More medicine for women
Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound (on this page, right
below) - Cardui -
Dr. Grace Feder Thompson's letter appealing for
patients - Dr. Pierce's medicines - Dr. E. C.
Abbey's The Sexual System and Its Derangements
(1882) - Dr. Young's rectal dilators - Orange Blossom medicine.
Ad for the Australian Myzone menstrual
pain pills (1952).
 
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Ad for Ergoapiol, treatment for painful or missing
menstrual periods or other irregularities of the menstrual cycle - or for
abortion
1904, publication unknown but probably for physicians
Ergot and apiol were - are? - used to abort fetuses. Greek physicain
Hippocrates listed parsley as an abortion agent; one apiol comes from that
herb.
Wikipedia, the souce of the above information (under "Apiol"),
has more to say:
Apiol was used by women in the Middle Ages to terminate pregnancies.[citation
needed] Its use was widespread in the USA, often as ergoapiol or apergol,
until a highly toxic adulterated product containing apiol and tri-orthocresyl
phosphate (also famous as the adulterant added to Jamaican ginger) was
introduced on the American market.
The toxic effects of pure crystalline apiol are disputed. It causes
a "relatively safe abortion" in pregnant women if taken in small
quantities. It also restores the cycle of menstruation. A larger dose does
not cause an abortion, it causes nausea and damages the liver and kidneys.[citation
needed]
Now that other methods of abortion are available apiol is almost forgotten
in the West, but it is still produced and is used in the Middle East.[citation
needed]
The ad does not list abortion as a use for the drug, which would have
been against American law. But it does mention "other distressing symptoms"
- pregnancy, maybe? Amenorrhea - absence of menstruation - could be a place
marker for the word "pregnancy."
Isn't the art nouveau decoration nice, complete with its sinuous lines
and plants?
Ad for the Australian Myzone menstrual pain
pills (1952) |
© 2008 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any
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