Snake oil

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Snake oil (disambiguation).

Clark Stanley's Snake Oil

Snake oil is a term used to describe

inactive household herbs, spices, drugs, and compounds, but containing no snake-derived substances whatsoever) as "snake oil liniment", making claims about its efficacy as a panacea. Patent medicines that claimed to be a panacea were extremely common from the 18th century until the 20th, particularly among vendors masking addictive drugs such as cocaine, amphetamine, alcohol, and opium-based concoctions or elixirs, to be sold at medicine shows
as medication or products promoting health.

History

Oil from

erabu sea-snake oil was found to significantly improve the ability of mice to learn mazes, and their swimming endurance, over mice fed lard.[2][3]

A snake oil recipe from 1719/1751 (Juan de Loeches, Tyrocinium Pharmaceticum), printed in Spain: "The viper oil of Mesues. Take 2 pounds of live snakes and 2 pounds 3 ounces of sesame oil. Cook slowly, covered in a glazed pot, until meat pulls away from the bone. Strain and store. Uses: Cleans the skin, removes pimples, impetigo, and other defects."

Patent medicines originated in England, where a patent was granted to Richard Stoughton's elixir in 1712.[4] There were no federal regulations in the United States concerning the safety and effectiveness of drugs until the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.[5] Thus, the widespread marketing and availability of dubiously advertised patent medicines without known properties or origin persisted in the US for a much greater number of years than in Europe.

In 18th-century Europe, especially in the UK,

skin diseases.[6] Though there are accounts of oil obtained from the fat of various vipers in the Western world, the claims of its effectiveness as a medicine have never been thoroughly examined, and its efficacy is unknown. It is also likely that much of the snake oil sold by Western entrepreneurs was illegitimate, and did not contain ingredients derived from any kind of snake. Snake oil in the United Kingdom and the United States probably contained modified mineral oil. William Rockefeller Sr., the father of John D. Rockefeller, peddled literal snake oil.[7]

A historical reenactor representing a travelling snake-oil salesman from the United States in 2014.

A popular

better source needed
]

From cure-all to quackery

A report of the 1917 decision of the United States District Court for Rhode Island, fining Clark Stanley $20 for "misbranding" its "Clark Stanley Snake Oil Liniment".

Bureau of Chemistry, the precursor to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1916.[9] It was found to contain: mineral oil, 1% fatty oil (assumed to be tallow), capsaicin from chili peppers, turpentine, and camphor.[4]

In 1916, subsequent to the passage of the

overpriced and of limited value. As a result, Stanley faced federal prosecution for peddling mineral oil in a fraudulent manner as snake oil. In his 1916 civil hearing instigated by federal prosecutors in the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island, Stanley pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to the allegations against him, giving no admission of guilt.[9] His plea was accepted, and as a result, he was fined $20[9] (about $560 in 2023).[10]

The term snake oil has since been established in popular culture as a reference to any worthless concoction sold as medicine, and has been extended to describe a wide-ranging degree of fraudulent goods, services, ideas, and activities such as worthless rhetoric in politics. By further extension, a snake oil salesman is commonly used in English to describe a quack, huckster, or charlatan.

Modern implications

See also: COVID-19 misinformation § Herbal treatments

False health products described by medical experts as "snake oil" continue to be marketed during the 21st century, including

herbal medicines, dietary supplements, products such as Tibetan singing bowls (when used for healing) and treatments such as vaginal steaming. The company Goop has been accused of "selling snake oil" in some of its health products and recommendations.[11][12]

During the

People’s Daily, published a contrasting report urging citizens not to purchase the herbal remedy as it had not been recommended for coronavirus antiviral treatment and treatment measures had not passed clinical trials.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "snake oil salesman". The Free Dictionary.
  2. ^ a b Graber, Cynthia (1 November 2007). "Snake Oil Salesmen Were on to Something". Scientific American.
  3. S2CID 39274963
    .
  4. ^ a b Nickell, J (1 December 1998). "Peddling Snake Oil; Investigative Files". Skeptical Inquirer. 8 (4). Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  5. ^ "The Long Struggle for the Law". Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  6. ^ Klauber, Laurence M. (1997). Rattlesnakes, vol II. University of California Press. p. 1050.
  7. ISBN 9781888729757
    . Retrieved 16 July 2022. [...] William Rockefeller, father to the first billionaire John D. [...] was a literal snake oil salesman and con artist who sold 'cancer cures' to women door-to-door.
  8. ^ A History Of 'Snake Oil Salesmen', August 26, 2013, Lakshmi Gandhi
  9. ^ a b c d Chemistry, United States Bureau of (1917). Service and Regulatory Announcements. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  10. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  11. ^ Berman, Michele R.; Boguski, Mark S. (31 January 2019). "Gwyneth Paltrow's Snake Oil". www.medpagetoday.com. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  12. ^ Belluz, Julia (23 June 2017). "NASA just debunked Gwyneth Paltrow's latest snake oil". Vox. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  13. ^ Palmer, James. "Chinese Media Is Selling Snake Oil to Fight the Wuhan Virus". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  14. ^ Phillips, James; Selzer, Jordan; Noll, Samantha; Alptunaer, Timur (31 March 2020). "Opinion : Covid-19 Has Closed Stores, but Snake Oil Is Still for Sale". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020.
  15. PMID 32737471
    .
  16. ^ Nectar Gan (1 February 2020). "A traditional Chinese remedy said to help fight Wuhan coronavirus sparks skepticism -- and panic buying". CNN.

External links

Look up snake oil in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Snake oil.
Wikisource has several original texts related to Snake oil.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Snake oil.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snake_oil&oldid=1217720706"