OF 
SYPHILIS 
B"5T 
J. Marion Sims, M. D. 
Re-print from the British Medical Journal. 
SECOND EDITION. 
Presented with the Compliments of 
'ELI LILLY & COMPANY, 
Pharmaceutical Chemists, 
Indianapolis, Indiana, 
Jos. Ratti Printer. 76 S. Illinois St., Indianapolis. TppjjEP jSYPjnmgiK- 
J. MARION SIMS, M. D. 
More than forty years ago I practiced medicine in Montgomery county, 
Alabama, near the Creek nation of Indians. Syphilis was then very prevalent 
among them, and their medicine-men had the reputation of speedily curing it. 
Their remedies were, of course, decoctions of native herbs. It was generally 
known that Queen’s delight (Slillingia sylvatica) was one of their principal agents. 
I had supposed that, when this tribe were removed west of the Mississippi in 
1837, their secret of curing syphilis had gone with them; but, when I was in 
Alabama last year, I learned from my brother-in-law, Dr. B. Bush Jones, of 
Montgomery, the following facts touching this question: 
There were, he said, seven or eight years before our civil war, several obsti- 
nate cases of secondary syphilis in and around Montgomery, which resisted the 
usual remedies in the hands of our best physicians. They went the round of 
the doctors, and could not be cured. At last one of these was advised to consult 
a colored man, Lawson, belonging to Mr. N. D. Barnett, a cotton planter resid- 
ing in Montgomery county. In a state of despair, he went to see Lawson, put 
himself under his treatment, and in a few weeks he was perfectly cured. He 
returned to town rejoicing at his recovery, and soon others of his fellow-sufferers 
followed his example, went to consult the colored man, Lawson, and were like- 
wise cured. These cures by an obscure negro man, a slave, when the highest 
representatives of science had failed, were much spoken of in town and country, 
and attracted the attention of Dr. Geo. W. McDade, a very intelligent and 
accomplished physician, whom I have known since his early boyhood. Dr. 
McDade, feeling the greatest interest in the subject, went to see Lawson, who 
had made these marvelous cures, and obtained from him the formula he had 
been using so successfully. 
Soon after this, Dr. McDade happened to meet Dr. James Freeny, who gave 
the following history of the so-called Indian method of treating syphilis: Hor- 
ace King, a mulatto slave, resided among the Creek Indians for some years be- 
fore they were removed west of the Mississippi River (1837), and had learned 
from them their method of treating syphilis. While Horace was engaged in 
building a bridge at Tallahassee, about twenty-five miles from Montgomery, in 
1852, he heard that there were many cases of syphilis on Mr. Gipson’s planta- 
tion near by, and that Drs. Freeny and Banks were the attending physicians; 
and he called on Dr. Freeny and told him that he had learned a method of 
treating syphilis from the Creek Indians, which was universally successful, and 
that he would like to show it to him; and for this purpose he proposed to take 
the worst cases on the Gipson plantation for the experiment. Drs. Freeney and 
Banks selected a certain number of very bad cases, and turned them over to 
Horace; and they watched from day to day his method, while they continued 
their own plan with the other cases. 
Horace’s selected bad cases recovered more rapidly than Dr. Freeny’s milder 
ones, and then Dr. Freeny adopted the Indian method in the other cases on the 
Gipson plantation, and has not pursued any other plan since. 
After Horace’s success on the plantation of Mr. Gipson, and the adoption of his 
method by the two well-known physicians, Drs. Freeny and Banks, Mr. Nicholas 
D. Barnett, a large cotton-planter, sent his servant Lawson, a very intelligent 
man (before alluded to), to Horace King to learn his remedies and the method Scccus Altekans (McDade). 
of preparing and using them. Horace readily imparted the desired information, 
and Lawson returned home and put the treatment to the test among the negroes on 
his master’s plantation. It was as successful in the hands of Lawson as it had 
been in those of Horace King. 
After awhile other planters in Mr. Barnett’s neighborhood followed his ex- 
ample, and set apart confidential servants to take charge of syphilitic cases, and 
treat them with the Indian decoction. And thus several adjoining plantations 
had each its negro doctor, all using the same method with equal success. 
This was in a rich section of Montgomery county, where there were many 
large cotton plantations in juxtaposition; some of one thousand acres, some of 
two thousand and more, having from one to two or three hundred slaves on 
each, while there were others of less size, with fewer slaves. 
On some plantations—notably on Mr. Barnett’s—the syphilitic cases, male 
and female, were sent to a hospital specially set apart for the purpose, and there 
quarantined until they were cured. They were, during the period of treatment, 
wholly cut off from communication with other negroes on the plantation. This 
was in the time of slavery, when the intelligent and humane master had the 
right to protect his people from infectious diseases of all sorts. Syphilis wras 
thus controlled, and smallpox effectually stamped out, because the sanitary state 
of the plantation was entrusted to medical men of the highest intelligence, who 
were authorized by the master to do all that was necessary for the health of the 
community. 
Dr. McDadesays: “It is very remarkable how few cases of secondary 
syphilis, scrofula and consumption existed in those days among the slaves, 
compared with what we now find. The two latter were then almost unknown 
among the negroes, but since emancipation they are very common. 
“ Is secondary syphilis the parent of scrofula and consumption ? Certainly 
these were rarely seen among the negroes while in slavery, whereas they are 
now encountered every day. Secondary syphilis was then less frequent among 
them than now, because their masters took every precaution for their early 
treatment, and cure. But now the negro is free to contract this loathsome dis- 
ease, and to scatter it as he may. You may ask, why are they not treated ? I 
answer, many never apply for treatment; and when they do, they often disappear 
before they are cured. And many of them are too poor or too improvident to 
apply for treatment.” 
Professor Samuel D. Gross read an exhaustive paper on the connection 
between syphilis and scrofula and consumption, before the American Medical 
Association in 1875, advocating the view that the two latter were the off-spring 
of syphilis, and it would now appear that the history of these in the negro, in 
slavery and in freedom, goes far to establish the correctness of the views so 
forcibly set forth by my distinguished countryman. 
Dr. McDade says “ that the remedies used by Lawson on Mr. Barnett’s 
plantation were the same as those used by Horace King. They consisted of ten 
or a dozen indigenous roots, a handful of each, with a certain quantity of salt, 
alum and iron slugs put into three gallons of water, and boiled down to one 
gallon. Of this the patient took a half pint three times a day. There was also 
a decoction of roots for washing the syphilitic sores. After obtaining these 
prescriptions, it was a long time before I made any trial of their virtues. I was 
deterred by the fact that it would be difficult for any patient to drink and retain 
half a pint three times a day, of such a vile decoction. The horrors of syphilis 
could alone inspire a man with courage to take it. However, I saw that those 
who did were invariably relieved, whether in the first, second or third stage of 
the disease. 
“ Instead of adopting the so-called Indian remedy as I found it, I began by 
eliminating the alum, salt, iron, nails and slugs, and all the roots and herbs that I 
knew must beabsolutely inert. I selected the few among them known to possess 
medicinal properties; and instead of making a decoction as had been done before, Sttccus Alterans (McDade). 
3 
and which had to be made in large quantities every day or two, I had them pre- 
pared in the form of fluid extracts, which places the remedy on a scientific basis, 
and insures uniformity of action. The following is the formula that I and my 
medical friends have been using for many years: 
“ Fluid extract of Smilax sarsaparilla, fluid extract of Stillingia sylvatica 
(Queen’s delight), fluid extract of Lappa minor (Burdock), fluid extract of Phyto- 
lacca decandra (Pokeroot), aa two ounces; tincture of Xanthoxylum carolinianum 
(Prickly ash), one ounce. Take a teaspoonful in water three times a day before 
meals, and gradually increase to tablespoonful doses. 
“In making the fluid extracts, there is great risk of getting a remedy less 
efficient than the original Indian decoction, because the manufacturer may use 
roots that have been kept too long and lost some of their active principles, while 
the decoction used on the plantations was always made of fresh roots just gathered 
from the woods. In making the fluid extracts we should therefore be careful to 
have them made from roots recently gathered." While Dr. McDade makes fluid 
extracts of four of his ingredients, he makes a tincture of the fifth. I do not 
understand why he did not order a fluid extract of that also. I simply give the 
prescription as it was given to me by Dr. McDade and Dr. Rush Jones. 
Stillingia sylvatica lias long been used in the Southern States as an anti- 
syphilitic remedy by both the profession and the laity. Professor Thomas Y. 
Simons, of Charleston, was the first to call our attention to it (American Medical 
Recorder, 1828). His favorable report was subsequently confirmed by Professor 
Henry R. Frost, of Charleston, and Dr. A. Lopez, of Mobile, Alabama (New 
Orleans Med. and Surg. Journal, 1846). Dr. Frost thinks the active principle of 
the Stillingia is somewhat volatile, and says that the root loses much of its 
activity when kept long. I know that the odor of the recent root is much 
stronger than the dried. I presume Stillingia sylvatica and Smilax sarsaparilla are 
the efficient agents in McDade’s compound fluid extract. Dr. McDade says: 
“ I could detail many cases illustrating the wonderful anti-syphilitic powers of 
this remedy, but I will give you only two: 1. A young negress contracted 
syphilis from her husband, who resided on a neighboring plantation and visited 
his wife generally about twice a week. This was long before the war (1861). 
They were both treated by the late Dr. Alfred McDonald, and they were appar- 
ently cured. But they had several children subsequently, and in rapid succession, 
all of whom died of syphilis soon after birth. The husband and wife were then 
treated by the Indian decoction, and were permanently cured, as shown by the 
fact that they had several healthy children afterward at full term, who grew to 
manhood and to womanhood. None of them ever showed any signs of syphilis, 
nor have any of their children. Those of them who have died, died of other dis- 
eases of a climatic character. 
2. “A negro girl, twenty years old, belonging to Mr. Cobb, had syphilitic 
iritis. This case had resisted all treatment by the best physicians of the country. 
She was nearly blind. She was taken in charge by Mr. Barnett’s colored man, 
Lawson, who gave her the Indian remedy, and she was perfectly and perma- 
nently cured, as she never afterward showed any symptom of the disease. These 
cases occurred more than twenty-five years ago, and have been under my observa- 
tion ever since; so you will see that the cures are permanent. 
“Mr. Barnett has pursued the same method on his plantation since eman- 
cipation that he did during slavery. His man Lawson uses the same compound 
decoction now that he did in olden times, and cures many cases every year on 
Mr. Barnett’s plantation and on those adjoining.” 
Dr. McDade has used his compound as an alterative with great success in 
scrofula, and he thinks it would be worth trying in some forms of cancer. 
Dr. Rush Jones, residing in the city of Montgomery, has a larger field of 
observation than Dr. McDade, residing in the country, and has really had a 
larger experience with McDade’s anti-syphilitic fluid extract than any one else; 
and he speaks most favorably of it. He has been treating syphilis for more 4 
Succrrs Ai.terans (McDade). 
than forty years, and he says he now has but little dread of undertaking the 
worst cases, since he has adopted the use of McDade’s formula. He repudiates 
Mercury and the Iodide of Potassium entirely, and says they are unnecessary 
when McDade’s formula is used. 
Dr. Rush Jones says: “ It is a remarkable fact that I do not see more than 
one case of syphilis in women to fifty cases in the male. I have inquired of a 
number of physicians in regard to this fact, and their experience coincides with 
mine. How can this be accounted for?” 
I do not know if the fact alluded to by Dr. Rush Jones has been observed 
in other parts of the world. If so, it seems to me to have an important bearing 
on the practical application of the Contagious Diseases Acts. And so would the 
complete history of the working of the quarantine and isolation of infected 
negroes on the several cotton plantations in Montgomery County, Alabama, dur- 
ing the time of slavery and since emancipation, if we could obtain minute and 
reliable reports on the subject 
If any apology were necessary for this communication, it is this: 
I was at the meeting of the London Medical Society on November 26th last, 
and heard the discussion on the papers of Dr. Drysdale and Dr. Routli on syph- 
ilis. From this it appeared that we now differ as widely on the subject of its 
treatment as we did fifty years ago. And this gave me the idea of writing to Dr. 
Rush Jones and Dr. McDade for the facts which I now lay before the profession. 
I have known Dr. Rush Jones all my life, and I have known Dr. McDade, 
and Dr. Freeny and Mr. Barnett for more than forty years, and have perfect 
confidence in any statement they might make, or I never would have said a 
word on this subject. I think great credit is due to Dr. Freeny and Dr. Banks 
for giving the colored man Horace King an opportunity to demonstrate the value 
of the Indian decoction in the treatment of syphilis on the plantation of Mr. Gip- 
son. For its success there brought it, with their endorsement, prominently be- 
fore the community, and extended its use to the plantations of Mr. Barnett and 
his neighbors. 
Too much credit can not be given to Dr. McDade for investigating the sub- 
ject, and giving us a formula at once scientific and efficient; for it has proven 
efficient in the hands of Dr. Rush Jones, Dr. McDade, and many other physi- 
cians who have been using it for several years past. 
I should be pleased to see the name of McDade used by the profession 
hereafter to designate the formula and the method of treatment herein set forth. 
The remedy will doubtless be extensively used; and I sincerely hope it may 
prove as efficient here as it has in the hands of my friends in Montgomery, 
Alabama.—Brit. Med. Journal. 
Office of ELI LILLY & COMPANY, 
PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTS, 
Indianapolis, Ind., U. S. A., July 20, 1883. 
Respectfully Addressed to the Medical Profession: 
Since Dr. J. Marion Sims published Dr. McDade’s original paper concern- 
ing this method of treating Syphilis, in the British Medical Journal, it has been 
copied and extensively noticed in the medical press of the world, and Dr. Mc- 
Dade has been overrun with demands for the medicine from prominent physi- 
cians everywhere. This has created a necessity for the production of an abso- 
lutely reliable preparation, that the profession may not be disappointed in its 
use and the great reputation of the physicians who have brought it into promi- 
nence may be fully sustained. Succus Alterans (McDadeL 
5 
Under date of June 21,1883, Dr. MeDade writes: “The great 
secret of the perfect success of the original Indian decoction, as 
used in this country, is that it was ALWAYS made from the 
FRESH drugs.” 
Acting upon this idea we have arranged with Dr. MeDade to supply us 
with the fresh drugs, which are at once placed in process, and from which we 
prepare an exceedingly concentrated juice of such strength that each troy ounce of 
the fresh drugs, mixed in proper proportion, is truly represented in each fluid 
ounce of the -preserved juice. This process, which is carried on with great care 
and exactness, produces a preparation incomparably superior to the original de- 
coction, and greatly excels a mixture of the several fluid extracts. 
The following fully establishes the authority under which we make this 
preparation: 
Mathews, Montgomery Co., Ala., 
July 12th, 1883. 
This is to certify, that Eli Lilly & Company are supplied with the fresh drugs 
composing the “Succus Alterans” or “Compound Alterative mixture,” known as 
“ McDade^s Remedy” for syphilis and other blood diseases, directly from me and 
of my own collection, and no one else makes the preparation under my sanction 
or has the right to use my name in connection therewith. 
Geo. W. McDade, M. D. 
As a matter of convenience for physicians in prescribing, as well as to cor- 
rectly describe the preparation, we call it “SUCCUS ALTERANS” OR ALTER- 
ATIVE JUICE (McDADE), the formula, as well as Dr. McDade’s authority 
and directions, being given on each label. 
On receipt of $2.00 we will forward one pint bottle “SUCCUS ALTERANS 
(McDADE),” securely packed, by express, or it may be obtained through whole- 
sale or retail druggists everywhere. 
Address, 
ELI LILLY & COMPANY, 
Pharmaceutical Chemists, 
Indianapolis, Ind., U. S. A. 
DR. McDADE’S TREATMENT. 
Mathews, Ala., Sept. 5th, 1883. 
Messrs. Eli Lilly & Co.—Gentlemen: I am constantly receiving letters 
from physicians making inquiries about the administration of the “Succus Alter- 
ans.” The usual dose for adults is a teaspoonful three times a day, gradually 
increasing to tablespoonful doses. The medicine is to be diluted with water, and 
may be taken either before or after eating; I generally order it before meals. It 
is necessary to begin with small doses, and as the patient becomes accustomed 
to the dose to increase; if the large doses should be taken in the beginning, the 
medicine would produce nausea, vomiting and too frequent actions from the 
bowels. It is very seldom that I have varied from the above; in one case only 
I ordered the patient to begin with twenty drops three times a day and as his stom- 
ach could bear it without nauseating, to increase the dose. Whenever the medi- 
cine acts too often on the bowels, take in smaller doses or discontinue for a day or 
two. It is best to prohibit stimulating drinks during its administration. 
In primary cases from two to four weeks is long enough to effect a cure, 
secondary from two to four months and in tertiary from four to eight months. 
This is the rule, of course there will be exceptions, owing to idiosyncracies of the 6 
Succus Alterans (McDade). 
patient, amount of constitutional disturbance, condition of patient and the length 
of time he or she may have had the disease. 
During the first or second week after beginning the use of the medicine the 
patient often breaks out with an eruption of watery blisters, sometimes on the 
body, but often in the palms of the hands or soles of the feet. This eruption desic 
cates in the course of a week and requires no special treatment. The chancres 
soon heal after beginning the use of the medicine. If suppuration has not taken 
place in the buboes, they soon soften and disappear. When suppuration has 
taken place I lance freely and order a corn-meal poultice made with a strong 
decoction of oak bark. After two or three days these are left off and the sores 
kept clean. I have no trouble to excite healthy granulations; no indurated 
edges, no packing with medicated lint or charpie. 
Very Respectfully, 
Geo. W. McDade, M. D. . 
DR. McDADE WRITES US, JULY 18th, 1883. 
In my letter to Dr. J. Marion Sims, I reported only two cases; below I give 
you the history of a case in Mr. John B. Scott’s own language in a letter to me, 
and which I enclose to you: 
“The most remarkable case cured by the Indian remedy that has ever 
come under my observation, was a woman, belonging to me at the time of 
treatment. She had syphilis communicated to her by her husband, a negro 
belonging to the West Point R. R. C& She kept secret the fact that she 
had it till unable to do any work; as soon as it was known, she was put 
under Dr. McDonald for treatment and treated “secundem artem;” after some 
months he pronounced her entirely cured, which seemed to be a fact, as there 
were no external evidences of the disease. This was a year or two before Dr. 
McD’s death (he was killed in 1853). After treatment by Dr. McD. and before 
taking the “Indian remedy,” she gave birth to two or three children (three I 
think), all of whom at birth bore unmistakable evidences of syphilitic taint in the 
form of aggravated scrofula, from which all three died ator before the time of den- 
tition. They all had the best medical treatment to be had from birth to death. 
“About this time Mr. Wm. Mitchell, who was acquainted with the above 
facts and who had sent his man Sampson to Horace King to learn the treatment 
and the roots used by him, and who had cured some very aggravated cases on 
his place, asked me to let Sampson treat this case, to see what effect it would 
have on her children, should she have any more. I gladly consented. She 
took the medicine about a week or ten days, when it caused her to break 
out with a watery eruption over her entire person; it lasted for a few days, when it 
desiccated and she was discharged. After this she gave birth to two children who 
were as free from anything like scrofula as any children I ever saw. The mother, 
Betsey Morton, the wife of Wash. Morton, is now living on the Mathews place 
(in my neighborhood) and one of the children, Nathan, is there also, I believe 
married and with a family. Neither of them has ever had any trouble with 
anything like syphilitic taint. Ordinary cases of syphilis cured by this remedy 
could be counted by the hundreds and the cures are radical.” 
To show further its wonderful anti-syphilitic virtues, I will give a short history 
of two other cases. Dr. Jas, G. Freeny reported this case to me: A negress 
contracted syphilis, was treated by mercury and thought cured. However, every 
child which she bore had evidences of the disease, from which they all died. 
She was then, at the time the Indian treatment was begun, “enceinte” probably in 
the fourth or fifth month. At full term, she gave birth to a healthy child, who 
survived and never showed any syphilitic taint. 
When this case was experimented upon, Dr. F. was doubtful if she could 
take the medicine in her gravid condition, without its producing miscarriage, Sucres Alterans (McDade). 
7 
also in regard to its effect upon the foetus in utero. The cure in both was com- 
plete; afterwards she bore other healthy children. A negro man, belonging at 
the time to Jas. Ware, had syphilitic rheumatism; fingers, legs and toes were 
so much contracted that he could with great difficulty walk. He had also slough- 
ing sores in his groins; after a course of the medicine he was completely relieved. 
I could mention others, and hundreds of cases in the primary stage could be 
enumerated, but these are sufficient to prove the efficacy of the medicine in erad- 
icating the syphilitic poison from the blood. In no case where there was a 
thorough course of the medicine, did the disease ever return. I have used the 
medicine also in cases of scrofula, rheumatism and tetter,'successfully. 
Dr. B. M. Hughes, of Eureka Springs, Ark., writes under date of July 4th, 
1883: “ My experience thus far with the medicine has been this: It checks 
the skin symptoms more promptly than mercury, and after allaying a certain form 
of eruption, seems to almost entirely prevent the appearance of others. It reduces 
the swelling of the tonsils, and in due time allays the pains so peculiar in this 
disease. These results have given me great confidence in the medicine; so much 
so, indeed, that I feel quite assured in confining my treatment exclusively to its 
use." 
Special Caution to Physicians. 
Physicians in prescribing McDADE’S REMEDY for Syphilis should be 
very careful to write “ SUCCUS ALTERANS (MoDADE)”, and see that 
druggists to whom prescriptions are sent have the preparation made by ELI 
LILLY & CO., as, if it is prepared extemporaneously by mixing the Fluid Ex- 
tracts made from dried roots, disappointment in its use will most certainly follow. 
There is no excuse for such substitution, and physicians may guard against 
it by examining a sample of the genuine as to color, taste and odor, after which 
they will always be able to recognize it. 
SUCCUS ALTERANS is always sold in pint, round amber bottles, and 
never in bulk. Very respectfully, 
ELI LILLY & CO., 
Pharmaceutical Chemists. SUCCUS ALTER ANS (McDADE). 
(ALTERATIVE JUICE.) 
Dose; One teaspoonful, in water, three times a day before meals, and grad- 
ually increase to tablespoon fill doses. 
SUCCUS ALTERANS (McDADE) is the preserved fresh juices of the true 
medicinal plants: Stillingia Sylvatica, iSmilax Sarsaparilla, Phytolacca Decandra, 
Lappa Minor and Xanthoxylum Carolinianum; collected in their native growth 
under the immediate supervision of Dr. G. W. McDade, of Montgomery County, 
Alabama, U. S. A., as recommended by Dr. J. Marion Sims in the British 
Medical Journal, Dr. B. Rush Jones and many other eminent physicians. 
Aside from its established value in syphilis, it is highly esteemed as a gen- 
eral alterative in ordinary blood diseases, used as follows: 
Succus Alterans (McDade), f^iv. 
Syrupus, . . . f^xii. 
Mix. 
Dose : One to two teaspoonfuls three times a day before meals. 
PREPARED UNDER EXCLUSIVE SANCTION OF 
DR. GEO. W. McDADE, 
—BY- 
Eli Lilly & Company, 
PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTS, 
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., U. S. A. •Dr Pi^cRiPTie^- 
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