In the circular enclosed with the pills it was stated that:
The ingredients ... are known only to the proprietors. They are not to be found either in the British Pharmacopœia or in any surgery in the land. It was not your doctor’s fault that he did not cure you, it was his misfortune—he did not know how. He had not these remedies in his possession. We offer you the opportunity of using them and recovering your health.
Gower’s Green Pills, though an eminently scientific pill, do not act like magic. The days of miracles have gone by. They act surely, but sometimes slowly in cases of Rheumatism of long standing.
In taking these pills we would like it to be thoroughly known that if your disease is one of long standing you cannot be completely cured with one or two boxes. A rheumatic sufferer who has tried most remedies and has been tortured with pain for five years cannot expect to be a new man in five weeks. If it takes as many as a dozen 2s. 9d. boxes to cure a case like this, the sufferer cannot but consider it the best investment that he ever made in his life.
The directions were:
One dose to be taken three times a day, before or after meals. Three Pills are one dose.
The pills were coated with talc, with a small quantity of a green colouring matter. After removal of the coating the pills had an average weight of 1·2 grains. Analysis showed them to contain soap (about 36 per cent.), an alkaline salicylate (about 37 per cent.), extractive, and vegetable tissue. No alkaloid was present; the extractive was dark in colour, without bitterness or other characteristic taste, and showed no properties by which its source could be identified; microscopic examination of the tissue showed the presence of two powders, one of which agreed well in its characters with powdered cimicifuga root, while the other bore much resemblance to jalap, but not enough to warrant the statement that it was jalap. The total amount of vegetable powder was about 20 per cent., of which about one-third appeared to be cimicifuga; 11 per cent. of silicious ash was also present.
Dr. COLLIE’S OINTMENT.
This ointment, supplied by a Scottish Company at the price of 1s. 9d. for a box containing 1¾ ounces, is advertised in the following terms:
Try Dr. Collie for Rheumatism. His ointment positively cures while you sleep. You don’t rub it in, but apply just like a poultice. It draws out the cause of your trouble, and a speedy cure ensues. Try Dr. Collie’s Ointment—Instant relief for Sciatica, Lumbago, and swollen joints.