Dalby’s Carminative was first introduced in the late 18th century and remained popular throughout the Victorian era. It belonged to the class of “baby quieters” that included Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup and Godfrey’s Cordial.

As published in The Lancet, the recipe called for a potent mixture of narcotics and botanicals:

• Tincture of opium – four drachms and a half

• Tincture of assafoetida – two drachms and a half

• Oil of carraways – three scruples

• Oil of peppermint – six scruples

• Tincture of castor – six drachms and a half

• Rectified spirits of wine – six drachms

Two drachms of this concentrate were then combined in each bottle with magnesia (one drachm) and topped off with simple syrup and a little rectified wine.

Explaining the measures

Victorian pharmacy still used the old apothecary system:

• Drachm (ʒ or dr) – equal to about 1/8 of a fluid ounce, or ~3.55 mL. Four and a half drachms of opium tincture works out to roughly 16 mL — more than half a tablespoon.

• Scruple (℈) – one third of a drachm, or about 1.18 mL. Six scruples of peppermint oil is around 7 mL, over a teaspoon.

So each bottle of Dalby’s contained a fairly stiff dose of opium, alcohol, and strong essential oils, all sweetened to make it palatable for infants.

This formula explains both the effectiveness and the danger of Dalby’s Carminative: opium for sedation, assafoetida for gastrointestinal complaints, aromatic oils for flavor and “digestive” effect, magnesia as an antacid, and alcohol as both solvent and preservative.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, public health campaigns highlighted the dangers of narcotic-laced infant medicines. The 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and subsequent narcotics laws eventually forced the removal of opium from such remedies.