CHAPTER IV.
HEADACHE POWDERS.
Headache is so common a disorder that it was to be expected that secret remedies asserted to be certain and safe cures would be extensively advertised, and the sale, especially to women, of headache powders, in most cases as proprietary articles, is at the present day undoubtedly enormous. Persons who may be disposed to resort to their use should, however, bear two facts in mind; the first is that headache is not a disease but a symptom, and that the only rational treatment is to ascertain and remove the cause, whether it be error in diet, want of exercise, local irritation of some nerve as by an unhealthy tooth, eyestrain, or some serious chronic nervous disease. The second is that fatal results have been known to follow self-treatment with antifebrin (acetanilide), which figures largely in most of them.
The powders analysed were in all cases obtained from ordinary dealers in unopened packages; the composition of each is given in such a way as to show the dose of each article in one powder of average weight. Since the separation of the ingredients depends largely on their different solubilities in various liquids, it is not possible to obtain quantitative results having quite the same degree of accuracy as in some other kinds of analytical work; but the results of analysis have been checked by preparing mixtures of the composition calculated and submitting them to the same analytical process; the possible error in the proportions given below does not in any instance exceed a very small fraction.
DAISY POWDERS.
The English Company which sells this remedy charges 7½d. for 10 powders; the average weight of one powder was 6 grains, but the weight of individual powders in a packet was found to vary from 5·7 to 6·4 grains.
The medicament consisted of acetanilide alone. Being an unmixed drug it was not liable to stamp duty, and the package was accordingly unstamped. The dose was stated to be one powder, repeated in two hours if necessary; half a powder for children of 12 years; not adapted for children under 12 years.
Two “certificates” were printed on each wrapper from individuals who are notorious for giving testimonials in the guise of certificates of analysis. The only fact certified was that the powders were “free from any injurious substance,” in which medical opinion will scarcely support the writers.
The estimated cost of the drug (60 grains) in a packet is one-eighth of a penny.
The same Company also supplies “Head powders prepared by Daisy, Ltd.,” the wrappers being printed in such a way that careful inspection was required to distinguish these from the powders sold as “Daisy powders.” The “head powders” were found to consist of phenacetin only.
CURIC WAFERS.
These so-called wafers, also put up by an English Company, are recommended as a “safe and certain cure for headache, toothache, and neuralgia”; stated to be prepared “from the Prescription of an Eminent West-End Physician.”
The “wafers” consisted of ordinary cachets, with the name of the article embossed on one face. They contained the medicaments in the form of powder. The package contained 12 wafers for 1s. 1½d. The average weight of the contents of one wafer was 8·2 grains, but that of the contents of individual wafers in a package varied from 7·3 to 9·3 grains. Analysis showed the composition of the powder to be:
Acetanilide 3·28 grains Phenacetin 3·28 ” Caffeine citrate 1·64 ”
Directions for taking the wafers were given, but it was not stated whether the dose is one or more.
The estimated cost of the drugs (98·4 grains) in a packet is nine-tenths of a penny.
STEARNS’S HEADACHE CURE.
This remedy, advertised by an American Company with agents in London, is recommended as “A Speedy, Certain, and Safe Cure for Headaches of all Origins, whether Sick, Bilious, Nervous, or Hysterical.”
Like the foregoing it was put up in cachets described as wafers. The package contained 12 wafers for 1s. The average weight of the powder contained in one wafer was 9·8 grains; but the weight of individual wafers in a package varied from 9·3 to 10·2 grains.
Analysis showed the composition of the powder to be:
Acetanilide 3·92 grains. Caffeine 0·98 grain. Sugar of milk 4·90 grains.
The dose was one wafer. “If relief is not obtained, repeat in an hour, but more than two wafers should not be taken.”
The estimated cost of the drugs (118 grains) in a packet is a little under ½d.
BELL’S FAIRY CURE.
This Fairy Cure, which is put up by an English Company, is stated to give relief instantly in all cases of neuralgia, headache, etc. A handbill enclosed in the package made further claims, from which the following extracts are taken, “guaranteed to be an instant and absolute cure” for “neuralgia, headache, brain fag, nerve pains.” “Nothing else is like it. Nothing else is so good. Don’t compare it with ordinary ‘cures’ or ‘powders.’ Fairy Cure stands absolutely alone.”
Ten powders were sold for 7d. The average weight of a powder was 2·7 grains, but individual powders in a package varied from 2·0 to 3·7 grains.
Analysis showed the composition of the powder to be:
Acetanilide 1·16 grains. Phenacetin 1·16 ” Caffeine 0·38 grain.
The directions were to take one powder, “repeat in an hour if necessary, then every two or three hours until a cure is effected.” Yet it is guaranteed to be an instant cure! There was a notice that it was not to be given to children below 12 years of age.
In this case also an “analyst’s report” was given on the wrapper; it stated that the powder “is composed of several organo-therapeutic agents well-known in medicine”; probably the “analyst” did not mean quite what he said in the following: “In my opinion, the preparation is well calculated to fulfil the purpose for which it is intended, namely—neurotic affections.”
The estimated cost of the drugs (27 grains) in a package is ¼d.
KAPUTINE.
This preparation, put up by an English Company, is stated to cure in ten minutes headache, neuralgia, and all nerve pains. In view of the similarity in composition of these articles, the claims to uniqueness are amusing. In this case the wrapper bore the words “Nothing as good. Nothing similar,” while on the circular enclosed in the package it was stated that “Kaputine is composed of several approved ingredients. That is, unlike the white headache powders, which consist solely of one crude drug, and which have frequently been condemned as dangerous by the Medical Press—Kaputine is most carefully prepared from several ingredients which have the absolute confidence of the Medical Profession.”
The price of 18 powders is 1s. 1½d. The average weight of one powder was 6·6 grains; the weight of individual powders in a package varied from 5·7 to 7·5 grains.
Analysis showed the composition of the powder to be:
Acetanilide 6·30 grains. Ferric oxide 0·05 ” Sugar 0·21 ”
That is, the acetanilide was tinted pink with what is practically the saccharated carbonate of iron of the _British Pharmacopœia_.
The dose was given as one powder: “If not completely cured in two hours, the dose may be repeated. Half a powder for children under 12.”
The estimated cost of the drugs (119 grains) in a packet is just over ¼d.
HOFFMAN’S HARMLESS HEADACHE POWDERS.
These powders are prepared by a New York Drug Company, but the package also bears the name of another company, presumably the English agents. The powders are described as “a simple and effective cure for all headaches.”
Ten powders were sold for 1s. 1½d. The average weight of one powder was 10·5 grains; nine out of ten weighed from 9·3 to 10·5 grains, the tenth weighing 15·3 grains.
Analysis showed the composition of the powder to be:
Acetanilide 5·02 grains. Cocoa 4·02 ” Sodium bicarbonate 1·01 ”
The dose was given as one powder, to be repeated in half an hour if not relieved.
Estimated cost of drugs (105 grains), one-third of a penny.
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL SPECIALITIES.
In addition to the above proprietary articles, large numbers of headache powders are supplied singly by retailers, and are commonly bought for this purpose ready packed from a wholesale house. It was, therefore, thought worth while to examine a sample of such powders; the one taken for the purpose is known as the “Good as Gold” headache powder; three dozen were attached to a card for exhibition, and the powders are retailed at 1d. each. The average weight was found to be 2·8 grains, six individual powders ranging from 2·7 to 2·9 grains. The powders consisted of acetanilide only.
The estimated cost of the drug for three dozen powders is ¼d.
There is reason to believe that practically all the others sold in this way are of the same composition.