Second Opinion

In 1663, a physician to Charles II named Constantine Rhodocanaces published a pamphlet celebrating the wonders of his recent concoction. Alexicacus, Spirit of Salt of the World claimed that the substance we know today as hydrochloric acid could be “Philosophically prepared and purified from all hurtful or Corroding Qualities.” The aqueous solution was not new at the time, but Rhodocanaces sold his product as the only safe version: it was a veritable “averter of evil,” as suggested by the title of his little book, and could be used against headaches, intoxication, worms, and “putrifaction of anything in the Stomak.” It could even ward off “all filth, or slime,” from the arteries and banish “the water that lurks betwixt the skin and flesh.”

The director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, Joe Schwarcz is fascinated with the successes of fraudsters like the...