The highly controversial Harry Hoxsey and entirely respectable Frederic Mohs, M.D., seem to have had nearly identical formulae. He was possessed of an intimidating tenacity that alienated him from virtually the entire officialdom of his time, but he was praised by patients who claimed to owe their cures to him. While doing research with the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Mohs developed what he called a fixative paste that, like many physicians of the 19th century, he used in conjunction with a minor amount of surgery. Hoxsey's work was moved across the border where it is still widely regarded as the most successful cancer treatment available. Whether we are looking at lay persons who provide salves to customers as a matter of cultural or religious tradition or at the Mohs fixative paste, most of the preparations that are today available are a mixture of herbs and zinc chloride.
Pastes are water-based products that are quite thick and usually also a bit sticky.
They tend to dry out and cake up when in contact with body heat. Salves have some sort of oil or tallow to aid penetration. There are a lot of escharotic products being produced today by Native Americans, descendents of early settlers, cowboys, lay practitioners whose religions permit the use of natural medicines but not pharmaceutical medicine, herbalists, and even veterinarians and medical doctors. Except for the Hildegard of Bingen violet cr me and Christopher ointments, nearly all the widely available external preparations are pastes, and nearly all contain zinc chloride. The book contains over 100 recipes for cancer salves, pastes, poultices, liniments, internal tonics, and teas as well as detailed instructions for use of the products.