Snake oil is a
traditional Chinese medicineTraditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM , includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. Although well accepted in the mainstream of medical care throughout East Asia, it is considered an alternative medical system in much of the western world.TCM practices include...
used to treat
jointA joint is the location at which two or more bones make contact. They are constructed to allow movement and provide mechanical support, and are classified structurally and functionally.-Classification:...
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,
quackishQuackery is a derogatory term used to describe unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she...
, or ineffective. The expression is also applied
metaphorA metaphor is a figure of speech concisely comparing two things, saying that one is the other. The English metaphor derives from the 16th c...
ically to any product with exaggerated
marketingMarketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities are informed or persuaded that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others....
, but questionable or unverifiable quality or benefit.
History
Snake oil originally came from
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, where it is called
shéyóu (蛇油). There, it was used as a remedy for inflammation and pain in
rheumatoid arthritisRheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks the joints producing an inflammatory synovitis that often progresses to destruction of the articular cartilage and ankylosis of the joints...
,
bursitisBursitis is the inflammation of one or more bursae of synovial fluid in the body. The bursae rest at the points where internal functionaries, such as muscles and tendons, slide across bone. Healthy bursae create a smooth, almost frictionless functional gliding surface making normal movement painless...
, and other similar conditions. Snake oil is still used as a pain reliever in China. Fats and oils from snakes are higher in
eicosapentaenoic acidEicosapentaenoic acid is an omega-3 fatty acid. In physiological literature, it is given the name 20:5. It also has the trivial name timnodonic 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,
hippopotamusThe hippopotamus or hippo is a large, mostly plant-eating mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae...
,
crocodileA crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
,
tomcatTomcat may refer to:* A male cat, known as a tom or tomcat* Tomcats , a 2001 comedy film* Apache Tomcat, a web container that functions as a web server supporting servlets and JSPs* Beretta Tomcat, a small .32 caliber pistol...
, and
Nubian ibexThe Nubian Ibex is a rocky desert dwelling goat antelope found in mountainous areas of Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt, Yemen, and Sudan. It is generally considered to be a subspecies of Alpine Ibex, but is sometimes considered specifically distinct .Nubian Ibex stand around tall at the...
into a homogenous mass believed to cause bald men to grow hair.
Chinese labourersCoolie is:* A historical term for manual labourers from Asia, particularly China and India, in the 19th century and early 20th century....
on railroad gangs — involved in building the
Transcontinental RailroadThe First Transcontinental Railroad is the popular name of the U.S. railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and Union Pacific Railroad from Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska to Alameda, California...
to link North America coast to coast — 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 medicinePatent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The phrase is somewhat misleading because for the most part these products were trademarked, not patented...
s. In time, snake oil became a generic name for many compounds marketed as
panaceaThe panacea , named after the Greek goddess of healing, Panacea, also known as panchrest, was supposed to be a remedy that would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely...
s or miraculous remedies, whose ingredients were usually secret, unidentified, or mis-characterized — and mostly inert or ineffective, although the
placebo effectPlacebo effect may refer to:* Placebo effect, the tendency of any medication or treatment, even an inert or ineffective one, to exhibit results simply because the recipient believes that it will work...
might provide some relief for whatever the problem might have been.
Patented snake oil remedies originated in England, where a patent was granted to Richard Stoughton's Elixir in 1712. Since there was no Federal regulation in the USA concerning safety and effectiveness of drugs until the 1906 Food and Drugs Act, and various medicine salesmen or manufacturers seldom had enough skills in analytical chemistry to analyze the contents of snake oil, it became the
archetypeAn archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all...
of
hoaxA hoax is a deliberate attempt to deceive or trick an audience into believing, or accepting, that something is real, when the hoaxer knows it is not; or that something is true, when it is false...
. American snake fats have EPA contents markedly lower than those of the Chinese water snake. Thus the American snake oils were even less effective in relieving joint pain than the original Chinese snake oil — further promoting the hoax stereotype.
The snake oil peddler became a
stock characterA stock character is a stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes, but they are often more narrowly defined...
in Western movies: a travelling "doctor" with dubious credentials, selling some
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
(such as snake oil) with boisterous marketing
hypeHype may refer to:*Hype , 1981 album by Robert Calvert*Hype , American comedy television series*Hype!, documentary about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid 1990*Hype: The Time Quest, a 1999 PC RPG by Playmobil...
, often supported by
pseudo-scientificPseudoscience is a methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific, or that is made to appear to be scientific, but which does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
evidence, typically bogus. To enhance sales, an accomplice in the crowd (a "
shillA shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage others unaware of the set-up to purchase said...
") 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 "
griftersA confidence trick or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence...
".
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 mellitusDiabetes mellitus —often referred to simply as diabetes—is a condition in which the body either does not produce enough, or does not properly respond to, insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Insulin enables cells to absorb glucose in order to turn it into energy...
), 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 Senecas, a tribe in the Eastern United States, were known to use
petroleumPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
from natural seeps as a liniment for skin ailments. However,
Native AmericansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
are known to have used
rattlesnakeRattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes, genera Crotalus and Sistrurus. They belong to the subfamily of venomous snakes known commonly as pit vipers.-Overview:...
fat and the herb snakeroot for various purposes.
Composition of snake oil
The composition of snake oil medicines varies markedly between products.
Snake oil sold in San Francisco's
ChinatownA Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of Chinese residents, usually outside of Greater China. Chinatowns are present throughout the world, including those in East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe....
in 1989 was found to contain:
- 75% unidentified carrier material, including camphor
Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C
10H
16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...
- 25% oil from Chinese water snakes, itself consisting of:
- 20% eicosapentaenic acid (EPA) - an omega 3
n−3 fatty acids are a family of unsaturated fatty acids that have in common a final carbon–carbon double bond in the n−3 position; that is, the third bond from the methyl end of the fatty acid.Important nutritionally essential n−3 fatty acids are: α-linolenic acid , eicosapentaenoic acid...
derivative
- 48% myristic acid
Myristic acid, also called tetradecanoic acid or 14:0 is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula CH
312COOH. A myristate is a salt or ester of myristic acid....
(14:0)
- 10% stearic acid
Stearic acid or 18:0 is a saturated fatty acid. It is a waxy solid, and its chemical formula is C
18H
36O
2, or CH
316COOH. Its name comes from the Greek word stéar , which means tallow...
(18:0)
- 14% oleic acid
Oleic acid is a mono-unsaturated omega-9 fatty acid found in various animal and vegetable sources. It has the formula CH37CH=CH7COOH)...
(18:1ω9)
- 7% linoleic acid
Linoleic acid is an unsaturated omega-6 fatty acid. It is a colorless liquid. In physiological literature, it is called 18:2. Chemically, linoleic acid is a carboxylic acid with an 18-carbon chain and two cis double bonds; the first double bond is located at the sixth carbon from the omega...
(18:2ω6) plus arachidonic acidArachidonic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid 20:4.It is the counterpart to the saturated arachidic acid found in peanut oil, Arachidonic acid (AA, sometimes ARA) is an omega-6 fatty acid 20:4(ω-6).It is the counterpart to the saturated arachidic acid found in peanut oil, Arachidonic acid (AA,...
(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
prostaglandinA prostaglandin is any member of a group of lipid compounds that are derived enzymatically from fatty acids and have important functions in the animal body. Every prostaglandin contains 20 carbon atoms, including a 5-carbon ring....
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 acidIn chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturated or unsaturated...
s, EPA can be absorbed through the skin. Salmon oil, the next best source, contains 18% EPA.
RattlesnakeRattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes, genera Crotalus and Sistrurus. They belong to the subfamily of venomous snakes known commonly as pit vipers.-Overview:...
oil contains 8.5% EPA.
Stanley's snake oil – produced by
Clark StanleyClark Stanley , the self-styled "Rattlesnake King," was known for popularizing snake oil as a patent medicine.In 1879, after 11 years as a cowboy, Stanley studied for more than two years with a Moki medicine man at Walpi, Arizona. This included learning the secrets of snake oil...
, the "Rattlesnake King" – was tested by the federal government in 1917. It was found to contain:
- mineral oil
Mineral oil or liquid petroleum is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum based products from crude oil. It is a transparent, colorless oil composed mainly of alkanes and cyclic paraffins, related to petroleum jelly . It has a density of around 0.8...
- 1% fatty oil (presumed to be beef fat)
- red pepper
Capsicum is a genus of plants from the nightshade family native to the Americas, where it was cultivated for thousands of years by the people of the tropical Americas, and is now cultivated worldwide. Some of the members of Capsicum are used as spices, vegetables, and medicines...
- turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
- camphor
Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C
10H
16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...
(Note that this makes the above similar in composition to modern-day
capsaicinCapsaicin is the active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum...
-based liniments. Thus, this early snake oil may have worked somewhat as intended, even if it did not contain its alleged ingredients.)
Claims of efficacy
Richard KuninRichard A. Kunin , is an American physician specializing in orthomolecular medicine. Kunin has written books and articles on nutrition and orthomolecular medicine. He was a co-founder of the Orthomolecular Medical Society with Dr. Linus Pauling in 1976...
, a proponent of
orthomolecular medicineOrthomolecular medicine, or megavitamin therapy, is a form of complementary and alternative medicine that seeks to prevent or treat diseases with nutrients prescribed as dietary supplements or derived from diets...
, wrote a 1989 letter to the editor arguing that oil made from Chinese water snakes is very high in EPA. This substance is known to be a pain reliever, and Kunin argued that it might provide an explanation for the traditional use of snake oil. Snake oil does not have the dubious reputation in China that it has in the US and elsewhere in the
Western worldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
, and it is used widely in traditional Chinese medicine. However, it is not seen as a
panaceaThe panacea , named after the Greek goddess of healing, Panacea, also known as panchrest, was supposed to be a remedy that would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely...
in China either; there it is used only as relief for arthritis and joint pain.
Media adaptations
Poppy (1923 musical)Poppy is a musical comedy with music by Stephen Jones and Arthur Samuels, and lyrics and book by Dorothy Donnelly, with contributions also from Howard Dietz, W. C. Fields and Irving Caesar...
:
W. C. FieldsW. C. Fields was an American comedian, actor and juggler. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century: a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs, children, and women.The...
's film about a western frontier American snake oil salesman complete with a surreptitious crowd accomplice. His demonstration from the back of a
buckboardA buckboard is a four-wheeled wagon of simple construction meant to be drawn by a horse or other large animal. The "buckboard" is the front-most board on the wagon that could act as both a footrest for the driver and protection for the driver from the horses rear hooves in case of a "buck". The...
(transparently and hilariously fraudulent —- to the movie audience) of a miraculous cure for hoarseness ignited a comic purchasing frenzy.
Disney's
Pete's DragonPete's Dragon is a 1977 live-action/animated musical feature film from Walt Disney Productions and the first Disney film to be recorded in the Dolby Stereo sound system...
: The greedy "Doc" Terminus, played by
Jim DaleJim Dale MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and is known in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series...
, 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 : 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 a
painkillerAn analgesic is any member of the diverse group of drugs used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos...
every day, simply because she thought it would be good for him; Tom finally gave some to Peter the housecat, who reacted to the dose with extreme and comic agitation. After seeing the cat vanish in a frenzy out the window, Aunt Polly no longer forced Tom to take Painkiller. (Note: If the pain-killer was
paracetamolParacetamol or acetaminophen is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic and antipyretic . It is commonly used for the relief of fever, headaches, and other minor aches and pains, and is a major ingredient in numerous cold and flu remedies...
(also called acetaminophen) the result may have been fatal to Peter as it is a severe liver toxin in cats who lack enzymes humans have to cope with the liver toxicity. This is unlikely as the book is set in pre Civil War Missouri, prior to the existence of a significant pharmaceutical industry).
Say Say Say"Say Say Say" is a song by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. The track was written by the duo, and produced by George Martin for McCartney's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace...
'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.
BeachcomberBeachcomber may refer to:* Beachcomber * Beachcomber , a nom de plume used by several humor columnists* Beachcomber , the name of multiple characters in the Transformers universe...
: Many of
J. B. MortonJohn Cameron Andrieu Bingham Michael Morton, better known by his preferred abbreviation J. B. Morton was an English humorous writer noted for authoring a column called By the Way under the pen name Beachcomber in the Daily Express from 1924 to 1975.G. K...
's books and radio programs included short spoof advertisements for "Snibbo" a fictional treatment allegedly tackling various unlikely human conditions.
Flåklypa Grand PrixFlåklypa Grand Prix is a Norwegian stop motion-animated feature film directed by Ivo Caprino. It was released in 1975 and is based on characters from a series of books by Norwegian cartoonist and author Kjell Aukrust...
: In this animated movie Snake Oil is used as a name for a shady oil company.
Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas : In this muppet Christmas special Emmet and Ma periodically reminisced about his deceased Pa, the unsuccessful snake oil salesman because "Pa couldn't find anyone who would want to oil a snake
Every Time I DieEvery Time I Die is an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. Their musical style is a combination of metalcore, punk rock and southern rock.. The band announced on July 14, 2008 that they have left Ferret Music and have recently signed with Epitaph...
The New Junk Aesthetic CD uses a line in the song "Host Disorder" containing the term. "Open your heart to the snake oil peddlers".
English musician and comedy writer
Vivian StanshallVivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...
satirized a miracle cosmetic as "Rillago—the great ape repellent"
The band Alkaline Trio has recorded a song entitled "Snake Oil Tanker"
See also
- Alchemy
Alchemy is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties...
- Crocodile oil
Crocodile oil is extracted from the fatty tissues of crocodiles and has been used both as preventative and a treatment for a number of human ailments and conditions for many years and across numerous cultures, including Ancient Egypt. It is somewhat red in color, and less viscous than alligator...
- Elixir
An elixir is a sweet flavored liquid used in compounding medicines to be taken orally in order to mask an unpleasant taste and intended to cure one's ills....
- Goanna
Goanna is the name used to refer to any number of Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from Southeast Asia.There are around 30 species of goanna, 25 of which are found in Australia...
- Golden hammer
The concept known as the law of the instrument, Maslow's hammer, or a golden hammer is an over-reliance on a familiar tool; as Abraham Maslow said in 1962, "When the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail."-History:The sentiment that people look for...
- Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine, first proposed by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796, that treats patients with heavily diluted preparations which are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented...
- Patent medicine
Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The phrase is somewhat misleading because for the most part these products were trademarked, not patented...
- Quackery
Quackery is a derogatory term used to describe unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she...
- Scareware
Scareware comprises several classes of scam software, often with limited or no benefit, sold to consumers via certain unethical marketing practices. The selling approach is designed to cause shock, anxiety, or the perception of a threat, generally directed at an unsuspecting user...
- Silver bullet
Traditionally, the silver bullet is the only kind of bullet for firearms that is effective against a Werewolf, witch, or some monsters.-In folklore:...
- Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM , includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. Although well accepted in the mainstream of medical care throughout East Asia, it is considered an alternative medical system in much of the western world.TCM practices include...
- Universal panacea
Further reading
- Kunin, R.A. "Snake oil." West J Med. 1989 Aug;151(2):208.
External links
- The Snake Oil FAQ by Matt Curtin
Matt Curtin is a computer scientist and entrepreneur in Columbus, Ohio best known for his work in cryptography and firewall systems. He is the founder of Interhack Corporation and lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University, where he teaches a...
and others; pertaining to cryptographic snake oil
- "Snake Oil Salesmen Were on to Something" (Scientific American)