A medical compound that was first patented by Samuel Lee, Jr., of Windham, Connecticut. Lee received his patent for “Bilious Pills” in 1796. A mixture of gamboge, aloes, soap, and potassium nitrate, the pills were touted for their curative value for bilious (liver) complaints and yellow fevers, jaundice, dysentery, dropsy (edema), worms, and “female complaints,” but found major use as a cure for dyspepsia (i.e., common indigestion). Three years later, another Samuel H. P Lee, he of New London, Connecticut, received a patent for another formula, which he also marketed as Bilious Pills.
The first-mentioned Samuel Lee eventually found himself with even more competition. Bilious Pills were among the most popular of 19th-century nostrums. The pills seem to have enjoyed their success due to widespread overeating among the urban public. There was a popular idea that all food contained a universal element that undergirded the life process. As a result, quantity rather than quality was stressed. Only in the 20th century would knowledge of the different nutritive values of different foods and the need for a balanced diet be widely understood.