7 of the Most Outrageous Medical Treatments in History (history.com)
Advertisement for Cocaine Toothache Drops,1890. Courtesy National Library of Medicine. (Credit: Smith Collection/Getty Images). Author: Brynn Holland's article, please click here. Why were parents giving their children heroin in the 1880s? 2. Cocaine—The Wonder Drug Around the mid 1880s, scientists were able to isolate the active ingredient of the coca leaf, Erythroxylon coca (later known as cocaine). Pharmaceutical companies loved this new, fast-acting and relatively-inexpensive stimulant.