No. 8 1 No. 8, Fall 2004 News and Notes from the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is a unique organization dedicated to the preservation of pharmacy’s heri- tage. The Apothecary’s Cabinet is a publication from AIHP that takes a popular look at the history of pharmacy in its many fac- ets. We welcome your comments and submissions. Cabinet Apothecary’s HEADLINE: YES, the famed Corps of Discovery led by Meriwether Lewis and Will- iam Clark traversed 8,000 miles of North American wilderness with two chests full of imported drugs. In con- trast with current debates about the cost of prescription medicines, the decision was simple in 1803—almost all drugs were imported into the United States because of sheer ne- cessity. Most items of the materia medica were derived from plants grown only in far-off lands. And many of the chemicals used as medi- cines were not mass produced yet by the nascent American industry. In May 1803, Army purveyor Israel Whelan went to the establish- ment of Gillaspy and Strong, Drug- gists, of Philadelphia and bought medical supplies for the Corps of Discovery. Thirty-odd drugs and medicines were purchased, as well as bottles, surgical supplies, and a few other necessities. Table 1 lists the items that appeared on the bill sent to Meriwether Lewis. A glance over the list reveals much about what medical challenges the captains ex- pected on their journey: malaria, wounds, gastro-intestinal disorders, and venereal disease. The list also shows what limited resources were available two hundred years ago to treat acute illnesses. As part of his preparation to lead the expedition west, Lewis had spent time consulting with Philadelphia’s scientific elite, includ- ing the famed physician Benjamin Rush. Lewis received a set of medical instructions from Rush—which he and Clark largely ignored—and no doubt guidance to bring along a plentiful supply of “Rush’s Pills.” The chests of medicines had the basics of the day: cinchona bark, opium, ton- ics, laxatives, emetics, and dia- phoretics, plus ointments and other external remedies for the inevitable scrapes and sprains. The most im- portant medical decision made by Lewis and Clark was choosing a group of healthy young men tough- ened by frontier or military experi- ence. Only one man was lost during the 28-month journey. Cinchona Bark (South America) It was no accident that the largest single medicine purchased by Whelan for the Corps was fifteen pounds of “Pulv. Cort. Peru” other- wise known as cinchona bark or sim- ply Bark. One of the great panaceas of the era, cinchona bark arrived in Europe from South America in the early 1600s as a specific cure for in- termittent fevers (malaria). As a spe- cific it rocked traditional medical theories, which maintained that dis- ease came from humoral imbalances within the body. As one of the few drugs that actually cured a disease, cinchona was soon tried against other fevers and constitutional ail- by Gregory J. Higby Lewis & Clark Bought Imported Drugs!!
Transcript
No. 8 1
No. 8, Fall 2004
News and Notes from the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy
The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is a uniqueorganization dedicated to the preservation of pharmacy’s heri-tage. The Apothecary’s Cabinet is a publication from AIHP thattakes a popular look at the history of pharmacy in its many fac-ets. We welcome your comments and submissions.
CabinetApothecary’s
HEADLINE:
YES, the famed Corps of Discoveryled by Meriwether Lewis and Will-iam Clark traversed 8,000 miles ofNorth American wilderness with twochests full of imported drugs. In con-trast with current debates about thecost of prescription medicines, thedecision was simple in 1803—almostall drugs were imported into theUnited States because of sheer ne-cessity. Most items of the materiamedica were derived from plantsgrown only in far-off lands. Andmany of the chemicals used as medi-cines were not mass produced yet bythe nascent American industry.
In May 1803, Army purveyorIsrael Whelan went to the establish-ment of Gillaspy and Strong, Drug-gists, of Philadelphia and boughtmedical supplies for the Corps ofDiscovery. Thirty-odd drugs andmedicines were purchased, as well asbottles, surgical supplies, and a fewother necessities. Table 1 lists theitems that appeared on the bill sentto Meriwether Lewis. A glance overthe list reveals much about whatmedical challenges the captains ex-pected on their journey: malaria,wounds, gastro-intestinal disorders,and venereal disease. The list also
shows what limited resources wereavailable two hundred years ago totreat acute illnesses.
As part of his preparation tolead the expedition west, Lewis hadspent time consulting withPhiladelphia’s scientific elite, includ-ing the famed physician BenjaminRush. Lewis received a set of medicalinstructions from Rush—which heand Clark largely ignored—and nodoubt guidance to bring along aplentiful supply of “Rush’s Pills.” Thechests of medicines had the basics ofthe day: cinchona bark, opium, ton-ics, laxatives, emetics, and dia-phoretics, plus ointments and otherexternal remedies for the inevitablescrapes and sprains. The most im-portant medical decision made byLewis and Clark was choosing agroup of healthy young men tough-ened by frontier or military experi-
ence. Only one man was lost duringthe 28-month journey.
Cinchona Bark (SouthAmerica)
It was no accident that thelargest single medicine purchased byWhelan for the Corps was fifteenpounds of “Pulv. Cort. Peru” other-wise known as cinchona bark or sim-ply Bark. One of the great panaceasof the era, cinchona bark arrived inEurope from South America in theearly 1600s as a specific cure for in-termittent fevers (malaria). As a spe-cific it rocked traditional medicaltheories, which maintained that dis-ease came from humoral imbalanceswithin the body. As one of the fewdrugs that actually cured a disease,cinchona was soon tried againstother fevers and constitutional ail-
by Gregory J. Higby
Lewis & Clark Bought Imported Drugs!!
2 Apothecary’s Cabinet
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF THE HISTORY OF PHARMACY is incorporated under Wisconsin statute 180 as a non-profit organization de-voted to advancing knowledge and understanding of the place of pharmacy in history. It publishes Pharmacy in History, Apothecary’s Cabinet, occa-sional monographs, and pamphlets; it fosters humanistic teaching in pharmaceutical education; confers awards for outstanding achievement in its field;sponsors historical meetings and exhibits; collects and preserves source materials; and serves as a center for research and information.PUBLICATION PRICES: Apothecary’s Cabinet is distributed free of charge to schools of pharmacy upon request. This and other publications of theAIHP may be obtained through membership ($50 per year for individuals, $100 for institutions); individual copies of Apothecary’s Cabinet are $2.00.
Editor: Gregory J. HigbyAssistant Editor: Elaine Condouris StroudPublisher: American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, located at the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy,
Apothecary’s Cabinet • No. 8, Fall 2004 ISSN 1534-4509
ments even though it had little if any effect. For theCorps, however, fifteen pounds of Peruvian Bark was nofoolish extravagance. The center of the North Americancontinent was full of mosquitoes, some of which carriedmalaria.
Quinine, the main active ingredient of cinchona,was not isolated until 1820 by French pharmacistsPelletier and Caventou. Only ten or twelve ounces ofthis alkaloid would have equaled the medicinal power ofa bulky container of powdered Bark. Like most of theother drugs carried by the Corps, the cinchona probablyarrived in Philadelphia via London merchants, ratherthan directly from the countries of origin.
Opium and Laudanum (Middle East)
From the list of drugs, opium and its tincture(laudanum) appear to fill a niche still required intoday’s therapeutics—opiate pain reliever. (Five of thetop 100 drugs prescribed in 2003 were derived in partfrom opium.) And while opium and its preparationswere used for the relief of pain, they were also the seda-tives and hypnotics of choice two hundred years ago.About the same time as the Lewis and Clark Expedition,German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner was developingthe method to extract morphine from crude opium,thereby opening the era of alkaloidal chemistry. As inthe case of cinchona and quinine, however, this discov-ery would come too late for the Corps, which was re-quired to take the bulkier crude drug along for the8,000 mile journey.
Lewis, as Jefferson’s private secretary, may haveread the following from the Edinburgh New Dispensa-tory (1791), a book in the president’s library: “Egypt, Per-sia, and some other provinces of Asia, have hitherto sup-plied us with this commonly: in those countries, largequantities of poppies are cultivated for this purpose. . . .Opium, when taken into the stomach . . . gives rise to apleasant serenity of mind, in general proceeding to a cer-tain degree of languor and drowsiness. . . . no substance
can have a better title to the appellation of sedative thanopium. . . . Indeed there is hardly any affection, in whichit may not, from circumstances, be proper; and in all des-perate cases, it is the most powerful means of alleviatingthe miseries of patients.” (pp. 240-243.)
Hypodermic syringes were a half-century in thefuture, so physicians of the early 19th century adminis-tered opium orally, often in the form of a simple rolledpill. Because it was a valuable drug, opium was oftenadulterated, therefore druggists like Gillaspy andStrong carefully examined each shipment that arrived.Their reputation as dealers in quality drugs dependedlargely on the potency of their opium.
Ipecac (Brazil)
A drug sometimes combined with opium, ipecacwas one of the most versatile medicines of the earlymodern period. Introduced into Western medicine inthe late 1600s from South America, ipecacuanhaquickly gained stature as a treatment for dysentery andas a reliable emetic and diaphoretic. Intentionally in-ducing vomiting or sweating was viewed at the time asa good way to alter the body’s balance and encouragethe restoration of health. Ipecac remains an officialdrug, although its status as an emergency emetic hasdeclined in recent years. In 1803, most ipecac rootswere dug in Brazil for exportation.
Camphor (Sumatra)
Another exotic carried along by Lewis and Clarkthat is still official is camphor. One contemporary au-thor described it as “a very peculiar substance . . .chiefly extracted from the wood and roots of a treegrowing in Sumatra.” The collection of camphor wasdescribed by Marco Polo and in the Arabian Nights.Considered a concrete essential oil, the drug was ad-ministered orally to combat fevers through inducingperspiration.
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Jalap
(Fort Clatsup)(Philadelphia)
(London)
Camphor
OpiumAsafetida
ColumboIpecac
CopaibaCinchona
Copaiba (Brazil andVenezuela)
Buried in the usual lists ofmedicines carried by the Corps ofDiscovery is “Balsam of Copaiba.”This soothing liquid came treestapped in the Amazon basin. Al-though it had other applications, co-paiba was mainly used for the treat-ment of gonorrhea. When consumedinternally, it produced a characteris-tic odor to a patient’s urine and wasthought to soothe inflammationcaused by venereal disease. As expe-rienced army officers, Lewis andClark knew they needed to be pre-pared to treat VD, so they broughtalong copaiba, calomel, and penileirrigation syringes.
Asafetida (Iran andAfghanistan)
Of all the imported drugs, per-haps the most notorious was asa-fetida also known as “devil’s dung.”This nasty smelling drug from Persiawas known since ancient times.Widely consumed on the theory thatanything that smelled that bad hadto be good for something, asafetida’sserious use by 1800 had declined tothe treatment of nervous complaintsand flatulence. Its folk use to wardoff colds and flu continued into thetwentieth century. Why the Corps
took an entire pound of this smellysubstance is unclear.
Columbo Root (Mozambique)
When Gillaspy and Strongpacked up half a pound of columboroot for the Corps, they probablythought the drug came from Ceylon(modern Sri Lanka). For decades,Portuguese traders had a monopolyon this drug and hid its origins. Por-tuguese ships would stop on the Eastcoast of Africa, purchase the rootsfrom local gatherers, and then carrythem along to India on their jour-neys before returning home to Eu-rope. At first called kalumb, thedrug’s name shifted to variations of“Colombo,” the capital city of Ceylon.In the 1820s, its origins were clari-fied. No matter what its name,columbo was never an importantdrug and was probably included byLewis and Clark as a tonic and re-storative.
Cinnamon (Sri Lanka),Nutmegs and Cloves(Moluccas)
For centuries there has been afine line between spices and drugs.Gathered from similar exotic locali-ties, spices and drugs were carried bythe same ships, exchanged by thesame merchants, and sold by apoth-
ecaries. In early America, this wasstill the case. As druggists in Phila-delphia, Gillaspy and Strong handledlarge quantities of these preciousgoods. In both regular and folkmedicines, pungent spices weretaken to improve digestion. Someauthors have speculated that theywere purchased by Lewis and Clarkto flavor their drug preparations. Itis more likely that the captainsbought them for culinary purposes.
Rush’s Pills (USA fromImported Ingredients)
One significant medicine wasnot imported—the famous BiliousPills of Benjamin Rush. (They wereactually anti-bilious pills. A patientwas said to be “bilious” when sup-posed poor flow of bile in the bodycaused a complex of symptoms in-cluding constipation, headache, andlassitude.)
Dr. Rush had expressly indi-cated to Lewis that when one of hismen showed the “sign of an ap-proaching disease . . . take one ortwo of the opening pills.” Nicknamed“Rush’s Thunderbolts,” the pills werereputed to contain 10 grains ofcalomel and 10 to 15 grains of jalap,both potent laxatives. By opening upthe bowels, Rush believed that thebody would then expel the excessbile or other matter causing illness.
Cinnamon
4 Apothecary’s Cabinet
(With active ingredients weighingwell over a gram, these would havebeen large pills indeed. A commonaspirin tablet weighs 5 grains or 1/4the weight of the “thunderbolts.”)
The two active ingredients hadwidely different sources and histo-ries. Calomel (mercurous chloride)had entered medical practice in the1600s as a milder and more palat-able mercury compound. The liquidmetal mercury had been applied ex-ternally in different forms since an-cient times to treat skin lesions. Aconfluence of factors led to its riseas an internal medicine: the appear-ance of syphilis in Europe and theincreasing influence of alchemy andchemistry on medical theories.Paracelsus (1493-1541) and his fol-lowers argued that some of the newchemicals coming out of laborato-ries could better treat the diseasesof a new age. The apparent successof mercury compounds againstsyphilis helped to spur the growingreputation of chemical medicines.
Mercurous chloride appearedin European medicine at the begin-ning of the 1600s and its reputationsoon grew as a “softer” and bettertolerated mercury compound. By1800, calomel was widely acceptedfor its general powers as an “alter-ative,” i. e., medicine that alteredthe overall constitution of the body.In large doses, calomel acted quicklyas a laxative; in small doses overtime, it produced what we todaywould characterize as mercury poi-soning—abundant salivation, loos-ening of teeth, metallic halitosis,and discolored stool. At this level,the drug was obviously “working”and had the power, in theory, toeliminate syphilis from the body.Because of its dual activity, calomelwas included in both Rush’s Pills—eliminating excess bile throughpurging—and by itself in powderform, where it could be given insmall doses over time to combatsyphilis.
Jalap came from the vegetablekingdom—the appropriately namedplant Exogonium Purga. TheEdinburgh New Dispensatory, abook known well by Rush, calls
jalap “a safe purgative, performingits office mildly; seldom occasioningnausea or gripes.” It came to the at-tention of European physicians inthe early 1600s. Two hundred yearslater when Rush used it liberally, theexact source of the root was not yetdetermined. It would be Rush’s stu-dent, John Redman Coxe, who in1829 reported that jalap came from aMexican plant. Jalap remained astandard drug in the United Statesuntil 1965. Like calomel, powderedjalap was included in the medicinechest of the Corps as a separate drug.
Both Lewis and Clark were freewith their use of Rush’s pills. Travel-ing down the Ohio on his way to St.Louis to start the expedition, Lewiscame down with an attack of ague(malarial fever) and dosed himselfwith the remedy. He believed ithelped. Along the way up and downthe Missouri, the captains gave thepills to themselves, their men, and toIndians who presented themselvesfor treatment. On almost any occa-sion where a gastro-intestinal ail-ment arose, the captains freely ad-ministered these cathartic pills orother laxatives such as Glauber’sSalts.
The captains used the pills asalmost a panacea, which is not toosurprising since so many of the com-plaints they faced had gastro-intesti-nal sequelae. The uneven and im-pure food supply, the back and forthswitching from foods without fiber tohigh fiber and (other factors), nodoubt contributed to a significantamount of constipation throughoutthe Corps. In addition, some feversand other complaints were associ-ated with theories of excess bile orblood in the body. A good purginghelped with that problem! Fortu-nately, Lewis and Clark had chosentheir men well. Hardy frontiersmen,they were able to survive both the se-vere conditions of the long journeyand the strong medicines importedfrom around the globe!
Table 1. Medical Supplies Purchasedfor Corps of Discovery in Philadelphia,May 1803.
FROM earliest times, those who pre-pared and dispensed medicines werefaced with the need of preservingand storing them. The most commontypes of containers in ancient Egyptwere unglazed earthenware, stone,and alabaster pots. PedaniusDioscorides provided precise in-structions for drug containers in hismonumental work De MateriaMedica (A.D. 50-70), recommendingthat most medicines be kept in thickvessels of glass, horn, or silver. Thediscovery of glass blowing took placearound 300 B.C., and glass manufac-ture flourished in Alexandria andSidon. The Roman green glass flaskwas the most widespread of allshapes of Roman glass during thefirst through the sixth century A.D.One such glass container is depictedon a stamp of Israel (1974/Scott266), as well as glass containers used
to preserve myrrh and frankincense(Canada, 1965/Scott 443).
A unique drug container(called inro) was used by the samu-rai, a feudal military caste in Japanfrom the 12th to the 19th century tocarry their medication. Such an ex-ample is seen on a stamp of theRyukyu Islands (1968/Scott 168).
The actual development of thespecialized drug jar had its origin inthe Middle East during the period ofIslamic conquest. Potters in Persiadeveloped a new type of ceramic anda unique style of jar that has been in-timately associated with medicines.The innovation in the ceramic artwas the use of a tin-glaze to producea non-porous earthenware, whichwas much more suitable for storingliquid and semi-liquid medicaments.The unique shaped jar was thealbarello, a cylindrical container withconcave sides curving inward towardthe middle of the jar. Among the ear-liest ascribed as drug jars are those
the first potteries in Spain to pro-duce the glazed earthenware wereestablished in Malaga. The art of lus-tre painting was perfected inValencia, and the term Hispano-Moresque lusterware was given tothis pottery decorated with a goldencopper lustre on a tin oxide glazedbackground, as represented by the
1st-5th CenturyGlass Flask, Israel(Scott 266)
Samurai “Inro”Drug Container,Ryukyu (Scott168)
made at Rakka, Mesopotamia, situ-ated on the Euphrates. A typicalRakka albarello, dating from the12th-13th century can be seen on astamp issued by Portugal (2003/Scott 2590).
The armies of Islam subse-quently conquered Spain carryingwith them the Islamic culture, and
Persian 12th Century Albarello,Portugal (2003/Scott 2590)
albarello shown on a stamp of Spain(1987/Scott 2513).
Until the 14th century, the pro-duction of pottery in Italy remained acrude art, but with the influence ofthe Islamic art which penetrated Italysimultaneously with an expansion inthe commerce of drugs, new centersfor the manufacture of glazed earth-enware were established. The termmajolica for this ware originated be-cause the art reached Italy by way ofMajorca, while the term faience be-came popular since some of the finesttin-glazed pottery was produced inFaenza, Italy. Italian majolica can beseen on stamps of Malta (1970/Scott414) and Portugal (2003/Scott 2591).A symbolic albarello drug containerwas used on three stamps of Portugal(1964/Scott 922-934) to commemo-
Hispano-MoresqueLusterware, Spain (Scott 2513)
2501 Drexel St. • Vienna, VA 22180
6 Apothecary’s Cabinet
rate the fourth century of the publi-cation of Garcia D’Orta’s Disserta-tion of Simples and Drugs of Indiapublished in Goa in 1563, andTalavara was still producing attrac-tive albarello-shaped drug jars in the17th century (Spain, 1991/Scott2647).
The earliest apothecary jarswere generally unlabeled so thatthey could be used and reused for a
1652-1677 (Portugal, 2003/Scott2591).
on a stamp of Belgium (1994/ScottB116). The ewer is labeled MERCU-RIAL for Oxymel of Mercury; theDelft pot with metal cover is labeledGENTAINE for Extract of Gentian;and the third pot is inscribedPHILO(N) ROM(ANUM), a namegiven to a widely used confection ofopium.
Best known of the early Ger-man potteries producing tin-glazedearthenware were those of Ansbach,Bayreuth, Creussen, and Nuremberg.One such example is an 18th-centuryceramic drug jar from Dalovice la-beled CONSERVO ROSAR (Con-serves of Rose) depicted on a stampof Czechoslovakia (1971/Scott 1773).But the more widely employed drugcontainers in central Europe duringthis period were made of wood. Com-mencing in the 17th century, tall cy-lindrical containers of boxwood orlinden wood were used for storingdried botanical drugs. Three 18th-century boxwood drug containers
variety of drugs. The contents wereindicated by a label tied to the vessel.The practice of firing the name of thecontents into the decoration of Span-ish and Italian apothecary jars com-menced in the 15th century. Amongthe earliest labeled apothecary jarspictured on stamps include the 16th-century majolica orza (urn) fromUlm inscribed SEBASTIAN (Portu-gal, 1990/Scott 1795), and the ma-jolica chevrette labeled ROSAR, circa
Italian Chevrette For Roses,Portugal (Scott 2591)
Delftware Apothecary Jars, Belgium(Scott B116)
The skill of the Italian pottersspread into France by the 16th cen-tury. In 1543, a Rouen potter made“a large number of drug pots for a lo-cal apothecary which were decoratedin the Italian style.” While not yetseen on a stamp, a 16th century ewer(jar with spout) appears on a 1991pictorial cancel from Rouen.
The art of tin-enameling earth-enware was introduced into TheNetherlands in the 16th century byItalian potters who settled inAntwerp. By 1654, the Dutch town ofDelft became famous for the manu-facture of tin-glazed earthenwaredecorated in blue and white in imita-
tion of the Chinese porcelain, thenbeing imported by the Dutch EastIndia Company. Due to the over-whelming success of the Dutch pot-ters, the general term Delftwareeventually replaced the terms ma-jolica and faience for the tin-glazedearthenware of Holland. The mosttypical of Delft apothecary jars is thepeacock motif consisting of two pea-cocks standing on either side of abasket of fruit with an angel’s headbelow. Three examples can be seen
German Boxwood Drug Containers,Czechoslovakia (Scott 1772)
from the Kuks Castle Pharmacy canbe seen on a stamp of Czechoslova-kia (1971/Scott 1772). They featurehand-painted labels for BITUM AS-PHALT (Rock Oil); SANG DRAC(powdered Dragon’s Blood which is aresin of Pterocarpus); and CONTRAJERV (a powdered root used for anunspecified disease)
Porcelain, as distinguishedfrom tin-glazed earthenware, was inuse in China for hundreds of yearsbefore its introduction into the West-ern world. Potters and chemists ex-perimented in vain to discover theChinese formula for making porce-lain, but it was not until 1709 thatone succeeded. He was pharmacistJohann Frederick Boettger, and thesecret was found to lie in the use oftwo essential ingredients: kaolin(feldspar) and petuntse (China
No. 8 7
stone). Boettger’s discovery led tothe establishment of a porcelainmanufactory at Meissen, and their
(2001/Scott 2237). After each LatinAmerica country won independencefrom Spain and Portugal, cultural
slowly evolved into a variety ofunique shapes and forms for specificuses. An elaborate 18th-century glassbottle labeled AQ AROMAT (Aro-
earliest products are shown onstamps of Germany (1982/Scott1365) and the German DemocraticRepublic (1982/Scott 2233).
In spite of an effort to preventthe secret from becoming known, aworkman carried the secret toVienna in 1720 where a factory wasestablished. It was not long beforesimilar factories were establishedthroughout Europe. A 19th-centuryVienna porcelain apothecary jar la-beled UNG JUNIPERI (Ointment ofJuniper Berries) is featured on a2002 postal card from Romaniacommemorating the Museum ofPharmacy in Cluj Napoca.
By the beginning of the nine-teenth century, the French porcelaindrug jars with porcelain covers be-came common in both Europe andLatin America. They were producedin both Limoge and Paris in numer-ous factories. Examples can be seenon several stamps including a 19th-century canopy-top porcelain drugjar labeled EXT ALTHOE (Extract ofAlthea) on a stamp of NewCaledonia (1986/Scott 542); and a19th century porcelain drug jar la-beled AMYDAL DULC (Sweet Al-monds) on a stamp of Mexico
19th Century French Porcelain, NewCaledonia (Scott 542)
Traditional Porcelain Drug Jar,Mexico ( Scott 2237)
and commercial ties with France be-came very close. Since Spain was nota major producer of porcelain drugjars, France became the exclusivesupplier. In addition to being practi-cal for storing medicines, these por-celain containers gave distinction toa pharmacy.
Return to Glass Vessels
The use of glass vessels de-clined after the fall of the RomanEmpire. It was nearly a thousandyears before there was a renaissancein the art of glass blowing. By themiddle of the 13th century, a guild ofglassblowers had been establishedin Venice, and by the 16th century,centers were established by the Ger-mans in the mountainous sections ofBohemia and Silesia.
In time, glass drug bottleswere produced from pulverizedquartz of crystalline silicon dioxide.The labels were baked-on enamel of-ten displaying alchemical symbols inplace of the more common Latinizeddrug names. An 18th-century Bohe-
Alchemical Symbols On Label,Czechoslovakia (Scott 1773)
mian glass bottle with alchemicalsymbols for Sweet Spirit of Nitre isincluded on a stamp of Czechoslova-kia (1971/Scott 1773).
Apothecary glass containers
18th Century Glass Drug Bottle,Finland (Scott 799)
ApothecaryJars On TopShelf,Norway(Scott 1091)
matic Water) is pictured on a stampof Finland (1989/Scott 799), whileseveral 18th- to 19th-century apoth-ecary jars can be seen on the top shelfof a pharmacy in Norway (1995/Scott
1091). A 19th-century clear glassbottle with glass-ground stopper ap-pears on a stamp of Portugal (1978/Scott 1360).
By the end of the 18th century,many of these bottles were made ofopal (milk) glass produced by addingzinc oxide to the molten glass. Onesuch milk glass drug container pro-duced in Transylvania is labeledEXTR CICHOR (Extract of Chicory),and illustrated on a 2002 Romanianpostal card commemorating the Mu-seum of Pharmacy in Cluj Napoca.
Drug bottles of flint glass wereproduced by using lead oxide and cal-cined flint as a source of silica. Lessexpensive green glass was made ofnatural potash producing bottlesranging in color from green to amber.The addition of cobalt produced blueglass, while copper created ruby redglass. Two 19th-century cobalt blueglass tincture bottles, and an ambersalt-mouth glass bottle, are shown ona 1981 Australia pre-stamped enve-lope (#035). An elegant cobalt blue
8 Apothecary’s Cabinet
Cobalt Blue TinctureBottles, Australia(1981 pre-stampedenvelope)
The use of the glass drug container in the U.S.A.predominated over all types of ceramic drug containersthat were so popular in Europe. New terms were estab-
Cobalt Blue Salt-Mouth Bottle,Portugal (Scott2593)
lished: Salt-mouths were bottles with wide mouths forkeeping herbs and salts, while Tinctures were bottleswith narrow mouths for holding tinctures and other liq-
Tincture WithMushroomStopper, U.S.A.(Scott 1473)
Green GlassTincture BottlesBrazil (Scott 1997)
uid preparations. A typical 19th-century glass tincturebottle with mushroom stopper and cologne bottle ap-pear on a U.S.A. stamp (1972/Scott1473). There are readable letters onthe labels, but the stamp designerKen Davies confirmed to me at thefirst day ceremonies that he madethe name illegible “so that therecould be no specific mention of anyone drug or potion.”
The American patent medicineindustry required glass bottles in hugequantities. Green glass tinctures usedby Pharmacist Candido Fontoura(1885-1974), pioneer in the pharma-ceutical industry, can be found on astamp of Brazil (1985/Scott 1997). A19th-century glass mold-blown chest-nut amber bitter bottle appears on astamp of the U.S.A. (1999/Scott3328). This bitters is almost identicalwith the “patent log-cabin bottles”used by P. H. Drake & Co. of New
York City to market their Plantation Bitters which is pic-tured on their U.S. private-die proprietary (Scott RS82-R83) that was employed from 1869 to 1875.
P. H. Drake’s Plantation Bitters,U.S.A. (Scott RS83)
Little PharmacistOffers Vitamins,St. Vincent (Scott1395)
Emerson Drug Company’s Bromo-Seltzer bottlewith complete label is pictured on 1900-1901 U.S. pri-vate-die proprietaries (Scott RS280-RS283). Baltimorepharmacist Edward Emerson trademarked his efferves-cent product in 1889.
Emerson’sBromo-SeltzerBottle, U.S.A.(Scott RS282)
Glass containers for eye drops can be found onstamps of Iran (1987/Scott 2266), and Swaziland (1976/Scott 264). Other drug containers to be found on stampsinclude Brazil (1977 (Scott 1504); Hungary (1963/Scott1532); Pitcairn Islands (1968/Scott 96); Romania (1962/Scott 1519); Turkey (1988/Scott2400); and Uruguay(1998/Scott 1748). Even though these are mostly sym-bolic, perhaps they represent the plastic drug containersintroduced in the 1950s as a result of research conductedduring World War II to find light-weight and unbreakablepolystyrene pharmaceutical vials.
There are several stamps that depict modern medi-cine bottles that are labeled with the name of their con-tents. They include: Aspirin on drug containers (CentralAfrican Republic, 1972/Scott 158); Daraprim, BurroughsWellcome brand of the anti-malarial, pyrimethamine(Nicaragua, 1973/Scott CB8); and Vitamins on the salt-mouth bottle beside the Hummel “Little Pharmacist” figu-rine (St. Vincent, 1990/Scott 1395).
glass, salt-mouth bottle with ground glass stopper, circa1890, appears on a Portugal stamp (2003/Scott 2593).
No. 8 9
History of Drug Containersand their Labels,
Description of Sassafras Tree from Monardes, Joyfull Newes Out of the New-found Worlde, London, 1596.
“The Tree from whence they cut this Wood, whiche they newly brought fromthe Florida, called Sassafras, is a Tree that groweth to bee very great. . . . Thetree and bowes are very light, the rinde being tasted, hath an excellent sweetesmell, and it is somewhat like to the smell of Fenell, with muche sweetenesseof taste, and of pleasaunt smell insomuch that a little quantity of this Woodbeing in a chamber, filleth the ayre conteined in it, and the rinde hath somesharpnesse of taste the inner part hath little smel, the hogher part thatcontaineth the bowes hath leaves: the which be greene after the manner of aFigge tree, with three poyntes. . . . They bee of collour a sadde Greene, and ofa sweet smell, and muche more when they be dry. The Indians use to laythem beaten or stamped upon bruises, or when any man is beaten with dryblowes: and being dried they are used in medicinall thinges.”
Boom and Bust: Sassafras
by David L. Cowen
the mother country, and between1616 and 1619 it and tobacco werethe only commodities shipped fromVirginia.
But the bubble had burst. In1620, Sir Edwyn Sandys, head of theVirginia Company, reported that sas-safras was worth very little and rec-ommended that its production becurtailed. Its medical reputation per-sisted, however, and it continued tobe exported from the American colo-nies throughout the colonial period.In 1770 alone England imported 76.5tons of sassafras worth £2,142. Thecame to £28 per ton, a far cry fromSir Walter’s figures, no matter howthe pound may have changed invalue.
THE search for, cultivation of, andtrade in drugs must take their placeamong the economic motives behindthe building of the British empire inAmerica. Sassafras was one of themost important drugs involved in
this process of empire building.Sassafras gained popularity af-
ter Monardes described it in hisHistoria Medicinali in 1574. In 1585,Thomas Hariot, man of learning andnavigational planner of Sir WalterRaleight’s expeditions, proclaimedsassafras a “sovereign” remedy thatpossessed “manifold virtues” andthat was esteemed in “the FrenchPoxe [syphilis] . . . the Plague, andmany other Maladies.”
Sassafras attained a phenom-enal repute and Sir Walter Raleighbecame active in its trade and ob-tained a monopoly in it. Sir Walterwas selling sassafras for £1,000 to£2,000 a ton and he estimated hisreturn as from 800% to 1,000%. Inone voyage in 1602 he made enoughto outfit two more ships, and hefought, unsuccessfully apparently, tostop incursions on his patent.
The colony of Jamestown al-most floundered because seamen,and perhaps the colonists them-selves, stampeded into what must becalled a sassafras rush. Their eager-ness for sassafras, it was reported,reacted to the “prejudice” of thecolony. Yet sassafras was the fist ar-ticle to be furnished by Virginia to
Send $20 (postpaid) to:AIHP777 Highland Ave.Madison, WI 53705.
by George Griffenhagen andMary Bogard
10 Apothecary’s Cabinet
COLLECTOR’S CORNER
WANTED: Philatelic items (U.S. andworldwide) related to pharmacy, drugs ormedicinal plants. Interested in a wide rangeof philatelic items including postage stamps,advertising stamps, envelopes, postmarks/cancellations, philatelic literature relating topharmacy. Contact Jack Chen, 7854Calmcrest Drive, Downey, CA 90240; (909)469-5602 or via email [email protected].
WANTED: Surgical related items fromthe 18th and 19th century. Instruments,books, etchings, photos and anything of in-terest. Contact Dr. Alan Koslow [email protected] or (515) 267-1821.
FOR SALE: Extensive antique collection:Queen Anne balance with City of NewYork seals, pill roller, assorted pill bottles,stone mortar believed to be 15th or 16thcentury. A bronze mortar, as pictured in thePill Rollers (p. 65), and 20 additional brassmortars of various ages. Pictures availableor may be viewed in person at BoyntonBeach, FL. Contact Herb Leonard (561)364-8967.
FOR SALE: One-hundred-year-old his-torical pharmacy documents containinghistorical signatures. A Doctor In Phar-macy certificate issued to EphraimShaw Tyler in 1902 and signed by Jo-seph P. Remington and Henry Kraemerand others and issued to Ephraim ShawTyler by the Alumni Association of thePhiladelphia College of Pharmacy in1902. Both are well framed. ContactCharles R. Weiss at (330) 633-4342 [email protected].
FOR SALE: Own a piece of the financialhistory of drug, chemical, pharmaceutical,and health care companies. Stock/Bond cer-tificates (cancelled) are both history and anartform. Most priced under $7.00 each.Send SASE for list. Interested in buyingsimilar items. Wayne Segal, Box 181,Runnemede, NJ 08078. [email protected]
The AIHP brings together those whowish to buy, sell, or trade artifactsor books related to the history ofpharmacy. Free classified advertis-ing is available to members ($5.00 aline to non-members). Send copy toApothecary’s Cabinet, AIHP, 777Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53705,or [email protected].
GOOD HEALTH TO ALL FROMREXALL! I collect anything made for theRexall Store. Especially want early con-sumer products and pharmacy items manu-factured by the United Drug Company(1903-46, Boston). Also Rexall AD-VAN-TAGES magazines, calendars, almanacs,photos, and other franchise and advertisingmaterials. United Drug brands: Puretest,Firstaid, Elkay, Kantleek, Jonteel, Liggett’s,Fenway, Harmony (cosmetics), Electrex(appliances), Old Colony (inks), Klenzo,etc. What have you? Frank Sternad, P.O.Box 560, Fulton, CA 95439; (707) 546-3106, e-mail [email protected]
ANTIQUE TOY MUSEUM: Located inBaltimore, North of the Inner Harbor. Mu-seum contains apothecary shop with hun-dreds of pharmaceutical antiques. AnneSmith, Director. Open Thurs., Fri. and Sat.,11:00-4:00. Call for special appointments.(410) 230-0580, 222 West Read Street, Bal-timore, MD.
FOR SALE: Apothecary Antiques includ-ing drug jars, apothecary bottles, manufac-turing tools, medical instruments includingleech jar and various dental items; booksdealing with the above subjects available,catalogues issued. Always buying similaritems or collections. John S. Gimesh, MD.,202 Stedman St., Fayetteville, NC 28305;(910) 484-2219.
WANTED: Show globes, fancy apothecarybottles, porcelain jars, trade catalogs, win-dow pieces, patent medicines, and advertis-ing. Contact Mart James, 487 OakridgeRd., Dyersburg, TN 38024; (731) 286-2025; e-mail: [email protected]
WANTED: Books & journals on Phar-macy (pre-1920), Pharmacognosy, Herbal/Botanic Medicine, Eclectic & ThomsonianMedicine, Phytochemistry, and Ethno-botany. I will purchase one title or entire li-braries. David Winston, Herbalist & Alche-mist Books, P.O. Box 553, Broadway, NJ08808, (908) 835-0822, fax: (908) 835-0824, e-mail: [email protected]
FOR SALE: CD on Dr. Hatchett’s DrugStore Museum (small town drugstore, SWGeorgia). Consisting of almost 200 pages itdescribes many off-the-counter medicinesand patent medicines as well as othermainly early- and mid-twentieth-centuryproducts. Includes product composition, pe-riod advertising, prices, manufacturers, his-tory, dosage, etc. Includes index by productand manufacturer. Available throughStewart County Historical Commission,P.O. Box 818, Lumpkin, Georgia 31815 for$12 a CD. Questions may be sent to AllenVegotsky (a.vegotsky@worldnet. att.net).
THE SNAKE-OIL SYNDROME, by A.Walker Bingham; 196 pages oversized,more than 500 illustrations, 60 pages infull color. An in-depth reference work onpatent medicine advertising in the contextof efficacy and the selling images used.Cross-indexed by subject and productnames, with notes, bibliography, and list ofpublic collections. Hardcover, $44.00 post-paid from the Christopher PublishingHouse, 24 Roackland Street, Hanover, MA12339.
FOR SALE: The Pill Rollers 3rd Editionis an extensive revision from cover tocover. Practically all artifacts in previousedition have been retained, with over 100new items, and the historical monographshave been greatly expanded. The price in-cludes a separate 8-page Price Guide—shipping is $37.50. Pay with personalcheck or money order and send to CharlesG. Richardson, 1176 South DogwoodDrive, Harrisonburg, VA 22801. For addi-tional information e-mail [email protected]
No. 8 11
Pioneer Village Apothecary ShopSpring Mill State Park, Mitchell, Indiana
In 1930, Spring Mill StatePark, including the Pioneer Village,was opened to visitors. The Park andvillage have been in continuous op-eration since that time.
For 72 years, the village was in-terpreted in the context of the year1832, but in 2003, the date waschanged to 1863. In this way, visitorscan experience many of the realitiesof early pioneer life, while at thesame time, become acquainted withthe history of South Central Indianaduring the Civil War.
The Apothecary Shop hasstood side-by-side with the Mercan-tile for more than 170 years. Manyartifacts from the nineteenth centuryare on display including seventy-oneantique hand-blown bottles filledwith medicines from aconite to yar-row; a thirty-two-drawer apothecarycabinet with labels such as “amy-lum,” “camwood,” “humulus,” “mad-der,” “senega,” “spigelia,” and“whiting”; two sets of antique mor-tars, one set made of stone, the otherof cast iron; two very old plant/seedgrinder/separators; several types ofscales; a set of old glass funnels;various old medical bags andpouches; examples of nineteenth-century splints made of leather,wood, and metal; several sets ofmedical science and surgical books,mostly from the 1870s, as well as anearly edition of The HomeopathicDomestic Physician (1854).
From the early 1820s till hisdeath in 1856, Dr. Jacob Lemon wasthe physician, dentist, and apoth-ecary for the Spring Mill villageproper and surrounding area. Hewas “self-trained” and villagers ofthe time counted themselves fortu-nate to have their own doctor. Dur-ing the 1830s and 1840s, at the
height of its activity, the village wasinhabited by 70 families, with 300families living in Marion Township.
The old dentist chair survivesand is now housed in the mill mu-seum. There is evidence that Dr.Lemon not only kept the shop, pre-pared medicines, performed surger-ies, and practiced dentistry, he alsospent a great deal of his time treatingthe sick in their homes.
During his early years, he,along with many physicians at thattime, practiced “heroic medicine,”but there are signs that he beganstudying homeopathic treatmentsand methods, and began using thesemore and more in the 1840s andearly 1850s.
****My wife, Pat Robertson, and I
have visited the pioneer village manytimes over the years, and were al-ways interested in the old Apoth-ecary Shop. In 2002, we decided tobecome volunteers with the IndianaDepartment of Natural Resources,specifically to volunteer in theApothecary Shop. Along with the
Pharmacy in the Museum World
by Mark Zacharias
THE Spring Mill pioneer villageapothecary shop, along with themill, mill office, mercantile, nurs-ery school, inn, and carriage house,is original to the village, founded inthe early years of the nineteenthcentury. When the village flour-ished—especially during the yearsleading up to the Civil War—thehuge stone mill was the center-piece of the economic life of the vil-lage and surrounding countryside.Added to this were other busi-nesses including a two-story inn,distillery, leatherworker, wood-worker, cooper, cobbler, black-smith, a lime-making industry, andseveral thriving cottage industries(i.e., weaving, hat-making, andcandle-making).
Prior to the coming of the rail-road in the 1850s, goods were trans-ported to Louisville and beyond byox-cart and by flatboat down theWhite River to the Ohio River. Dur-ing the Civil War years and follow-ing, the village began to die, prima-rily because the railroad lines had tobypass the rugged valley where thevillage is located, and because it be-came possible to operate grist millsvirtually anywhere using steampower.
Spring Mill village continued toexist until 1898 when the last of thevillagers left. Not long after the turnof the century, concerned citizens inLawrence and the surrounding coun-ties appealed to the state to restorethe village and open it as part of astate park. The state agreed, andduring the 1920s the mill itself wasrestored, many of the homes andbuildings rebuilt, while other loghomes and buildings contemporaryto the original village, were broughtin from nearby townships.
Volunteer Mark Zacharias dresses inperiod costume in the apothecaryshop.
12 Apothecary’s Cabinet
AIHP StudentMembership
Students can join the AmericanInstitute of the History of Phar-macy at the special rate of $20,instead of the regular $50.Even though the rates are re-duced, the benefits are thesame:
•subscription to Pharmacy in History,with research articles placing phar-macy in historical perspective
•Apothecary’s Cabinet, with informa-tion for collectors as well as com-pact articles covering broad histori-cal topics, and interestinganecdotes
•40% discount on materials in our pub-lications catalog--some of whichare books used in pharmacycourses
•the benefits of understanding the longand respected history of your pro-fession
Join today by sending a checkto: AIHP, 777 Highland Ave.,Madison, WI 53705, or callingto place a credit card order(608)262-5378. Don’t forget toinclude your shipping addressand year of graduation.
full-time staff and other volunteers,we dress in period costume, and doour best to bring to life nineteenthcentury medicine and pharmacy forvisitors.
Pat will normally set up a rock-ing chair over by the back door, andwill work on sewing projects whileanswering questions about the shop,the village, plant and herbal rem-edies, midwifery, and folk medicine,as well as answering numerous ques-tions about the period garments sheis sewing.
I am usually stationed behindthe counter, visiting with folks aboutthe shop, nineteenth-century medi-cal practices, the various remediesprescribed at the time and how theywere made, as well as how thingshad changed in the village betweenthe very early days and 1863. Visitorsare always curious about the oldbottles and what they contain, and itis always a joy to describe the vari-
What Is It?
ous medicines and how they wereused during the pioneer days—alsohow most are still being used eventoday.
Invariably this leads to remi-niscences of home remedies andmedical treatments visitors experi-enced growing up. We notice nostal-gia for the “good old days,” but also aprofound sense of gratitude for allthe progress that has made in medi-cal science since those days.
We would like to invite every-one to visit the Pioneer Village atSpring Mill State Park (Indiana’sbest kept secret) at your earliest op-portunity. Come by the ApothecaryShop, stay awhile, and enjoy goingback in time to those early days ofpharmacy.
Spring Mill State ParkState 60 EMitchell, IN 47446(812-849-4129)
See page 14 for the answer.
No. 8 13
Historians Come to Madison
At the end of April, over three hundred historians came to Madison for the annual meeting of the American As-sociation for the History of Medicine. Several of the historians received travel support from the Sonnedecker VisitingScholar fund established in the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy. (The Sonnedecker Fund provides grantsto researchers traveling to Madison to utilize its pharmaco-historical resources. For more information about the pro-gram go to: www.pharmacy.wisc.edu/aihp/sonnedecker.htm)
These visitors (and their topics) included Caroline Acker of Carnegie Mellon (hypodermic syringe); Ellen Dwyerof Indiana University (treatments of epilepsy up to Dilantin); Nathan Moon of Georgia Tech (“pre-history” ofRitalin); Nicolas Rasmussen of MIT & University of New South Wales (amphetamines); Karen-Beth Scholthof ofTexas A & M (ergot); and Carolyn Shapiro-Shapin of Grand Valley College (pertussis treatments). All these research-ers worked mainly in the Kremers Reference Files with some lesser time spent in the University of Wisconsin Phar-macy, Medical, or Memorial Libraries.
Other researchers who visited the Institute at this time included Julia Sheppard of the Wellcome Library ofLondon, Toby Appel of Yale, Ernest Hook of the University of California, and Jeremy Greene of Harvard, plus stal-wart pharmacy historians John Swann, William Helfand, and Dennis Worthen.
In addition to hosting researchers, the Institute had an informational table in the book exhibit of the AAHMand sponsored a luncheon session on pharmaceutical history. Over thirty historians at the session listened to fivepanelists describe various resources of value to the field. Last but not least, AIHP Assistant Director Elaine Strouddid the layout and co-ordinated the production of the program for the AAHM meeting, which received high praise forits design.—GREG HIGBY
CALL FOR PAPERSAIHP Section on Contributed Papers
at the APhA Annual Meeting2-5 April 2005Orlando, Florida
•Titles and 200-word abstracts for 15-minute podium presentation must be re-ceived by October 1, 2004. With your abstract please include name, affiliation, ad-dress, phone number, and email address if available.
•Send abstracts to Anthony Palmieri III, AIHP Section Chair Contributed Papers:email: [email protected] (*prefererred)phone: 352-392-4903mailing address (hardcopies): University of Florida-Gainsville, Office of Technol-ogy Licensing, Walker Hall, Box 115500, Gainesville, FL 32666
•For additional information, contact the AIHP office (608-262-5378);email ([email protected]).
14 Apothecary’s Cabinet
Drachms & ScruplesTerms according to the Encyclopedia of PharmaceuticalTechnology, Dekker, 2001*
*Robert A. Buerki and Gregory J. Higby, “His-tory of Dosage Forms and Basic Preparations,”Encyclopedia of Pharmaceutical Technology,Dekker, 2001.
Moxa: Moxa are cones of combustiblematter used for cauterization byburning (see Cones). Moxibustion,the burning of moxa, was an ancientmethod of counter-irritation or cau-tery arising out of China. Smallcones of combustible organic ma-terial (originally Artimesia moxa orcommon mugwort) were placed oncertain areas of the skin, ignited,and allowed to burn down, leavinga blister. Moxa entered Westernmedicine in the seventeenth centuryas a treatment for gout but fell intodisuse a century later along withother forms of cautery.
Cones, medicated: Cones are light, po-rous hemispherical masses of su-crose and egg albumin, used as avehicle for homeopathic medica-tions. The cones, also called disks,
What Is It?
“A correspondent in Smyrnahas kindly furnished a sketch, show-ing the primitive manner in whichopium is weighed there. . . . It showsthe form of the “Cantar,” or steel-yards, which is suspended from apole, resing on the shoulders of twoporters.
Any movement of either ofthese porters, at the moment ofweighing, will alter it and, therefore,the greatest care is necessary. The“Cantar” is divided by notches onthe upper angle, into Okes and frac-tions of Okes of Constantinople.
Regarding the weight of aChequi, I have to inform you thatthere is no such actual weight; it isonly a nominal weight arrived at bycalculation. [Note—In quotingOpium, say for example—130 Pias-ters per Chequi, of Current qualityOpium.] Formerly the Smyrna kintalwas used—for buying and sellingmerchanise—divided into 45 okes.One kintal weighted 120 poundavoir-dupois, consequently 1 okeweighed 2 2/3 pounds. An oke wasconsidered to be 400 drams (al-though the Smyrna Oke was only380 drams) and 250 drams wereconsidered at 1 chequi.
At present Opium and othermerchandise is weighed by theConstantinople oke, but opium issold by the chequi.
. . .In almost every town in Tur-
key, weights and measures vary. Theturkish government passed a law es-tablished all weights and measuresthroughout the Empire obligatory, inaccordance with the decimal systemin France. This law was to take effectsome two years since, but up to thistime nothing more has been heard ofit—a dead letter, like most all at-tempts of Turkish reforms.”—Circu-lar No. 31 Philadelphia Drug Ex-change. (Am. Jour. Pharm. Oct.,1875)
are designated (in millimeters) ac-cording to size by the diameter ofthe base. The common size (No. 6)should abssorb about 2 drops of dis-pensing alcohol. Cones are medi-cated by adding a sufficient quan-tity of the dilution to saturate themand pouring off the excess liquid.
Confections: Confections are saccarine,soft solids, in which one or moremedicinal substances are incorpo-rated to provide an agreeable formof administration and a convenientmethod for preservation. In the thir-teenth century, some apothecarieswere called confectionarii fromconfectio meaning “a composi-tion.” Confections are made byadding medicinal ingredients in ei-ther the form of a smooth paste, afine powder, or a liquid to a basis
of finely powdered sugar. Confec-tion of Rose and Confection ofSenna were official in the NationalFormulary through the 5th edition(1926).
“Permits for the manufacture of 2,000,000 gallons of medicinal whisky during 1930 will be issued by theBureau of Prohibition to concentration warehousemen who were engaged in distilling before the passageof the national prohibition law . . . . The actual supply of whisky now on hand is 9,549,017 gallons . . . andthis is a supply for five years, based on the average withdrawals of from 1,500,000 to 1,650,000 gallonsper year. The whisky must age four years before being prescribed, and it is estimated that the 2,000,000gallons to be manufacured next year will by evaporation and soakage be reduced to between 1,600,000gallons and 1,700,000 gallons. The output of ensuing years will be determined by the bureau on the basisof trends in stocks and withdrawals. A margin of one year’s supply of aged whisky is deemed sufficientfor normal conditions.” (Druggists Circular, August 1929, p. 14)
“Two very sedate, middle-aged women came into a Boston drug store and in a somewhat confusedmanner asked for the proprietor, with whom they had a confidential talk regarding their needs. It ap-peared that they were about to go to a summer residence in the country where they had two maids—no man about the place. Fearing possible visits from burglars, the ladies wished the druggist wouldfix them up something in the form of a harmless yet efficacious drug which they were to use to ‘doc-tor’ a decanter of whiskey. (They had decided that this would be a tempting bait.) And this whendrugged was to be left where burglars would find it the first thing, and in the hope that they could notresist a first drink, before beginning their ‘burgling,’ the maiden ladies expected . . . that the menwould be paralyzed and remain so until discovered the next morning. The druggist feared serious re-sults might follow. Whether or not some other pharmacist satisfied their wants is not known. The la-dies had such faith in their idea that they were almost willing to have a burglar break in, merely to seehow the scheme would work.” (Pharmaceutical Era, August 18, 1904, p. 164.)
A September 1954 issue the New York Daily Mirror contained a bit of doggerel by columnist NickKenny praising his local pharmacist:
The Druggist
His place is on the cornerAnd it’s open day and night;When sickness comes how glad we areTo see his shining light.
We jest about his sandwichesWhen everything is calmBut with his drugs and mortarHe’s the doctor’s good right arm.
So toast this friendly fellowAnd give credit where it’s due . . .To the druggist on the cornerJust around the block from you.
(American Druggist, September 27, 1954, p. 6)
“Drug stores in suburban shopping malls where shoppers depend heavily on the automobile experiencedsharp sales declines due to gasoline shortages in some regions of the country. On the other hand, storessituated closer to residential and urban areas of the gas-starved regions felt little impact. In fact, somedrug store operators reported sales gains directly related to the shortage. . . . A spokesman for the Na-tional Association of Retail Druggists described the situation as ‘an absolute mess’ for some drug storesand predicted that sales would continue to fall for the rest of the summer unless the shortages were rem-edied soon. . . . Although prescription sales have been normal for the most part, drug supply deliverieshave been spotty. . . . Drug wholesalers complained of difficulty making routine deliveries of goods todrug stores in gasoline-deficient areas.” (American Druggist, August 1979, p. 10)
16 Apothecary’s Cabinet
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