Chapter X: Skin Diseases

Proprietary articles for the cure of eczema and other skin affections include several which are as widely advertised as any nostrums of any kind. Some of them are at first offered at the comparatively low price of 1s. 1½d.; but in almost every case the further information supplied on application shows that what is really recommended is a “treatment,” including an ointment or other application, a special soap, and a medicine to be taken internally, and often also a dusting powder, and occasionally other articles. The importance of persisting in the treatment is strongly emphasised, with the result that anyone who once lays out 1s. 1½d. is likely to be drawn into spending quite a considerable sum. Only a few out of the long list which might be made of these articles have been analysed, but the results throw sufficient light on the general nature of the whole class. The most striking point about them is perhaps the extremely commonplace nature of the drugs selected, although the vendors in some instances would have the buyer believe that the preparation sold is the result of years of patient experiment.

ANTEXEMA.

A Company with an address in London advertises for sale a bottle, price 1s. 1½d., containing a little less than 1½ ounces, but the “Antexema Treatment” includes Antexema, Antexema Soap, and Antexema Granules (to be taken internally). On a handbill enclosed with the bottle it was stated that:

In most cases “Antexema” will by itself effect a cure,
but the permanence of this is assured by the continued
use of a suitable soap, and the cleansing and purifying
action of “Antexema Granules” on the blood.

A booklet on “Skin Troubles” was also enclosed, containing some “before” and “after” illustrations, but they could hardly be expected to convince anyone; directions were given in this for the course to be pursued in a variety of disorders, including such “skin troubles” as in-growing toenails, lupus, piles, ulcers, etc. Incidentally, twelve other preparations made by the same Company, in addition to the three named above, were recommended.

On the outer package it was stated that:

“Antexema” is the most efficacious remedy known for
the relief of all inflamed conditions of the skin. Its
beneficial effects are not confined to the curing of
Eczema, Psoriasis, Nettlerash, Erysipelas, Boils, and
other serious troubles, but it is also by far the best
remedy for Cuts, Burns, Sores, Bruises, Chilblains,
Blisters, Insect bites, and every variety of trouble to
which the skin is liable.

Only “Antexema” itself was analysed. It consisted of an emulsion, with more or less of a watery layer below it. The directions for use were:

Shake the bottle well, and, if necessary, stir up
the contents until a milky substance is formed. Then
gently rub “Antexema” into the parts affected until
dry, and if the case is a severe one it should be
applied as often as possible. “Antexema” is odourless,
non-poisonous, and invisible when rubbed on the skin,
and it instantly allays irritation. Do not wash any
weeping or inflamed surface until healed, and, if
possible, avoid dressings and coverings.

Analysis showed it to consist of:

Soft paraffin 35·4 per cent.
Boric acid 1·5 ”
Gummy matter 12·4 ”
Water 50·7 ”

The gum resembled in some respects a mixture of acacia and tragacanth, but could not be exactly identified.

The estimated cost of the ingredients of 1½ ounces is two-thirds of a penny.

PACIDERMA PREPARATIONS.

These preparations are advertised as follows from an address in London:

New Cure for Eczema.—A victim who was cured after
5 years’ intense suffering will gladly send to all
readers of the _Christian Herald_ full particulars
(free) of an inexpensive guaranteed cure for Eczema,
Bad Legs, Sore Hands and all Skin Eruptions, on receipt
of stamped addressed envelope.—Write to A. Paciderma.

An application to the address given brought a typed letter apparently produced on a multiple copy machine, from “Paciderma. Manageress, Mrs. E. Avice,” from which the following extracts are taken:

“Paciderma” ... consists of three preparations (in one
package), one for internal use and two for external
use. Both internal and external Remedies are absolutely
necessary to eradicate the disease.... The price is
most moderate, namely 6s. and postage 3d. for the
package containing the three preparations for thirty
days’ full treatment. In conclusion I would point out
to you that these Remedies have met with a world-wide
success, even in the worst forms of these terrible
complaints, and are in fact so wonderfully successful
that they are

GUARANTEED EFFICACIOUS IN EVERY CASE

no matter what has previously been tried and failed....
Be sure to fill up the Order Form which I am enclosing
you as carefully and accurately as you can so that I
may be able to give your case my fullest attention and
consideration.

This letter was accompanied by a booklet entitled “Eczema and how to Cure it,” and by an order form with spaces for name, address, date, and the following further particulars:

Age; sex; occupation; how long been suffering? where
the complaint is located; are the spots or wounds
dry? is there any sticky discharge? are your bowels
constipated? do you suffer from piles? do you suffer
from indigestion? do you suffer from rheumatism or
gout? Do you suffer from any other complaint?

This form, filled up with the details of an imaginary case, was sent with a postal order for the requisite amount. A case of “Paciderma” preparations was at once received, and needless to say there was no evidence of their having been modified in any way in consequence of the “fullest attention and consideration” given to the particulars supplied. The preparations were accompanied by a further letter, typed like the first, from which the following is extracted:

One case of the remedies is generally sufficient to
effect a cure, and I trust that it may be so in your
case, but if the disease has been in the system for
years it has got a firm hold, and naturally takes
longer to eradicate; therefore, if this case of
remedies should not cure you, you must lose no time
in writing for a further supply so that no time may
be lost between. You must avoid anything likely to
irritate the skin, and be especially careful as to the
soap you use, as many soaps are most injurious, being
quite sufficient in themselves to cause an eruption. I
should recommend you to use “Paciderma Skin Soap” to
wash yourself with, as it is absolutely pure, and will
keep your skin smooth and healthy.

After an interval a further letter was received, which ran as follows:

Dear Sir,—I have been expecting to hear from you as to
how the treatment I sent you some time ago has affected
you. I sincerely trust that you have derived benefit
from it. As I think I told you before, some cases are
naturally much more difficult to cure than others, and
take longer time, as in most cases the disease has
been for years getting a firm hold on the system, and
cannot, therefore, be eradicated in a few days.

I assure you I should be the last to induce you to
spend money, unless I honestly thought and believed
that the treatment would benefit you. I have been a
fellow sufferer myself, and know what it did for me
by persevering after everything else had failed. If,
therefore, you are not yet cured, I think it is only
my duty to strongly urge you to persevere with the
treatment, and if you hesitate to do so owing to the
money being a consideration to you, I am willing to
meet you as far as I possibly can, and will send you
the complete 6s. 3d. case for 4s. 6d. post free, which
is just cost price, or I will send you the Blood Wafers
for 2s. 2d. per box post free instead of 2s. 10d., or
the Crème for 2s. 2d. post free instead of 2s. 10d., or
the Powder for 7d. instead of 9d. post free.

I am offering you this very great reduction in price
as I am most anxious that you should be cured, as I
am quite certain that you will be if you persevere
steadily.

Do not be afraid of troubling me by writing me fully as
to how the treatment has affected you, as I can assure
you that I am quite as anxious to cure you as you
yourself are to be cured, and I take a special interest
in your case.

Trusting soon to hear from you.

Yours truly,
E. AVICE.

The booklet already referred to contained a sworn statement by Mrs. Avice detailing her own sufferings and cure, the latter being due to “a dear old friend, an M.D.” Further paragraphs, not in the sworn statement, were as follows:

It remained for my old friend, the Doctor, to whose
discoveries I owe my cure, to find the only certain
remedy for this dread complaint. For years he studied
and searched to find a cure for that curse of hot
climates, the “prickly heat,” a very distressing
form of Eczema which is very prevalent in warm
countries, and which few Europeans escape. At last his
perseverance was rewarded, and the long sought for
Remedy found and used with the greatest success both
abroad and after his return to England. Since his death
I have still further improved on and perfected his
ideas, and have evolved my now well-known “Paciderma,”
which has met with the most startling success in every
case in which it has been tried....

Paciderma cures all skin troubles without exception,
all pimples, blotches, sores and eruptions of every
kind, in sufferers of every age, from the infant at
the breast to the old and infirm man or woman who has
reached or passed the allotted span of three score
years and ten.

It is absolutely the only cure for Eczema.

The following are the results of the examination of the remedies evolved after so much study and research and perfected and improved:

_Paciderma Crème._—Price 2s. 9d. per box, holding nearly 4 ounces. Directions for use:

Apply the Crème to the parts affected with the finger,
or spread on lint or soft linen, and bandage.

The Crème consisted of a fairly stiff ointment, which on analysis gave results corresponding to the following formula:

Zinc oxide 25·6 per cent.
Calcium carbonate 2·7 ”
” sulphate 15·8 ”
Boric acid 15·9 ”
Basis 58·7 ”

The basis consisted of soft paraffin, apparently with a small proportion of a saponifiable oil, such as olive oil.

The estimated cost of the ingredients for 4 ounces is 1½d.

_Paciderma Powder._—Price 9d. per box, containing about 3 ounces. The directions ran:

Allays all itching and irritation, and should be
applied freely and frequently to the affected parts, in
fact whenever they itch or irritate.

Analysis showed the composition to be:

Maize starch 54 per cent.
Boric acid 14 ”
Insoluble mineral matter 19 ”
Moisture 13 ”

The insoluble mineral matter contained alumina, magnesia, and silica, corresponding to a mixture of talc and kaolin; this composition also agreed with all its other properties.

The estimated cost of ingredients for 3 ounces is ¾d.

_Paciderma Blood Wafers._—Price 2s. 9d. per box of thirty.

Directions. One to be taken every night at bedtime.

The “wafers” consisted of cachets, each containing about 8½ grains of a powder, the composition of which was indicated by analysis to be:

Sodium bicarbonate 59 per cent.
Precipitated sulphur 37 ”
Powdered ginger 3 ”
Aloin 1 ”

The ginger and aloin could only be estimated approximately.

The estimated cost of the ingredients for 30 wafers is one-fifth of a penny.

CUTICURA REMEDIES.

The remedies are stated to be prepared by a Drug and Chemical Corporation in the U.S.A.

The “system,” which has been very widely advertised, consists of Cuticura (Ointment), Cuticura Soap, and Cuticura Resolvent (liquid or pills); the ointment and the resolvent liquid were taken for analysis.

A booklet was enclosed in each package, containing, with other matter, directions for the use of the remedies in fourteen languages; from it the following extracts are taken:

In the treatment of torturing, disfiguring, itching,
scaly, crusted, pimply, blotchy, and scrofulous
humours of the skin, scalp, and blood, with loss of
hair, the Cuticura Remedies have been wonderfully
successful. Even the most obstinate of constitutional
humours, such as bad blood, scrofula, inherited and
contagious humours, with loss of hair, glandular
swellings, ulcerous patches in the throat and mouth,
sore eyes, copper-coloured blotches, as well as boils,
carbuncles, sties, ulcers, scrofulous rheumatism, and
most humours arising from an impure or impoverished
condition of the blood, yield to the CUTICURA
SYSTEM OF TREATMENT in the majority of cases, when
the usual remedies fail.... Parents are assured that
these Remedies are composed of the purest and sweetest
ingredients known to modern pharmacy, and may be used
on the youngest infants with complete satisfaction.

_Cuticura Ointment._—Price 2s. 6d. per box, containing 1¾ ounces.

Directions.... Cuticura Ointment may be applied to any
part of the surface of the body by direct application
with the finger, the palm of the hand, or spread on
cotton, linen, or absorbent cotton, and covered with
a light bandage, or by any means by which a remedy of
this consistence would be used.

... in rare instances of individual tendency to acute
eczema, acne, acne rosacea, erysipelas, and other
highly inflammatory conditions, especially those
affecting the face, it may act as an irritant, and
hence those using it must observe what has been said
in the foregoing directions in order that they may
exercise judgment as to whether to continue it or not,
should any unfavourable symptom present itself.

Examination of the ointment showed the absence of all metallic compounds, also of alkaloids or other active principles, and of saponifiable fat. It consisted of a mixture of hard and soft paraffins, slightly perfumed with rose, and coloured green. The chief green colouring matter present appeared to be an aniline dye, and a mixture of paraffins, coloured with a trace of malachite green and a little chlorophyll, agreed very closely with it in its properties. No other ingredient could be discovered.

The estimated cost of the ingredients of 1¾ ounces is ¾d.

_Cuticura Resolvent._—Price 2s. 6d. per bottle, containing 6½ fluid ounces.

In the pamphlet quoted above it is stated:

Cuticura Resolvent is alterative, antiseptic, tonic,
digestive, and aperient, and is confidently believed
to be superior to other preparations for purifying the
system of humours of the skin, scalp, and blood, with
loss of hair. CUTICURA RESOLVENT is prepared
in accordance with the most advanced pharmaceutical
and therapeutical knowledge from medicinal agents
of ascertained purity and potency, and while in the
highest degree effective, commends itself to delicate,
sensitive, and refined people, especially women,
because of its pure, sweet, and gentle action....
It is believed to be one of the most successful of
blood-purifying and strengthening medicines for
children in all conditions which point to inherited
impurities and weaknesses, and may be taken on the
first appearance of glandular swellings, ulcers, sores,
especially on the neck, pallor, weakness, and delicate,
frail conditions, with every hope of success.

DIRECTIONS.—Adult dose, two teaspoonfuls
three times a day; for children over ten years of
age and delicate females, one teaspoonful; for
children from five to ten years of age, one half of a
teaspoonful; for children two to five years of age, 15
drops; from one to two years, 10 drops. To be taken
three times a day, immediately after each meal.

Analysis showed the composition of the mixture to be:

Potassium iodide 17 grains.
Sugar and glucose 486 ”
Extractive 8 ”
Alcohol 10 fluid drachms.
Water to 6½ fluid ounces.

No alkaloidal substance was present; the extractive gave a slight indication of the presence of a preparation of rhubarb; all other drugs with well-marked characters were absent.

ZAM-BUK.

This ointment is sold by a London Company in a box, containing three-fifths of an ounce, price 1s. 1½d.; a Zam-Buk soap is also recommended for use as part of the treatment. In a circular enclosed in the package it was related how:

Certain medicinal plants were taken, and from them
were extracted gums and juices possessing considerable
healing and curative power. Costly experiments at last
secured the right blending of these juices; and to
the final product, a preparation virtually capable of
growing new and healthy skin, the name of Zam-Buk was
given....

Zam-Buk practically contains those substances which
Nature has intended for the use of man ever since she
bequeathed to him the instinct to rub a place that
hurts....

Zam-Buk has proved itself to be unequalled for Cuts,
Bruises, Burns, Scalds, Abrasions, Festering Sores,
Poisoned Wounds, Lacerated Wounds, Old Wounds, Sprains,
Strains, Swellings, Dog Bites, Cat Scratches, Obstinate
Sores, Chafings, Itch (Scabies), Stings from Hornets,
Bees, Wasps, Centipedes, and Spiders; Running Sores,
Ulcers, Ringworm, Eczema (acute or chronic form),
Psoriasis (tetter), Pimples, Acne, Abscesses, Boils,
Carbuncles, Scrofula, Cramp, Barber’s Itch, Heat
Rashes, Sunburn, Freckles, Blotches, Blackheads, Scalp
Irritations Scurf or Dandruff, and other Scalp Sores;
Colds, Chills, Raw Chapped Hands, Sore Lips, Raw
Chin after Shaving; Inflamed Patches, Sore Nipples,
Glandular Swellings, Swollen Knees, Bad Legs, Blind
and Bleeding Piles, Cold-Sores, Sore Backs, Diseased
or Weak Ankles, Sore and Aching Feet, Perspiring Feet,
Chilblains, Soft Corns, Saltwater Sores. Rubbed well
into the part affected, Zam-Buk gives great relief from
Rheumatism, Lumbago, Neuralgia, Sciatica, Toothache,
and allays all kinds of Inflammation, Itching, and
Irritation.

The directions on the box were:

For Bruises, Cuts, Sores, Sprains, Open Wounds, Sore
Breasts, Inflamed Patches, Ulcers, Eczema and Piles;
first cleanse the parts with pure water and then apply
Zam-Buk direct or on a piece of clean lint. For Burns,
Scalds, etc., rub Zam-Buk lightly over the injured
part and cover same as soon as possible in order to
exclude the air. To use Zam-Buk as an Embrocation rub
it in well, both into the muscles and tendons, when the
healing, stimulating and strengthening ingredients in
Zam-Buk will be absorbed into the system.

Analysis showed its composition to be:

Oil of eucalyptus 14 per cent. (approximately).
Pale resin (colophony) 20 ” ”
Soft paraffin 55 ” ”
Hard paraffin 11 ” ”
Green colouring matter a trace.

An ointment prepared in accordance with this formula and tinted with chlorophyll agreed in all respects with the original.

The estimated cost of the ingredients for three-fifths of an ounce is ¼d.

ZIP OINTMENT.

This is supplied by a Company giving an address in a London suburb in box containing rather less than an ounce (0·85 ounce) at the price of 1s. 1½d.

On a circular enclosed with the box this ointment was described as a “cure for Eczema, Ringworm, Psoriasis.” It was also stated that:

Zip is the product of many years’ experience and
trials, and will be found the best and most reliable
remedy for the above troublesome complaints.

The directions given on the box were:

Wash well the parts with the Zip Skin Soap, and apply
Zip night and morning.

Analysis showed the composition of the ointment to be:

Calomel 2·1 parts.
Lead acetate 1·0 part.
” oleate 2·5 parts.
Oil (probably olive) 2 ”
Glycerine 5 ”
Creosote A trace.
Oil of lemon grass Sufficient to perfume.
Paraffin ointment To 100 parts.

The estimated cost of the ingredients for 0·85 ounce is ½d.

The following are quoted from Dr. Zernik’s notes on some of the skin remedies most advertised in Germany.

CRÈME EKZEMIN.

Crème Ekzemin, advertised as a cure for almost all
diseases of the skin, including psoriasis, is a mixture
of precipitated sulphur and a semi-fluid fatty mass,
coloured red. The tube contains 75 grammes, and costs
5s. 2½d.

PHEUN SKIN PASTE.

Pheun Skin Paste, according to the vendors, possesses
marvellous properties, and when applied to the skin
it not only removes all the dirt but kills all the
bacteria, even when situated in the deeper layers,
and it is recommended as a cure for all forms of skin
diseases. Zernik, on analysis, found it to contain 31
per cent. of soft paraffin, 5 per cent. of water, 2
per cent. of soap, and 10 per cent. of a dry substance
yielding slimy material.

JUNIPER BEAUTY CREAM AND JUNIPER BEAUTY SOAP.

It may be worth while to add that Zernik says of a
certain “Juniper Beauty Cream,” sold in Berlin, that it
is a water-containing ointment, perfumed with oil of
bergamot, containing 5 per cent. of white precipitate
(ammoniated mercury) and 11 per cent. of salicylic
acid. It seems to be intended for the face, but looking
to the large proportion of salicylic acid it contains,
it might, perhaps, be more appropriate for use as a
corn plaster.

RINO CURATIVE OINTMENT.

Rino Curative Ointment, advertised as containing
naphthalan, Peru balsam, chrysarobin, etc., was found
by Zernik to consist of turpentine, oil of cade, 1 per
cent. of boric acid, 6 or 7 per cent. of yolk of egg
and an indifferent vehicle,