also copy the
still more silly averment, “cost of 3 fluid ounces ¹⁄₃ of 1d.,” and
your own comment on the whole is, “Nice profit at 2/6! What humbug”!!
As you seem to be inclined to believe whatever you read, we desire
to say: That the pretended analysis is positively absurd; That it
does not remotely resemble the actual formula of our medicine,
which really contains over a dozen vegetable or herbal extracts;
That it costs much more than ¹⁄₃ of 1d. for 3 fluid ounces; That it
is actually worth more than it sells for as an effective curative
remedy; That it is not a “humbug”; That humbugs do not last forty
years and still continue as business successes in all parts of the
world as our preparation does.
From your penmanship we think it not unlikely that you are a medical
practitioner, in which event your animus becomes quite intelligible.
If you are a layman, please consider fairly our assurance that the
published analysis (?) is merely an effort of the “Doctors’ Trust,”
or “Medical Practitioners’ Trade Union,” to injure successful rivals.
Don’t let them humbug YOU!
It is of course quite possible that the preparation in question “really
contains over a dozen vegetable or herbal extracts,” even though the
statement follows the phrase “as you seem to be inclined to believe
whatever you read.” There is nothing in the report of the analysis,
as set forth in _Secret Remedies_, to the contrary; but in that case
the dozen extracts must have been present in too small quantity to be
recognizable by chemical or physical tests, which reveal most active
drugs even in traces. In the introduction to that volume it is pointed
out that vegetable extracts which contain no active principle cannot
always be recognized by analysis, and a similar caution is repeated
several times; but to any one acquainted with the nature of drugs
it is obvious that such limitation of the powers of analysis is of
little moment, since active drugs can almost always be recognized with
certainty.
The reply to the above letter was the remark that:
The sole question is whether the public is more likely to be
humbugged by the British Medical Association, which is certainly a
responsible body of experts, or by the unknown vendors of a quack
medicine;
And the writer adds:
Most of these abominations hail from America. Did yours originate
there?
The makers reply to this in a long letter containing various assertions
about their article in nine numbered paragraphs, although they commence
by saying:
We have no desire to continue a correspondence which would probably
not be accepted in a fair and reasonable spirit on your side.
And they omit to answer the one question that was asked as to the
country of origin of the syrup. In acknowledging this letter, the
recipient says:
As regards your letter generally, if the British Medical Association
have issued false statements damaging to you and to your concoction,
your remedy is patent.
If you, and all the other quack medicine dealers, specified in the
184 pages of _Secret Remedies_, and in the pages of _Truth Cautionary
List_, choose to “take it lying down,” the fair presumption is that
the statements are true.
The makers do not appear to have found a further reply, and so the
correspondence closes.
THE VARIABLE COMPOSITION OF SECRET REMEDIES.
A correspondent of the _Pharmaceutical Journal_, in a letter in the
issue of January 8th, 1910, draws attention to the differences between
the formulae of certain proprietary medicines published in _Secret
Remedies_, Vol. I., as the results of analysis, and those printed on
the labels of the medicines when these are imported into France or
Italy. The first instance taken is “Dr. Williams’s Pink Pills”; the
formula for these given in _Secret Remedies_ is:
Exsiccated sulphate of iron 0.75 grain
Potassium carbonate, anhydrous 0.66 „
Magnesia 0.09 „
Powdered liquorice 1.4 grains
Sugar 0.2 grain
In one pill.
while according to the writer of the letter it is given on the label as:
Pot. carb. 0.07
Ferri sulph. 0.80
Mangan. oxid. puriss. 0.02
Nuraemin 0.05
Sacchar 0.03
Ext. gentian 0.025
Aloes 0.009
[The quantities apparently do not indicate grains, but the fractional
parts of the various ingredients in 1 part of the pill.]
The _Pharmaceutical Journal’s_ correspondent proceeds to assume,
without further evidence, that the formula published in _Secret
Remedies_ is wrong. A little familiarity with the composition of
proprietary remedies and the ways of their makers would, however, have
taught him that a particular composition in one country or at one time
gives not the slightest guarantee of the same composition at another
time or in another country. When the two formulae above are compared,
it is at once clear that no competent analyst could have obtained from
pills having the composition of the second formula results pointing
to the first. To begin with, the potassium carbonate of the second is
only a fraction of what was found by our analyst, who converted it into
sulphate in the usual way, after removal of all other ingredients, and
weighed the pure potassium sulphate; there is no loophole for error
here. Again, powdered liquorice was found to constitute nearly half
the pill, but none is shown in the other formula; it can hardly have
been omitted as being unimportant excipient, since it is thought worth
while to mention sugar present in only one-thirtieth of the quantity;
the fibre of liquorice makes it one of the easiest drugs to recognise
with certainty, and none of the ingredients mentioned in the other
formula contains any fibre or vegetable tissue at all. These two
instances suffice to show that the formulae refer to pills having very
different composition, and the other differences are equally incapable
of explanation in any other way. The comparison serves to emphasise
the obvious fact that the only formula that is of value for showing
what is being sold under a given name in a particular country is that
obtained by expert examination of the article purchased there in the
ordinary way. The second instance which is referred to in the letter in
question is that of Laville’s Antigout Remedies. In _Secret Remedies_,
Vol. I., the results of qualitative analyses of these by Dr. Zernik
are quoted, and the composition thus given is now shown to differ from
what is printed on the label. The statement in _Secret Remedies_ is
given on the authority of Dr. Zernik, and we are, of course, unable
to answer for his methods of work; but it appears almost certain that
remarks similar to the above would apply here also. Thus, Zernik found
the pilules to contain guaiacum resin, whereas this is not one of the
admitted constituents; it is well known that guaiacum resin can be
identified with much greater certainty than most resins, and it is
extremely unlikely that any mistake was made about it by so experienced
an analyst as Dr. Zernik. The correspondent of the _Pharmaceutical
Journal_ adds that “the natural conclusion is a strong doubt as to the
accuracy of the other formulae given in the book. Its pages form very
interesting reading, but with errors such as these, which could easily
have been avoided, the book hardly reflects credit on its authors or
any pharmacist who uses it as a book of reference.” If pharmacists are
as little able to criticise the claims of the makers of proprietary
articles as the writer of this letter appears to be, it is perhaps not
surprising that they are often willing to play the part they do in
distributing them. Fortunately, evidence is not lacking that many of
them regard the quack medicine evil in a very different manner, and
welcome such exposures as we have given of many of these preparations.
The facts adduced in the letter show very plainly how desirable it is
that in this country, as in France and Italy, the law should require
the composition of such medicines to be stated on the label. The
public could then judge to some extent whether they were receiving
fair value for money, and the proprietors could be brought to book if
analysis proved that they had departed from the declared formula.
THE VARIABLE DOSAGE OF SECRET REMEDIES.
Among the proprietary medicines the composition of which, as revealed
by analysis, has been published in the first volume are various
powders, cachets, pills, and tablets, and in these cases the individual
weights of different doses have usually been recorded; great variation
in the quantity to be taken in one dose has sometimes been shown. Thus
in the case of powders sold for the cure of drunkenness powders having
an average weight of 1¹⁄₂ grains varied individually from ¹⁄₃ grain to
3 grains, and in another inebriety “cure,” variations from 2.9 to 6
grains were found among ten powders of average weight 4.2 grains. It
would appear from such cases that the quantity put into each was merely
“a little,” and could not have been either weighed or measured. One of
these powders contained acetanilide and bromide, and such variations
might be far from negligible in their consequences. In the case of
headache powders, most of which consisted chiefly of acetanilide, some
of the variations were very serious, the heaviest and lightest powders
in a packet of ten differing in one preparation by as much as 6 grains;
the average weight of these was 10¹⁄₂ grains, and acetanilide formed 50
per cent. of the constituents. Some ingenuity is shown by one of the
makers of headache powders whose article was among those examined, in
an advertisement which has appeared rather prominently in some of the
pharmaceutical papers. In this advertisement attention is drawn to the
“fact” that our analyses showed smaller variations in the weights of
the powders in question than in any other; since, however, the lightest
and heaviest powders in a packet of ten of average weight 6 grains
differed by 0.7 grain (practically 12 per cent.) there seems to be no
very good grounds for this self-congratulation on accuracy. And the
“fact” itself belongs to the class described by Josh Billings as “facts
which are not so,” as in one of the powders analysed--the only other
one which consisted of acetanilide only--the extreme variation found
was only 0.2 grain; this appears to be referred to in the advertisement
as a variation of 2.0 grains. The advertisement states “it is not
possible in the ordinary course of dispensing business to weigh powders
more accurately than ‘Daisy’ powders are dispensed,” and, as to this, a
pharmaceutical correspondent remarks that the statement “is an insult
to the pharmacists to whom it is addressed. A dispenser who could not
weigh to within 0.7 grain would not remain long in any good pharmacy.”
It is not unimportant to recollect, moreover, that it was shown in
evidence at an inquest some years ago that extremely wide variations
existed in the weights of specimens taken from one and the same packet
of the very powders in question, and whatever greater accuracy may
exist in the weighing of these powders to-day would seem therefore only
to have been secured after attention had been drawn in this forcible
way to the dangerous manner in which variable quantities of acetanilide
were being distributed as doses.
INDEX
TO FIRST AND SECOND SERIES.
The contents of both Volumes I. and II. are here indexed together. The
Roman numerals denote the volume, and the figures denote the page.
PAGE
Absolute System of Medicine, An, ii. 210
Absorbit Reducing Paste, i. 87
Absorptive Pile Treatment, Van Vleck’s, i. 154
Acetanilid (antifebrin), i. 2, 5, 6, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 58, 165;
ii. 263, 264
Acetic acid, i. 16, 78; ii. 7, 23, 182, 236
Acetic ether, i. 16; ii. 86
Acetosalic acid (_see_ Acetyl-salicylic acid).
Acetyl-salicylic acid, i. 56, 59, 60, 64, 77, 81; ii. 4, 19
Aconite, Tincture of, ii. 214
_Aconitum napellus_, ii. 213
Act, Stamp, i. 182
Advertising of Proprietary Medicines, The, ii. 252
Aethylenimin, ii. 28
Agar-agar, ii. 238
Albumen, ii. 65, 127
Alcohol, i. 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 26, 32, 44, 47, 52, 73, 74, 78,
80, 86, 87, 92, 103, 111, 118, 121, 127, 135, 160, 167; ii. 7, 10, 11,
23, 33, 46, 47, 63, 76, 80, 110, 111, 141, 149, 150, 159, 162, 164,
183, 194, 197, 198, 200, 203, 208, 217, 218, 220, 223, 224, 225
Alcoholism, Medicines for, i. 162; ii. 128
Alcola, ii. 137
Antidipso, i. 165
Coza Powder, i. 162
Dipsocure, i. 164
Drug Cures, some other, i. 168
Normyl Cure, ii. 140
Teetolia Treatment, i. 166
Temperancia Treatment, ii. 130
Woods’ Treatment, ii. 133
Alcola, ii. 137
Allan’s Anti-fat, i. 92
Allspice, Oil of, ii. 10, 12
Almond, essential oil of, i. 35; ii. 151
Almond, extract of, ii. 28
Almond oil, i. 135, 138
Aloes, i. 48, 49, 55, 104, 175, 176, 177, 180; ii. 5, 23, 95, 96, 97,
98, 99, 100, 101, 117, 192, 195, 196, 199, 204, 205, 240
Aloes and iron pill, ii. 195, 204, 205
Aloes, decoction of, ii. 193, 198, 199
Aloin, i. 69, 109, 110, 161; ii. 85, 96, 101, 144, 204
Alum, i. 51, 120
Aluminium oleate, i. 120
Aluminium sulphate, i. 145
Amber, oil of, ii. 6, 23
Amenorrhœa, Medicines for, ii. 184
Blak Thyrol Female Pills, ii. 206
Blanchard’s Apiol and Steel Pills, ii. 205
Davis’s Female Mixture, ii. 197
Davis’s Female Pills, ii. 197
Dodd’s Corrective, ii. 198
Dodd’s Female Pills, ii. 198
Dumas’s Paris Pills, ii. 186, 192
Fournier’s Hygenique Mixture, ii. 199
Gautieur’s Female Pills, ii. 204
Grey’s (Nurse) Tablets, ii. 190, 195
Hammond’s (Nurse) Remedies, ii. 203
Hooper’s Female Pills, ii. 196
Horton’s Benedict Pills, ii. 205
Irristum, ii. 189, 194
I.R.S. Tablets, ii. 201
Jefferson Dodd’s Corrective, ii. 198
Jefferson Dodd’s Female Pills, ii. 198
Kearsley’s Welch’s Female Pills, ii. 196
Lilly’s (Nurse) Female Pills, ii. 206
Mann’s (Nurse) Remedy, ii. 191, 195
Martin’s Apiol and Steel Pills, ii. 199
Monaid Tablets, ii. 200
Patterson’s Female Pills, ii. 204
Pinkham’s (Mrs.) Vegetable Compound, ii. 190, 194
Powell’s (Nurse) Corrective Pills, ii. 193
Powell’s (Nurse) Mixture, ii. 193
Powell’s (Nurse) Popular Pellets, ii. 192
Powell’s (Nurse) Remedies, ii. 187
Sanol Cones, ii. 200
Shaffer-Bennyon’s (Mrs.) Remedy, ii. 202
Stafford-Brookes’ (Mrs.) Pelloids, ii. 202
Towle’s Pennyroyal and Steel Pills, ii. 195
Welch’s (Widow) Female Pills, ii. 196
American Soothing Syrup, Johnson’s, ii. 151
Ammonia, ii. 7, 8, 25, 35, 63, 194, 224
Ammoniacum, i. 18; ii. 106
Ammoniated mercury, i. 113, 143, 144
Ammonium bromide, i. 126, 128, 129; ii. 159, 162, 164
Ammonium carbonate, i. 125
Ammonium chloride, i. 19; ii. 181
Ammonium citrate, i. 87
Ammonium iodatum salicyl. solubl., ii. 28
Ammonium iodide, ii. 28
Ammonium salicylate, ii. 28, 238
Ammonium spiric. puriss, ii. 238
Ammonium sulpho-guaiacolate, ii. 237
Animal extract, ii. 63, 65
Aniseed, oil of, i. 12, 14; ii. 74, 105, 149, 150, 151, 162, 164
Aniseed, powdered, i. 18
Aniseed, Powell’s Balsam of, i. 14
Aniseed water, ii. 234
Annatto, ii. 25
Antexema, i. 105
Anthylla, i. 104
Anti-cataract Mixture, Pomies’, i. 146
Anti-catarrh, Birley’s, i. 7
Anticelta Tablets, i. 163
Anti-corpulent Preparation, Russell’s, i. 87
Antidipso, i. 165
Anti-epileptic Medicine, Taylor’s, i. 126
Anti-épileptique (Uten), i. 129
Anti-fat, Allan’s, i. 92
Antifebrin (_see_ Acetanilid)
Antigout soap, i. 64
Antimony oxide, i. 132
Antineurasthin, ii. 68
Antipon, i. 86
Antipyrin, ii. 238, 239
Anti-rheumatic Pearls, Baring-Gould’s, i. 55
Anti-stout Pills, Vincent’s, ii. 116
Anturic Bath Salts, ii. 26
Apiol, ii. 195, 199, 204, 205
Apiol and Steel Pills, Blanchard’s, ii. 205
Apiol and Steel Pills, Martin’s, ii. 199
Appendix, i. 182
_Arnica montana_, ii. 219
Arnica, Tincture of, ii. 220
Asafœtida, ii. 52, 145
Aspirin (_see_ acetyl-salicylic acid).
Assmann’s Whooping Cough Remedy, i. 19
Atkinson and Barker’s Infants’ Preservative, ii. 150
Atomising Fluid, Colman’s, ii. 84
Atropine, i. 168
Augenwol, i. 146
Automors, ii. 239
“Bacillentod” (Pohl’s Family Tea), i. 36
Baldness, Medicines for (internal), i. 114
Capsulated Hæmoglobin Ovals, i. 115
Capsuloids, i. 114
Hæmoglobin Capsules, i. 116
Balm, Bowden’s Indian, ii. 23
Balsam, Bengué’s, ii. 19
Balsam of Peru, i. 27, 113, 115; ii. 25
Balsam of tolu, ii. 9
Balsamic Cough Mixture, Crosby’s, i. 15
Balsamic Elixir, Congreve’s, i. 26
Baring-Gould’s Anti-rheumatic Pearls, i. 55
Barium Sulphate, i. 122
Barkowski’s Irrigal Tablets, ii. 239
Barley, ii. 23
Bath Salts, ii. 25
Bauch’s Busennährcreme, ii. 237
Beans, Bile, i. 77; ii. 96
Bearberry, i. 104
Beecham’s Cough Pills, i. 18
Beecham’s Pills, i. 175
Beeswax, i. 58, 88, 120, 140, 143, 149, 151, 181; ii. 35, 181, 182
Bell’s Fairy Cure, i. 39
Benedict Pills, Horton’s, ii. 205
Bengué’s Balsam, ii. 19
Benzoate, Sodium, i. 180; ii. 177, 237
Benzoin, compound tincture of, i. 15, 27
Berberine, i. 80; ii. 217
Berendorf’s Powder for Epilepsy, i. 129
Betony, i. 63