Haarlemmer Oil

'Do you have lumbar pain, stomach, lung and liver ailments, painful bowel movements, scurvy or dropsy? Everything is cured with fifteen drops of Haarlemmer oil taken every other day.' Thus advertises Haarlemmer Oil, a ^17th-century product. Was the oil really that good? In 1881, the Society Against Quackery called the oil 'quackery'. But many people probably thought: 'if it doesn't help, it won't hurt' and continued to use it anyway.