Snake Oil

You may think i am but all of the facts presented here about snake oil are verifiable.

The Chinese are most recognized for their use of this healing snake oil. It has been used in that country for centuries to fight inflammation in cases of arthritis, bursitis and other such conditions. It is still to this day sold by certain pharmaceutical suppliers in China and some snake oil products can likely be found in the Chinatown districts of major cities or online.

The Chinese migrant workers continued to use this snake oil when they came to the North American continent and from them some European and American natives took on the practice of applying the snake oil potion to areas of pain. Most likely the native Americans new the secrets of rattlesnake oil since their is evidence that shaman healers used it in their practices.

Of course conventional medicine in the US didn't back up the claims of the effectiveness of  this but some naturopaths did. These naturopaths had more prominence in the lives of people until the FDA came into being in 1906. However with the FDA in charge and with their conviction that science could find healing substances and sell them based on empirical studies they managed to send the naturopaths into a small dark age. Those that kept an audience were considered by mainstream society to be nothing more than quacks, charlatans, or sheisters

SNAKE

OIL

NO LESS

!!!

This is only now beginning to reverse itself at a time when more and more people are returning to the holistic healing methods of natural herbs, potions, and therapies of an older time and to the people who understand those most; the Naturopath and Homeopath. 

In 1917 the US federal government tested snake oil for it's healing properties. This was done before in England a few centuries earlier but a first in North America.

The product being tested in 1917 was a confiscated shipment of Stanley's Snake Oil which was produced by none other than the "Rattlesnake King" himself, Clark Stanley.  The king of rattlesnake oil claims to have learnt the recipe for his version of the product from a Moki Indian Shaman after having lived with the tribe for over two years.

" I have made an improvement on the original recipe" he states.

The feds result showed that this particular product contained no actual serpent oil. 

That's ironic since some claims state that the American cowboy, Clark Stanley was once observed slaughtering hundreds of rattlesnakes and squeezing the living juice out of them in front of a public audience. 

The contents of Stanley's Snake Oil were as follows if the Feds results were accurate.

• mineral oil
• 1% fatty oil (most likely beef fat)
• red pepper
• turpentine
• camphor
  

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The Chinese products however are the real thing and do have an oil extracted from water snakes. The healing essence contained in that snake oil is said to be EPA or eicosapantaenic acid which is a derivative of Omega 3 acid. The same acid many modern shoppers look for in eggs and other products.

 So there you have it.

Let's all go out and get ourselves a good supply of snake oil.

After all

" if one drop is good for what ails you then double the dose will do for the horse". 

However effective snake oil may or may not be it is not a cure all. Even in China it remains a cosmetic healer at best used for minor pains and inflammation.

Clark Stanley somewhere stated that he killed no less than 3000 rattle snakes in a single year. He owned a snake farm in Texas and at the peak of his snake oil business period he had to relocate his manufacturing plant to a bigger warehouse in Providence, Rhode Island. 

Other snake oil salesman of the past and their product.

• Tex Allen's Rattlesnake Essential Oil Compound
• Tex Bailey's Rattlesnake Oil
• Rattle Snake Bill's Liniment
• Great Yaqui Snake Oil Liniment
• Blackhawk Indians liniment oil
• Monster Brand Snake oil
• Mack Mahon - Rattle Snake oil King's liniment

The subject of another one of my hub articles is snake oil and dubious fortune seekers. 

Killing Snakes for a Living - Hunting rattlesnakes for their oil.

Please see my profile for that link....it should be available soon.

Please feel free to comment on this subject in the comment box below.