(Quack) Antique Medications Part Two: Calomel and Sodium Bicarbonate

Welcome to Part Two of my series for the (Quack) Antique Medications I found while out antiquing the other day!

I will be going over the Calomel and Sodium Bicarbonate medication this time :D

This bottle (with the original tablet medication still in it!!) only cost me $5 at one of the local antique stores near me.  I searched through Ebay for this particular bottle for a price comparison but, I couldn't find any that were exactly the same...  There were some similar bottles but they were all different versions of it.  So price wise, I'm not sure where it stands.

Here's a close up look at the front of the bottle.  The paper label is discolored but in generally good shape and there is a little red colored stamp just above the the name of the maker with the numbers 1293730.  I am not a true 'antiquer' - I just like old, vintage stuff 😂 so I'm not sure what is important about any of these details, but I've noticed when I was looking these medicinal items up that people were hyping stuff like that up.  So, there ya go. lol

It's a pretty hefty, brown/amber glass bottle and has, what I think says, P D & CO 524 embossed in the bottom - it's tough to read because of the angle of the bottom 🤷 I thought at first it said P Q R CO 524 but that doesn't make any sense...

The cork on the top has a chunk torn off of it like someone had been trying to open it up and failed - or maybe they got it open - I guess we'll never know...

The tablets inside are small, thick, round in shape and void of all markings as far as I can see through the glass and the bottle is just over half way full.

Maker is Parke, Davis & CO. from Detroit, MI USA

According to The Detroit Historical Society the Parke-Davis and Company Pharmaceutical Plant moved to the Detroit Riverfront in the 1870s.  It was one of the nation’s most successful pharmaceutical firms, and it included the first pharmaceutical research laboratory building to be constructed in the United States. (!! how cool is that??!!)  In 1979, Parke-Davis sold its Detroit plant to the Stroh family of the Stroh Brewery Company. The buildings comprising the former Parke-Davis complex, now known as River Place, have since been converted into offices, retail space, residences, and a hotel. The River Place Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 16, 1985.

I found a very cool article on the the history of Parke, Davis & CO online if you wanted a little more in depth information on them :D

Calomel and Sodium Bicarbonate, what is it?  Let's do a breakdown of the ingredients to start with.

Calomel

Alternate Title: Mercurous Chloride

Calomel is a dense white or yellowish-white, odorless solid is the principal example of a mercury(I) compound.  It is VERY toxic when taken for long periods of time and has been banned from almost all regulated drugs and over-the-counter preparations in the United States and many other countries.

Here are some of the J.T. Baker SAF-T-DATA^(tm) Ratings on Calomel

Health Rating: 3 - Severe (Poison)
Flammability Rating: 0 - None
Reactivity Rating: 0 - None
Contact Rating: 3 - Severe (Life)
Lab Protective Equipment Needed to work with it: Goggles; Lab Coat; Proper Gloves

Some of the known and documented potential health effects:

Via Inhalation:
Causes irritation to the respiratory tract.  Symptoms include sore throat, coughing, pain, tightness in chest, breathing difficulties, shortness of breath and headache.

Via Ingestion:
Toxic! Average lethal dose for inorganic mercury salts is about 1 gram.  (This medication, per the label has 1 to 4 grams - in the bottle? or per serving? I'm not really sure which as the label isn't very specific...)  May cause burning of the mouth and throat, abdominal pain, vomiting and bloody diarrhea.  May cause a rapid and weak pulse, shallow breathing, paleness, exhaustion, tremors and cause you to collapse.  Delayed death may occur from renal failure.

Via Skin Contact:
Causes irritation to the dermis. Symptoms include redness and pain. May cause burns.  May cause sensitization in the area where it has been applied.  Can absorb into the body through the skin.

Via Chronic Exposure:

Chronic exposure through any route can produce central nervous system damage.  May cause muscle tremors, personality and behavior changes, memory loss, a metallic taste in the mouth, loosening of the teeth, digestive disorders, skin rashes, brain damage and kidney damage. Can cause skin allergies and accumulate in the body.  Repeated skin contact can cause the skin to turn gray in color.  Not a known reproductive hazard, but related mercury compounds can damage the developing fetus and decrease fertility in males and females.

Interesting Facts I seen about this medication while searching it out:

• The three physicians attending Gen. Washington's final hours administered calomel to the dying President
• Lewis and Clark carried it on their expedition and used it to treat their men's STD's
• Louisa May Alcott (author of Little Women) suffered from its effects
• In 1948 a Pediatrician named Josef Warkany discovered that a common disease (at that time) called Acrodynia or “pink disease” was actually caused by the widespread use of Calomel with infants and children - obviously this 'disease' has now been eradicated
• Acrodynia commonly called the pink disease presented in infants and children with pink hands and feet, a loss of teeth, increased blood pressure and pulse rate, hair loss, itching and premature death

Sodium Bicarbonate

Alternate Title: Baking Soda

Sodium Bicarbonate is a salt composed of a sodium cation and a bicarbonate anion.  We use it often as a fine powder both inside the home and for medicinal purposes.

Sodium Bicarbonate is a household staple now-a-days with multiple uses - it's in our laundry detergent even!  Medicinally, it is used to treat heartburn and upset stomachs primarily.

I found a really cool article on the benefits and many uses for sodium bicarbonate on Healthline if you are interested in learning more about this medication :D

This mixture of Calomel and Sodium Bicarbonate was produced to be used as a medication to be used on infants when they were teething and when they had issues of constipation, and for children and adults as a fungicide (to kill fungus), as a purgative (to induce vomiting), to treat malaria, dysentery, the mumps and yellow fever as well as given to patients with helminths (worms).

Take 1 Tablet every two hours

Side Note:  I'm in awe that this bottle was sold with 1,000 tablets in it!!!  That's such a HUGE amount of medication to be sold at one time to an individual!

Ingredients noted on the bottle: Mercurous Chloride, mild, 1 - 4 gr. and Sodium Bicarbonate 1 gr.

Label notes that this medication was Guaranteed under The Food and Drugs Act on June 30th 1906 and that it was Guaranty No. 6.

I hope you find it just as fascinating as I did!

For the next part in the series, I will go over Knorr's Genuine Hien Fong Essence also known as  'Green Drops'.

If you haven't already checked out, or if you just want to look again 😋 here is the link to part one in the series...

(Quack) Antique Medications: Part One - Bromo Quinne Laxative cold Tablets

Let me know what you think of the series so far, leave a comment below!
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