What is laudanum and why did mothers use it to calm screaming kids in the past?

Question

I believe it was a drug of some kind - perhaps an opiate? Used back in in the late 1700's to late 1800's.

Answer 1

In the 16th century, Paracelsus experimented with the medical value of opium. He decided that its medical (analgesic) value was of such magnitude that he called it Laudanum, from the Latin laudare, to praise, or from labdanum, the term for a plant extract. He did not know of its addictive properties.

In the 19th century, laudanum was used in many patent medicines to "relieve pain... to produce sleep... to allay irritation... to check excessive secretions... to support the system... [and] as a sudorific". The limited pharmacopoeia of the day meant that opium derivatives were among the most efficacious of available treatments, and so laudanum was widely prescribed for ailments from colds to meningitis to cardiac diseases, in both adults and children.

The Romantic and Victorian eras were marked by the widespread use of laudanum in Europe, and the United States. Initially a working class drug, laudanum was cheaper than a bottle of gin or wine, because it was treated as a medication for legal purposes and not taxed as an alcoholic beverage. Notable addicted literary figures include: Edgar Allan Poe; Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who miserably battled his addiction for much of his adult life; Thomas de Quincey, who turned his addiction into literary success with the publication of Confessions of an English Opium Eater; Lord Byron; Percy Bysshe Shelley, who suffered raging laudanum-induced hallucinations; Iolo Morgannwg, the Welsh antiquarian; Charles Dickens; Antonin Artaud; and Charles Baudelaire[citation needed]. There were also political figures, such as William Wilberforce and Meriwether Lewis, who used the drug.

Innumerable Victorian women were prescribed the drug for relief of menstrual cramps and vague aches and used it to achieve the pallid complexion associated with tuberculosis (frailty and paleness were particularly prized in females at the time). Nurses also spoon-fed laudanum to infants.

Answer 2

Laudanum was/is an opiate extract from poppies with a mix of alcohol. Its highly addictive and is listed as a hypnotic/depressant. It has been illegal to own in the United States since around 1920 or so.

It is possible to make your own by using Miners Lettuce, and mixing it with vodka, then letting the mixture settle for 6 weeks or so. Is this legal? Yes for Miners Lettuce grows wild, and would be impossible to regulate.

Answer 3

Yep to all of the above. Opiate, used as a recreational drug, and also used as a poison, commonly for rats.

Answer 4

They had it in my time (>1960s) called Collis Brown's and excellent to relieve the symptoms of tummy ache caused by a virus. It is an opium pain killer and by killing the pain (warning sign) it can mask the symptoms of a more serious disease.

Answer 5

It is an opium derivative and it was not known at the time how dangerous it was.