[A]rchaeologists found bottles beneath a hotel construction site in New York that once contained medicinal remedies.
One of these, called the “Elixir of Long Life” was once believed to be capable of cheating death, and the team are now preparing to make it and try the miracle cure for themselves.
The find of hundreds of bottles detailing drinking and eating habits from 150 years ago was made during an excavation under the construction site in Chinatown, New York. The site had previously been a German beer garden and music hall established in 1858 called the Atlantic Garden.
Want to live forever yourself? Want the ingredients? No problem!
- Aloes – 0.46 ounces (13 grams)
- Rhubarb – 0.08 ounces (2.3 grams)
- Gentian – 0.08 ounces (2.3 grams)
- Zedoary (also known as white turmeric) – 0.08 ounces (2.3 grams)
- Spanish saffron – 0.08 ounces (2.3 grams)
- Water – four fluid ounces (114 millilitres)
- Grain alcohol (vodka, gin) – 12 fluid ounces (240 millilitres)
The process:
- Squeeze out the liquid from the aloes.
- Crush the rhubarb, gentian and saffron together and then mix them with the aloe liquid.
- Let the mixture sit for three days but shake it every so often.
- Filter before serving.
Before the advent of the Food and Drug Administration, general quakery and wide-eyed claims of medical efficacy were extremely common, with predictable results (or rather, non-results, assuming one was lucky enough not to poison oneself.)
Via Georgia Newsday.