The art of medicine: Bitter medicine: gout and the birth of the cocktail

Abstract

Cheyne saw gout as the result of blood stagnating in the extremities, and in this sense it was a kind of bodily safety valve: the substances that precipitated from the blood in the fi ngers and toes might have caused more serious mischief if they had been released within the major organs. The Scientifi c American Cyclopedia of Receipts, Notes and Queries, published in 1898, advised readers contemplating a long voyage to make up a simple bitters a month or so before they planned to leave, comprising of quassia chips, powdered catechu, cardamom, dried orange peel, strong whiskey, and water.