Chapter VII: Obesity Cures, and a “flesh Producer.”

A good many nostrums advertised for the treatment of obesity were
dealt with in the previous volume of this book, and some of those
described which were formerly advertised extensively are now but
little in evidence, if, indeed, they have not disappeared altogether;
how far this may be due to the exposure which was there made, we
are unable to say. But others have appeared on the market, and the
extent to which such preparations are advertised suggests either
that obesity is on the increase, or that people are becoming more
conscious of its disadvantages and, therefore, more ready to lay
out money on medicines promising to restore them to normal weight.
Somewhat curiously, while advertisements appeared numerous and
lengthy advertisements of an article intended to cure the opposite
condition, that of excessive leanness. In the present chapter we give
an account of some nostrums for obesity not previously dealt with,
and also of the “flesh producer” just referred to.

It was shown by the analyses published in the former volume that
extract of bladderwrack was the basis of several of the medicines
described, and the same substance appears in nearly all those now
dealt with. Bladderwrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_) is a common seaweed
found on and around our shores, and, in common with other seaweeds,
it contains considerable quantities of the salts occurring in
sea-water, including a small quantity of a compound of iodine;
the extract was at one time credited with having some effect in
reducing superfluous fat, but it does not appear to be used at all
in legitimate medicine now, and there is no official process for
preparing it. Since it contains no definite active constituent and
is likely to be very variable in composition, it is not possible to
determine exactly the amount that is present in a mixture with other
substances. Another drug which has been given for obesity is thyroid
extract, or some other preparation of the thyroid gland; this appears
to have been present in one or two of the articles examined, but
there is the same difficulty in regard to determining the quantity
of it present in a mixture, or even identifying it beyond the
possibility of question, as that just referred to in connection with
extract of bladderwrack.

It is not only in the composition of their wares that the makers of
these preparations show similarity of practice; even the devices
used in advertising and selling them have a strong family likeness.
The plan of giving away a free sample and accompanying it with
statements as to the importance of following it up with a “full
treatment” are characteristic of nearly all the advertisers dealt
with. It is, moreover, quite in keeping with what we are accustomed
to find that each should advance the claim that his own preparation,
though found on examination to contain the same drug as those of
his rivals, is totally different from all others, and that each
should claim to be the discoverer of this wonderful substance. The
absurdity of the claims becomes more striking when they are brought
together. The first of the nostrums described is put forward with
the assertions, “I know I have found a cure at last,” “My method is
unlike any other.” The next maker says that his pills “in any case
will do more to reduce corpulency than any other remedy extant,”
and they “present a striking contrast to many so-called remedies so
freely offered at extravagant prices to the public, some of which are
useless and others dangerous.” A third calls his “the only safe and
certain remedy,” “the most remarkable scientific discovery of the
present age,” and guarantees to cure; and so on. Such vague titles
as “specialist” and “certified chemist” are so used as to imply that
they are qualifications; and the usual feature, exorbitant price--the
mainspring of the whole business--is, of course, conspicuous, drugs
costing a few pence being supplied for various sums up to £2 1s. 1d.
One advertiser appears to have hit on a little novelty with the claim
that “my remedy is a woman’s cure for women only. Nobody but a woman
could have discovered it, and it is offered to women only,” while
a certain amount of originality must be allowed to the statement,
emanating from the same source, that, “what happens in these cases”
(of heart failure) “is fatty penetration of the heart, which leads of
syncope.”

A. GORDON WALLACE’S “TREATMENT.”

This is advertised by A. Gordon Wallace, London. It is priced at one guinea for a month’s “treatment,” but as the first fortnight’s medicine is supplied free, the actual amount to be paid for it is 10s. 6d. The following extracts from advertisements will show the nature of the claims advanced:--

ARE YOU TOO STOUT?

Famous Obesity Specialist tells how everyone can lose Superfluous
Flesh and Improve their General Health....

If you are one of the thousands of much-enduring men and women who
are unhealthily stout, or growing too stout, this article will bring
new hope to you. If your appearance is marred by a double chin, or
an ungainly bust, or a protruding abdomen, or any other disagreeable
evidence of Obesity, here is an offer that will help you to remove
the ugly defects in your physical appearance. If your health is
threatened--as it must be--by superfluous flesh, which generally
carries in its train gout, or rheumatism, or palpitation, or “fatty”
heart, or some other serious ailment, read and profit by this advice
from a famous Obesity Specialist....

I do guarantee to reduce your weight safely and scientifically, and
strictly according to well-defined and recognised physiological laws,
if you will conscientiously follow out my directions while you are
taking a course of my Treatment.

Medical men, have, on their own admission, been so far baffled for A
REAL AND EFFECTIVE CURE that will bring in its train no other injury
to the patient’s system. I know I have found a cure at last. I know
what it has done for thousands of others and I know it will do the
same for you. All you need do is to write to me to-day, and you will
receive my book, which will be of invaluable service to you, by
return post, free of charge.... I will send securely and privately
packed, to any reader who forwards me 3d. for postage, a full-size
fortnight’s package of my remedy free of charge.... You will not have
to wait for weeks, or even days, before deriving benefit. You will
experience at once a wonderful feeling of lightness and brightness;
you will be able to walk longer distances without being fagged; your
heart will beat more regularly; and your breathing will be better.

The “fortnight’s package” was accompanied by a letter, of which the following is a part:

As a rule, One Month’s Treatment is sufficient, though, of course,
I need scarcely say that in some cases the Treatment must extend to
two or even three months, in order to secure complete and permanent
results. My usual fee for an ordinary month’s course is One Guinea
(credit, of course, being given for the cost of the free fortnight’s
trial treatment enclosed), and on receipt therefore of P.O. for
10s. 6d., together with the accompanying Consultation Form, fully
filled up, I will at once formulate and send you the directions and
various preparations suited to your requirements, thus enabling
you to complete the full month’s course at half price without any
interruption.

The second fortnight’s treatment really begins the actual
flesh-reducing portion of my system following upon the elimination of
the impurities that are robbing you of your vital NERVE FORCE, and
I would emphasise the importance of this continuity of treatment to
ensure a satisfactory reduction of your superfluous flesh, and also
generally improved health.

The “book” referred to was also sent; it is a small paper booklet of about fifty pages, entitled “Obesity: Cause and Treatment. By A. Gordon Wallace, Specialist.” This curious qualification is the only one that is mentioned on the title page; but on page 33 the following appears under the heading

In Plain Language.

It is apropos for me to here mention that I am a physician holding
diplomas by examination, and I have made the cause and treatment of
Obesity a special study. My methods of treatment are based on sound
physiological grounds, and not merely tentative or empirical.

This little treatise is not an essay such as I would deliver before
a medical society, but is a talk to the laity, therefore I purposely
avoid the use of technical language. I am to discuss the subject here
in as simple a manner as I possibly can so that everything will be
clearly understood.

I am confident that this method of stating the facts will be
appreciated.

On other pages it is stated that

My method is unlike any other. I give my patients a true
physiological treatment that restores lost Nerve-Force, and Nature
does the rest.

_My Treatment allows you to eat what you like and drink what you
like._

The “fortnight’s package” contained 54 sugar-coated tablets. The directions on the label were “Two Tablets to be taken three times daily between food.” At this rate the “fortnight’s” supply would last nine days.

After removal of the coating, the tablets had an average weight of 2.9 grains. Analysis showed them to consist of an extract and a vegetable powder; the extract agreed in characters with extract of bladderwrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_) which is the basis of a great many of the nostrums for obesity; although this extract is not known to contain any definite active principle which can be isolated and identified, its mineral constituents differ so much from those of most vegetable extracts that a careful examination of these, together with the characters of the extract itself, enable it to be identified with practical, though not absolute, certainty. The vegetable powder was found by microscopic examination to consist of liquorice root, together with a large proportion of the cells characteristic of powdered nutshells, olive stones, etc.; the cheapest liquorice powders in the market are largely adulterated with powdered nutshells and olive-stones, and this fact may perhaps account for the presence of the tissues in question. The quantity of extract in each tablet was about 2 grains. Similar tablets can be obtained wholesale at about 1s. a thousand.

Some further information with regard to this “famous obesity specialist” appears in Chapter XIX.

DR. VINCENT’S ANTI-STOUT PILLS.

These pills are supplied by Dr. Vincent’s Medicine Co., London, at 2s., 4s. 6d., and 10s. per box. A 2s. box was found to contain 38 pills.

In an advertisement of these pills it is stated that

One 2s. Box of Dr. Vincent’s Anti-Stout Pills has in hundreds of
instances completely cured, and in any case will do more to reduce
corpulency than any other remedy extant.

Dr. Vincent’s Anti-Stout Pills are small, harmless, pleasant to take,
and without change of diet will reduce superabundant flesh as much as
10 lbs. in a week.

A printed circular and a circular letter were sent with the pills, and the following are extracts from these:

Dr. Vincent’s famous and most successful method for the elimination
of superabundant flesh is now well known throughout the English
speaking world.... Where a fair trial has been given it has never
been known to fail.... The pills are purely vegetable, and present
a striking contrast to many so-called remedies so freely offered
at extravagant prices to the public, some of which are useless and
others dangerous.

Every case is amenable to my treatment if two simple rules are
followed. First, the treatment must be carried on with regularity,
and second, without interruption.... Naturally you want to complete
your cure and I have a special offer to make you. The Ten Shilling
Box of Dr. Vincent’s Treatment is usually sufficient for a complete
and lasting cure, and so as to encourage you to continue the process
of reducing your weight, I shall be pleased to send a Regulation Full
Size 10s. box for a remittance of 8s. In other words, I allow you the
2s. you have paid for the Trial box sent herewith off the price of
the 10s. Treatment, if you apply within 21 days of the date of this
letter.

(The letter, however, was undated.)

The directions on the box are: “Dose--Two Pills every night, also One Pill every morning.”

The pills were coated with talc; after removal of the coating they had an average weight of 2.6 grains. Nearly half the mass consisted of “extract”--apparently a mixture, about 15 per cent. was resinous in nature, and the remainder consisted chiefly of the tissues and cell contents of powdered vegetable substances. The nature of these was investigated with the aid of the microscope, and from the histological characters of the powder, together with the results of tests applied to the pill, evidence was obtained of the presence of

Jalap
Colocynth
Cloves
Aloes, or extract of aloes
Extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_

The last named could not be identified as fully as in the preceding case, owing to its being present in not very large proportion in admixture with the other drugs named, but the evidence for its presence appeared adequate.

It is not possible in such a mixture to give with any certain near approximation the proportions in which the different ingredients were present.

PHATOLENE TABLETS.

“Phatolene” Tablets are sold by the Phatolene Co., Limited, London, at 6d., 4s., and 10s. per box.

An advertisement of these tablets is in the following terms:

Don’t be fat when Phatolene Tablets will cure you absolutely. The
only safe and certain remedy. Registered by Government. Thousands
of Testimonials. Phatolene Tablets are guaranteed to cure you of
stoutness without starvation, aperients, or interference with your
ordinary method of living. Phatolene Tablets are the most remarkable
scientific discovery of the present age. Phatolene Tablets are an aid
to health, make you look younger, and produce a charming figure. We
are so confident that Phatolene Tablets will reduce your weight daily
that we offer to send you a large trial box in return for a sixpenny
postal order only.

The box which was sent bore no patent medicine stamps, and so presumably “registered by Government” refers to the name being registered as a trade-mark; it is clearly intended to suggest much more than this. A letter sent with the “trial box” was headed:

The Phatolene Co., Ltd.
(Sole Agents for the Discoverer of the “Phatolene” Remedy),
F. Lawrence, Manager and Certified Chemist.

It should be observed that “certified chemist” is not a legal qualification, and may mean anything or nothing; it is not to be confused with “registered chemist and druggist” or “pharmaceutical chemist.” Some extracts from the letter are:

As a chemist of over 20 years’ practice I have often been personally
consulted by my clients of both sexes in regard to obesity and
local over-fatness. But it is even more pleasure to me to come in
touch with those who prefer to do so under the Government-guarded
secret service of His Majesty’s Post Office.... As a matter of
fact I have to charge more if people use up my time as well as
their own in personal consultations. And there is no necessity for
this time-wasting or money-wasting, as I know that my Phatolene
discovery will succeed in your case as it has done in others.... My
One Week’s Trial Supply is not sufficient, of course, to overcome a
bodily condition that may have been developing for nearly a year. My
Phatolene reduces all fat within the body at a steady and safe rate,
and one, two, or three months’ supply is sufficient to restore all
but the unusually fat to their proper size, weight, and appearance.

What quantity may I send you? For your guidance I may point out that
my experience enables me to inform you that you will require the
following quantities according to these conditions.

If you have been fat or growing fat less than one year, you will
require one month’s supply for 4s., post free. If fat or growing fat
one year, and not two years, you will require three months’ supply
for 10s., post free.

From a second letter:

To cure any ordinary case takes about 12 weeks, for if the reduction
is forced in a more violent way the stoutness is sure to return and
thus you gain only a temporary relief, and you should therefore
take advantage of our 12 weeks’ treatment, which will cost you 10s.
only....

You are aware I have made a study of obesity, and you can naturally
understand I am interested in your case and shall be only too pleased
at all times to answer any questions on the subject, but please
enclose stamped directed envelope.

In a leaflet enclosed with the package occurs the following impudent attempt to make it appear that the nostrum has the support of medical practitioners and of the BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL:

The Treatment of obesity should not be quick, but slow. To attempt
to reduce superfluous fat by violent or sudden means is dangerous,
especially if the heart is at all weak, and this is why medical men
invariably recommend Phatolene Tablets.... Doctors cannot dispute the
fact that this preparation has for a long time had the reputation of
reducing corpulence.

_The Practitioner_ says: “Taken three times a day reduced the fat of
a lad who had suddenly become corpulent.”

_The British Medical Journal_: “Given to lessen fat with good
results.”

Again, the same Journal says: “Given with good results and does not
produce dyspepsia or diarrhœa. A lady lost 20 lbs. in 9 weeks when
taking this, and a gentleman 8 lbs. in 3 weeks without bad results.”

It is scarcely necessary to say that neither the nostrum in question nor any other has ever been referred to in the BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL in the terms quoted.

The directions on the package are:

Dose.--For the first week take one tablet three times a day, and
afterwards increase the dose to three Tablets three times a day, one
hour before meals. Can be swallowed whole or allowed to dissolve in
the mouth.

The “tablets” were really ovoid pills, coated with talc and coloured brown externally. The “6d. trial box” contained twenty-one. After removal of the coating the pills had an average weight of 2.7 grains. Analysis showed them to consist of an extract agreeing in all respects with extract of bladderwrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_), together with about 10 per cent. of powdered liquorice root. No other ingredient was found.

KELLOGG’S SAFE FAT REDUCER.

Kellogg’s “Safe Fat Reducer” is an American preparation, supplied by F. J. Kellogg, Michigan, U.S.A. It is also advertised in Great Britain, and the following extracts are from an advertisement appearing here:

4/- Box of my Safe Fat Reducer Free.

I Want To Prove To You Before Your Own Eyes and At My Expense That I
Can Reduce You to Normal Weight Safely, Without Starvation Diet or
Tiresome Exercises.

It Doesn’t Matter What You Have Tried, Send for This Free 4/- Box of
my Safe Fat Reducer To-day.

My treatment is prepared scientifically. It does not stop or hinder
digestion; on the contrary, it promotes proper digestion and
assimilation of food, which 99 fat people in a hundred haven’t got,
and that’s why they are fat.

On applying for a sample, it was sent accompanied by a circular letter, and this was followed by others at intervals. Some extracts from these are here given:

Of course, I do not promise that this 4s. treatment alone is going to
cure you of all your fat, but I want to start you on the treatment
without any expense to you so that during the next few days it will
put your system in such a condition that the next treatment may
produce results without any waste of time.

You have a right to feel sure that Kellogg’s Safe Fat Reducer is
safe. You can depend upon it that it is positively safe, and you need
never fear that it will reduce you too much.

Kellogg’s Safe Fat Reducer builds up the entire system from one
of fatty weakness to muscular strength, and the results have been
that it makes patients grow remarkably healthy as they continue the
treatment.

Excess fat, I found, is the result of mal-assimilation of food. My
Kellogg Safe Fat Reducer stops this defect; it prevents the stomach
from its unnatural tendency to produce fat; it makes the stomach
“mill out” the food into muscle fibre, bone, nerve tissues, brain
pigment, and rich blood instead of fat; it resolves the unnatural
fat you have and expels it naturally and harmlessly through Nature’s
channels.

As a result there is no other treatment in the world like Kellogg’s
Safe Fat Reducer. It does not interfere in the least with your
business. You don’t have to diet yourself, but you can eat all you
want. You don’t have to go through any tiresome exercise at all. All
you have to do is to be faithful to the treatment, take it according
to directions and go about your work as usual; then you should be
happy in feeling that the reduction will be sure to come in a few
days, that you will be healthier than ever before, and more muscular,
energetic, and athletic. A loss of a pound a day is nothing unusual,
and will by no means hurt you....

Now that I have started you on the treatment, I want you to continue.
I will send you a full treatment of my Kellogg’s Safe Fat Reducer
for only £2 1s. 1d. There is positively no doubt of the result. And
I know you will appreciate it when after a few days you will be able
to note a distinct relief from the heavy burden you are now carrying,
and the terrible dangers of apoplexy and paralysis which threaten all
fat people are lifted from your mind for ever.

From the second letter:

I make each case an individual case, thus I have to have the enclosed
blank filled out, so that I may understand exactly the conditions,
and thus employ the means that will most rapidly, and at the same
time safely reduce your fat and make strong, healthy tissue and
muscle....

The price of the treatment is but £2 1s. 1d. Order it to-day, and be
free from your heavy weight in a few weeks. Don’t stop to figure or
argue with yourself. I hope to receive your order by return mail,
but if you cannot order write me frankly what stands in your way of
securing a reduction.

From the third:

I really cannot understand why you do not order my wonderful
treatment, and begin at once to reduce your fat that has so long been
a bother and annoyance to you.... I have given much thought to your
case [no case had been even mentioned in sending for the sample] and
I feel sure if you still had any doubts of the splendid power of my
remedy to reduce you of fatness, you would have written me fully at
once. As I have not received any letter from you, I have concluded
that you do not feel that you can afford to take the treatment at
present. I believe so positively that I can reduce you, and I feel
so sure that you would appreciate fully the splendid reduction I
will give you, that I am going to make you a strictly confidential
proposition, by which you can secure the treatment you so much
desire, and at the same time do me some good.

You certainly know a number of people in your vicinity who are
annoyed by fat, and who would be glad to know of my treatment, so
if you will send me £1 8d. and the names of six fat people I will
send you a regular full month’s treatment. Remember I do not ask you
to become my agent, and I shall not refer to you in any way when I
write to your friends or acquaintances whose names you send me ... if
you have not got the money by you, it seems to me that it would be
no more than right to go to some dear friend and ask a favour for a
short time. Surely no one could refuse you when it means your health
and happiness.

The “trial box” sent contained 16 tablets and 6 “casca beans,” recommended as an aperient; the latter were not examined. The directions are “Eat one tablet before each meal and one at bed-time, thoroughly masticating them before swallowing.” The tablets had an average weight of 70 grains each; analysis showed them to contain starch, dextrin, a sugar (glucose or maltose), protein, mineral salts, vegetable tissue, and a small quantity of an organic compound containing iodine. The proportions of the different constituents were determined as far as practicable, and the figures obtained, together with microscopical examination of the tissue, showed that the tablets consisted principally of wheat flour from which much of the starch had been removed, made into a coherent mass by means of malt extract or glucose; traces of the germ or embryo of the wheat were found. All this is, of course, a vehicle for the organic substance containing iodine; both thyroid gland (or its extract) and extract of bladderwrack are characterised by containing iodine in combination in small quantity, and many tests were employed to ascertain which was present; no other evidence of extract of bladderwrack was obtained, but there was a good deal of evidence, not quite amounting to positive proof, of the presence of a preparation of the thyroid gland. It is impossible to state the quantity present in each tablet, and it would convey no real information if it could be given, as preparations of thyroid may differ so widely in their activity and no standardisation has as yet been attempted.

“NORMAL” PILLS.

These are supplied by the Normal Powder Company, Beauty Specialists, at 10s. 6d., a “trial box” being priced 6d. They are advertised in the following terms:

Too Stout!

Simply follow our instructions and we will guarantee a perfect cure.
Our treatment is in every way as scientific and complete as that for
which a London Specialist charges £21.

FREE OFFER!

To prove the great value of our remedy we will send you a large trial
box--14 days’ supply--Free on receipt of 6d. P.O. to cover cost of
packing and postage, etc.

The 6d. box was accompanied by a “chart, to be carefully filled up,” for particulars as to weight, measures, etc., and the following to be signed by the purchaser:

I duly received your “free” sample of the “Normal” Pills quite
safely, and since using them I have lost ---- lbs. in weight. I quite
understand that the cure cannot be completed without continuing
the treatment for some time, and in conjunction with the London
Specialist’s diet instructions, which I promise to faithfully follow
out. Please send me per return, carriage paid, in plain wrapper, a
large box of the Pills and the instructions which cost you £21. I
enclose you cheque or P.O. for 10s. 6d. as requested.

The box, which bore no label, contained 83 pills, which were coated with talc. After removal of the coating their average weight was found to be 1.28 grains; analysis showed them to consist of a mixture of extracts with vegetable powder. The powder consisted partly of liquorice root, with a large proportion of the tissues characteristic of ground nutshell, which, as mentioned above, is a regular adulterant of the lowest grade of liquorice powder; the microscope also gave indications of traces bladderwrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_), such as are contained in extract of this substance. Various tests indicated that the extracts present in the pill were those of cascara sagrada and bladderwrack the proportions being approximately as follows:

Extract of cascara sagrada ¹⁄₄ grain
Extract of _Fucus vesiculosus_ ¹⁄₂ „
Powdered liquorice (adulterated) ¹⁄₄ „
Talc and moisture ¹⁄₄ „
in one pill.

MRS. SEYMOUR’S TREATMENT.

This is supplied by Mrs. M. Seymour (London), at 15s.

An advertisement of this preparation is headed “A woman’s offer to over-fat women”; some extracts from it are as follows:

I invite other ladies to participate in a discovery which reduced me
4 st. 8 lbs. and got rid of my ugly double chin.... My remedy is a
woman’s cure for women only. Nobody but a woman could have discovered
it, and it is offered to women only.... I am presenting 5,000 free
boxes of my cure and copies of my book, _Obesity in Women_. I ask
you to post the coupon below to me now and accept one of these free
packages....

The passages which follow are from the “book” in question:

Every one of the cures I have made is a proof of the all-important
fact that obesity in women is a different ailment from corpulence in
men. It has an absolutely different origin.... There is no case of
obesity in which heart trouble has not been reckoned with.... It is
heart failure that is responsible for 75 per cent. of cases which
end fatally. What happens in these cases is fatty penetration of the
heart, which leads of syncope....

Obesity is always due to imperfect nutrition. The food which is
eaten makes fat instead of healthy tissue, muscle, bone, and nerve.
Up to a certain point the process of nutrition (whereby the food is
transformed into the constituents which make up the various parts
of the body) is practically the same in women as in men. Beyond
that point it is obviously an entirely different process, for the
generative organs then become involved.

Now the all-important secret which governs the whole subject of
obesity in women is this: Obesity is caused as the result of a
species of mal-elimination in those stages of the nutritive processes
wherein the organs peculiar to the sex are involved. In other words,
the unhealthy, fat-forming process is set up because of the imperfect
disposal of those nutrient elements with which the menstruous organs
are concerned.

You are certain to have noticed how any marked stage or change in the
functions of the menses will influence fat formation. For instance,
girls who from childhood are inclined to fatness invariably become of
normal proportions on attaining puberty, while at least 70 per cent.
of the cases of obesity in women occur at the menopause, between the
ages of 40 and 50.

Now there are changes connected with the organs under consideration
which occur without any outward or visible signs--changes which
induce obesity. These are changes which result in the fat-loading of
the blood, and the depositing of fat in the different parts of the
body as the blood circulates.... Please remember that I treat women
only. I have no cure for corpulence in men.

The free sample which was sent with the book consisted of nine capsules containing a dark extract of bitter taste. The quantity in the sample was not sufficient for analysis. A “symptom form” was received with the sample; on sending for a further supply, a letter was received asking for certain particulars, and the symptom form was accordingly filled up as follows (the words in italics are the answers given):

Age.--_38._ Weight.--_13 st. 13._ Height.--_5 ft. 7¹⁄₂ in._
Waist.--_33 in._ Bust.--_42 in._ Hips.--_50 in._

How long have you been about this weight?--_Gradually increasing
for a year or two._ What parts are fattest?--_Abdomen and bust._
Constipated?--_No._ Have you backache or any kidney trouble?--_No._
Palpitation?--_No._ If married, how long?--_14 years._ How many
children?--_3._ Age of youngest?--_5._ Any sediment or peculiarity
about the urine, etc.?--_No._ Had miscarriage?--_No._ What is your
general health and condition now?--_Fair._

The medicine which was sent in reply was not capsules, but sugar-coated tablets, 169 in number. Directions were given as follows:

There are sufficient tablets for you to take four each day, one just
before each meal. If you only take three meals--and I strongly advise
you to--take two tablets before the heaviest meal.

I want to impress upon you the great importance of keeping the bowels
perfectly free all the time you are taking this treatment. For a day
or two the treatment itself may keep the bowels open, but afterwards
most ladies require an aperient. I have made many experiments, and I
find there is only one way to keep the system clear without hindering
the process of reduction. Pills, Epsom salts, cascara, etc., are
quite useless. You must have genuine Vichy and Kissingen salines. You
can get them in powder form of any good-class chemist, but they must
be guaranteed full strength, be saccharine-sweetened, and contain no
sugar.

Take them, dissolved in water, half an hour before breakfast, as
follows:--A Vichy powder the first morning, none the second morning;
a Kissingen powder the third morning, none the fourth morning; a
Vichy powder the fifth morning, and so on. If you prefer to purchase
the powders from me I can supply you with sufficient to last the six
weeks’ treatment for 3s. 6d., post free. I can guarantee these to be
full strength, and exactly suited to the purpose.

Get into the habit of breathing deeply. Take at least a hundred deep
breaths in front of the open window every morning on rising. Breathe
deeply whenever you think of it. It will soon become habitual. For
exercise take a gentle walk every day.

I have just one other suggestion to make in your case, and that is in
regard to food. You will find on page 15 of my booklet particulars
of the foods and beverages I avoided during the first month of my
cure, and I strongly advise you to do as I did in this matter. I also
advise you to eat only bread, cakes, etc., made from gluten flour;
that is, flour from which the starch has been removed. Masticate your
food thoroughly. Always stop eating just before you feel you have
had enough, and wait until you have finished eating before you take
anything to drink. Drink as much hot water as you can between meals.

The tablets were sugar-coated, and of a bluish colour externally. After removal of the coating their average weight was found to be 4 grains. Examination showed that they consisted, wholly or in part, of roughly ground up sugar-coated tablets or pills, the coating of which was coloured pink; since the coating of these had been ground in with the tablets, it was not possible to separate it, and the mass accordingly contained a good deal of sugar and starch; besides these, an extract was found agreeing, as far as its characters could be ascertained, with extract of bladderwrack; a trace of iodine in combination was present, such as is found in preparations of bladderwrack and of thyroid gland; also a very small quantity of boric acid, and a little vegetable powder. Part of the last-named showed the characters of the débris of a seaweed, though it could not be definitely identified with _Fucus vesiculosus_; a further small portion, amounting to an extremely small proportion of the whole, consisted of woody tissue which did not agree in characters with any drug in common use. The boric acid points to the probable presence of an animal gland or a preparation of such, and some collateral evidence was obtained of the presence of thyroid in small quantity, but definite proof of the latter is impossible in such a mixture.

A “FLESH PRODUCER.”

SARGOL.

A preparation named Sargol has been very widely advertised of late for the increase of flesh and development of the figure of persons who are too thin; the advertisements often include pictures intended to represent the results to be attained. One of these advertisements is headed:

We invite every thin man, woman, and child here. Every Person in the
British Isles to Eat With Us at Our Expense.

Other extracts are:

This is an invitation that no thin man or woman can afford to ignore.
We’ll tell you why. We are going to give you a food that helps digest
the other foods--a food that puts good solid flesh on people who are
thin and underweight, no matter what the cause may be. A food that
makes brain in five hours and blood in four--a food that puts the
red corpuscles in the blood which every thin man or woman so sadly
needs....

Chew one up with every meal, and in five minutes after you take the
first concentrated tablet of this precious food it will commence
to unfold its virtues, and it will by actual demonstration often
increase the weight at the rate of one pound a day.

Application to the Sargol Co. at the address given brought a small package of the tablets, with a circular letter, which was followed at intervals by others. We subjoin a few sentences from these lengthy documents:

Whether your lack of bodily weight comes to you by inheritance, by
overwork, by indoor occupation, or no matter what you have done or
how many ineffectual preparations you have tried, Sargol will be a
revelation to you....

Remember; until the discovery of Sargol, nothing has ever been known
which could be depended upon to put 10, 15, and even 30 pounds of
permanent, healthy tissue on a thin person’s body.

As we receive so many letters from people who say they have been
disappointed and deceived by so-called fatteners we think it is best
to take you into our confidence and give you some of the inside facts
relative to Sargol. By a recent discovery it is now possible to
reproduce chemically a very important natural fatty substance which
is found in the yolk of eggs, in the roe of fishes, in the blood,
also in the brain and nerve tissue of human beings. This substance
can now be obtained in a highly concentrated form in combination with
other valuable vitalising and tissue building agents....

Each dose of Sargol contains a generous amount of this newly
discovered substance, the very element which thin folks lack. Each
time you take a Sargol tablet you are introducing directly into your
system in concentrated form the actual fat forming substance which
you so sadly need, and yet this is but one of the component parts of
Sargol. Five other strength giving, fat producing elements of known
and acknowledged merit and great potency are carefully combined to
form this peerless preparation.

A box of Sargol, price 4s. 6d., was found to contain 30 tablets; it is strongly recommended that a six weeks’ supply, equal to six 4s. 6d. boxes, should be obtained, the price of this being 21s. The directions are:

1. Take one tablet with each meal and one at bed-time. 2. Be
reasonable as regards diet.

The tablets were sugar coated and coloured pink. After removal of the coating they had an average weight of 5.3 grains. Analysis showed them to contain lecithin, hypophosphites of calcium, sodium, and potassium, zinc phosphide, sugar, albumen, and insoluble protein, with talc and kaolin or similar mineral matter, evidently added as excipient. In the course of the analysis it was necessary to obtain more than one supply of the tablets, and the different specimens showed a large variation in the proportions of some of the ingredients. The amounts actually found were:

Zinc phosphide 0.7 per cent.
Lecithin 1.9 „
Calcium hypophosphite 12.9 „
Sodium and potassium hypophosphites 7.7 „
Albumen (soluble) 4.2 „
Insoluble protein (? coagulated albumen) 10.8 „
Sugar 18.0 „
Talc, kaolin, moisture, etc.

Estimated cost of materials for thirty tablets, about 1¹⁄₄d.