“... found by his experiments that a combination of the active principles of Viburnum Opulus, Dioscorea Villosa, combined with aromatics, proved a valuable remedy for Spasmodic Dysmenorrhea.”
As in 1860 W. R. Hayden was not a physician (he received a diploma from the Eclectic Medical College, New York, in 1867), and, so far as we can learn, he was not a pharmacist or chemist, one wonders what kind of “experiments” he made. Hayden’s Viburnum Compound is put on the market by the New York Pharmaceutical Company of Bedford Springs, Mass. The name of this concern may sound imposing, until it is realized that it is merely a trade name adopted by Hayden in exploiting his nostrum.
The advertising matter formerly claimed that Scutellaria (skull-cap) was one of the ingredients of Hayden’s Viburnum Compound. As this is no longer mentioned, it is fair to assume that even the manufacturer does not consider the composition to be of vital importance. Stress is laid on the superior efficacy of viburnum opulus in the conditions for which the preparation is recommended; it is emphasized that it is viburnum opulus, and not viburnum prunifolium, that is the important ingredient of Hayden’s Viburnum Compound. The label, in accordance with the requirements of the Food and Drugs Act, declares that the preparation contains 50 per cent. alcohol. The claim is made:
“It is free from all narcotics and leaves no unpleasant after-effects.”
The medical profession is told that Hayden’s Viburnum Compound is a remedy in:
“Hysteria, Bilious Colic, Cramps of Cholera Morbus, Muscular Cramps,... Nervous Diseases of Pregnancy, Threatened Abortion, Post-Partum Pains, Puerperal Convulsions, Rigid Os, Dysmenorrhea, Menorrhagia.”
DISCUSSION OF ALLEGED INGREDIENTS
Viburnum Opulus (Cramp Bark).—Botanists and pharmaceutical chemists declare that this drug has not been on the American market for many years, if ever, and that the drug used and even described as viburnum opulus is really the bark of another plant. Viburnum opulus and its preparations are therefore to be dropped from the next United States Pharmacopeia. The principal constituents of viburnum opulus are stated to be a glucosid, viburnin, a bitter resin, and a little tannin, with small amounts of earthy carbonates and phosphates and organic acids (Culbreth, Ed. 4, 1906, p. 591). The glucosid and resin being bitter, the drug might have a slight stomachic action (if, indeed, any such effect is actually produced by “bitters”); the small amount of tannin might make it slightly astringent; its fruit acids (citric and malic) might make it slightly diuretic. Even if viburnum opulus were present in Hayden’s Viburnum Compound there is no clinical or laboratory proof that it, if given alone—without alcohol or other drug—has any antispasmodic or nervous sedative action.
Dioscorea Villosa (Wild Yam).—This drug contains a saponin and an acrid, irritant resin. It has never been proved clinically or experimentally that this drug has any action whatever except that its irritant resin might, if taken in sufficient quantity, cause irritation of the stomach and vomiting.
Aromatics.—The irritation produced by concentrated aromatics causes increased peristalsis and consequently may, if there is no obstruction, relieve intestinal stasis and intestinal colics. Therefore, a preparation containing large amounts of aromatics, especially if given in hot water, would have practically the same effects in the “cramps of a cholera morbus” or other forms of acute diarrhea as a home-brewed cup of spiced tea—and no more.