In the first decade of the twentieth century, an enterprising man in Grand Rapids, Michigan, named A.W. Van Bysterveld claimed that he could “locate the cause of your aches and pains” free via the mail, if only you would send him a vial of your urine. Bysterveld was a self-proclaimed “Expert Inspector of Urine” and claimed that he used a “secret process handed down generation after generation, and most carefully guarded by the old families of Europe.” Van Bysterveld assured prospective clients that though his “secret methods are not taught in schools,” he “examines on an average of 25,000 bottles of urine a year. This alone stamps him as an authority of exceptional qualifications” (Cramp 1911a, 56).
Arthur J. Cramp, MD (photo courtesy of the American Medical Association).
Between March and November 1910, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Propaganda for Reform Department, led by Dr. Arthur J. Cramp, investigated Van Bysterveld’s claims. A sample (containing tap water, pepsin, aniline dye, and ammonia) prepared by the chemists at the AMA was sent to the Van Bysterveld Medicine Company. The diagnosis came back: “Careful examination of the urine shows there is too much acid in the blood, which will cause a rheumatic condition, the back is weak, and you will have a tired nervous feeling most of the time” (Cramp 1911a, 56). Meanwhile, correspondents working with Cramp in Iowa and Michigan contacted Van Bysterveld’s company and sent in samples that were identical to the first vial from the AMA. This time, the mixture in one case indicated poor blood, a malfunctioning liver, gas, nervousness, and heart problems; in the other case, it indicated weakened kidneys, a “catarrhal condition [inflammation of mucosal membranes] of the stomach and bowels,” and nervousness (Cramp 1911a, 56–57).