This recipe for a pain relieving concoction was prescribed to a woman with phthisis pulmonalis, a form of tuberculosis. The prescription was written by Dr. Benjamin Vaughn of Hallowell for Elizabeth Atkins of Mount Vernon on 19 October 1802. The prescription included both opium pills and laudanum, which is a tincture - or alcoholic extract - of opium. Highly addictive, laudanum was popularly prescribed in the 19th century as a narcotic painkiller and sedative.

Other ingredients include purpurea digitalis, also known as foxglove flower; vitriol which is a sulphuric acid; and antimonial wine, an acidic wine with high metal content. The cream of tartar & flowers of sulfur were used to combat constipation, or costiveness, a side effect of opioids.