A dessertspoonful of the mixture prescribed would contain about 9 or 10 grains of Marmola. The prescription and directions were reproduced on the label of the package, and it was added:
If faithfully taken as directed for 60 or 90 days, satisfactory results should be obtained.
which is a decidedly milder statement than that in the advertisement that it “will take off as much as a pound of fat a day.”
The box contained a light brown powder, and analysis showed the presence of (1) a large proportion of a powdered seaweed, agreeing well in characters with the powder of Fucus vesiculosus, its identity being further indicated by the composition of the ash; (2) a substance of proteid nature, agreeing well in characters with the powder of dried thyroid gland, its identity being further indicated by the presence of iodine in organic combination; (3) phenolphthalein; (4) sodium chloride (common salt); and (5) extractive. The last showed no well-marked characters by which it could be identified, and differed both in quantity and some minor properties from the extracts obtained from a specimen of powdered fucus which was used for comparison. This difference might quite well be due to differences in the drug or in the treatment it had received, or the extract may represent some other ingredient possessed of no distinctive characters; a trace of oil of peppermint was also present.
Although it was easy to ascertain the nature of the ingredients the determination of the proportions in which they were present in such a mixture offered no little difficulty. It is not necessary to detail here the methods employed, but it will suffice to say that while every care was taken to make the results as accurate as possible, they cannot in the nature of the case be more than approximate. The formula arrived at was:
| In one Dose. | ||||
| Dried thyroid gland | 14 | per cent. | 1·4 | grain. |
| Phenolphthalein | 4 | ” | 0·4 | ” |
| Sodium chloride | 7 | ” | 0·7 | ” |
| Powdered Fucus vesiculosus | 50 | ” | 5·0 | grains. |
| Extractive | 25 | ” | 2·5 | ” |
| Oil of peppermint | trace | trace. | ||
Taking the “extractive” at the price of some of the commoner medicinal extracts, the estimated cost of the ingredients for half an ounce is about 4d.
FIGUROIDS.
The tablets sold under the name of Figuroids are or were recently supplied by a London Company, price 2s. 9d. per bottle, containing 12 large and 12 small tablets.
They were described in a pamphlet enclosed in the package as