KAG antiseptic: Think Dettol, but a hundred years ago

In the 1900s, people found 31 different uses for KAG antiseptic, a combination of alcohol and chlorine bleach, which claimed to "kill all germs".

Year 10 student Joshua Collis-Bird wrote our "Old pills for odd ills" installment for this week, which you can read here.

According to the pamphlet inside the box, KAG could be used for the following:

1. For the mouth and teeth
2. For cleansing dental plates
3. For sterilising tooth brushes
4. For stopping sore throats
5. For cold in the head, catarrh and influenza
6. For cleansing and healing cuts and wounds
7. For skin troubles, rashes, bed sores, boils, carbuncles, eczema, bad legs
8. For chilblains
9. For hives, heat rash and insect bites
10. For scabies or itch
11. For feminine hygiene
12. For destroying perspiration odours
13. For the bath
14. For perspiring or aching feet
15. For the relief of piles
16. For warts
17. For exterminating vermin
18. For cleansing brushes and combs
19. For cleansing and sterilising feeding bottles, milk bottles, milk cans
20. For shaving water
21. For sterilising the hands
22. For sick-room hygiene, sterilising bed pans and urinals
23. For sterilising linen, underwear, diapers, napkins
24. For removing stains
25. After teeth extraction
26. For sunburns
27. As a veterinary disinfectant
28. For drains, dust bins and bad smells
29. For freshening and sterilising air
30. For purifying drinking water and water tanks
31. Preserving meat, fish, bacon, hams and poultry in the home

Greathead's Mixture - the great Australian con

You've probably never heard of it, but just like the Hills Hoist and Vegemite, Greathead's Mixture is a quintessentially Australian invention.

Patented in 1875, this mixture was advertised as a treatment for diphtheria, scarlet fever and other ills, but it's claims of efficacy were controversial amongst medical professionals, to say the least. Read more about Greathead's Mixture here.

The bionic eye - coming soon to a face near you

Bionic Vision Australia plans to start human trials of the first prototype of the bionic eye next year. Read about how the bionic eye will work here

"Old pills for odd ills" - Confection of Senna

Our latest installment of "Old pills for odd ills" features another laxative, called Confection of Senna. Either constipation was quite the problem in the early 20th century, or perhaps this was one of the few maladies that medicine at the time could successfully treat!

 

 

No wonder this concoction worked the way it did - a combination of powdered leaves, coriander oil, licorice extract, fig and prune juice would get anyone's guts going.

Use woods toothpaste for white teeth and mouth cancer

 A container of Woods Areca Nut Toothpaste at the Museum of Human Disease

Woods Areca Nut toothpaste, sold in Europe during the late 19th century, was made from the pulverised charcoal of betel nuts, also known as areca nuts. While the toothpaste turned teeth black during use, it reduced the incidence of dental decay. I've posted an information sheet here about the history of areca nut toothpaste.

Chewing red betel nut fruit is custom in many Asian and Oceanic countries for it's mild stimulant effect. However, the practice is now widely discouraged, as the carcinogenic properties of the betel nut places regular chewers at risk of mouth and oesophageal cancer.

Stick it up your nose!

This week in "Old Pills for Odd Ills", we take a closer look at an old nasal douche on display in the Museum of Human Disease. Read the article by guest blogger Ruth Miller here

Old Pills for Odd Ills - Pinkettes

Try Pinkettes for laxative perfection!

Read the next installment of our "Old pills for odd ills" series here