Secret Nostrums and Systems of Medicine: A Book of Formulas

About this book

What was actually inside the tonics and patented cures advertised a century ago? Charles W. Oleson prints formulas that manufacturers and sellers rarely put on their labels.

His reference work preserves an unsettling part of medical history, from familiar household substances to preparations containing ingredients known today to be harmful. It records how remedies were made, named and commercialised in an age of much looser regulation. The recipes are historical evidence and should never be used as treatment instructions. The sheer variety of mixtures shows the size of the market built around promises of relief.