Seidlitz powders is the generic name under which a commonly known

laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

and digestion regulator was

marketed Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or manufacturer. Products can ...

and sold by numerous manufacturers under names such as "Rexall Seidlitz Powders", particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The three ingredients of Seidlitz powders (

tartaric acid Tartaric acid is a white, crystalline organic acid that occurs naturally in many fruits, most notably in grapes but also in tamarinds, bananas, avocados, and citrus. Its salt (chemistry), salt, potassium bitartrate, commonly known as cream of ta ...

potassium sodium tartrate Potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate, also known as Rochelle salt, is a double salt of tartaric acid first prepared (in about 1675) by an apothecary, , of La Rochelle, France. Potassium sodium tartrate and monopotassium phosphate were the fi ...

and

sodium bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate ( IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda (or simply “bicarb” especially in the UK) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cat ...

) were manufactured by chemical factories from the mid-19th century onwards. The name 'Seidlitz powders' ultimately derives from the village of Sedlec in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. ''See also § Etymology below''. Stothert tin

The municipality of Sedlec (somewhat confusingly) is also the source of 'Sedlitz bitter water' (''see also § Sedlitz water below''), a naturally occurring

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

mineral water which has an entirely different chemical composition and side-effects from Seidlitz powders: there is apparently no connection between the two products except the name.

Composition and use

The powders were often packaged in a small envelope containing two coloured paper wraps, one white and one blue. The white packets contained

, and the blue packets contained a mixture of 75% w/w Rochelle salt (

) and 25% baking soda (

). The powdery contents of both packets were stirred or dissolved separately in water and then mixed, giving off carbon dioxide with a characteristic fizzing sound. The drink was described as "a cooling, agreeable draught". After ingestion, the powder combines with gastric juices to develop

cathartic In medicine, a cathartic is a substance that ''accelerates'' defecation. This is similar to a laxative, which is a substance that ''eases'' defecation, usually by softening feces. It is possible for a substance to be both a laxative and a cathar ...

intestinal gases which can be somewhat helpful in evacuating the users' bowels. However, their use can also lead to unpleasant side effects, and can even be fatalEpitaph of a woman who apparently died from Seidlitz powder
/ref> in subjects with conditions such as

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

bowel obstruction Bowel obstruction, also known as intestinal obstruction, is a mechanical or Ileus, functional obstruction of the Gastrointestinal tract#Lower gastrointestinal tract, intestines which prevents the normal movement of the products of digestion. Ei ...

or other ailments.

Etymology

Seidlitz powders, manufactured by numerous chemical factories from the early 19th century onwards, take their name from the village of Sedlec near Most,

(previously in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

). The village seems to have received its Germanic name (Seidlitz) some time after 1526, when the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

brought about the collapse of

Medieval Hungary Hungary in its modern (post-1946) borders roughly corresponds to the Great Hungarian Plain (the Carpathian Basin) in Central Europe. During the Iron Age, it was located at the crossroads between the cultural spheres of Scythian tribes (such as ...

. The

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...

fell under the control of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

s, the German-speaking rulers of Austria (later the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Sedlitz water, Seidschitz bitter water, etc.

Although Seidlitz powders have a ''digestive'' effect, they should not be confused with 'Sedlitz water' (also named for Sedlec), a well-known bitter mineral water which has been used since the 16th century as a digestion regulator and

. Sedlec (Seidlitz) was described in an 1867 guide to European

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

s as "a wretched-looking place, hardly meriting the name of a village, and the wells - whence the water should be derived - are a few shallow, circular pits, whose contents very seldom find their way to this country e England" The Sedlitz water has a chemical analysis similar to sources in nearby towns such as

Zaječická hořká Zaječická hořká ("Zaječice's Bitter Water"; ) is strongly mineralized natural bitter water from the village of Bečov, Zaječice in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. Description Zaječická hořká is known since the 16th cen ...

from Zajecice (NB German name 'Seidschitz' bitter water'), Korozluky (Ger: Kollosoruk) and

Bílina Bílina (; ) is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It is known for its destination spa, spas and as a source of the strongly mineralized water, Bílinská kyselka. The ...

(Bylany or Püllna). The water itself was characterized as "a yellowish, somewhat oily-looking fluid, with a nauseous, intensely bitter taste." These and similar products - with somewhat interchangeable terminology - appear to have no connection with Seidlitz powders. Likewise, the powders have little connection (apart from the digestive effect) with these types of mineral-rich water which were evaporated and the residue formed into pills such as Bilina digestive pastilles, not unlike

Vichy pastilles Vichy Pastilles (), less often pastilles of Vichy (), are a French confectionery invented in 1825 and produced in the spa town of Vichy in central France. They are recognizable as a white, octagonal type of candy pastille bearing the word "Vichy" ...

In popular culture

Though rarely used today, the term "Seidlitz powder" lives on as a lyric from the

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

" A Fine Romance" by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

and

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote more than 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include " The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (193 ...

. Written for the 1936 musical film, ''

Swing Time In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...

'', with

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

, it was released on a 1956 jazz album by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, ''

Ella and Louis Again ''Ella and Louis Again'' is a studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, released in 1957 on Verve Records. It is the sequel to their 1956 album, ''Ella and Louis''. In contrast to their previous collaboration, this album features seven ...

'', with the lines "We two should be like clams in a dish of chowder / But we just fizz like parts of a Seidlitz powder." "Sounds like a seidlitz powder" is in a

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

story, "The Foreign Policy of Company 99". One of the four clerks of Dodson and Fogg is mixing a "Seidlitz Powder," perhaps to treat a hangover, in chapter 20 of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' ''

Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published ...

''.

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

would tease the US theatre critic

Alexander Woollcott Alexander Humphreys Woollcott (January 19, 1887 – January 23, 1943) was an American drama critic for The New York Times and the New York Herald, critic and commentator for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, an ...

“by recalling that one of he latter’scritical colleagues had called him ‘the Seidlitz Powder of Times Square’.” arry Day (2021), Noël Coward On & In Theatre, Alfred Knopf: New York, p.279

References

Die.net dictionary article

External links

*

by Gerald de L. Woode. ''Flight'' magazine (Flight Archive), 14 December 1916, pp. 15–6. Mildly hilarious spoof technical article published during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in the days of the RFC. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seidlitz Powders Drugs acting on the gastrointestinal system and metabolism Powders