4 ms·

The pills that cured all ills; James Morison the Hygeist (2014)

23 points by antognini 2y ago

Terr_ 2y ago
> In England a quack never fails unless he is untrue to himself, that is, if he be not sufficiently outrageous in his professions; let him promise and persevere in promising the impossible - let him screw his courage to that point and he’ll not fail; the yearly sum in advertisements alone by some of those venders of nostrums (the value of which they assert, and truly, is unknown and incredible) must be immense. [...] > – Henry Wood – "Change for the American Notes in Letters from London to New York by an American Lady." (1843) I feel this phenomenon is still going strong over a century later and an ocean away.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- dang 2y ago
  Berkeley gave up philosophy to expound the virtues of tarwater: https://brill.com/view/journals/esm/25/2/article-p173_4.xml?language=en https://brill.com/view/journals/esm/25/2/article-p173_4.xml?... (article at https://www.pismin.com/10.1163/15733823-00252p04 https://www.pismin.com/10.1163/15733823-00252p04) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4d89/d61ba488a87c62107ebbeb42a8c75cbd2dc0.pdf https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4d89/d61ba488a87c62107ebbeb... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_water
sevensor 2y ago
The striking thing about this is how widespread a problem constipation was and how desperate people were to solve it. What were people eating in Victorian England? Gristle and paste, sprinkled with arsenic?
- nighthawk454 2y ago
  No, no, the arsenic was in the wallpaper. Plenty of other things in the food like alum (which causes constipation actually)
- trillic 2y ago
  Not fruits and vegetables. Lots of processed grain, boiled meat, suet, porridge. Add in an obsession with tea, a diuretic, with poor drinking water and I’m not surprised. I’d bet today most people in the US are under-hydrated and don’t eat enough fiber.
- xattt 2y ago
  If you ever watch taped broadcasts of 1970s and 1980s daytime television, half of the ads are for some form of laxative while the other half was for some meat-heavy or sugar-laden ultra-processed food.
ninalanyon 2y ago
But what were they made of?
- antognini 2y ago
  I don't think it is known for sure, but some of the suspected ingredients are rhubarb, myrrh, and gamboge (which is toxic).

23 points by antognini 2y ago

> In England a quack never fails unless he is untrue to himself, that is, if he be not sufficiently outrageous in his professions; let him promise and persevere in promising the impossible - let him screw his courage to that point and he’ll not fail; the yearly sum in advertisements alone by some of those venders of nostrums (the value of which they assert, and truly, is unknown and incredible) must be immense. [...] > – Henry Wood – "Change for the American Notes in Letters from London to New York by an American Lady." (1843) I feel this phenomenon is still going strong over a century later and an ocean away.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
dang 2y ago
Berkeley gave up philosophy to expound the virtues of tarwater: https://brill.com/view/journals/esm/25/2/article-p173_4.xml?language=en https://brill.com/view/journals/esm/25/2/article-p173_4.xml?... (article at https://www.pismin.com/10.1163/15733823-00252p04 https://www.pismin.com/10.1163/15733823-00252p04) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4d89/d61ba488a87c62107ebbeb42a8c75cbd2dc0.pdf https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4d89/d61ba488a87c62107ebbeb... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_water

sevensor 2y ago

The striking thing about this is how widespread a problem constipation was and how desperate people were to solve it. What were people eating in Victorian England? Gristle and paste, sprinkled with arsenic?

nighthawk454 2y ago
No, no, the arsenic was in the wallpaper. Plenty of other things in the food like alum (which causes constipation actually)
trillic 2y ago
Not fruits and vegetables. Lots of processed grain, boiled meat, suet, porridge. Add in an obsession with tea, a diuretic, with poor drinking water and I’m not surprised. I’d bet today most people in the US are under-hydrated and don’t eat enough fiber.
xattt 2y ago
If you ever watch taped broadcasts of 1970s and 1980s daytime television, half of the ads are for some form of laxative while the other half was for some meat-heavy or sugar-laden ultra-processed food.

ninalanyon 2y ago

But what were they made of?

antognini 2y ago
I don't think it is known for sure, but some of the suspected ingredients are rhubarb, myrrh, and gamboge (which is toxic).