Greenish glass bottle with embossed inscriptions that read "SCHENCK'S / PULMONIC / SYRUP / PHILADA." Tha syrup was on the market by 1865. In 1913, the A.M.A. reported that it was “essentially a wintergreen-flavored mixture of saccharin syrups.” In 1914, an attorney for the Southern District of New York, seized and condemned several cases of the pulmonic syrup, claiming they were misbranded in violation of the federal Pure Food and Drug Act.
Ref: Full page ad for J. H. Schenck’s Pulmonic Syrup in New York Times (Nov. 18, 1865), p. 3.
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: For the permanent cure of catarrh, headaches, and all nervous pains.
This Medicine is taken through a Patent Inhaling Tube, or from the Hand.
For Catarrh, Fill the tube with the liquid and insert the bulb in one nostril, and close the other nostril with the finger, and then snuff as quickly as possible that the liquid may be thrown up high into the head. Repeat the dose til it passes over into the throat. Do this on retiring for the night, and when you get up in the morning. [. . . ]
For Headache, and all Nervous Pain in the Head, Fill the tube as before, and snuff the liquid up the nostrils as high as possible, repeating the dose every few minutes until all pain is removed.