Snake oil 29354 223653455 2008-07-05T02:42:54Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Citations missing|date=July 2007}} {{about|medicinal compounds|snake oil in cryptography|Snake oil (cryptography)}} [[Image:Snake-oil.png|frame|right|Clark Stanley's Snake Oil.]] '''Snake oil''' is a [[traditional Chinese medicine]] used to treat [[joint]] pain. However, the most common usage of the phrase is as a derogatory term for compounds offered as medicines which implies that they are fake, [[fraudulent]], [[quackery|quackish]], or ineffective. The expression is also applied [[metaphor]]ically to any product with exaggerated [[marketing]] but questionable or unverifiable quality. ==History== {{Sources|section|date=January 2008}} Snake oil originally came from [[China]], where it is called ''shéyòu'' ([[wikt:蛇|蛇]][[wikt:油|油]]). There, it was used as a remedy for inflammation and pain in [[rheumatoid arthritis]], [[bursitis]], and other similar conditions. Snake oil is still used as a pain reliever in China. Fats and oils from snakes are higher in [[eicosapentaenoic acid]] (EPA) than other sources, so snake oil was actually a plausible remedy for joint pain as these are thought to have inflammation-reducing properties. Snake oil is still sold in traditional Chinese pharmacy stores. Snake fat also played a role in ancient [[Egyptian medicine]], mixed with the fats of lion, [[hippopotamus]], [[crocodile]], [[tomcat]], and [[Nubian ibex]] into a homogenous mass believed to cause bald men to grow hair.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.pku.edu.cn/person/yanhaiying/society/English/Ebers%20medical.htm|title=Ebers papyrus, part 191}}</ref> [[Coolie|Chinese labourers]] on railroad gangs &mdash; involved in building the [[First Transcontinental Railroad|Transcontinental Railroad]] to link North America coast to coast &mdash; gave snake oil to Europeans with joint pain. When rubbed on the skin at the painful site, snake oil was claimed to bring relief. This claim was ridiculed by rival medicine salesmen, especially those selling [[patent medicine]]s. In time, '''snake oil''' became a generic name for many compounds marketed as [[panacea (medicine)|panacea]]s or miraculous remedies, whose ingredients were usually secret, unidentified, or mis-characterized &mdash; and mostly inert or ineffective, although the [[placebo effect]] might provide some relief for whatever the problem might have been. Patented snake oil remedies actually originated in England, where a patent was granted to Richard Stoughton's Elixir in 1712. [http://www.csicop.org/sb/9812/snakeoil.html] Since there was no Federal regulation in the USA concerning safety and effectiveness of drugs until the 1906 Food and Drugs Act [http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/history2.html] and various medicine salesmen or manufacturers seldom had enough skills in analytical chemistry to analyze the contents of snake oil, it became the [[archetype]] of [[hoax]]. American snake fats do not have EPA contents as high as those of the [[Chinese water snake]]. The American snake oils were not effective in relieving pain like the original Chinese snake oil &mdash; further promoting the hoax stereotype. The '''snake oil peddler''' became a [[stock character]] in [[Western movie]]s: a travelling "doctor" with dubious credentials, selling some [[medicine]] (such as snake oil) with boisterous marketing [[hype]], often supported by [[pseudoscience|pseudo-scientific]] evidence, typically bogus. To enhance sales, an accomplice in the crowd (a "[[shill]]") would often "attest" the value of the product in an effort to provoke buying enthusiasm. The "doctor" would prudently leave town before his customers realized that they had been cheated. This practice is also called "grifting" and its practitioners "[[Confidence trick|grifters]]". The practice of selling dubious remedies for real (or imagined) ailments still occurs today, albeit with some updated marketing techniques. Claims of cures for chronic diseases (for example, [[diabetes mellitus]]), for which there are reputedly only symptomatic treatments available from mainstream medicine, are especially common. The term ''snake oil peddling'' is used as a derogatory term to describe such practices. An alternate theory for the origins of the term "snake oil" is that it was a corruption of "Seneca oil". The [[Seneca tribe|Senecas]], a tribe in the Eastern United States, were known to use [[petroleum]] from natural seeps as a liniment for skin ailments. However, [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] are known to have used [[rattlesnake]] fat and the herb snakeroot for various purposes. ==Composition of snake oil== [[Image:Snake oil tablets.jpg|thumb|right|Snake oil tablets on sale at a market in [[Marrakech]].]] The composition of snake oil medicines varies markedly between products. Snake oil sold in [[San Francisco]]'s [[Chinatown]] in 1989 was found to contain: * 75% unidentified carrier material, including [[camphor]] * 25% oil from Chinese water snakes, itself consisting of: ** 20% [[eicosapentaenic acid]] (EPA) - an [[omega-3 fatty acid|omega 3]] derivative ** 48% [[myristic acid]] (14:0) ** 10% [[stearic acid]] (18:0) ** 14% [[oleic acid]] (18:1ω9) ** 7% [[linoleic acid]] (18:2ω6) plus [[arachidonic acid]] (20:4ω6) The [[Chinese water snake]] (''Enhydris chinensis'') is the richest known source of EPA, the starting material the body uses to make the series 3 [[prostaglandin]]s. These prostaglandins are the biochemical messengers which control some aspects of inflammation, rather like aspirin which also affects the prostaglandin system. Like essential [[fatty acid]]s, EPA can be absorbed through the skin. Salmon oil, the next best source, contains 18% EPA. [[Rattlesnake]] oil contains 8.5% EPA. ''Stanley's snake oil'' &ndash; produced by [[Clark Stanley]], the "Rattlesnake King" &ndash; was tested by the federal government in 1917. It was found to contain: * [[mineral oil]] * 1% fatty oil (presumed to be beef fat) * [[capsicum|red pepper]] * [[turpentine]] * [[camphor]] (Note that this makes the above similar in composition to modern-day [[capsaicin]]-based liniments. Thus, this early snake oil may have worked somewhat as intended, even if it did not contain its alleged ingredients.) == Possible vindication == Given Dr. Richard Kunin's 1989 analysis<ref name=Kunin>{{cite journal | journal=West J Med. |year=1989 August|volume= 151(2)|pages=208 |title=Snake oil |author =R A Kunin |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1026931| accessdate=2007-11-23 |pmid=2773477}}</ref>, it appears that the Chinese snake oil made from Chinese water snakes is very high in EPA. This substance is known to be a pain reliever, as EPAs are absorbed through the skin and are the parent of the series 3 prostaglandins which inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory series 2 prostaglandins, and the Chinese snake oil products may contain up to 4% of it. Snake oil does not have the dubious reputation in China that it has in the US and elsewhere in the [[Western world]], and it is used widely in traditional Chinese medicine. However, it is not seen as a [[panacea (medicine)|panacea]] in China either; there it is used only as relief for arthritis and joint pain. From a purely pharmacochemical perspective, it is likely that the genuine Chinese snake oil is not fraudulent, at least for its intended purpose, since EPA indeed is an effective anti-inflammatory agent. On the other hand, American products made from rattlesnake fats, which have at most 1/3 of the EPA concentration of ''Enhydris chinensis'' fat, are likely to have been inferior or even useless for similar purposes because of their lower or even nonexistent anti-inflammatory contents - aforementioned Stanley's snake oil contains no EPA at all. 19th century snake oil peddlers and apothecarians seldom had any serious knowledge of [[chemistry]] or [[pharmacology]]. It is likely that they did not understand the action mechanism of the Chinese product, or even know its functional ingredient.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} Instead of analyzing and [[reverse engineering]] the authentic remedy, they tried to imitate it with unimpressive results. Such inferior or even fraudulent products gave snake oil the reputation it has today.[http://www.it-observer.com/articles.php?id=1219] == Media adaptations == ; [[Poppy (1923 musical)]] : [[W. C. Fields]]'s film about a western frontier American snake oil salesman complete with a surreptitious crowd accomplice. His demonstration (from the back of a [[buckboard]] transparently fraudulent —- to the movie audience) of a miraculous cure for hoarseness ignited a comic purchasing frenzy. ; [[Walt Disney Productions|Disney]]'s [[Pete's Dragon]] : The greedy "Doc" Terminus, played by [[Jim Dale]], gave a testament to the persuasive power of the snake oil salesman. Dealing with a crowd of people he had conned on a prior visit, Terminus turns them from angry vengeance-seekers to believers once more, paying top dollar for Terminus' products despite their previous ineffectiveness. ; [[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (novel)|The Adventures of Tom Sawyer]] : Mark Twain presents Aunt Polly as a true believer in various sorts of snake oil, though not always in the form of an alleged medicine. She also adopted cold showers as a cure-all at one point in Tom's childhood. For a time she insisted that Tom Sawyer take [[Analgesic|painkillers]] every day, simply because she thought it would be good for him, until Tom gave some to a cat, who then acted crazy. After seeing the cat, Aunt Polly no longer forces Tom to take pain killers. ; [[Say Say Say]]'s music video : In a more modern appearance of grifting in pop-culture, the collaboration of Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson in 1983 produced a music video for ''Say Say Say'' which depicts McCartney as the salesman selling a dubious strength elixir from the back of a truck and Jackson as his accomplice amongst the audience. ; [[Beachcomber]] : Many of [[J. B. Morton]]'s books and radio programs included short spoof advertisements for "Snibbo" a fictional treatment allegedly tackling various unlikely human conditions. English musician and comedy writer [[Vivian Stanshall]] satirized a miracle cosmetic as "Rillago—the great ape repellent" ==See also== * [[Alchemy]] * [[Elixir]] * [[Goanna]] * [[Golden hammer]] * [[Homeopathy]] * [[Quackery]] * [[Silver bullet]] * [[Traditional Chinese medicine]] * [[Universal panacea]] ==References== <references /> * Erasmus, Udo. ''Fats that heal: Fats that Kill''. 1993, ISBN 0-920470-38-6 * Kunin, R.A. "[http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=2773477 Snake oil."] ''West J Med''. 1989 Aug;151(2):208. ==External links== * [http://www.csicop.org/sb/9812/snakeoil.html Snake Oil History] by [[CSICOP]] * [http://www.interhack.net/people/cmcurtin/snake-oil-faq.html The Snake Oil FAQ] by [[Matt Curtin]] and others; pertaining to cryptographic snake oil * [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something "Snake Oil Salesmen Were on to Something"] ''(Scientific American)'' [[Category:Metaphors]] [[Category:Traditional Chinese medicine]] [[Category:Pejoratives]] [[de:Schlangenöl]] [[sv:Snake oil]]