What was in those
Medicine Bottles?
Many patent medicines from the 19th century contained substances which today are highly controlled or illegal. Yet ordinary citizens were often unknowingly exposed to dangerous and habit forming drugs. The following are just a few examples of what our ancestors took for "medicine".
| Common Name | Content |
| Boschee's German Syrup | morphine |
| Brou's injection | morphine |
| Carney Common Sense Cure | morphine |
| Children's Comfort | morphine |
| Colwell's Egyptian Oil | opium |
| Crossman's specific mixture | opium |
| Dr. Drake's German Croup Remedy | opium |
| Dr. Fahrney's Teething Syrup | morphine |
| Dr. James Soothing Syrup | heroin |
| Dr. Moffett's Teethina | opium |
| Dr. Seth Arnold's Cough Killer | morphine |
| Godfrey's Cordial | opium |
| Gowan's Pneumonia Cure | opium |
| Harrison's Opium Elixir | opium |
| Hooper's Anodyne, The Infant's Friend | morphine |
| Jayne's Expectorant | opium |
| Maguire's Comp. Extr. Benne | morphine |
| Mexican Oil | opium |
| Pierce's Extract of Smart Weed | opium |
| Rexal Cholera Care | opium |
| Shiloh's Cure | heroin |
| Same Day Cough Cure | heroin |
| Victor Lung Syrup | opium |