# 200 year old cough syrup

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 17, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604 "2014-10-17T19:08:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![iTok3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a3d4f5/32.png) [@iTok3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iTok3)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/1 "2014-10-17T19:08:16Z")

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I found a bottle of dills cough syrup. Says is has chloroform in it. Wil it harm me if I drink it?

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### Author: ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/2 "2014-10-17T19:12:57Z")

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I must be 210 years old cough syrup, because this thread from 2004 asks the [same question.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-240978.html)

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### Author: ![iTok3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a3d4f5/32.png) [@iTok3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iTok3)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/3 "2014-10-17T19:17:30Z")

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Ya but no one answers him.

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### Author: ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/4 "2014-10-17T19:20:45Z")

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Chloroform is pretty volatile, and I doubt that the bottle was sealed with something truly impermeable, so I bet it has entirely evaporated.

That’s not to say that whatever witches’ brew was originally in the bottle was a good idea to drink, nor whatever it has transformed to over the previous couple centuries.

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### Author: ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/5 "2014-10-17T19:25:48Z")

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You found where the Enders Homestead was! Now everyone can find their way home.

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### Author: ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/6 "2014-10-17T19:28:11Z")

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How much fluid is left in the bottle?

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### Author: ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/7 "2014-10-18T03:36:14Z")

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Is there opium in it (Dill’s cough syrup used to feature opium, great for damping down coughs and other things that might ail you)?

Be adventuresome, take a couple swigs and report back to us. The taste alone after all this time should be quite an experience.

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### Author: ![iTok3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a3d4f5/32.png) [@iTok3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iTok3)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/200-year-old-cough-syrup/701604/8 "2014-10-18T12:45:28Z")

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Yes it’s dills and its a full sample bottle sealed.