Saltpeter

[tedco1]

Can salt peter be used to inhibit sexual urges?

[Ouisch]

According to "The Straight Dope", no:

 

Saltpeter can cause relaxation of involuntary muscle fiber (for which reason it's used to treat asthma) and it's occasionally prescribed to lower body temperature in cases of fever. From there it's not much of a leap to think that "niter," as it was called in the old days, might cure "sexual fever," and in fact a few doctors urged it for that purpose centuries ago.

The truth is that even the most tyrannical general wouldn't inflict the stuff on his men if he expected them to be of any use--too many side effects. Among other things potassium nitrate can cause gastroenteritis (violent stomachache), high blood pressure, anemia, kidney disease, and general weakness and torpor. It also has an alarmingly depressive effect on the heart. Too strong a dose and not only would you not be able to get it up, chances are you wouldn't be able to get up, period. All in all, there's still no substitute for the cold shower.

[senga-marie]

My old granny (90 when she died) went to live on her in-laws farm when she first got married, where her mother inlaw of good old peasant stock was in the habit of dosing her daughters with saltpeter after childbirth as she did her cattle "tae gie them a guid clean oot", somehow or other her own daughters survived this, but she later did it to my gran, without telling her what it was, and almost killed her. She got out of there pretty quick and never accepted so much as a cup of tea from her ever again.

[trilobite]

I haven't heard of saltpetre (potassium nitrate) being used for that purpose. (Chile saltpetre is sodium nitrate)

The old army favourite was potassium bromide, which was supposed to have the desired effect.