Enovid contraceptive pills, 1964
More
medicine for women
Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound
(on this page, right
below) - Cardui - Dr. Grace
Feder Thompson's
letter appealing for patients - Dr. Pierce's
medicines - Dr. E. C. Abbey's The Sexual System and
Its Derangements (1882) - Dr. Young's rectal
dilators - Orange
Blossom medicine.
Ad for the Australian Myzone menstrual
pain pills (1952).
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Ad for
Ergoapiol, treatment for painful
or missing menstrual periods or
other irregularities of the
menstrual cycle - or for abortion
1904, publication unknown but
probably for physicians
Ergot and apiol were - are? -
used to abort fetuses. Greek
physicain Hippocrates listed
parsley as an abortion agent; one
apiol comes from that herb.
Wikipedia, the souce of the
above information (under "Apiol"),
has more to say:
Apiol was used by women in the
Middle Ages to terminate
pregnancies.[citation needed]
Its use was widespread in the
USA, often as ergoapiol or
apergol, until a highly toxic
adulterated product containing
apiol and tri-orthocresyl
phosphate (also famous as the
adulterant added to Jamaican
ginger) was introduced on the
American market.
The toxic effects of pure
crystalline apiol are disputed.
It causes a "relatively safe
abortion" in pregnant women if
taken in small quantities. It
also restores the cycle of
menstruation. A larger dose does
not cause an abortion, it causes
nausea and damages the liver and
kidneys.[citation needed]
Now that other methods of
abortion are available apiol is
almost forgotten in the West,
but it is still produced and is
used in the Middle
East.[citation needed]
The ad does not list abortion
as a use for the drug, which
would have been against American
law. But it does mention "other
distressing symptoms" -
pregnancy, maybe? Amenorrhea -
absence of menstruation - could
be a place marker for the word
"pregnancy."
Isn't the art nouveau
decoration nice, complete with
its hallmarks, sinuous lines and
plants?
Ad for the Australian Myzone
menstrual pain pills (1952)
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