Black draught (Latin: Haustous) was a patent medicine used as a purgative in the 19th century and well into the early part of the 20th century, with veterinarians prescribing these to constipated cattle and horses. It is a saline aperient mixture used along with blue mass.
Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861) has a recipe for a black draught:<ref>{{cite book | title = The Book of Household Management
2587. The Common Black Draught.-- Infusion of Senna 10 drachms; epsom salts 10 drachms; tincture of senna, compound tincture of cardamums, compound spirit of lavender, of each 1 drachm. Families who make black draught in quantity, and wish to preserve it for some time without spoiling, should add about 2 drachms of spirits of hartshorn to each pint of the strained mixture, the use of this drug being to prevent its becoming mouldy or decomposed. A simpler and equally efficacious form of black draught is made by infusing 1/2 oz. of Alexandrian senna, 3 oz. of Epsom salts, and 2 drachms of bruised ginger and coriander-seeds, for several hours in a pint of boiling water, straining the liquor, and adding either 2 drachms of sal-volatile or spirits of hartshorn to the whole, and giving 3 tablespoonfuls for a dose to an adult.
Black-Draught is also the name of a once-common commercial liquid syrup laxative, sold since the late 19th century, a cathartic medicine composed of a blend of Senna and magnesia. Much like castor oil, it was a commonly used folk remedy for many ailments.
"Thedford's Black-Draught" was marketed through booklets such as the 1899 "The Ladies Birthday Almanac" by The Chattanooga Medicine Company.
Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight. Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy in alcohol (ethanol).
In recipes, quantities of ingredients may be specified by mass, by volume, or by count.
Paregoric, or camphorated tincture of opium, also known as tinctura opii camphorata, is a traditional patent medicine known for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties.
The Coca-Cola Company's formula for Coca-Cola syrup, which bottlers combine with carbonated water to create the company's flagship cola soft drink, is a closely guarded trade secret. Company founder Asa Candler initiated the veil of secrecy that surrounds the formula in 1891 as a publicity, marketing, and intellectual property protection strategy. While several recipes, each purporting to be the authentic formula, have been published, the company maintains that the actual formula remains (allegedly) a secret, known only to a very few select employees. The claim that the recipe is only known to two (2) people and that they cannot fly on the same plane due to the chance they may die, and the recipe will become unknown, is a myth and has been fact-checked multiple times.
Magnesium sulfate or magnesium sulphate is a chemical compound, a salt with the formula MgSO4, consisting of magnesium cations Mg2+ (20.19% by mass) and sulfate anions SO2−4. It is a white crystalline solid, soluble in water but not in ethanol.
A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol. Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%. In chemistry, a tincture is a solution that has ethanol as its solvent. In herbal medicine, alcoholic tinctures are made with various ethanol concentrations, which should be at least 20% alcohol for preservation purposes.
Hartshorn is the antler of male red deer.
Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped apples and dried fruit, distilled spirits or vinegar, spices, and optionally, meat and beef suet. Mincemeat is usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Traditional mincemeat recipes contain meat, notably beef or venison, as this was a way of preserving meat prior to modern preservation methods. Modern recipes often replace the suet with vegetable shortening or other oils and/or omit the meat. However, many people continue to prepare and serve the traditional meat-based mincemeat for holidays.
A beer bottle is a bottle designed as a container for beer. Such designs vary greatly in size and shape, but the glass commonly is brown or green to reduce spoilage from light, especially ultraviolet.
Smelling salts, also known as ammonia inhalants, spirit of hartshorn or sal volatile, are chemical compounds used as stimulants to restore consciousness after fainting.
The apothecaries' system, or apothecaries' weights and measures, is a historical system of mass and volume units that were used by physicians and apothecaries for medical prescriptions and also sometimes by scientists. The English version of the system is closely related to the English troy system of weights, the pound and grain being exactly the same in both. It divides a pound into 12 ounces, an ounce into 8 drachms, and a drachm into 3 scruples of 20 grains each. This exact form of the system was used in the United Kingdom; in some of its former colonies, it survived well into the 20th century. The apothecaries' system of measures is a similar system of volume units based on the fluid ounce. For a long time, medical recipes were written in Latin, often using special symbols to denote weights and measures.
Brompton cocktail, sometimes called Brompton mixture or Brompton's cocktail, was an elixir meant for use as a pain suppressant dosed for prophylaxis. Made from morphine or diacetylmorphine (heroin), cocaine, highly-pure ethyl alcohol, and sometimes with chlorpromazine (Thorazine) to counteract nausea, it was given to terminally-ill individuals to relieve pain and promote sociability near death. A common formulation included "a variable amount of morphine, 10 mg of cocaine, 2.5 mL of 98% ethyl alcohol, 5 mL of syrup BP and a variable amount of chloroform water." Brompton's cocktail was given most in the mid twentieth century. It is now considered obsolete.
Dalby's Carminative was one of the two most widely used patent medicines given to babies and children at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Together with its rival, Godfrey's Cordial, they were known as "mother's friends" and were used for everything from colic and coughs to typhoid.
Nalewka, plural nalewki, is a traditional alcoholic beverage from Poland. Similar to medicinal tinctures, it is usually 40% to 45% alcohol by volume, though some can be as strong as 75%. Nalewka is created by macerating and / or infusing various ingredients in alcohol, usually vodka or neutral spirits. Among the ingredients often used are fruits, herbs, spices, roots, sugar and honey. The name nalewka is currently being registered for national appellation within the European Union. Unlike ordinary liqueurs, nalewki are usually aged. Since nalewka is produced by infusion rather than distillation, the liquid is typically colorful and somewhat opaque. Taste-wise, nalewka is similar to fruit liqueurs such as schnapps or eau-de-vie, but is usually sweeter and typically lacks a strong alcohol taste.
In pre-modern medicine, catholicon was a soft electuary, so called as being supposedly universal in its curative and prophylactic abilities ; or a purger of all humours.
Blue mass was the name of a mercury-based medical treatment for syphilis common from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The oldest formula is ascribed to one Barbarossa, in a letter to Francis I of France.
Bath salts are water-soluble, pulverized minerals that are added to water to be used for bathing. It is said that these salts improve cleaning, enhance the enjoyment of bathing, and serve as a vehicle for cosmetic agents. Bath salts have been developed which mimic the properties of natural mineral baths or hot springs. Some bath salts contain glycerine so the product will act as an emollient, humectant, or lubricant. Fragrances and colors are often added to bath salts; the fragrances are used to increase the users' enjoyment of the bathing experience.
Ammonium iron(II) sulfate, or Mohr's salt, is the inorganic compound with the formula (NH4)2SO4.Fe(SO4).6H2O. Containing two different cations, Fe2+ and NH+4, it is classified as a double salt of ferrous sulfate and ammonium sulfate. It is a common laboratory reagent because it is readily crystallized, and crystals resist oxidation by air. Like the other ferrous sulfate salts, ferrous ammonium sulfate dissolves in water to give the aquo complex [Fe(H2O)6]2+, which has octahedral molecular geometry. Its mineral form is mohrite.
Eau de toilette is a lightly scented perfume. It is also referred to as aromatic waters and has a high alcohol content. It is usually applied directly to the skin after bathing or shaving. It is traditionally composed of alcohol and various volatile oils. Traditionally these products were named after a principal ingredient; some being geranium water, lavender water, lilac water, violet water, spirit of myrcia and 'eau de Bretfeld'. Because of this, eau de toilette was sometimes referred to as "toilet water".
A fruit salt or fruit salts is an effervescent compound made up of organic acids such as citric acid or tartaric acid and salts such as sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, or sodium bitartrate in combination with added flavoring and sugar. Historically, fruit salts were sold for a wide range of ailments, and today they are used primarily as antacids.