Hi

I'm researching treatment for alcoholism in the late 19th & early 20th
centuries, in Victoria, Australia. Gold cures were very popular around this
time, and treatment institutions had rights to (and argued among themselves
about the secret formulae for) several different Keeley-type gold cures. The
Keeley remedy itself was available through mail-order.

In Slaying the Dragon, White says of the Keeley cure that 'the exact
composition of the Double Chloride of Gold has never been revealed' (p. 62).
My question is whether the formulae for other cures were known. One
institutional archive in Melbourne has the formulae for its medicines, and
another formula was offered to the government (both contained bichloride of
gold), and I'm trying to get a sense of whether this is unusual compared to
how well kept the secrets were in the US.

thanks
Caro Clark

PS This is the first time I've posted to ADHS. I'm a part-time PhD student
in medical history at the University of Melbourne. I met some of you last
year at the ICDAH conference.

Caroline Clark 
Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre 
54-62 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, Vic 3065, Australia
ph 61 3 8413 8708 
fax 61 3 9417 7960 
email: [log in to unmask] 


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