Opening Up Space: A Lovely Technofeminist Opportunity

Antimonial Wine

"Antimonial Wine" was another Victorian era medicine that we don't see nowadays- antimony is a metallic element that we now recognize as being poisonous like arsenic and mercury, but was used often for home remedy purposes. A recipe for "Antimonial Wine" from 1869 can be found in "Wright's book of 3000 practical receipts, or complete book of reference" by A. S. Wright states that it can be made like so:
"Dissolve 40 grains of tartar emetic in 2 ounces of water; when dissolved,
add half a pint of Teneriffe wine. Let it stand three hours and it is made."

Tartar emetic was a potassium and antimony salt that was considered for years a powerful cure for alcoholism. For many years in England, this was created by pouring wine in a cup made of pure antimony, since when the wine was poured out, the acid in the wine would bind with the antimony to create the toxin.

Contents of this tag:

This page is referenced by: