Toiling masses

Dr. Chase’s Nerve Food and Dr. A. W. Chase’s Ointment

2010-07-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Now who is this Dr. Chase?

In the nineteenth-century manner, Chase earned his fame and fortune with equal parts of hard work and self-promotion.

Born in New York State in 1817, Alvin Chase came to Ann Arbor in 1856 to pursue a medical degree after a career as a traveling peddler of groceries and household drugs. While taking classes at the University of Michigan, he supported his family by selling home medical remedies and household recipes that he had picked up in his travels, starting with a single page of hints and cures.

Chase only audited classes at the U-M, since Latin was required to complete the program and had not been taught at the "log school" he'd attended in New York. He earned the title "doctor" in 1857 after spending sixteen weeks in Cincinnati at the Eclectic Medical Institute.

After returning to Ann Arbor, Chase practiced medicine and continued to expand his book of recipes. To the modern reader, many of his remedies seem very quaint. Besides cures for five kinds of "apparent death," they included tinctures, teas, and ointments made from plants, tree bark, and--in one case--cooked toads. But at a time when doctors were still bleeding patients or poisoning them with mercury, his cures may have been as much help as anything the local doctor prescribed.

Chase himself admitted to no doubts about the efficacy of his remedies. His entertaining, first-person style is full of anecdotes about where and when he got the recipes and the wonderful luck people had using them.

Chase was fifty-one when he celebrated the grand opening of his printing building. The next year, afraid that sales of his book would soon decline, and also sure that he would die young, he sold the building and the businesses to Rice Beal. Sales did not decline. After Chase tried unsuccessfully to get back his book rights, he began an all-new recipe book. He died in 1885 (at age sixty-eight), just before completing the book, which was published posthumously as the "memorial edition."

The nerve food apparently had both arsenic (1/132 gr.) and strychnine (1/120 gr.) per dosage and that is well below the dosage that will kill. At that time, arsenic was not uncommon in medications. It was taken deliberately by some Victorian ladies because it tended to whiten the skin and, I’ve read, make the hair shiny. Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), the bacteriologist and Nobel Prize winner announced in 1909 that a arsenic compound he called Salvarsan was effective against syphilus. It had to be administered in very small doses over a long period of time but until Penicillin was discovered, it was the best treatment. Strychnine also has to be administered in very small and controlled dosages because it is very slow to be expelled from the body. It is prescribed mainly for dyspepsia, acid indigestion, and poisoning by chloroform or chloral. You can still buy Dr. Chase’s Nerve Food over the Internet although I don’t know if the ingredients are the same.

It seems as if Dr. Chase’s education and experience would not qualify him as a doctor but in the 19^th century, medical doctors often learned their trade by working with another doctor as an apprentice. Doctors did more than diagnose diseases.They had to know the properties of many compounds because they often had to make up the prescription themselves. Dr. Chase’s fame really came from his printed recipe books which contained more than medications and he was very successful. They were used by merchants, grocers, saloon-keepers, physicians, druggists, tanners, shoe makers...and families generally. In 1864 he started his own building in Ann Arbor Michigan to hold his steam printing presses. He had the grand opening in 1868. His books of recipes were very big sellers and probably helped to shape public perception of good medical practices. I think that one anecdote on menstruation affected even my life. He wrote, "Allow me here to give a word of caution about taking cold at this period. It is very dangerous. I knew a young girl, who had not been instructed by her mother upon this subject, to be so afraid of being found with this show upon her apparel which she did not know the meaning of, that she went to a brook and washed herself and clothes -- took cold, and immediately went insane."

I suspect that this ‘knowlege’ handed down through my mother’s family was the reason that as a twelve-year-old, I was not allowed to go swimming in the creek with my cousins. Is this the reason that I'm not fond of swimming?

The Baby: How to Care for it.

2010-03-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Baby: How to Care for it.

Dan Bruce, our Curator, bought this little booklet to complement our patent medicine collection. It doesn’t have a publication date but there’s a rudimentary ‘Baby Book’ with a place for a picture and some birth statistics. Written in pencil is the notation that Our Baby was born March 19^th, 1927. Weight at birth, 7 lbs, and 11 oz.

The forward says:

“This book has been prepared, in order to place in the hands of the mother of the province the best available information collected from various sources, on the care of the baby….

The need for more knowledge on the subject of caring for babies is made evident by the fact that there are on an average 2,000 deaths yearly under 1 year of age.

Investigation goes to show that a great number of these babies died because their mothers did not know how to care for them properly; a large number of the deaths were due to preventable causes, such as disease of the digestive system, owing to faulty and irregular feeding, and pneumonia, bronchitis, etc., due largely to lack of good ventilation.

It is unnatural for a baby to be sick and it is hoped that this book may assist mothers to save, by proper care, many lives lost from preventable causes.”

It was published for the Department of Public Health, Saskatchewan and prepared by Maurice M. Seymour, M.D., D.P.H. Deputy Minister.

Dr. Seymour was a busy man. He oversaw public health, communicable disease, dairy and milk, hotels and restaurants, water and sewage. He was instrumental in getting legislation passed to make standards for water supplies and sewage disposal works aimed at preventing contaminated drinking water. He spearheaded the formation of the Saskatchewan Anti-tuberculosis League and the building of a sanatorium at For Qu’Appelle. Under his administration, free typhoid vaccine distribution was instituted resulting in a massive decrease in cases of typhoid.

But let us get back to this incredibly optimistic little book. It contains information on prenatal care, diets for mothers, things which are bad for all babies, including crowded and badly ventilated buildings, pacifiers, thumb sucking, soothing syrups, patent medicine, whisky or gin for supposed coli, dirty playthings, dirty nipples, dirty bottles, dirty floors, waterproof diapers except for temporary use, moving picture shows…and the list goes on. Birth
Registration is emphasized with a possible $50. Fine for non-compliance. Feeding of baby covers breast-feeding, bottle feeding and summer diarrhoea. Solid food is discouraged until the baby is ten months old.

There is a small section on making a homemade icebox and bottled cows milk is strongly recommended. This rather leaves out all the farm folk with milk cows.

There is a section on when to expect teething and the order and timing of the eruption of various teeth. There are sections on tuberculosis, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough and smallpox and there is a chart with these diseases listed and the symptoms and probable duration of each. There is another chart showing weight, height, circumference of head and chest from birth to 16 years of age.

Dr Seymour started Child Welfare Conferences also known as Baby Shows in 1916 at Regina and Weyburn. Information was given out and eventually included public health lectures, free literature on venereal disease, tuberculosis test for cattle and home nursing classes. Our little book displays pictures of babies from a Child Welfare Conference in Regina.

Under Dr. Seymour, the work of the Public Health Department was greatly enlarged and included among many other things, maternity grants to discourage unattended home births. Public health nurses taught women’s groups and gave public demonstrations in prenatal, natal and infant welfare in rural areas. Our book is probably one of the results of these.

This tradition of mobilizing government to improve the health of the general population continued through the depression and the Second World War and eventually, in 1962 to the Medical Insurance Act. The federal government enacted medical care legislation in 1968 and by 1972 all provincial and territorial plans had been extended to include doctors’ service.

I am old enough to remember my mother worrying about the expense of taking my to the doctor for x-rays when I fell a few feet and slammed my head into a steel beam. [I was playing where I had been specifically told no to play] We were living on a very tight budget then and extra money was hard to find. What a difference now when I don’t even think about getting routine tests done.

Our little booklet “The Baby: How to care for it” was a part of the health care revolution.

http://www.wdm.ca/skteacherguide/WDMResearch/Medicare_TeacherGuide.pdf

Montserrat Arrowroot

2010-02-28T20:35:00.000-08:00

I have always liked arrowroot biscuits but I didn’t realize the history behind them until I started researching the museum’s can of Montserrat’s Arrowroot. Arrowroot has a long history of cultivation in the Caribbean as a food staple. Arrowroot thickens at a lower temperature than does flour or cornstarch is not weakened by acidic ingredients, has a more neutral taste, and is not affected by freezing. In the Victorian era it was used, boiled with a little flavoring added, as an easily digestible food for children and people with dietary restrictions but it was popular in Britain before that. Napoleon said that the Brits used it only to support their Caribbean colonies.

Our can of Arrowroot was distributed by the National Drug and Chemical Co. of Canada Limited (Montreal). By the turn of the century, drug manufacturing in Canada was becoming established with more effective medications on the market replacing some previously doubtful concoctions. By 1910, the National Drug and Chemical Company of Canada was the leading manufacturer of both prescription and nonprescription drugs in Canada.

On the back of our Arrowroot can, Montserrat Lime-Fruit Juice and Cordial is advertised, manufactured by the same company and sold by “Druggists, Grocers and Department Stores.” According to the text on the can, both arrowroot and lime juice were grown on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, an island that was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 or, according to our can, 1498.

Montserrat is apparently a paradise but even paradise has its problems. First, the Spanish claimed it. Then the British ‘acquired’ it in 1632 and it was settled by Irish refugees fleeing prosecution for their religion becoming known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean. During the American Revolutionary War, it was captured by France and then returned to Britain as part of the treaty of Paris. From 1871 to 1958 Montserrat was administered as part of the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands, becoming a province of the short-lived West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. In 1979, producer George Martin’s AIR Studios, Montserrat opened and the island attracted world-famous musicians who came to record in the peace and quiet and lush tropical surroundings of Montserrat. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo destroyed 90% of the structures on Montserrat and the island was recovering when, in 1997, a long dormant volcano erupted and destroyed the capitol and major port. The inhabitable part of the island is still lush and beautiful but its main industry is exporting aggregate. Imports include practically everything that is for sale on the island and its operating budget is obtained primary from Britain—about £25 million per year.

But back to Arrowroot. There are recipes on the Internet for the use of Arrowroot, including arrowroot biscuits. I learned that arrowroot is used for making sensitized paper used in photography for positive prints. It is plain or non-glossy, and is coated with a weak solution of arrowroot in water, with sodium, chloride, and a trace of citric acid. And while researching papermaking, I discovered a completely unrelated fact:

In 1844, both Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty and German inventor F.G. Keller had invented the machine and process for pulping wood for the use in papermaking.

Zam-Buk: A healing antiseptic ointment

2010-01-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

I thought that Zam-Buk might be boring. I vaguely remember a tin of it at home when I was a child although I don’t remember it being used. It was just there. According to the script on the tin it is used “for cuts, bruises, scratches, burns, scalds, athlete’s foot, piles, ulcers, eczema, sores, sprains, pimples, chilblains, cold sores, chafed skin and insect bites.” It probably works too. There are several formulas for Zam-Buk but they all contain camphor, eucalyptus oil and thyme oil all of which are somewhat antimicrobial and both camphor and eucalyptus have analgesic properties. Most contain beeswax. Some formulas contain rosin, petrolatum and sassafras.

The origins of Zam-Buk can be traced back to 1903. It first appeared on Rugby and Football fields in Australia and New Zealand. When a player would get injured first aid officers would race across the field to tend the injured player, they would quickly apply the zam buk to the injured area. Zam-Buk acted as an antiseptic thus cleansing the wound and eliminating the chances of the wound becoming infected.

The 'Zam-Buk' name found its way into rugby league, and other sports, by the St Johns ambulance-men who carried it in their kit-bags to treat players on the field and sidelines. The advertising cry of "Here Comes Zam-Buk" referred to the product, but within barely a few years of its introduction, 'Zam-Buk' came to mean the ambulance-men themselves.

There are all sorts of testimonials for Zam-buk on the Internet and several sources suggested the name came from the name of a South African town. I couldn’t find this town in my atlas although I did find “Zambué in Mozambique. I love the story of a soldier in India who was suffering from ‘prickly heat and ‘crutch’ rot”. He got no relief from medications prescribed by the medicos but another soldier told him about Zam-Buk and that cleared it right up.

Our Zam-Buk tin has the same stylized product label that I saw in pictures on the Internet although some of the other decoration differed slightly. Ours was manufactures by C. E. Fulford Ltd. Leeds 2. England. I found a note that manufacturing there was discontinued in 1998. It is available from several sources on the Internet.

Rose and Co. Apothecary in Leeds says that they use the original formula for Zam-Buk. This is, apparently, a relatively new enterprise specializing in Vintage cosmetics and Victorian packaging. Mother and daughter, Patrician and Caroline Rose bought an old druggists shop, became fascinated with everything vintage and started producing their own Rose Petal Salve. They branched out to other products plus dainty lingerie.

I love the juxtaposition of tough, sweaty footballers with delicate, feminine ladies both slathering on the Zam-Buk!

Piso's—For Coughs due to Colds

2010-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

Piso’s—For Coughs due to Colds

This medication was first manufactured by Hazeltine & Co in 1864 apparently started out labeled as a remedy for consumption although it was really only ever a cough remedy and the jury is still out on that. One source says “Piso's was essentially a pretty good cough and cold syrup” and another source says “. Piso's Cure was poisonous and caused many deaths, especially in children. One of the main ingredients was chloroform, which can cause death or permanent damage to your liver and kidneys”.

Our bottle has an intact label that indicates chloroform at 5/8 minim per maximum dose. The maximum recommended dose for adults is 1 teaspoonful every 2 or 3 hours as required. This sent me looking for the definition of a minim.

1. Abbr. M. or min. A unit of fluid measure, as:

a. In the United States, ¹/₆₀ of a fluid dram (0.0616 milliliters).

b. In Great Britain, ¹/₂₀ of a scruple (0.0592 milliliters).

I think that works out to .064 teaspoons of chloroform in a 24-hour day for an adult. That doesn’t sound like a lot and apparently this medication also contained Cannabis Indica (marijuana), Morphine, Opium and alcohol.

Our label gives no other ingredients besides the Chloroform and that was commonly used as a preservative for oral liquid pharmaceutical preparations. As a preservative, it is included in most products at a final concentration of 0.25 per cent v/v.

[There’s another measurement—fluid drams, scruples, minims, teaspoons, v/v. I’m beginning to be grateful for teaspoons.]

Our bottle gives directions, in two different places, to shake the bottle. They obviously don’t want any ingredients to settle out.

Our bottle’s label says it is prepared by “The Piso Company” with the new package adopted in 1915. This is well after the passing, in the United States, of The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906 that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines.[1]” It probably means that a lot of ingredients were changed. Even the name had been changed although the embossed name Piso’s on the sides of the bottle remained. Apparently, this feature makes the bottles quite collectable because they can be identified even without the label.

There is a wonderful article written by Jack Sullivan that can be downloaded in PDF form called Piso’s Trio: One Step Ahead of the Law.

http://www.fohbc.com/PDF_Files/PisoTrior_JSullivan.pdf

Leonard Ear Oil

2010-01-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

Leonard Ear Oil is the first patent medicine in the collection that I found that was condemned as useless by a medical authority.

In 1925, DR. ARTHUR J.CRAMP (Director of the Bureau of Investigation, American MedicalAssociation) condemned Leonard Ear Oil and eardrum as useless quackery and commented, “The fact that manufacturers of such useless productssucceed in a financial way is an interesting commentary on thelow level of human intelligence that exists in certain classesof our population.”

The insert in the box with the oil states, “while not claim is made that every case will be helped, it has been successful in bringing relief to many troubled with conditions of this kind”. Conditions of this kind refer to “chronic catarrhal conditions…that interferes with the drainage and ventilation of the nasal passages, mucous accumulating and blocking the Eustachian tube”.

Directions for use involve putting a small amount of the oil (ear oil?) in the nostrils and rubbing it on the neck behind the ears. I guess this makes sense because the ingredients are camphor, oil of eucalyptus, spirits of ammonia, (mixed with highest grade of mineral oil), all of which will certainly clear your sinuses. The insert also suggests treating earache with heat and wax build-up with hydrogen peroxide not Leonard’s Ear Oil but says that the Ear oil could be tried for rheumatic or other pains by rubbing it into the affected part!

Leonard’s Invisible Ear Drum looks completely bogus. I am including the part of the insert that describes it. Judge for yourself.

The A. O. Leonard Co. seems to have been somewhat successful for at least a couple of decades. The box states that it had successful sales since 1907 and it was still advertising in 1929. The company seems to have originated in New York but did have a Canadian distributor in Toronto—Maltby Brothers, Limited. The company is no longer indexed on the Internet.

Mrs. Winslow's Syrup

2009-12-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Winslow’s Syrup.

This small bottle contains 1.5 fluid ounces of syrup that contains senna, sodium citrate, fennel, sodium bicarbonate, rhubarb, oil of anise, glycerin, and sugar. We’ve seen these ingredients in other medications for gastrointestinal disorders. This one says that it’s a stomach and bowel regulator for infants and children and states in large letters that it DOES NOT contain morphine, opium or alcohol. POSITIVELY NOT NARCOTIC. This is an improvement over the practice of giving teething or otherwise fussing children a dose of laudanum.

The bottle has a curious label. It’s a paper cylinder, open at the cap end and folded over and glued at the bottom. Also on the label are two fancy medallion type illustrations. One looks like Justitia, The Roman Goddess of Justice. She is carrying a sword and a set of scales but she is holding them over her head and she’s not blindfolded as so many Lady Justice representations are. The other ‘deity’ looks like she might be holding a spindle and working with thread although the worn edges of the label make it hard to be sure. It doesn’t look like any of the representations of goddesses of fibre arts that I found but it might be a better fit for this medication that the Justitia. A spindle is also called a distaff in German and distaff refers to the female side of a family. Women usually look after children so distaff might make sense. Is that a stretch?

Anyway, this label makes a big deal of copyright and making sure that this product is genuine. It says that the distributors are Curtis & Perkins of 217 Fulton Street, New York U.S.A. Anglo American Drug Co. Successors. It goes on to state:

This new label with the fac-simile thus:

to guard against counterfeits and imitations.

It further states that this has been entered according to Act of Congress A.D. 1852 by Curtis & Perkins in the clerk’s office in the District Court of…(unreadable)

At least this baby's medicine has a legal seal of approval.

Local Champions

2009-12-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

I just finished putting up a display in the lobby of the District of Lake Country offices. It was inspired by the Heritage Week theme for 2010. Heritage week is February 15-21, 2010 and this year it coincides with the Olympics, hence the theme of athletic endeavor, sports and community spirit. Our files have records of quite a few athletes from Lake Country who have excelled and the sports are varied. There are Olympic rowers, champion volley ball players, wake-boarders, skate boarders, a bicycle athlete, equestrians, skiers, curlers, a body builder, horse-shoe teams and likely more that we don't have records for. If you are passing the District offices, pop in and have a look.

McPhee's 33

2009-12-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

McPhee’s 33

Looking this medication up was yet another adventure. “McPhee’s 33 led me to Katharine McPhee’s wallpaper site where you can download 33 different poses of the singer/songwriter. I also found Adam McPhee, an Australian footballer whose player number is 33. I tried “McPhee-Orr Limited”, the company that marketed this product and got Bobby Orr. Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, also listed on the bottle, turned up nothing—not even any heritage buildings. Well, I did find a couple of McDonald’s listed in the Moose Jaw businesses.

Finally, I just started looking at ingredients. McPhee’s 33 says it is for the relief of RHEUMATIC and ARTHRITIC PAINS – GOUT – NEURITIS, LUMBAGO and SCIATICA. The print in red says 1. A Time Tried Remedy; 2. Contains no Laxative; 3. Shake well before using. It also says that the trade mark is registered and that there is a proprietary medicine patent.

In small print, it says the medication contains 9 ¾ mins. of wine of colchicum per maximum dose. The directions say to take 1 teaspoon in a wine glass of water three times daily, after meals.

Colchicum is a genus of flowering plants containing around sixty species of perennial plants which grow from corms. It is a member of family Colchicaceae, and is native to West Asia and part of the Mediterranean coast.

Colchicum autumnale, commonly called "autumn crocus" or "naked ladies", is the best known species.

I found out that colchicum is actually dissolved in wine because it does not dissolve well in water and that either the corm or the seed can be used although the seed keeps better than the corm. It has been used for gout, gouty rheumatism and neuralgia but also to reduce edema and it is more effective in solution with sulphate of morphine or magnesia or magnesium sulfate.

Overdoses are serious with all sorts of nasty effects and it can be lethal.

From Wikipedia:

Its leaves, corm and seeds are poisonous, containing the alkaloid colchicine. Its roots and seeds have long been considered to have valuable medicinal properties deriving from the use of small doses of this drug, such as to treat gout. Murderess Catherine Wilson is thought to have used it to poison a number of victims in the 19th century. Nasty woman. It sounds like a very unpleasant way to die.

Frese's Hamburg Tea

2009-11-27T15:13:00.000-08:00

I don't have an insertion for this because the box is still sealed and I was reluctant to open it. The product is supposed to be a 'True Herbal Medicine' for disorders of the Digestive System. Regulates the bowels for constipation, headache, Indigestion, Dyspepsia, Biliousness, Blood and Skin Ailments. There are directions for use on the bottom of the box:

"Take one tablespoon full of Tea, pour on two or three cups full of boiling water, cover the vessel, and put it in a warm place to draw for about two or three hours, then pour it through a sieve or a piece of screen and give to a full grown person a cup full each in the morning and evening, children less in proportion. Should this dose not prove sufficient to produce an opening of the bowels two or more time, augment the dose, according to circumstances and repeat every two hours until it has the desired effect.

NB—No tin or metal vessel should be used."

The Frese family is listed in the genealogy of San Francisco as druggists and herbalists and Frese’s Hamburg Tea was manufactured in San Francisco first by Redington & Co and then by Coffin Redington. Co.

In 1877, the company won a suit in U.S Circuit Court against a defendant over the use of the name, Frese’s Hamburg Tea. The box prominently displays the words TRADE MARK and “Not genuine without Facsimile Signature [Emil frese superimposed over Redington tea].

There is a heritage building in San Francisco built by this company and subsequently converted into residential lofts.

The “tea” was offered for sale in Germany and as a result of that we have from The Handbook of Secret Medicines by Wittstein, 1871, an analysis of the contents. Hamburg Tea contains 8 parts Senna, 3 parts Manna and 1 part Coriander.

Senna:

The sennas, is a large genus of around 250 species of flowering plants. This diverse genus is native throughout the tropics, with a small number of species reaching into temperate regions. Sennas act as purgatives and are similar to Aloe and Rhubarb.

Manna:

Manna is often used to refer to the secretions of various plants, especially of certain shrubs, particularly the sugars obtained by evaporating the sap of the Manna Ash. The Manna Ash, native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, produces a blue-green sap with has medicinal value as a mild laxative, demulcent, and a weak expectorant.

Coriander:

Coriander is an annual herb also known as Chinese parsley or cilantro. Coriander has been used as a folk medicine for the relief of anxiety and insomnia in Iran. Coriander seeds are used in traditional Indian medicine as a diuretic. In holistic and traditional medicine, it is used as a carminative [combats flatulence] and as a digestive aid.

I didn’t find anything in the tea to directly affect blood or skin but perhaps once your digestive troubles are cleared up, the other symptoms disappear.

2009-11-23T12:46:00.001-08:00

CATARRHOZONE: This patent medicine is very different from the last one—Uricones. That one had no insertion; this one has a 32-page booklet! I could find nothing on the company—the box lists Laurentian Agencies Reg’d, Montreal—nor anything about what is in this medication. On the French side of the box Chlorbutol .63% is listed. I found that is also known as Chlorbutanol and it is used as a preservative.

Chlorobutanol is a widely used, very effective preservative in many pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products, e.g. injections, ointments, products for eyes, ears and nose, dental preparations, etc. It has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Chlorobutanol is typically used at a concentration of 0.5 % where it lends long term stability to multi-ingredient formulation.

This medication is ‘Used to assist in Overcoming’ sneezing colds, coughs, simple sore throat, hoarseness, bronchitis, la grippe, catarrh, catarrhal deafness, asthma and hay fever. The medication itself is a liquid and the box contains a bakelite inhaler although there are instructions on how to make a temporary inhaler from your handkerchief.

So, no list of ingredients but a little research reveals that

Catarrh (pronounced /kəˈtɑr/) is a thick exudate of mucus and white blood cells caused by the swelling of the mucous membranes in the head in response to an infection. It is a symptom usually associated with the common cold and chesty coughs, but can also be found in patients with infections of the adenoids, middle ear, sinus or tonsils. The catarrh may either discharge or cause a blockage which may become chronic.

I wonder if the ozone part is just a catchy title because in one spot it is written a ‘catarrh-o-zone. Certainly ozone cannot be part of this because

Most people can detect about 0.01 ppm of ozone in air where it has a very specific sharp odor somewhat resembling chlorine bleach. Exposure of 0.1 to 1 ppm produces headaches, burning eyes, and irritation to the respiratory passages.[6] Even low concentrations of ozone in air are very destructive to organic materials such as latex, plastics, and lungs.

To get back to the 32-page booklet, this has lots of illustrations on how to charge the inhaler and how use it. It also has a great long list entitled “Dreams and what they mean”. This is not an attempt to unscramble the meaning of dreams in a person’s life but to foretell the future. Examples:

Abbey —This denotes future comfort, piece of mind, freedom from anxiety

Abuse—To dream that you are abused, denotes that a dispute will arise between you and the someone with whom you do business, or with your lover.

Bald—To dream of baldness portends approaching sickness. For a young woman to dream that her lover is bald, foretells that he will not live to marry her. To dream that she is bald herself, implies she will be very poor, and die an old maid.

Divorce—If a married person dreams of sueing or a divorce, it is a sign of the fidelity of his or her partner.

The last one is

Dress—Buying a dress, denotes advancement, and that you will obtain your wishes.

Uricones

2009-11-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

Uricones is the latest medication that I have investigated. I was disappointed that there was no inclusion in the box but I did find an ad on line, dated about 1939 for this stuff.
"RHEUMATIC ACHES have been curbed by URIC ONES
Sufferers who have taken a few doses of "Uricones" have been gratified by the relief secured. Rheumatic Aches, Arthritis, Lumbago, Gout, Sciatica, Neuritis, Fibrositis and similar complaints—all have been helped by "Uricones", a reliable remedy for Rheumatic suffering in the pain zones indicated in the diagram [no diagram]. Excess acid in the system is very frequently the cause of suffering. "Uricones" help to free the blood-stream of these pain-causing excess acids, working to rectify a condition that is so frequently the cause of rheumatic aches and pains."

The "excess acid" in this ad refers to 'gout' and indeed the package suggests that gout is treated by this medication as well as rheumatism, lumbago, arthritis, neuritis sciatica, etc.
The symptom that all of these diseases, and some of them are symptoms rather than diseases, is pain. Uricones might very well help. Each capsule contains 1.9 gr. of acetylsalictic acid, more commonly known as Aspirin. The name Aspirin is the property of the Bayer Company founded in Germany in 1863. By 1899 it had registered the name Aspirin world wide.

The package shows "a human barameter"—a man wearing a bowler hat, bent over and using a cane. He is carrying or has attached to him a barometer-like instrument. I guess this refers to the idea that sufferers from arthritis, lumbago etc can fortell the weather. I found the following explanation for that:
"Rheumatism" and weather
There has long been said to be a link between "rheumatic" pain and the weather. There appears to be no firm evidence in favour or against; a 1995 questionnaire given to 557 people by A. Naser and others at the Brigham and Women's Hospital's Pain Management Center concludes that "changes in barometric pressure are the main link between weather and pain. Low pressure is generally associated with cold, wet weather and an increase in pain. Clear, dry conditions signal high pressure and a decrease in pain".

Japanese Collection

2009-11-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

Dan Bruce, our museum's curator, announced yesterday at the Board of Directors meeting that he was intending to increase the museum's collection of all things Japanese. Since the early 20th century, we have had a significant population of Japanese immigrants who first worked in orchards for other people and then bought land and worked their own orchards and businesses. They and their descendants have contributed to this community and it is reasonable that aspects of their culture and experiences be acknowledged in Lake Country Museum. Artifacts and archival material will be gratefully received.

The Board has also approved the seeking of a suitable person to work as a part-time manager of the museum. We will be advertising shortly. We'll keep you posted!

2009-11-02T11:46:00.000-08:00

What is Imperial Granum? Granum is Latin for seed. In modern medical jargon it is a “stack of thylakoids in the chloroplast, containing the light harvesting system and the enzymes responsible for the light dependent reactions of photosynthesis”. A diluent is a substance used to dilute or cut another substance. In the case of Imperial Granum (I don’t know where the Imperial comes from), it is basically a wheat and milk gruel and the insert recommends it for nursing mothers, babies and invalids. For babies, it is first dissolved in their formula (if they are not nursing) and after the child is six months old, it is fed as a cereal. Nursing moms are to take it three times a day, 3 tablespoons cooked in a cup of water and a cup of milk. She can add cocoa or some other flavouring, if she likes. The box says: “This original and world renowned dietetic preparation is a substance of unrivaled purity and nutritive worth derived by a new process from very superior growth of wheat—nothing more.” The box also says that it is the invention of an eminent French chemist although gruel of various grains has been known and used for centuries. The Greeks had it, the Maya and the Aztecs and they certainly used it in Medieval Europe.

I tried to find out something about the company that sold it with indifferent success. It was made by John Carle & Sons, Inc. from New York City. This company was established in 1817. Imperial Granum was manufactured in New Haven Connecticut and registered June 5, 1877. It was still going strong in 1915 when L. E. La Fétra, M.D. a visiting physician to the children’s ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York, wrote a paper on it’s value in treating premature infants. Both Robert Benchley and Mark Twain mentioned in their writing as if it were common in households.

I did find that trading cards and advertising for Imperial Granum are considered collectibles and are selling on eBay. I also discovered that there is a well-known heritage building in New Haven, the Imperial Granum-Joseph Parker Building(s). They are joined by a ‘party wall’ and are believed to have been designed by the architectural firm of Henry Austin. The Imperial Granum Building has the city’s only cast-iron façade. [http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalregister/3671988387/in/photostream/]

Just on spec, I checked out “Pablum” which is the gruel that I am familiar with.

According to Wikipedia, Pablum Mixed Cereal was made from a mixture of ground and precooked wheat (farina), oatmeal, yellow corn meal, bone meal, dried brewer's yeast, and powdered alfalfa leaf, fortified with reduced iron — providing an assortment of minerals and vitamins A, B₁, B₂, D, and E. Pablum was developed by Canadian pediatricians Frederick Tisdall, Theodore Drake, and Alan Brown,[1] in collaboration with nutrition laboratory technician Ruth Herbert (all of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto), along with Mead Johnson chemist Harry H. Engel.[2] The cereal marked a breakthrough in nutritional science: it helped prevent rickets, a crippling childhood disease, by ensuring that children had sufficient vitamin D in their diet.

Apparently there are cultures and cuisines that prize some form of gruel as a delicacy. In Korea, they have Jat-juk, or Pine Nut Gruel -- finely ground rice swimming with pine nuts to make a nutritious (protein, iron and vitamin B) and delicious soup.

Mosby's Tonic—Medicine for Internal Use

2009-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, This one is really interesting! Right on the box it says "Each maximum dose contains .0008 grs. Strychnine". One the other side it says "Medicinal extracts from Natures' roots, herbs, leaves and barks are blended with other efficacious ingredients in compounding Mosby's Tonic to make up a valuable stomachic, carminative, laxative-tonic, mild diuretic and cholagogue. A medicine for the entire family" I learned some new words with this one.
From Wikipedia, the following definitions:

A stomachic medicine is one that serves to tone the stomach, improving its function and increasing appetite. While many herbal remedies claim stomachic effects, modern pharmacology does not have an equivalent term for this type of action.A carminative, also known as carminativum (plural carminativa), is an herb or preparation that either prevents formation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract, or facilitates the expulsion of said gas, thereby combating flatulence.

And from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Cholagogues+and+choleretics

cholagogue /chol·a·gogue/ (ko´lah-gog) an agent that stimulates gallbladder contraction to promote bile flow.cholagog´ic.

I also looked up Strychnine to check for lethal quantities and found this, also on Wikipedia.

Although it is best known as a poison, small doses of strychnine were once used in medications as a stimulant, as a laxative, and as a treatment for other stomach ailments. A 1934 drug guide for nurses described it as "among the most valuable and widely prescribed drugs".[2] Strychnine's stimulant effects also led to its use historically for enhancing performance in sports.[3] Because of its high toxicity and tendency to cause convulsions, the use of strychnine in medicine was eventually abandoned once safer alternatives became available.

A lethal dose was cited as 1/2 a grain (32 mg), but people have been known to die from as little as 5 mg of strychnine."

The "Important Directions" included within the box say that adults should take one tablespoonful three times a day, a short time after each meal...also after the first 8 or 10 days, some people reduce the daily amount to two doses per day, one taken in the morning after breakfast and the other at night before retiring....If after 8 or 10 days, you reduce the daily amount to two doses per day and begin to feel that you are not deriving the same benefit as before, THEN RETURN AT ONCE TO THREE DOSES PER DAY." It is recommended that children age 8 to 10 years of age, one teaspoon, three times a day is recommended. Every dose should be followed with about two-thirds of a glass of pure, cold water.

I guess! According to the literature it is the bitterest substance known.

Don't fret that you can no longer buy this product. The insert goes on to spell out a few simple health rules

"Eat simple, nourishing food. Drink plenty of good, pure water, six to eight glasses a day. Sleep eight or nine hours a night in a well-ventilated room. Keep bowels open, the feet dry and warm and the head cool. If you are past 60, try to walk a mile a day in the open air; or, if you are in the early fifties or the forties or younger, walk three or four miles a day if you can. Just follow the simple rules of health and perhaps you will not need Mosby's tonic again, but of course, if your precautions fail, as they sometimes may, and you feel that you are getting in need of the medicine again, then start taking it in time and you may only to to take it a short period."

I wanted to know if Mosby Medicine Company of Windsor Canada was still in business and I didn't find any record of that. On a genealogical site I found the following note:

From:√ genforum.genealogy.com/mosby

The bottles of medicine both have purchased are not related to C. V. Mosby of MO. The Mosby Medicine Company was founded by my great uncle, Gilbert Haun Mosby. Gilbert Haun got very rich off his questionable elixers, and was later gunned down on the steps of the Cincinnatti Police Station in what my father believes was mob related.

If you are interested you can see the Patent Medicine exhibit on our web site.

Go to ; navigate to the Virtual Tour and click on #4. That will give you the best view. Mosby's Tonic is near the top of the exhibit. It is in a locked case, by the way.

Patent Medicines

2009-10-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

I think that I have found an interesting topic. Glen, a retired chemistry teacher, was cataloguing our patent medicine collection. Glen is thorough—picky even. He read each inclusion within the packaging of each medication and he was blown away with some of the ingredients in these things. At the recent B.C.M.A. convention (in Osoyoos) in the display design workshop, we used this exhibit as the basis for designing a really flashy exhibit complete with "snake-oil salesman" voice over and projected flashing ingredient labels. I know that this fantasy exhibit (we called it 'Not to be Taken Internally') is never going to happen but I thought that some of these inclusions might be interesting to share. Blogging about them is just about the only way that I can do this because they are inside cardboard boxes which are in a static display inside a locked glass case. So, next week, when I am back at the museum, I will get started.

2009-10-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

I'm a senior volunteer at the BCMA conference in Osoyoos trying to learn social networking for our museum. My head is about to explode with all this information. I'm not sure that I will ever be able to explain all this to the Board of Directors or that they will even want to know.