“To relieve pain due to uterine disorders, a dessertspoonful every three hours, or increased to a tablespoonful, at the discretion of the attending physician.”
A circular wrapped around the bottle declares that Hydras is:
“A valuable preparation to the physician in the treatment of dysmenorrhea, colic, cramps, spasm, palpitation incident to pregnancy, and the various pains resulting from diseases of the female sexual organs.”
It is further claimed that:
“In the dysmenorrhea of young girls due to some mechanical difficulty, as anteflexion or of a congestive character, of suppressed menses from exposure to cold and other causes of a similar character, Hydras will prove efficient and can be administered freely without danger.”
The value of hydrastis in the treatment of the diseases and conditions mentioned is problematical at best, and the small amount present in Hydras is wholly useless. As for the other constituents, cramp bark (Viburnum opulus), helonias (false unicorn—Chamælirium luteum or Helonias dioica) and scutellaria (skullcap—Scutellaria lateriflora) are drugs which are practically ignored by most writers on materia medica and therapeutics.[99] Dogwood (Cornus florida) is a mildly astringent aromatic bitter for the use of which there is no scientific evidence.[100]
To sum up: Of the five ingredients of Hydras (aside from alcohol and aromatics), one (hydrastis), which apparently gives the preparation its name, is present in unimportant amounts; three (cramp bark, helonias and scutellaria) are therapeutically unimportant; the fifth (dogwood) has never been shown to have any specific action on the uterus. The potent constituent, therefore, appears to be the alcohol.
But, even if every one of the several drugs said to be contained in Hydras were possessed of distinct therapeutic properties, and if each were present in known and therapeutically active amounts, still the combination in fixed proportion would be irrational. No one could foresee the joint effect of the five drugs in the several conditions for which the mixture is advertised. Hydras is evidently meant to appeal to the thoughtless and to be used at random; witness the suggestion made in the advertising that
“Owing to its palatability, it is acceptable to patients with impaired digestion, and will serve as a stomachic tonic, promoting appetite and digestion.”
A useless alcoholic nostrum “administered freely” to women and girls is as dangerous as the recommendation for such administration is reprehensible.