Made by Evans Sons Lescher and Webb of 56 Hanover Street, Liverpool and 60 Bartholomew Close, London, EC1; and at New York. (1922). It was described as "an effective precautionary measure against the microbes of influenza, catarrh, pneumonia, diphtheria."
It could also be used by singers to help protect their throats. The Stage Year book of 1910 has this recommendation:
Madame Tetrazzini writes : " I thank you for the boxes of Evans' Pastilles sent me, which I find excellent and efficacious," Signer 6. Sammarco writes : "I have been using your Evans* Antiseptic Throat Pastilles for some time past, and I can vouch for their surprising efficacy." Signor Carlo Walter writes : "Having used your Antiseptic Pastilles for some time, I have great pleasure in testifying to their excellent quality and in recommending them without hesitation to my colleagues."
Graces Guide to British Industry notes:
In 1907, the company began to make biological medicines for humans and animals; these included sera and antitoxins for diphtheria, tetanus and meningitis. It worked closely with Liverpool University Medical School, with whom it jointly administered the Incorporated Liverpool Institute of Comparative Pathology at Runcorn. The company took over the Institute as a branch when the latter was faced with closure in 1911. In 1916 the firm established a works for the manufacture of fine chemicals at Runcorn.
Madame Tetrazzini writes : " I thank you for the boxes of Evans' Pastilles sent me, which I find excellent and efficacious," Signer 6. Sammarco writes : "I have been using your Evans* Antiseptic Throat Pastilles for some time past, and I can vouch for their surprising efficacy." Signor Carlo Walter writes : "Having used your Antiseptic Pastilles for some time, I have great pleasure in testifying to their excellent quality and in recommending them without hesitation to my colleagues."
Graces Guide to British Industry notes:
In 1907, the company began to make biological medicines for humans and animals; these included sera and antitoxins for diphtheria, tetanus and meningitis. It worked closely with Liverpool University Medical School, with whom it jointly administered the Incorporated Liverpool Institute of Comparative Pathology at Runcorn. The company took over the Institute as a branch when the latter was faced with closure in 1911. In 1916 the firm established a works for the manufacture of fine chemicals at Runcorn.
They were at the Pharmacological Exhibition of 1922 as a Listed Exhibitor as "Manufacturers of Fine Chemicals; Drugs; Pharmaceutical and Toilet Preparations; Vaccines; Pills; Tablets, etc.". In 1945, the Company name changed to Evans Medical Supplies, and then in 1959 Name changed to Evans Medical Ltd. There was even, in 1959, a Book Published: The Story of Evans Medical 1809 - 1959'. After that in 1961, Glaxo acquired the company.
T.A.B. Corley's study of "The British Pharmaceutical Industry Since 1851" notes this:
"The British company Evans Sons Lescher and Webb (later Evans Medical Ltd), founded in 1902 by merging earlier Evans wholesale drug firms in Liverpool and London, about that date began to make biological medicines for humans and animals; these included sera and antitoxins for diphtheria, tetanus and meningitis. It worked closely with Liverpool University Medical School, with whom it jointly administered the Incorporated Liverpool Institute of Comparative Pathology. The company took over the Institute as a branch when the latter was faced with closure in 1911."
"Evans’ wartime activities, while not known in any detail, included a crash programme for drugs. By 1916 it had in operation a new and extensive chemical works, where in the following year it was making its own brand of Salvarsan, a synthetic organic arsenical."
So were the pastilles any good? After all they were produced by a chemist with experience in "biological medicines".
To find out, we have to see what was in Evan's Pastilles. The active ingredient was potassium chlorate, 0.03 (drug active ingredient) although eucalyptus was probably also used. It would have been mildly effective for sore throats and coughing, although there is a report in 1905 of a poisoning by potassium chlorate tablets.
The agent is an active antiseptic, although not usually so classed. In the early treatment of diphtheria it first came into prominent use as a remedy for that disease.
The Leeds Museum has a jar with pastilles (not Evans) with a greater proportion of potassium chlorate. It notes:
"The jar, currently on display at Kirkstall’s Abbey House Museum, was the receptacle for potassium chlorate pastilles, commonly used to soothe sore throats in the 1880s. Although marketed as beneficial, the chemical compound they contained could spontaneously combust in the owner’s pocket. Potassium chlorate reacts vigorously and can burst into flames when combined with virtually any combustible material, including ordinary dust and the kind of lint found in pockets."
T.A.B. Corley's study of "The British Pharmaceutical Industry Since 1851" notes this:
"The British company Evans Sons Lescher and Webb (later Evans Medical Ltd), founded in 1902 by merging earlier Evans wholesale drug firms in Liverpool and London, about that date began to make biological medicines for humans and animals; these included sera and antitoxins for diphtheria, tetanus and meningitis. It worked closely with Liverpool University Medical School, with whom it jointly administered the Incorporated Liverpool Institute of Comparative Pathology. The company took over the Institute as a branch when the latter was faced with closure in 1911."
"Evans’ wartime activities, while not known in any detail, included a crash programme for drugs. By 1916 it had in operation a new and extensive chemical works, where in the following year it was making its own brand of Salvarsan, a synthetic organic arsenical."
So were the pastilles any good? After all they were produced by a chemist with experience in "biological medicines".
To find out, we have to see what was in Evan's Pastilles. The active ingredient was potassium chlorate, 0.03 (drug active ingredient) although eucalyptus was probably also used. It would have been mildly effective for sore throats and coughing, although there is a report in 1905 of a poisoning by potassium chlorate tablets.
The agent is an active antiseptic, although not usually so classed. In the early treatment of diphtheria it first came into prominent use as a remedy for that disease.
The Leeds Museum has a jar with pastilles (not Evans) with a greater proportion of potassium chlorate. It notes:
"The jar, currently on display at Kirkstall’s Abbey House Museum, was the receptacle for potassium chlorate pastilles, commonly used to soothe sore throats in the 1880s. Although marketed as beneficial, the chemical compound they contained could spontaneously combust in the owner’s pocket. Potassium chlorate reacts vigorously and can burst into flames when combined with virtually any combustible material, including ordinary dust and the kind of lint found in pockets."
In 1918 and 1919, there is a massive advertising campaign for Evan's pastilles as a remedy for influenza.
How effective were they? In terms of treating some symptoms, probably as effective as throat pastilles you can buy from the chemist or Lemsip - they would have relieved some of the symptoms, but not really been much of a cure! Like most of these off the shelf products, they had some efficacy but not as much as their hype suggested.
References
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Evans,_Sons,_Lescher_and_Webb
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1338263
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/450792
https://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/ellingwood/potassium-chlo.html
https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/object-of-the-week-exploding-sweets
References
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Evans,_Sons,_Lescher_and_Webb
https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1338263
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/450792
https://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/ellingwood/potassium-chlo.html
https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/object-of-the-week-exploding-sweets
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