The directions were to take from two to four of the dinner pills at night before commencing to take the kidney pills; then to begin with one kidney pill after each meal and one at bedtime, increasing the dose to two or three, after a short time. For children under 8, the dose was given as half a pill after each meal and at bedtime.
The “kidney pills” were ovoid in shape, and of a brown-grey colour externally, with sugar-coating beneath the thin, coloured layer; after removing the coating, the average weight of the pills was about 2 grains. Analysis showed them to contain oil of juniper and (in spite of their “purely vegetable” nature) potassium nitrate, together with a considerable proportion of a resinous substance, and of powdered fenugreek seeds and wheat and maize starches. Examination of the resin showed it to be derived from a coniferous source, and on comparison with various coniferous resins it agreed in characters with that of Abies canadensis (Pinus canadensis), known as hemlock pitch. The proportions of the different ingredients were determined by analysis; but oil of juniper, in such small quantity, can only be approximately determined, and the amount found was confirmed by comparison of a pill containing this quantity with the pill under examination. The following formula gives a similar pill:
| Oil of juniper | 1 | drop. |
| Hemlock pitch | 10 | grains. |
| Potassium nitrate | 5 | ” |
| Powdered fenugreek | 17 | ” |
| Wheat flour | 4 | ” |
| Maize starch | 2 | ” |
| In twenty pills. | ||
The estimated cost of the materials of the 40 kidney pills and 4 dinner pills, ½d.
The dinner pills, of which four were included in the box of kidney pills, are also supplied separately in boxes of 50 for 1s. 1½d. The label stated that:
Doan’s Dinner Pills Cure Constipation, Sick Headache, Biliousness, Dizziness, and all deranged conditions of Stomach, Liver, and Bowels.
The directions were:
For adults, 1 to 3 Pills; for children, ½ to 1 Pill.
These statements and directions were amplified in a handbill enclosed in the package.
The pills were ovoid and enclosed in white sugar-coating; the average weight of one, without coating, was about ¾ gr. Analysis showed the presence of podophyllin, aloin, oil of peppermint, a resin that appeared to be jalap resin, cayenne, liquorice, gum, maize starch, and a small quantity of an extract that resembled extract of henbane; as the extract last named had no sufficiently well-marked characters to enable a small quantity of it to be distinguished perfectly when mixed with larger quantities of the other drugs named, the identity of this ingredient could not be completely established. The following formula gives a similar pill: