| Oil of turpentine | 16 | per cent. |
| Fixed oil | 84 | ” |
The properties of the fixed oil and the figures which it gave on further analysis corresponded to those of almond oil.
The estimated cost of the ingredients, for two-fifths of an ounce, is one halfpenny.
HERBERT CLIFTON’S TREATMENT
FOR DEAFNESS.
This is brought to the notice of the public by an advertisement in the following terms:
A new cure for deafness. A Gentleman who cured himself after 14 years’ suffering will send particulars of remedy free.
Here followed the gentleman’s address, and an application brought a letter and a pamphlet entitled “Deafness and Noises in the Head, with Instructions how they may be Absolutely Cured,” which was marked “40th edition.” It professed to give an account of the writer’s own experiences. A few extracts will suffice to give an idea of it:
Those only who have suffered from the terrible calamity of deafness can understand the misery it brings into one’s life; and only those who have had occasion to seek the assistance of men who profess to cure this awful affliction can appreciate how utterly its treatment is misunderstood by the various advertising empirics who profess to cure it, whether by electrical, galvanic, or any of the other methods which are so alluringly set forth as perfectly infallible by people who never suffered themselves, who can have no sympathy, therefore, with those whom they profess to assist, and whose only object is to extract as large a sum as they possibly can from the pockets of those whom they have been able to attract to their spider’s parlour. The writer, however, of the present pamphlet is in a different position.... As a lad I began to suffer from noises in the head, which as time went on increased to such an alarming degree that I was taken to an Aural Surgeon.... The usual result followed. I became worse and worse, and, of course, weaker through his treatment.... Another doctor was consulted.... But the treatment failed, my affliction increased, and MY LIFE BECAME A BURDEN.... There seemed no hope for me. Nearly a dozen eminent surgeons had seen me, examined me, said different things about me, and indifferently treated me; but all to no purpose.... As a last resource I tried the various quack remedies which have allured so many to their bitter cost, and many a pound was wasted on mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and other useless appliances, and upon ear-trumpets, drums, tubes, &c., with no result.... Then the wild, yet happy, thought flashed across me: “Why not try and cure yourself?” I pondered and pondered over the idea, and at last, rather than submit to my fate, determined to study physiology and medicine and endeavour to discover the cause of my deafness, with the distant hope that I might alight upon the method of its cure.... The conclusion I came to was that what I really required was a medicine which should reach the minute muscles of the inner ear, as upon their proper action the sense of hearing almost entirely depends ... after a time I had succeeded in discovering a preparation which would do the required work.... My disease was of so long standing, that I had found it had caused the drums of my ears to become weak and shrunken ... and I soon devised a small appliance to fit inside each ear—the appliance which I now term the “Invisible Drum Support” ... in my gratitude to the Almighty for my merciful deliverance I vowed that I would publish to the world the method by which I had struggled out of the dark past into the brilliant light of the present.
A postscript to the letter stated that “No charge whatever is made for advice, so you need not hesitate to avail yourself of the benefit of my opinion,” but no information was vouchsafed as to the price charged for the “treatment,” except that it would be found extremely moderate. Paragraphs, of the usual inspired kind, were quoted from the Family Doctor, Christian Union, Family Churchman, Health, and local newspapers of varying degrees of obscurity.
The letter and pamphlet were followed after an interval by another letter, as follows: