Recently Charley Pierce posted a picture of a bottle of cough syrup that had been sent to him. It appeared to be a 19th century ‘patent medicine’.
From looking at the ingredients, after a half teaspoon, a cough wouldn’t have a chance. After a tablespoon, disembowelment wouldn’t be a problem, but you might get the munchies.
They didn’t mess around if they found something that worked.
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2 comments
At least they did list the main ingredients. More than you could say for many patent medicines.
Several commenters mentioned the sad demise of terpin hydrate, or “GI gin”. Only cough syrup I ever had that actually seemed to help, it was a staple of my youth.
You know, while I think most of us wouldn’t want to do without labeling laws and FDA testing, I could certainly do with fewer medical gatekeepers and toll collectors. For instance, it seems criminal to me that an average citizen isn’t free to put together a first-aid kit that includes effective pain killers and antibiotics.
Roger, that, PJ. I got used to having penicillin and the morphine injectors in my flight kit, as well as other combat first aid gear, like threaded suture needles and hemostats. The trauma kit we had in the patrol car was pathetic by comparison. Even the guys we knew were on something didn’t mess with the med kits.
In addition to GI gin, there were APCs that really took down most of what people use ibuprofen for today.
We weren’t medics on flight status, but you were expected to keep people alive until they could be med evac-ed. After a hurricane there aren’t many doctors available, and the emergency rooms are over-crowded. If ranchers can get bags of Cipro for their herds, why do people need to go to the doctor to get a script for it?
Yes that stuff was powerful, but it would certainly have worked as intended.