Chinese Water Snakes.
I see that one of the farming comics published an article entitled “Bio stimulant trials reveal CSFB damage reduction”. After reading the article and cross referencing a few items I came up with another headline that I thought was more appropriate.
"Snake oil" is synonymous with fraudulent remedies, deceptive marketing, and health scams. However, its origin as an alternative to genuine traditional medicine is routed in the American “quick-buck exploiters” of the 1860s.
During this time, Chinese laborers arrived in North America bringing with them traditional remedies, including oil made from the Chinese water snake (Enhydris chinensis). The product, rich in omega-3 fatty acids meant that genuine snake oil was a surprisingly effective anti-inflammatory rub that helped relieve joint pain, arthritis, and sore muscles.
Seeing an enormous commercial opportunity, American entrepreneurs rushed to capitalize on the hype. The only problem was that native North American snakes contained significantly lower levels of omega-3s. Furthermore, (rattle) snakes were difficult to capture and process.
Enter the era of the “traveling salesmen” the quintessential "snake oil peddler."
Before eager crowds, such salesmen would slay rattlesnakes, slice them open, boil them in a giant cauldron, and skim off the “oil” to sell in small glass bottles for whatever price the crowd would pay for such revolutionary solutions for all ailments.
However, in 1917, federal inspectors seized shipments of product under the Drugs Act of 1906. Chemical analysis revealed a shocking truth: The Snake Oil contained no snake oil. Instead, the mixture consisted of mineral oil, beef fat, camphor, cayenne pepper, and turpentine. Consequently the fraudulent empire collapsed.
Since then, many other “entrepreneurs” have followed this pattern of "production" and even today fake cures and false promises are still offered and unfortunately, eagerly accepted by many.
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