THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



81 



Haarlem Oil, a turpentine compound, 

 made first in 1672, and Godfrey's Cor- 

 dial, a preparation of opium, advertised 

 first in 1722, are still bought by the 

 public. 



Goddard's Drops was a remedy to 

 which Salmon, a contemporary of Charles 

 II, refers as "the true medicine which 

 was purchased of the Doctor by King 

 Charles the Second, so much famed 

 throughout the whole Kingdom and for 

 which he gave him, as it is reputed, fif- 

 teen hundred pounds sterling." Other 

 writers state that Charles paid £5,000 

 for the formula. 



The formula consisted of a distillate 

 "of humane bones or rather scales," 

 which were to be "well dryed." These 

 were distilled until "a Flegm, Spirit, Oyl, 

 and Volatile salt were obtained." The 

 product was digested in the earth for 

 three months, digested at a gentle heat 

 for 14 days, and the "oyl" separated and 

 bottled. 



DRIED MUMMY A POPULAR REMEDY 



Animal products were much used in 

 medicine from the sixteenth to the eigh- 

 teenth century. Dried mummy was a 

 favorite remedy. The importation of 

 mummy was an industry of some com- 

 mercial importance and several writers 

 of that day caution against the use of 

 spurious mummy, giving directions as to 

 what distinguishes the good from the 

 poor product. 



There was much substitution here, and 

 one Jewish dealer was found to have 

 done an extensive trade in bodies dried 

 in imitation of the genuine article. 



One of the most picturesque careers in 

 medical charlatanry of a more modern 

 day was that of St. John Long, a hand- 

 some and clever Irish quack, who prac- 

 ticed in London early in the nineteenth 

 century. He had attractively furnished 

 offices in Harley Square and pretended 

 to cure many diseases, notably tuberculo- 

 sis, by the application of a liniment and 

 the inhalation of a vapor. His consult- 

 ing rooms were crowded with fashion- 

 able and noble patrons and he was re- 

 puted to have an income of £65,000 a 

 vear. 



A FIFTEENTH CENTURY ILLUSTRATION 



WHICH SHOWS THE METHOD OF 



EXTRACTING A CURATIVE 



TOADSTONE 



The idea of a stone in the head of the toad 

 was not confined to the literature of medicine. 

 Shakespeare spoke of adversity, "which, like 

 the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a pre- 

 cious jewel in his head." 



He was tried for manslaughter twice. 

 Once he was required to pay a fine of 

 £1,250, which he produced from his 

 pocket and counted out, afterward driv- 

 ing away from the court in the carriage 

 of the Marquis of Sligo. At the second 

 trial he was acquitted. He died in 1837, 

 at the age of 37, from pulmonary tuber- 

 culosis, the disease which he purported to 

 cure. The formula of his liniment after 

 his death was sold for £50,000, but never 

 sustained its previous popularity. It was 

 composed principally of turpentine, acetic 

 acid, and Qgg yolk. 



Even the English Parliament has been 

 gulled by the "cure-all" vender. In 1739 

 an act was passed "providing a reward to 

 Joanna Stephens upon the proper discov- 

 ery to be made by her for the use of the 

 publick of the medicines prepared by her 

 for the Cure of the Stone." 



The formula, when published, con- 

 sisted of a solution of the products re- 



