John Samuel Moore, of Corvallis, Oregon, registered a Patent for his Hair Tonic in 1887 (Patent #374,489). He said that the preparation was intended for invigorating the hair and cleaning the head or scalp. The Tonic was made by:
(1) boiling 5 1/3 ounces of gunpowder tea for 5 minutes in 5 quarts of water, (2) allow the mixture to stand about 2 hours, (3) draw off and filter 96 ounces, (4) stir in 1 1/2 ounces of salt, 1 1/2 ounces of borax, and 1/4 dram of aqua ammonia, (5) filter this, and after it cools, filter it again, (6) add 21 ounces of glycerine, then 8 ounces of bay rum, 3/4 ounce of tincture of cantharides (Spanish fly), 1/2 ounce of musk, and finally 1/8 dram of oil of roses.
Moore claimed that the glycerine was to soften, the bay rum to cleanse, and the tincture of cantharides was to stimulate the scalp.