The usage of flax oil was rooted in the historical origins of this remedy but any oil with a high content of unsaturated fatty acids would likely work in this regard. It is the double carbon-to-carbon bond (unsaturated) that is the reaction/insertion point for the sulfur -- a form of vulcanization. The alteration in color and increase in viscosity from flax oil to Wondro supports the assumption that the end-product is a sulfurated form of the original oil constituents.

Linolenic fatty acid (an omega-3) would take up even more sulfur than the linoleic described previously for illustration purposes. A more heat-stable oil will not incorporate as much sulfur as readily and may be too thick in consistency to consume easily. Also there may be other heating/sulfur reaction byproducts in other oils that are not beneficial. Wondro made with flax oil was taken by a wide cross-section of humanity in the first half of the twentieth century without any deleterious consequences.

Wondro was used for a wide variety of debilitating disease states, apparently with successful results. That is evident in the historical record:

Wondro Testimonials Pamphlet

http://www.scribd.com/doc/76584628

http://www.epubbud.com/book.php?g=W4S59AQF


Given its presumed structural simplicity (sulfurated fatty acid) this suggests a "common cause" for a remarkable variety of illnesses with physical symptoms dependent upon individual vulnerabilities. The unique ability of Wondro to scavenge acetaldehyde may be the unifying factor at the molecular level that accounts for the remission of such a hodge-podge of symptomology. But where would the acetaldehyde (normally only associated with alcohol consumption) be coming from?

The acetaldehyde hypothesis [Truss, C.O., Metabolic abnormalities in patients with chronic candidiasis: the acetaldehyde hypothesis . J Orthomol Psychiatr 1984; 13:66–93.] gives us a continuous source of the toxin from a "commensal" yeast (Candida Albicans) that is present in everyone, young and old, with the quantity of daily-dosage acetaldehyde related to the proportion of yeast load in the gut flora.