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

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

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

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

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.

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.