Hot drops

[NoahBriggs]

The other day a friend of mine hit me with an interesting research question. I thought I would share the question and my initial reply. Read on.

I have a question for you. I am doing research for the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum in Alexandria, VA, and there is a reference in a ledger stating, after the battle of 1st Manassas, soldiers stood in line outside the apothecary shop to obtain a dose of hot drops. Do you know what hot drops are? Your help would be greatly appreciated, thanks a lot.

Hello,

Here is a link to a search on Google Books. Hot drops shows up a lot; bear in mind many of the sources are very post war.

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22ho...w=1328&bih=896

The fourth hit down gives a receipt (recipe) for hot drops. The fifth one down, dated 1897, describes how they were administered.

Myrrh was a powdered resin, cayenne peppers are self -explanatory, and the other ingredients are fillers. The whole thing probably tasted nasty but the brandy going down the throat, the cayenne providing just the right zing, and the myrrh acting resinous probably set off the placebo effect and helped them feel "better". It may also have been a very cheap "remedy", than say, buying laudanum or one of its most powerful derivatives, "black drop".

Based on those two descriptions and further analysis, it would be safe to say that a lot of terrified troops lined up for a dose of hot drops to settle queasy stomachs, nausea and diarrhea endemic to panic. Sort of like someone who just survived a car crash taking a powerful painkiller they had onhand to help calm them down.

It seems hot drops could be administered externally on sores (and unfortunate dogs, if you feel especially sadistic; see the entry on hot drops in a court case) but its primary use was internal.

[1860sEsquire]

Very interesting. I especially liked the reference to "pernicious hot-drops of druggists." I am going to read more - thanks for sharing this with us. Perhaps we should have some for the 2nd Mississippi . . .

Thomas

Thomas Federico
Atlanta, Georgia

[hanktrent]

For us old dudes, don't forget the Thomsonian origins of these things. I tried searching google books pre-1820, to catch the heroic but pre-Thomsonian era, and couldn't find any hits. Searching 1830-1840 to catch the height of the Thomsonian era, and it was all No. 6, lobelia, and steam doctors.

So I'm guessing that was their origin, and they slipped from there into mainstream medicine. Anyone got examples of them before the Thomsonian era?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[1860sEsquire]

Hank, that is a very good observation, particularly in light of Thomson's employment of cayenne pepper as a remedy, among the other items you mentioned. In fact, the 1842 volume of the New York Lancet, at the very bottom of the list that Noah embedded in his post, references an interesting article titled "Post-Mortem Examination of a Thomasonian Victim" and the author of the letter to the editor specifically refers to the remedy as "Thomsonian hot drops".

It would be very interesting to see if it was Thomson who was the source of the "hot drops" remedy or if it predated him, in some or another, and it became asssociated with him as a result of his system.

I'll do some more digging because this is an interesting topic . . .

Thomas

Thomas Federico
Atlanta, Georgia

[NoahBriggs]

Yeah, I noticed that Thomson seemed to have developed it first, then it sort of went into the mainstream. But I never really looked into it further (I need to research Confederate Army paperwork procedures).

I included it as an interesting detail to include in post Manassas impressions as appropriate.

[GeorgeWunderlich]

This is great information. Thanks for your insight and work. I have an original bottle of Hot Drops in a hospital chest. It is one of the largest bottles (nearly a liter) in the whole box!

Keep up your good and important work.

[NoahBriggs]

Yes, it seems to be pretty popular! Ever considered getting a few of them drops chemically analyzed? I've always wanted to give the drug crime labs something interesting to chew on if they needed a break from counting and analyzing cheap imitations of MDMA tablets &c.

Edited to add: has anyone come across how they were administered? I keep thinking they were dropped into a glass or glass measure filled with water, stirred, and served. I have no evidence for it, so if someone does, I'd love to see it!

[1860sEsquire]

Found some more information . . .

According to Dr. John Comfort in The Practice of Medicine on Thomsonian Principles (1853), http://books.google.com/books?id=iXf...page&q&f=false it seems that "hot drops" were known in the Thomsonian system's materia medica as "Thomson's No.6," (presumably because Thomson advocated six basic remedies) and is described on page 536, i.e., one pound of powdered myrrh, one gallon of fourth proof brandy and one ounce of African pepper. These were put into an uncorked stone jug and boiled for half an hour in a kettle of water or was macerated for several days in a warm place. It's described as an "excellent tonic," a "general family medicine used by Thomsonians." As Noah mentioned it was taken internally, as a tincture, and applied externally for sprains, dropsy, rheumatism, cuts and other maladies. Regarding the tincture or drops format, I didn't see a recommended dose.

Thomas

Thomas Federico
Atlanta, Georgia

[hanktrent]

Yes, off the top of my head, there were six steps you went through with the Thomsonian system, starting with lobelia as No. 1 and winding up with a hot pepper treatment as No. 6. The same six steps were the basis of all treatment, along with steaming, such as sitting over the steam rising from hot water, for example. It's why they were often called steam doctors. Thomson thought all illness was due to a lack of animal heat (when you're cold you're dead, so less cold is better), so the idea of hot drops based on red pepper would of course fit into that.

His New Guide to Health might talk about how No. 6 was administered. Hold on.

Okay, here he mentions choices of taking hot drops in bayberry tea, sweetened, or in rum and molasses.

Here he talks about No. 6 in detail: "One or two tea-spoonfuls of these drops may be given alone, or the same quantity may be put into a dose of either of the medicines before mentioned; and may be also used to bathe with in all cases of external swelling or pains... In the headache, by taking a swallow, and bathing the head, and snuffing a little up the nose, it will remove the pain... in fact there is hardly a complaint, in which this useful medicine cannot be used to advantage... For bathing, in rheumatism, itch, or other humors, or in any swelling or external pain, add one quarter part of spirits of turpentine; and for sprains and bruises, a little gum camphor may be added."

Of course red pepper itself was a regular medicine and Thomson didn't have anything unique there, but I expect he did a lot to popularize it, due to his widespread influence.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com