The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-06-14
MANY ODD REMEDIES.
MAN OIL, ANT SPIRITS AND OTHER
CURIOUS THINGS USED.
Those who Use Them Firmly Believe
in Their Vfrtucs-Drug Clerks
Supply the Demand BY Giving
Harmless Substitutes and Charg-
ing Fancy Prices.

Aye want dees filled wi man OIL"
With this the speaker, a rawboned,
stolid looking Swede, handed dirty
two ounce vial across the counter of a
Division street drug store to the clerk.
Without saying a word or moving a
muscle to indicate astonishment at this
singular request the clerk took the vial
and disappeared behind the prescrip-
ton case In moment he reappeared
and, handing back the vial, remarked
in an Indifferent tone:
Ninety cents"
Being asked to tell something about
the traffic in the fat of human beings
the clerk grinned.
II gave the fellow two ounces of sim
pie cerate and charged a fancy price
to impress him with the genuineness
of the man fat" said he. Il see no
harm in the deception The fellow
has unbounded faith in the virtues of
man oil, and he wouldn't be happy
until he believed he had some. II /
didn't sell him some, he would find a
druggist who would. The simple cerate
will do him just as much good as man
Oil. We often have calls for remedies
az absurd as this. We always fill
them-out of the simple cerate bottle If
it be an Oil or some other harmless
drug if it be something else"
Investigation disclosed the fact that
the various portions of the city have
their peculiarities in beliefs as to the
efficacy of various unusual remedies.
In the Swedish settlements man oil is
believed to have marvellous virtues in
aches and pains when applied exter-
naily. Over in the StockyaTdS region
and in the southwest portion of the
city dogs grease Is held in high re-
pUte as a specific for consumption.
The men in charge at the deg pound
declare a great many of the dogs that
come to an untimely end in the death
chamber there are converted into a SUI
use of consumptives. They declare
that number of doctors regularly
visit the pound and select nice fat
dogs, which are slaughtered by the
attendants, to be rendered into oil for
the alleged physicians patients. Not
only this, but the patients themselves
often send relatives or friends to the
pound to get dogs for this purpose.
Usually the attendants kill and dress
the dogs, receiving a small fee for
their trouble. Sometimes the dogs are
taken away to be killed. One dealer
said he usually got from half a gallon
| to gallon of oil from a dog; that
the grease resembied lard Oil in ap-
pearance; that the oil had no dis
agreeable odor if the dog was young;
that the dose was a tablespoonful
three times a day. An interesting fea-
ture brought out was that after a per-
son had once used dogs grease other
remedies would have no effect what
! ever on him.
Out on Milwaukee avenue rainworm
Oil and ant spirits are held in high re.
/ pute. The druggists have frequent
calls for these remedies and they al
| ways fill the prescriptions, the former
1 out of the olive OIL bottle and the lat
/ ter with alcohol slightly colored- The
Germans believe both remedies arr
valuable for external use for all sort:
i of aches and pains, including rheuma
! tism. The ant spirits are also taker
J internally In standard German
/ pi1armacopo DR.. II. Hagsr, in thu
J edition for 1876, gives a formula fol
( making the ant spirits. The direction.
! given are to take ten parts of ants tt
/ two parts of alcohol. The ingredient.
J are to be rubbed in a mortar and lef
/ to stand for two days. The resultinl
colorless liquid is then ready for US,
for rheumatism, paralysis and the like
Snake oil is regularly quoted in som
drug price lists. A man named Schul
at Cairo, Ill, is engaged in its manu-
facture. Joiln Jones, OF Phoenix, A. T
devOtes his entire time to the manufac
ture of rattiesnake oil, fer which h
gets 81 a pound, the purchaser to pa.
express charges. Snake oil is reputet
! to be valuable for rheumatism. H
/ comes to the city occasionally to worl
up trade.
Skunk Oil is in considerable demand
also for rheumatism The skunk oil i
{, obtained from the skunk farms, wfler
the animals are bred for their skins
Belief in these remedies is often founr
among American born people
In all parts of the city there is
good trade in love powders the pur
chasers usually being of the servan
girl class.
When girl comes in after Low,
powders said a drug clerk on Norti
State street who often has occasion t,
fill such orders, Il give her a it'll
sugar of milk, which is absolutely in
nocuous, if she wants il for herself
and tell her to take two doses a day
If she wants it for her fellow sh,
usually asks for the magic drug in tn,
shape of candy. In that case 1 Civ,
her some worm logenges. The drug
must give satisfa ction, fer the order
are frequently lled."-Chicago Tri
! bune.