history of medicine

Infallible German Corn Plaister

Various proprietory corn plasters were available, and were not greatly different from the treatment you could get from a reputable surgeon. Samuel Cooper, in his The First Lines of the Practice of Surgery (1813) recommended making a plaster from 2oz. Gum Ammoniacum, 2oz yellow wax and 6 drams of “verdigrease.” He said this composition was “said to be […]

Self-Adjusting Curative and Electric Belt

ELECTRICITY IS LIFE. HEALTH AND MANHOOD RESTORED (WITHOUT MEDICINE.) CURE YOURSELF by the PATENT SELF- ADJUSTING CURATIVE AND ELECTRIC BELT. Sufferers from Nervous debility, Painful Dreams Mental and Physical Depression, Palpitation of the Heart, Noises in the Head and Ears, Indecision, Im- paired sight and memory, Indigestion, Prostration, Lassitude, Depression of […]

Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup

Originating in New York in the 1840s, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup was a dangerous concoction. Parents often did not realise that it contained morphine, and sadly, as the American Medical Times put it in 1860, were “relieved of all further care of their infants” through its use. ADVICE TO MOTHERS!—Are you broken […]

Dr. Steers's Opodeldoc

Steers’s Opodeldoc seems to have been fairly reputable, but it was also easy to mix it up yourself, hence the proprietors’ attempts to convince the public of the superiority of their version. The opodeldoc (a general term for this type of liniment rather than a brand name) was made from soap, spirit of wine, camphor, rosemary oil and […]

Page Woodcock's Wind Pills

Page Woodcock’s Wind Pills were well-known throughout the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th. Born in Norwich and spending most of his life either there or in Lincoln, Woodcock (1820-1889) had a successful business as a chemist. He was a Methodist, and came under satirical fire from Punch in 1853 for placing long sermonising advertisements […]

The Vital Regenerator

Balsam of Mecca was a prized substance in Arabian medicine and cosmetics, but it was very difficult to get hold of the real thing in Europe in the 19th century. The true balsam – a resin from the shrub then known as Balsamodendron Opobalsamum (now more commonly Commiphora gileadensis) – was rare, but an inferior form […]

Barclay's Dr. Bateman's Pectoral Drops

Bateman’s Drops had been around since the 1720s and were prepared by various suppliers, hence the specification that these were Barclay’s Bateman’s Drops rather than anyone else’s. The main ingredients were aniseed, camphor and opium, so the drops would have at least a temporary effect and could be rather dangerous if swigged indiscriminately. Different suppliers […]

Widow Welch's Pills for ladies

I like this one because there’s a real sense of feminine solidarity. Mrs Smithers, possessor of knowledge passed down through the generations, sounds like a better bet than the mortifying prospect of consulting a male doctor. TO LADIES.—THE ONLY GENUINE WIDOW WELCH’S PILLS are those prepared by MRS SMITHERS (Granddaughter to the WIDOW WELCH), from the real Family […]

Solomon's Drops

Happy New Year and welcome to The Quack Doctor! For more information about this new blog, please have a look at the About page. I’ll be posting transcripts of historical advertisements for all sorts of weird and wonderful patent medicines, with the aim of building up quite a collection. I’m hoping to post daily for the […]