Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-03-23
MANY ODD REMEDIES.
MAN OIL, ANT SPIRITS AND OTHER
CURIOUS THINGS USED.
Those Who Use Them Firmly Believe In
Their virtues-Drug Clerks Supply the
Demand By Giving Harmless Substitutes
and Charging Fancy Prices.

AYE want dees filed wit man OIL"
With this the speaker, u rawboned,
| stolid looking Swede, handed a dirty,
two ounce vial across the counter of a
| Division street drug store to the clerk
| Without saying q word or moving
| muscle to indicate astonishment at this
| singular request the clerk took the vial
and disappeared behind the prescription
case. In . moment he reappeared, and,
handing the vial back, remarked in an
| Indifferent tone:
Ninety cents"
Being asked to tell something about
the traffic in the fat of human beings
| the clerk grinned.
Il gave the fellow two ounces of sim
pie cerate and charged fancy price to
| impress him with the genuineness of the
man fat, ," said he. II see no harm in
the deception. The fellow has inbound
| ed faith in the virtues of man oil, and he
! wouldn't be happy until he believed be
had some. II didn't sell him some, he
| would find druggist who would. The
| simple cerate will do him just as much
| good as man oil. We often have calls for
| remedies Is absurd as this. We ALWAYS
NIL them-out of the simple cerate bot
| tie if it be an oil, or some other harm
| less drug II 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 III aches and
| pains when applied externally. Over in
| the stcckyards region and in the south
west portion Of the city dogs grease is
| held i'll high repute as a specific for con-
| sumption. The men i'll charge at the dog
| pound declare great many Of the dogs
| that come to an untimely end i'll the
| death chamber there arc converted into
| q superior article of cod liver oil for the
use OF consumptives They declare that
| number Of doctors" regularly visit
| tho 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 rela-
tives or friends to the pound to get dogs
for this purpose. Usually the attendants
kill and dress the dogs, receiving
| small fee for their trouble. Sometimes
tie dogs are taken away to be killed.
One dealer said he usually got from half
a gallon to a gallon of oil from n dog;
| that the grease resembled lard oil in APP
pearance; that the oil had no disagree
| able Cdor if the dog was young; that
| the dose was q Tablespoonful three times
day. An interesting feature brought
cut was that after 4 person had once used
dogs grease other remedies would have
no effect whatever 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 always fill
the prescriptions, the former out of the
olive oil bottle and the latter with alcohol
slightly colCred. The Germans believe
both remedies are valuable for external
use for all sorts Of aches and pains, in
Guiding rheumatism. The ant spirits are
also taken internally. In standard
German pharmacopHia, Dr.. H. HaGer, in
the edition for 1876, gives formula for
making the ant spirits. The directions
| given are to take ten parts of ants to two
| parts of alcohol. The ingredients are to
be rubbed il a mortar and left to stand
| for two days. The resulting colorless
liquid is then ready for use for rheuma-
| tism, paralysis and the like.
Snake oil is regularly quoted in some
| drug price lists. A man named Schulz
at Cairo, Ills, is engaged in its manu-
facture. John Jones Of Phenix, A. T.,
devotes his entire timo to the manufac-
ture Of rattlesnake oil, for which he
| gets 81 pound, the purchaser to pay
express charges. Snake oil is reputed to
be valuable for rheumatism. He comes
| to the city occasionally to work up
| trade.
Skunk oil is in considerable demand,
| also for rheumatism. The skunk oil is
obtained from the skunk farms, where
tho animals are bred for their skins.
Belief in these remedies is often found
among American born people.
In all parts of the city there is a
| good trade in ''love powders" the pur-
chasers usually being of the servant girl
class.
"When girl comes in after love
| powders =" said drug clerk on North
State street who often has occasion to
fill such orders, II give her little sug-
ar OF milk, which is absolutely innocu-
| Gus, If she wants it for herself, and tell
her to take two doses day. If she
| wants it for her fellow she usually
asks for the magic drug in the shape Of
| candy. In that case 1 give her some
worm lczenges. The drugs must give
satisfaction, for the orders are fire.
quently reflled. ''-Chicago Tribune.