Secret remedies : $b What they cost and what they containBritish Medical Association
Science
Secret remedies : $b What they cost and what they contain
British Medical Association
Patent medicines
In Diabetes the Government returns of health show
that 100 per cent. die of the disease—that is, all
of them—66 out of every 100 die of Coma, and 34 of
Pneumonia, so that in ordinary medicine there is no
cure. But after 15 years’ experiment I discovered this
remedy, by means of which hundreds have been restored
to health and strength, the world and their families.
It is the only known remedy for this deadly disease....
... all Liver complaints and Kidney complaints are
cured by this remedy. And it is natural that it should
be so, for when we know that the Liver is the workshop
of the body; that it makes the Blood, and the Bile,
and the Urine, and the Sugar which the kidneys only
filter out, I say, when we know this, we may be quite
sure that any remedy that cures the liver benefits the
whole body. The nerves, the flesh, the skin, the blood,
and tissues; even the special senses such as sight,
hearing, and smell, with the sense of touch are all
improved and benefited by it.
The Remedy, it is needless to say, will have to be
persevered with. These are deadly diseases and must
have time.
The dose was given on the label as:
One teaspoonful every four hours in a tablespoonful of
water.
The mixture contained a considerable amount of sediment, partly of
a heavy nature and partly very light; this caused some difficulty
in dividing the contents of a bottle without altering the relative
proportions of the ingredients, and increased the possible error in
the quantitative results. Alcohol was present to the extent of 35 per
cent.; the heavier sediment consisted of sodium bicarbonate, which is
very little soluble in such a liquid; this constituent formed 7·4 per
cent. of the mixture. Two alkaloids were present in approximately equal
proportions, the total amounting to 0·25 per cent.; these proved to be
hydrastine and berberine, and the general nature of the extractive,
etc., present showed that they had been added in the form of extract,
fluid extract, or tincture of hydrastis; there is no official standard
for the alkaloidal strength of these, but, taking the usual proportion,
the alkaloid found would represent 1·5 per cent. of extract of
hydrastis. This left a portion of the total solids to be accounted
for; a small amount of a resin was found which resembled scammony
resin in its properties, and a larger proportion of a resinoid having
general resemblance to caulophyllin (obtained from the blue cohosh or
squaw-root), but the identity of the resin and resinoid could not be
established owing to the absence of characteristic properties. The
formula was thus found to be:
Sodium bicarbonate 7·4 parts.
Extract of hydrastis 1·5 ”
Resin, resinoid, and other extractive 2·2 ”
Alcohol 35 ”
Water to 100 ”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account