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Medical Deception And Imposition Upon The Public : Discovered, Detected And Exposed, Designed For The Use Of All To Whom It May Come Or Concern, Joseph Fernald

Maine Bicentennial

Dissertation by Joseph Fernald of Portland, Maine, debunking a patent medicine being peddled by “a certain medical man by the name of Druerd, alias Werd,” as “Allum-water” (potassium aluminum sulfate). Potassium alum, an astringent, may be used in pickling, leather tanning, and water purification. In the late 20th Century, large crystals of Alum were marketed as “deodorant rocks.”