CHRONICLES OF PHARMACY




  [Illustration]

                      MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

                      LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA
                               MELBOURNE

                         THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

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                   THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA. LTD.

                                TORONTO




                             CHRONICLES OF
                               PHARMACY

                                  BY

                             A. C. WOOTTON

                                VOL. II

                      MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

                      ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON

                                 1910




                    RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED,
                     BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND
                           BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

                       PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN




                               CONTENTS

                                VOL. II


    CHAPTER                                                        PAGE

       XV. ANIMALS IN PHARMACY                                        1

      XVI. REMINISCENCES OF ANCIENT PHARMACY                         32

     XVII. PHARMACOPŒIAS                                             59

    XVIII. SHAKESPEARE’S PHARMACY                                    70

      XIX. SOME NOTED DRUGS                                          86

       XX. FAMILIAR MEDICINES AND SOME NOTES OF THEIR HISTORIES     121

      XXI. NOTED NOSTRUMS                                           161

     XXII. POISONS IN HISTORY                                       220

    XXIII. PHARMACY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY                       243

     XXIV. NAMES AND SYMBOLS                                        276

           INDEX                                                    313




                             ILLUSTRATIONS

                                VOL. II


                                                     PAGE

    Preparation of Theriaca                            45

    Lemnian earth seals                                54

    Title-page of London Pharmacopœia                  63

    The Apothecary                                     81

    Aloe in Flower                                     87

    Aloe at Chelsea                                    88

    Castor oil plant                                   90

    Dr. Huxham                                        101

    Charles Ledger                                    107

    William Withering, M.D.                           110

    Preparation of Guaiacum Remedies                  113

    Dr. James Gregory                                 137

    Dr. Gregory’s Prescription                        138

    Patrick Anderson, M.D.                            168

    Dr. James                                         187

    John St. John Long                                193

    Joshua Ward                                       209

    Horace Wells                                      250

    Sir James Young Simpson, M.D.                     253

    Friedrich Wöhler                                  258

    August Kekulé                                     262

    A. W. von Hofmann                                 264

    Alchemical symbols                      308, 309, 310




                                ERRATA

                                VOL. II


    Page  31. _Ninth line from top, for_ Clestis _read_ Celestis.

      „   46. _Bottom line, additional reference_: Vol. I., 124.

      „   166. _Seventh line from bottom, for_ Magnetic _read_ Metallic.




                               ERRATUM.


The acknowledgment at the foot of page 308, of the source of the
symbols illustrated on that page, is incorrect. The symbols in question
are reproduced from Mr. C. J. S. Thompson’s book, _The Mystery and
Romance of Alchemy and Pharmacy_, published by the Scientific Press,
Ltd.




                        CHRONICLES OF PHARMACY




                                  XV

                          ANIMALS IN PHARMACY

   Their next business is, from herbs, minerals, gums, oils,
   shells, salts, juices, sea-weed, excrements, barks of trees,
   serpents, toads, frogs, spiders, dead men’s flesh and bones,
   birds, beasts, and fishes, to form a composition for smell
   and taste the most abominable, nauseous, and detestable they
   can possibly contrive.--SWIFT, _A Voyage to the
   Houyhnhms_, Chap. VI.


                    ANIMAL SUBSTANCES IN PHARMACY.

The inclination to find medicinal virtues in parts of animals is not
altogether unreasonable in its origin. Savages eat the hearts of lions
and tigers to acquire some of the courage and fierceness of those
beasts; and a similar instinct would suggest various organs of animals
for use in medicine. The employment of foxes’ lungs in asthmatic
and bronchial complaints, for example, seems a most natural remedy
to try, and as the lohoch, in which form these lungs were generally
administered, was made up with other demulcents, it is not surprising
that it should have been often found efficacious. In this section
illustrations of the extravagant extent to which faith in medicines of
this character has been carried will be given.


                OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED ANIMAL MEDICINES.

Remedies obtained from the animal kingdom were employed by the
Egyptian, the Greek, and the Roman physicians. The Arabs, though they
introduced musk, kermes, and bezoar into medicine, were not largely
interested in animal products in their materia medica. The adoption of
revolting preparations of this class developed rapidly in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, curiously enough alongside the introduction
of the new chemical remedies. The appended list of animals and animal
products which were made official in the London Pharmacopœias of the
seventeenth century, namely, those of 1618, 1650, and 1677, will
serve to demonstrate the diligence which had been exercised by the
practitioners of that period in ransacking the world of animal life for
possible means of alleviating human ills.

Ambergris, ants.

Bee-glue from entrances and cracks of hives, bezoar stones, blood of
badger, bat, bull, cat, dog, frog, goat (he- and she-), goose, hare,
man, partridge, pig, pigeon, stag, tortoise; bones of hare (heel-bone),
oxen (leg), pigs (ankle), stags (heart and heel; the latter called the
astragalus), and the triangular bone of the human skull; brains of
hares and sparrows; butter, fresh and salt; buttermilk.

Cantharides, castor, caviare, cheese (old and new), civet, cochineal,
cock’s-comb, coral (white and red), crabs’ claws, crabs’ eyes,
crayfish, cuttlefish, cygnets.

Eggs of ants, hens, and ostriches; egg-shells; earthworms; excrements
of the cow, dog, he-goat, goose, hen, horse, horse (not castrated),
man, mouse, peacock, pigeon, sheep, swallow, wolf.

Fat, lard, or grease from the badger, bear, beaver, boar, bull, bull
calf, camel, capon, dog, duck, eel, fox, goat, goose, hare, hedgehog,
hen, heron, horse, leopard, lion, man, mountain-mouse, pike, pig,
rabbit, ram, snake, stork, thymallos (grayling), vulture, wild cat,
wolf, and from cut wool; feathers of partridges, fur of the hare,
frog’s spawn, and hairs of the silkworm, are among the curious animal
products named. Green frogs are specially ordered.

Gall of the bear, bull, cow, he-goat, she-goat, hare, hawk, kite, ox,
and pig; grasshoppers.

Ham of pig; heart of bullock, pig, stag, wether; honey and virgin
honey; hoof of ass, elk, she-goat, pig; horns of elk, goat, rhinoceros,
stag, unicorn.

Isinglass; intestines of wolf and fox; jaw of pike.

Larks, leeches, lynx claws; liver of ass, duck, frog, otter, wild boar,
wolf; lungs of bear, fox, lamb, pig.

Marrow from leg of bull, bull calf, calf, cow, dog, she-goat, lamb, ox,
sheep, stag; milk of ass, cow, ewe, goat, woman; mole, mummy, musk.

Omentum (bowel membrane) of the calf, lamb, ram, and wether.

Pearls and mother of pearl, perspiration, pickle or sauce from the
tunny fish, puppies.

Rennet of calf, hare, horse, kid, lamb.

Saliva of a fasting man; scorpions (land); secundines (afterbirth)
of a woman; sexual parts of bull, cock, horse, and stag; silk (raw);
silkworms’ cocoons. Inner skin of a hen’s stomach; skinks; skull of
a man who has met with a violent death, and moss from that skull;
sparrows (house and hedge); spermaceti; spleen of ox; sponge; spiders’
webs; cast-off snake’s skin; sea-shells (various kinds named);
swallows’ nests; stone from the heads of carp and perch, from ox-gall,
from human bladders (see also bezoar stones and crabs’ eyes); suet of
badger, calf, cow, goat, ox, sheep, stag.

Teeth of elephants (ivory), wild boar, sea-horse, tench, toads.

Urine of boar, bull, dog, he-goat, man. In the last-named case the
urine of a child not arrived at the age of puberty, and of an adult
man, are separately indicated.

Vipers’ flesh.

Wagtails; wax (white, red, and yellow); whelks; whey; woodlice.

In contrast with the list quoted above, representing the animal
pharmacy of the seventeenth century may be placed the following
fifteen articles which cover the zoology of the British Pharmacopœia
of 1898:--Cantharides, cod-liver oil, cochineal, honey, lard, leeches,
musk, ox-bile, pepsin, spermaceti, mutton, suet, sugar of milk, thyroid
gland, wax, wool fat.


                       HOMO: MAN AS A MEDICINE.

Man being the microcosm of the universe (the macrocosm) medicines of
human origin figured very prominently in old pharmacopœias. In Lemery’s
“Dictionnaire Universelle des Drogues Simples,” which was a standard
authority all over Europe, at least until the end of the eighteenth
century, the author presents a summary of the medicinal uses to which
the various parts of “Homo” were applied. I quote (but slightly
abbreviate) from the edition of Lemery’s Dictionary of 1759:--

“All parts of man, his excrescences and excrements, contain oil and
sal volatile, combined with phlegm and earth. Skull, brain, and
calculus are employed in medicine, and are referred to in their proper
places. Burning hair, smelt by patients, will counteract the vapours.
Moss of the human skull, human blood, and human urine all have their
uses in medicine. The saliva of a robust young man, taken fasting, is
an antidote against the bites of serpents and mad dogs. Wax from the
ears is good against whitlows. Nails from the fingers and toes, given
internally either in substance or infused in wine, make a good emetic.
Women’s milk is pectoral, good in phthisis, and useful to apply to
inflamed eyes. Fresh urine, two or three glasses drunk in the morning
fasting, is good against gout, hysterical vapours, and obstructions.
It may also be applied externally in gout and in skin complaints.
Excrement of man can be applied to anthrax, plague bubos, and quinsies.
Dried and powdered, it is recommended in epilepsy and intermittent
fevers. Dose, one scruple to one drachm.”

Bechler, in “Parnassus Medicinalis,” 1663, quoted in Peter’s “History
of Pharmacy,” says:--

“Powdered human bone, in red wine, will cure dysentery. The marrow
and oil distilled from bone is good for rheumatism. Prepared human
skull is a sure cure for the falling sickness (epilepsy). Moss grown
on a skull is a hæmostatic. Mummy dissolves coagulated blood, relieves
cough and pain in the spleen, and is very beneficial in flatulency and
delayed menstruation. Human fat properly rubbed into the skin restores
weak limbs. The wearing of a belt of human skin facilitates labour and
mitigates its pain. Water distilled from human hair and mixed with
honey promotes the growth of hair.”

The Liquor Cranii Humani was a highly-prized remedy. It was prepared
from unburied skulls, those of criminals for preference. Pomet (1694)
says he had been informed by Moses Charas, who had lived for some time
in England, that “The London druggists sell skulls of the dead upon
which there has grown a little greenish moss called Usnea, because it
resembles the moss which grows on the oak. These skulls mostly come
from Ireland, where they frequently let the bodies of criminals hang
on the gibbet till they fall to pieces.” The market price of skulls at
that time varied in London from 8s. to 11s. each, according to size,
but those with plenty of moss made fancy prices. They were largely used
for compounding the “Sympathetic Ointment,” described by Crollius in
his “Royal Chemist,” and were recommended in epilepsy. Germany was the
principal market. The pharmaceutical authorities of that day were very
decided about the superior virtue of the skulls of persons who had died
violent deaths. Lemery (1738) orders: “To make the Magistry of human
skull. Calcine the skull and powder finely.” But he adds the useful
comment, “This Magistry is only a dead-head of no virtue unless you
employ the skull of a young man who died a violent death.”

In a paper “On the Deaths of some Eminent Persons,” printed by
Sir H. Halford in 1835, it is stated that in the last illness of
Charles II, when he was suffering from a stroke of apoplexy, one of
the prescriptions, signed by four physicians, ordered among other
ingredients 25 drops of the spirit drawn from human skulls.

Sir Theodor Mayerne’s famous Powder de Gutteta (anti-epileptic powder)
contained amber, crystal, and hartshorn vitriolated, various roots and
seeds, and flowers, “human skull, both crude and vitriolated, secundine
of a woman,” gold and silver leaf, ambergris, etc. Fifty years later
valerian alone was thought to be as effective.

Human fat was regarded as an excellent remedy in rheumatism. Pomet
(1694) complains that at that time the business of the apothecaries
in this luxury was seriously crippled by the competition of the
public executioners. But he points out that the article provided in
the pharmacies was incomparably superior to that which came from the
scaffolds, because it was prepared with aromatic herbs.

Human excrement and human urine were strongly recommended by many of
the chief authorities. Mme. de Sévigné, writing to her daughter on June
13, 1685, says:--“For my vapours I take 8 drops of essence of urine,
and contrary to its usual action it has prevented me from sleeping.”
There are other references to this delicate remedy in some other of her
letters. Apparently she took a special combination of the essence with
the Baume Tranquille.

Culpepper says: “That small triangular bone in the skull of a man
called Os Triquetum, so absolutely cures the Falling Sickness that it
will never come again, saith Paracelsus.” Culpepper also states that
“the fat of a man is exceeding good to anoint such limbs as fall away
in the flesh.” Lemery explains how to make a plaster from the blood of
a healthy young man, after drying it, which was useful in old ulcers.

Paracelsus had a “Primum Ens Sanguinis,” which was fresh blood from a
healthy young person. Crollius gives a recipe for an eye salve, which
was to divide a human brain into half; mix one half with honey and
apply it at night; dry and powder the other half and apply it in the
morning.


                        COW-DUNG AS A MEDICINE.

A female pharmacist is mentioned in Salmon’s “Bate’s Dispensatory”
(1694), who, he says, made a fortune of £20,000 by selling a tincture
made from cow-dung. Her formula was, cow-dung, fresh gathered in the
morning, 12 lbs.; spring or rain water, 30 lb. Digest for twenty-four
hours, let it settle, and decant the clear brown tincture. Salmon says
it is no doubt a good medicine, and has been much used with success.
“It has a pretty kind of sweet scent as if it was perfumed with musk
or some other odoriferous thing.” An essence of cow-dung was an old
English household remedy for gout, rheumatism, stone, etc. It was from
cow-dung gathered in May; digested with a third of its weight in white
wine, and distilled. In another old formula cow-dung and snails with
their shells, equal parts, are prescribed. The resulting distillate was
known as all-flower water, aqua omnium florum, and aqua arthritica.
Dr. Rutherford, of Edinburgh, in the eighteenth century strongly
recommended cow-dung poultice in rheumatic fever, and asserted that
he had known of many cures from its use. It has been for centuries a
popular article in the Hindu materia medica. The phosphate of soda and
benzoic acid (which are the medicinal constituents of cow-dung) are
better suited to modern fastidious patients in the form of laboratory
products.


                       EXCREMENTS AS MEDICINES.

It will be observed from the list of the excrements used in medicine
officially recognised in the early London Pharmacopœias already given
that those from various animals were specified. Excrements as remedies
are at least as old as Dioscorides, whose work contains a special
chapter devoted to an appreciation of the distinguishing virtues of the
various sorts of dungs. Pliny likewise names many sorts, and states
what are their particular properties.

It is evident that these substances became very popular as household
remedies among the peasantry of European countries. In his treatise “On
Salts,” Glauber (about 1650) explains how satisfactorily certain of
these chemical products can take the place of the unpleasant remedies
in use among the peasantry of his time. He says: “They purge the bodies
of boys and girls with mouse dung, horse dung, and goose dung; these
dissolved in wine or beer, and strained through linen cloths, they use
to cure falling sickness by sweat. In the cure of erysipelas or burns
and scalds, they use hogs’ dung; in all kinds of swelling, sheep’s
dung; in a quinsy, dogs’ turd or human dung.”

Glauber states that he had known of wonderful cures effected by these
remedies. But the reason was simple. Human dung, for example, is
nothing but bread and flesh reduced into their first matters, all
their bonds being loosened and rendered fit for the exercise of their
virtues. The essential constituent is a salt not unlike the sal enixon
of Paracelsus.

The mention of this great teacher leads Glauber to relate that once
some physicians and noblemen asked Paracelsus to tell them some great
secret of medicine. In reply he told them that incredible virtues were
hidden in human dung. Whereupon they were very angry and departed,
considering that he was mocking them. Paracelsus made a remedy which
he called Zebethum Occidentale from human dung, dried and powdered.
He also recommended a child’s excrement to be distilled twice, and to
use the oily distillate for fistulas, canker, and as an application for
premature baldness.

Album Græcum, which was dried white dogs’ turds, was regularly stocked
by the apothecaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and was
given in colic and dysentery, but more generally applied externally
to abscesses, ulcers, and quinsies. In Robert Boyle’s “Collection
of Medicines,” 1696, “a homely but experienced medicine for a sore
throat,” is said to be one drachm of album græcum made into a linctus
with honey of roses.

Pigeons’ dung was reputed to be so violently heating that it was
almost a caustic. Applied to the soles of the feet it would draw the
humours down, but Quincy remarks there was no reason for believing that
it attracted the peccant humours only. Fuller prescribes a poultice
containing Venice turpentine, pigeons’ dung, and spiders’ webs to be
fastened to the wrists two hours before a fit of ague is expected, to
ward it off. Pectoral drinks were much improved medicinally, especially
for pleurisies, if some dung of stallions had been steeped in them.


                    MISCELLANEOUS ANIMAL REMEDIES.

It is not possible in a short space to exhaust this unsavory topic, but
a few of the more notable applications of animals or animal derivatives
may be briefly mentioned.

Pigeons were cut in half while they were alive and applied to the feet
of patients. Pepys alludes two or three times to this and always as an
indication that the case is nearly hopeless. The Queen of Charles II
was one of the instances.

Oil of Puppies was made by cutting up two newly born ones and boiling
them in a varnished pot for twelve hours with one pound of live
earthworms. Very good for strengthening the nerves, for sciatica, and
for paralysis, says Lemery. The gall of a black puppy, says Schroder,
cures epilepsy to a wonder. It had to be prepared with vinegar. Ambrose
Paré says he got a recipe from a famous surgeon at Turin for a balm
with which he treated gun-shot wounds with extraordinary success. It
was to boil young whelps just born with earthworms, Venice turpentine,
and oil of lilies.

Fox lungs were prepared for medicines by first separating them from
the blood-vessels, then washing them in white wine in which hyssop and
scabious had been boiled. After drying gently the lungs were kept wrapt
up in hyssop, wormwood, or horehound.

Swallows, hedgehogs, toads, and frogs were prepared by cutting their
throats and leaving the blood to dry on them. They were then baked in a
close vessel well covered.

Snails were made into a cough syrup by hanging them in a bag with sugar
and catching the droppings.

Earthworms had a great reputation for the relief of lung complaints.
They were also administered with great confidence, dried and powdered,
to children to drive away internal worms. Woodlice, bruised and
digested in Rhine wine, made the Vinum Millepedarum given in dropsy
and jaundice. Lice and bugs were also honoured remedies. The latter
digested in wine or vinegar had the singular power of expelling leeches
which might have been accidentally swallowed.

Culpepper quotes from Mizaldus, perhaps sarcastically, a very wonderful
property of earthworms, which is that the powder of them put in a
hollow tooth makes it drop out. He gives another way of making a tooth
drop out, which was to “fill an earthenware crucible full of emmets,
ants, or pismires, call them by which name you will, eggs and all, and
when you have burnt them keep the ashes, with which if you touch the
tooth it will drop out.”

The same authority offers a drink cure which looks as if it might be
effectual. “Eels being put into wine or beer and suffered to die in
it, he that drinks it will never endure that sort of liquor again.” He
recommends the brain of a hare roasted to help children to breed their
teeth; a dead mouse, dried and powdered, one whole one to be taken each
morning for three consecutive days, for diabetes; grasshoppers for
colic; and hedge-sparrows salted for stone.

Deers’ fat strengthened the nerves, and relieved rheumatism and gout.
Hares’ grease applied outwardly ripened swellings. Rabbits’ fat had
a dispersing power. The fat of cocks and hens would soften hard
swellings. Goose grease was specially good against piles, deafness,
and to prevent pitting after the small-pox. Bears’ grease, still sold
nominally, could be had in genuine form in this country a hundred years
ago. Bears were at that time fattened and killed in this country for
their grease, and until even more recent times they were imported from
Russia. The principal use of bears’ grease was always to make the hair
grow, but it was also used as an emollient for many purposes.

The lion had a high reputation among the Romans for its medicinal
value. The fat was used as an ointment in affections of the joints,
and combined with oil of roses as the best cosmetic for preserving
the delicacy of the complexion. An aqueous tincture of the gall was
used for weak eyes, and a mixture of the gall with the fat of the lion
taken in small doses was esteemed an excellent remedy for epilepsy.
Roasted lion’s heart was given in fevers. It was believed that no wild
beast would attack anyone anointed with lions’ fat, and that this same
treatment would prevent human treachery. These statements are found in
Pliny. The lion rather fell out of use in more modern times. Its fat
was prescribed in the P.L. 1618, and in James’s “Dispensatory,” 1747,
is said to be successful in anointing limbs numbed with cold, and also
to put in the ears for the relief of earache.

The flesh of the tiger is still eaten by the Malays to impart courage
and sagacity. Marcellus quotes a prescription by Democritus of Abderos
(contemporary with Hippocrates) for nervous diseases. It consisted of
the spinal marrow of a hyena mixed with his gall, all boiled together
in old oil.

The cat has been largely used in medicine. Galen recommends the head
of a black cat to be burned in a glazed vessel, and the ashes to be
used in diseases of the eye, including cataract. Pliny says that the
fæces of this animal mixed with mustard cured ulcers in the head.
Sylvius prescribed cats’ flesh for hæmorrhoids and lumbago. In Lemery’s
“Pharmacopœia” a cat ointment is ordered. It was to be made from a
newly born kitten cut up into small pieces in a pot varnished with
crushed earthworms. Cats’ fæces were employed in the eighteenth century
as an application for baldness, and cat’s skin was recommended to be
worn over the stomach for strengthening the digestion.

Montaigne states that in his time physicians prescribed as choice
remedies the left foot of a tortoise, the liver of a mole, and blood
drawn from under the wing of a white pigeon.

Queen Anne’s “Oculist and Operator on the Eyes in Ordinary,” a quack
named Read whom she knighted, comments in his writings on the practice
of putting a louse in the eye when it is dull and obscure and wanteth
humours and spirits. This, he says, “tickleth and pricketh so that it
maketh the eye moist and rheumatick and quickeneth the spirits.”

Oil of ants made by pounding two ounces of live ants and macerating
them in eight ounces of olive oil for forty days was used as a
stimulating liniment. Oil of spiders and earthworms was prescribed by
Mindererus for anointing in small-pox and plague. He recommended it
as being equal to the oil of scorpions, which was a very complicated
combination of drugs devised by Matthiolus. Spiders have been often
employed in medicine. A live spider rolled up in butter and swallowed
as a pill was a seventeenth century cure for jaundice. Spiders taste
like nuts, says Lalande. Galen recommended spiders’ eggs mixed with oil
of nard for toothache. Elias Ashmole in his “Diary” (1681) writes: “I
took early in the morning a good dose of elixir and hung three spiders
about my neck, and they drove my ague away. Deo gratias.” Spiders’ webs
were frequently used as a febrifuge, and are well-known to be excellent
to stop bleeding. Oil of lizards, twelve of them cooked alive in three
pounds of nut oil, was esteemed a good application against hernia.
Oil of frogs prepared in a similar way was applied to the temples to
promote sleep.


                            BEZOAR STONES.

Bezoar stones acquired their fame in the East, and were introduced
to European medicine by the Arabs. The name is of Persian origin,
Pad-zahr, meaning an expeller of poisons. The earliest reference known
to Bezoar stones in Europe is by Avenzoar, an Arab physician who
practised in Seville about the year 1000. They were included in the
London Pharmacopœias from 1618 to 1746.

There were many kinds of bezoar stones sold. The most esteemed was
the lapis bezoar orientale. This came from Persia and was supposed to
be obtained from the intestines of the Persian wild goat. It was a
calculus which had formed itself by deposits of phosphate of lime round
some nucleus, such as hair, or the stone of a fruit. One in the museum
of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital has a date stone for nucleus. It was
believed that the special virtues of the stone were due to some unknown
plant on which the animal fed.

A certain kind of ape also yielded bezoar stones. These were obtained
by giving the ape an emetic. There were, besides, the lapis bezoar
occidentale, procured from the llamas of Peru; and the bezoar
Germanorum got from the chamois of the Swiss mountains. These never
commanded the same confidence as those from the East. The latter are
stated by Paris and Redwood and other writers to have sold for ten
times their weight in gold. No authority, however, is given for that
assertion.

In a paper read before the Royal Society of London, in 1714, by
Frederick Slare, F.R.C.S., the claims of the bezoar stone to the
possession of medical virtues are boldly challenged; and in the
course of the paper the author states that the price varied from about
£3 to £5 per ounce in London. He mentions that he had asked a London
druggist, one “of the upper Size,” how many ounces of bezoar stones he
sold yearly. He said about 500 ounces. I presume he was a wholesale
druggist. Perhaps this is implied by the expression “of the upper
Size.” Mr. Slare uses this fact in support of his suggestion that a
large proportion of the imports of these precious commodities, though
they came from India or Persia right enough, had never been inside any
wild goat, antelope, or ape. He records experiments which go to show
this, and also gave letters from medical officers in India, men quite
competent to judge, who manifested in this particular a surprising
degree of innocence. It would have been strange if the wily oriental
had refrained from practising his skill on his confiding Western
customers.

Mr. Slare tells us that the stone was only found in about one goat out
of seven killed, and that it took some twelve stones to make an ounce,
which worked out to nearly 50,000 goats to be slain annually to keep
this one London druggist supplied.

The original use of the bezoar was as an antidote to poisons. It came
to be the valued remedy for all kinds of fevers, was applied externally
in many skin diseases, and had the reputation of being able to cure
even leprosy. The dose of the oriental bezoar was from 4 to 16 grains;
of the occidental 6 to 30 grains. They were also carried about in gold
or silver boxes as amulets. In Portugal in time of plague the stones
were let out at about the equivalent of ten shillings a day. Some
designed for this use may still be seen in museums. Bezoar stones were
required to be of an olive-greenish tint, to be striated, and to yield
a musky odour. They were further expected to strike a green colour when
rubbed on white paper which had previously been prepared with chalk.

The alchemists prepared a mineral bezoar, by treating butter of
antimony with nitric acid. They got antimonious acid. The livers and
hearts of vipers dried in the sun furnished the animal bezoar; and a
stony concretion sometimes found in cocoa-nuts, and in high repute
among the Malays as a medicine was called vegetable bezoar or calatippe.

The importance attached to bezoar stones in the seventeenth century,
and, incidentally, their liability to falsification, are illustrated by
a minute in the records of the Society of Apothecaries, dated May 25th,
1630, as follows:--

   Pretended bezar stones sent by the Lord Mayor to be viewed were
   found to be false and counterfiet and fitt to be destroyed and
   the whole table [or as we should say, the Court] certified the
   same to the Lord Mayor.

A little later, it appears that the case of these stones was tried
at the Guildhall, a jury composed partly of druggists and partly of
apothecaries being empannelled. This jury confirmed the verdict of the
table of apothecaries and the bezoar stones were duly burnt.

Three bezoar stones were sent by the Shah of Persia as a royal gift for
his brother the Emperor Napoleon, only a hundred years ago.

Ambrose Paré, who wrote in the later half of the sixteenth century, was
one of the few eminent doctors who discredited the alleged medicinal
virtue of the bezoards. He was surgeon to Charles IX, and relates
that one day, the king being at Clermont, a Spanish nobleman brought
him a bezoar stone which he assured him was an antidote against all
poisons. The king sent for Paré and asked him if he knew any substance
which would annul the effects of any poison. Paré said that could not
be, for there were many sorts of poisons which acted in very different
ways. The Spanish nobleman, however, maintained that this stone was a
universal antidote, and the king was eager to test the question. So the
Provost of the Palace was sent for and asked if he had any criminal in
his charge condemned to death. He said he had a cook who had stolen
two silver dishes, and who was to be hanged the next day. The offer
was thereupon made to the cook that he should take a poison, and an
alleged antidote immediately afterwards, and if he escaped with his
life he should go free. The cook gladly consented, and an apothecary
was ordered to prepare a deadly draught and give it, and to follow
this with a dose of the bezoar. This was done. The poor wretch lived
for about seven hours in terrible agony, which Paré tried in vain to
relieve. After his death Paré opened him and showed that the antidote
had no effect at all. It was sublimate which had been given. “And the
king commanded that the stone should be thrown into the fire; which was
done.”

Paré’s authority was considerable, but it was by no means strong enough
to destroy public faith in the bezoar. According to Pomet and Lemery
the demand for the stones was so great in France more than a century
later that it was difficult to get them genuine except at fancy prices.
A stone of 4¼ oz. was sold for 2,000 livres (say £75). In Savary’s
“Dictionnaire de Commerce” (1741) it is stated that when bezoars
arrived at Amsterdam they fetched from 300 to 400 livres apiece. They
were bought by rich citizens either to serve as presents, or to be
kept in their families.


                   GASCOYNE’S OR GASCOIGN’S POWDER.

In the paper by Mr. Slare read before the Royal Society already
referred to the author comments with similar severity on the then
popular Gascoign’s Powder. As evidence of the fame it possessed he
says he had been told that a certain “grandee of the faculty” had got
above £50,000 by prescribing this compound. I suppose this meant he had
received that amount in fees for prescriptions ordering that medicine.
Taking advantage of the reverence in which bezoar was held by that
generation, Gascoign’s Powder had assumed as a second title the name
of bezoardic powder. It was also known as the Powder of the Black Tops
of Crab-claws, from the ingredient in largest quantity. The professed
composition of Gascoign’s Powder as given by Mr. Slare was oriental
bezoar, white amber, hartshorn in powder, pearls, crabs’ eyes, coral,
and black tops of crabs’ claws. Naturally a powder of such costly
ingredients was sold at a very high price. Mr. Slare recommends chalk
and salt of wormwood as being in all respects as good. The former was
cheap enough then; and of the salt he says two pounds could be got for
the price of half an ounce of the compound.


                                VIPERS.

Both in ancient and comparatively modern times vipers have been held
in the highest esteem for their medicinal virtues, and viper fat,
viper broth, and viper wine are used to this day in some remote parts
of Britain, and to a still greater extent on the Continent. In some
districts of France heads of vipers enclosed in little silk bags are
worn by children to preserve them from croup and convulsions.

It was the addition of vipers to the confection of Mithridates that
constituted the principal improvement effected by Andromachus in his
composition of the electuary which came to be known as theriakon, and
subsequently as theriaca. Therion was Greek for a wild beast, but
came to mean specially a venomous serpent, and the compound may have
been called theriaca either to indicate that vipers were an important
ingredient, or that it would cure their bites.

According to Dr. Mead, Antonius Musa, physician to Octavius Cæsar, was
one of the first physicians who recommended the flesh of vipers for
medicinal use. Pliny states that he quickly cured inveterate ulcers by
this remedy. It is possible, however, that Musa acquired his knowledge
of this remedy from a Greek physician named Craterus, who had advised
that in certain wasting diseases vipers should be eaten, dressed as
fish. In Galen’s time vipers had become common medicines, and were
probably taken to some extent as a nourishing food.

Moses Charas studied vipers very closely, and wrote a treatise on
their use in medicine (1669) which had a great reputation. He adopted
the curious view of Van Helmont that the poison of the viper, which
was supposed to be contained in the animal’s saliva, was not there
normally, but was created as the effect of rage and terror. According
to Charas, the head of the viper, grilled and eaten, would cure its
bite, or hung to the neck would cure quinsy. The brain similarly hung
on the neck of an infant would greatly assist in cutting the teeth. The
skin fastened round the right thigh of a woman was an excellent aid
to delivery in childbirth; if given to dogs, cooked or raw, it would
cure mange. The fat was a valuable application in gout, or for tumours.
Those treatments he had verified by his own experience. Other virtues
attributed to vipers were mentioned, but he had not proved them, and
could not conscientiously guarantee their existence. One was that the
person who swallowed the liver of a viper could not be bitten by any
kind of serpent during the ensuing six months.

Madame de Sévigné, was a firm believer in the medicinal value of
vipers. Writing to her daughter in 1679 she says: “Madame de Lafayette
is taking viper broth, which much strengthens her eyesight.” In 1685
she informs her son: “It is to vipers I am indebted for the abundant
health I now enjoy. They temper, purify, and refresh the blood. But
it is essential to have the vipers themselves, and not the powder,
which is heating unless taken in broth, boiled cream, or something
refreshing.” Then she goes on to advise him to get M. de Boissy to send
him ten dozen vipers from Poitou in a case divided into three or four
compartments lined with hay and moss, so that they can be kept at their
ease. He is to take two every morning. The heads are to be cut off, the
bodies to be scalded and cut into small pieces, and used to stuff a
fowl. He is to continue this treatment for a month.

The early London Pharmacopœias gave the following form for the
Trochisci Viperum required in the preparation of Theriaca: Remove the
skin, entrails, head, fat and tail, and boil the flesh of vipers in
8 oz. of water with dill and a little salt, add 2 oz. of white bread
twice toasted, ground and sifted, and make into troches, your hands
being anointed with opobalsamum or expressed oil of nutmeg. Dry them on
a sieve turned bottom upwards in an open place. Turn them frequently
until they are quite dry, and keep them in a well-stopped glass or
glazed vessel. They will keep good for a year, but it is better to make
the treacle with them as soon after they are made as possible.

Quincy (1724) had great confidence in their virtues. He writes,
“That they are Balsamic and greatly Restorative is confirm’d by long
Experience; for we have many instances in Physical Histories of Persons
arriving at a healthful old age by their frequent use, as well as
others who recover’d from deplorable Decays and Weaknesses.” Then
he proceeds at considerable length to compare the juices of these
animals with those of terebinthous plants, which are mostly evergreens.
“Moreover they have been experienc’d to do wonders in cutaneous cases;
the Force and Activity of their parts breaking thro’ the little
obstructions in the Miliary Glands, which turn into Ichor, Scabs, and
Blotches” (those old practitioners knew exactly how their remedies
acted); “and by restoring a free perspiration render the skin smooth
and beautiful”; and much more on cures of itch, leprosy, and the worst
skin eruptions.

Viper wine was a very popular tonic. It was believed to cure barrenness
in women. An essence of vipers was believed in as an aphrodisiac, but
Dr. James (1747) tells us that what was then advertised and sold in
London under that name was tincture of cantharides. This author is
sceptical about vipers altogether. He had given the flesh, broth, and
salt of vipers in large quantities, but had come to the conclusion that
the broths and flesh were no better than the broths and flesh of fowl,
veal, or mutton, prepared in the same way, and as to the salt, he was
sure that the salt of hartshorn or any other animal salt would answer
just as well.

The vipers employed for medicine were the common vipers, which in this
country are usually called adders (Vipera communis).

A common recipe for viper broth was to boil together a chicken with a
middling-sized viper from which the head, skin, and entrails had been
removed. These made a quart of good broth.


                               MUMMIES.

The employment of mummies in medicine does not seem to have been very
ancient, nor did it become permanent. Who introduced it is not known.
Ephraim Chambers in his Cyclopœdia (1738) says, “Mummy is said to have
been first brought into use in medicine by the malice of a Jewish
physician, who wrote that flesh thus embalmed was good for the cure
of divers diseases, and particularly bruises, to prevent the blood’s
gathering and coagulating.” Pomet also says that a Jewish physician had
written about the medicinal value of mummy, but he does not suggest
that he had recommended it out of malice.

The trade in mummies was evidently in the hands of the Jews and
Armenians at the time when Pomet wrote, and, according to him, the
fading popularity of mummy as a medicine was the result of the
rogueries practised by these Jews. He tells of a Guy de la Fontaine,
the King’s physician, who, when visiting in Egypt, went to see a Jew
in Alexandria who traded in mummies, and after some difficulty was
admitted into the Jew’s warehouse, where he saw several bodies piled
one upon another. “After a reflection of a quarter of an hour he asked
him what druggs he made use of, and what sort of bodies were fit for
his service. The Jew answered that as to the dead he took such bodies
as he could get, whether they died of a common disease or of some
contagion. As to the druggs, they were nothing but a heap of some old
druggs mixed together which he applied to the bodies, which after he
had dried in an oven he sent into Europe, and was amazed to see the
Christians were lovers of such filthiness.” This very frank Jew must
have been on the point of retiring from business.

Pomet regrets that he is not able to stop the abuses of the dealers
in this commodity, so he has to content himself with advising those
who buy mummy to choose what is of a fine shining black, not full of
bones and dirt, and of a good smell. He also tells us it is good for
contusions, and to prevent the blood from coagulating in the body
(1694).

Ambrose Paré, who wrote before Pomet, was even more suspicious. He
mentions that it was held by some that the mummies then in use were
made and fashioned in France; that they were bodies stolen at night
from the gibbets, the brains and entrails removed, and the bodies dried
in a furnace, and then dipped in pitch. Paré states that he never
prescribes mummy.

Oswald Crollius seems to have had no objection to artificial mummies.
In his “Royal Chemist” he gives a process for preparing one. The
carcase of a young man (some say a red-haired young man) who had been
killed, that is, did not die of disease, and, it is to be presumed, had
not been buried, was to lie in cold water in the air for twenty-four
hours. The flesh was to be cut in pieces and sprinkled with myrrh
and a little aloes. This was then to be soaked in spirit of wine and
turpentine for twenty-four hours, hung up for twelve hours, again
soaked in the spirit mixture for twenty-four hours, and finally hung up
in a dry place to dry.

Mummies were principally recommended for consumption, wasting of flesh,
ulcers, and various corruptions.

Nicasius Le Febre, F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry to Charles II, in his
“Compleat Body of Chymistry,” 1670, says the best mummies for medical
use were those of bodies dried up in the hot sands of Lybia, where
sometimes whole caravans were overwhelmed by simooms and suffocated.
“This sudden suffocation doth concentrate the spirits in all the
parts by reason of the fear and sudden surprisal which seizes on the
travellers.” Next to these Lybian mummies Le Febre recommends the dried
corpse of a young lusty man of about 25 to 30 years of age who has been
suffocated or hanged. He gives directions for drying the flesh, smoking
it for a philosophical month, and then it is to be given in doses of
1 to 3 grains with some old treacle (theriaca) and vipers’ flesh made
into an electuary with spirit of wine. It was specially good against
pestilential diseases.


                         DIPPEL’S ANIMAL OIL.

Animal oil, oil of harts’ horns, or empyreumatic oil, as it was
variously called, or Dippel’s animal oil, which was the original, was
highly prized as a medicine in the eighteenth century, and disputed
the palm for nastiness with the balsam of sulphur. Dippel made it from
harts’ horns, but later formulas directed it to be made from any bones,
from blood, or indeed from any animal substance. In distilling the horn
some water first came over, and this was rejected. At the end of the
operation the distillate consisted of carbonate of ammonia in solution
and an empyreumatic oil, very dark and fœtid. The spirit was drawn off
by filtration, and the oil which remained in the filter was rectified
by as many as twenty distillations, the residue increasing at each
operation and the rectified oil becoming paler. As it became brown by
exposure to light it was the practice to put it up in 1 drachm bottles,
which were buried in sand.

The virtues of this preparation were highly vaunted. Frederick Hoffmann
strongly recommended it, especially when fever threatened. Twenty to
thirty drops on a lump of sugar, followed by a glass of wine, were said
to procure a calm and refreshing sleep, often continuing for twenty
hours. It would be almost shorter to enumerate the complaints it was
not recommended for than those which its advocates alleged it would
cure. Epilepsy, apoplexy, palsy, plague, pleurisy, leprosy, and all
skin diseases down to ringworm, fevers, colds, and headaches of all
sorts were said to yield to its virtues.

Johann Conrad Dippel, its inventor and medical sponsor, was a
strange, shifty, but clever adventurer. Born in 1673, near Darmstadt,
his father, a Lutheran minister, hoped to train his son to his own
profession. He was sent when quite a youth to Giessen University, where
he distinguished himself and soon became an ardent controversialist.
At that time the Protestants in Germany were divided into Orthodox and
Pietists, the latter seeking to restore the personal spirituality which
they considered the orthodox Lutherans were burying in formalities.
Young Dippel argued vigorously on the orthodox side, and went to
Strasburg to preach his views. There he also practised alchemy and
cheiromancy and, besides, got mixed up in broils and disturbances. His
inconsistent life compelled him to leave Strasburg, and having spent
some time at Landau, Neustadt, and Worms, he returned to Giessen, where
he became as ardent a Pietist as he had previously been an Orthodox. He
took his degree, and then, having exhausted his father’s funds, took to
travelling, and practised medicine and alchemy, occasionally reverting
to theology, but now denouncing Protestantism in all its diversities.

Getting to Berlin, and securing the confidence of some wealthy
believers, he established a laboratory where he produced this animal
oil and, more important still, in trying to imitate a Florentine lake
from cochineal, accidentally produced Prussian blue, but did not
realise the value of this discovery. He claimed to have succeeded in
making gold, and on the strength of his representations was able to get
deeply into debt, purchasing, among other luxuries, a castle and estate
for fifty thousand florins. In 1707 he was imprisoned for a short time
in Berlin, and when he regained his freedom made his way to Amsterdam.
He took a medical degree at Leyden, and was acquiring a good medical
practice at Amsterdam when his creditors and religious antagonists
compelled him to escape from Holland. He went to Altona and then to
Hamburg, but was ordered to leave both these cities. Copenhagen was
his next home, and there again he suffered imprisonment. He was sent
to the Island of Bornholm, where he practised as a physician until he
was freed on the instructions of the Queen of Denmark. His medical
reputation must have been both wide and high, for in 1727 the King
of Sweden who could not get cured of a malady by his own physicians
sent for Dippel, who completely succeeded. His troubled life seemed
likely now to be exchanged for peace and prosperity, but this was not
to be. The king would willingly have kept Dippel near him, but Sweden
was a Protestant nation, and the clergy and people did not forget his
scoffing attacks on their cherished faith. They would not have him
among them, and Dippel had to return to Germany. After residing for a
short time at Lauenburg and Celle, he at last found a refuge at the
Castle of Wittgenstein, the owner of which, Count Wittgenstein, was
one of his adherents. There he lived from 1729 to 1734. The last event
recorded of him was characteristic. It had been announced that he was
dead. Dippel published an indignant denial, and declared his assurance
that he would not die until the year 1808. The prophecy failed, for the
next year, 1734, he was found dead in bed at the castle of Wittgenstein.

The story of his discovery of Prussian blue is curious. When he was
in Berlin, an artist, named Diesbach, was preparing some Florentine
lake from a combination of alum and cochineal, acted on by sulphate
of iron and fixed alkali. He asked Dippel for some of the alkali left
over in his retort after he had distilled some of his animal oil. This
seemed to spoil the product, for it yielded a blue instead of a crimson
lake. Dippel tried it himself and got the same result. But he did not
appreciate the value of this product, and it was left for Scheele to
trace its chemical history.


                              SPERMACETI.

   “The sovereign’st thing on earth was parmceti for an inward
   bruise.”--_Henry IV._ Part I, Act I, Sc. 3.

Woodall (1639) writing of spermaceti, says, “It is good also against
bruises inwardly taken with Mummia.”

Culpepper (1695) says, “Sperma Cœti is well applied outwardly to eating
ulcers, and the marks which the small-pox leaves behind; it clears the
sight, provokes sweat. Inwardly, it troubles the stomach and belly,
helps bruising and stretching the nerves, and therefore is good for
women newly delivered.”

Dr. James (1747) describes it as a noble medicine and refers to its
chief use for outward application in small-pox to prevent the pitting.
It was melted with oil of almonds, and with this mixture the pustules
were kept moist when they began to harden. He says, “Although this is
but a modern practice in this distemper, yet Schroder takes notice
of its use in his time in smoothing and filling up the fissures or
cavities made by blotches and scabs.”

Schroder was much puzzled by this substance and was doubtful whether
to class it among animal or mineral substances. He decided to include
it among minerals. Subsequently it was believed to be the spawn of the
whale, and from this belief it acquired its name. Still its origin
continued to be discussed. Gesner said it was a milk shed by the whale.
Borrichius believed it to be the spinal marrow. Pomet affirms with
certainty that spermaceti is the brain of the whale (cachalot). He had
not only seen it prepared, but had prepared it himself. He described
the process. The brain was melted over a gentle fire, then cast into
moulds, cooled, and when the oil had drained off, remelted, moulded
again and again until it was very white. Then, with a knife made for
the purpose, it was cut into scales or flakes. Lemery says the ancients
gave it the name, believing it to be the seed of the whale, which was
found floating on the sea. But in (his) modern times this opinion had
been rejected, and it was held to be a kind of sea froth driven by the
waves to and fro. Quite recently (when he wrote) it had been learnt
that it was drawn from the head of the whale.

Our spermaceti ointment was known in earlier pharmacopœias as unguentum
album, and at first contained white lead.


                                 HONEY

is one of the oldest of food products, and was the only sweetening
substance in popular use until quite modern times. Sugar was known in
India and was imported into Greece and Rome at very early periods.
The name saccharum is of Sanskrit origin, and therefore testifies
to its ancient lineage, and allusions to it, likening it to honey,
are to be found in the writings of many of the classic naturalists
from Herodotus onwards. The Arabs, who had long brought sugar from
India to the wealthy West, made great use of it in medicine, and the
early apothecaries in England, France, and Germany were the makers
of sweetmeats from sugar to royal and aristocratic gourmets. Queen
Elizabeth’s apothecaries were in the habit of presenting her with boxes
of sweetmeats on her birthdays.

But sugar was a rarity and a luxury for the rich, while honey was
always in use. Palestine was a land flowing with milk and honey, and
the records of its employment as a food, a fermented beverage, and as
a medicine, are traceable in almost all histories. The ancients had
curious notions concerning it. They knew that the bees obtained it
from flowers, but they thought the flowers had only caught it as it
descended from the heavens. Pliny says it is engendered in the air,
mostly at the rising of the constellations, and especially when Sirius
is shining. He is not sure whether it is the sweat of the heavens,
saliva from the stars, or a juice exuding from the air while purifying
itself. He admits that its flavour affords an exquisite pleasure, but
he wonders what that flavour would be if we could get the pure ethereal
substance uncontaminated by the corruption of the air, its absorption
by the herbs, and afterwards in the stomachs of the bees. Pliny and
Galen both affirm that it was sometimes found where no bees had been,
and Galen says in such cases the peasantry exclaimed that Jupiter
was raining honey. The honey which came in this way was called Cibus
Celestis.

Honey was used in the preparation of all the famous confections and
electuaries of old pharmacy, and when these began to lose their
reputation there were authorities who attributed their decline in
efficacy to the substitution of sugar for honey. Dioscorides had
stated that honey counteracted the evil effects of the juice of the
poppy. In the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries honey was credited
with many medicinal virtues. Applied to the scalp it was a remedy for
baldness; better if some dead and dried bees were ground up with it.
It wonderfully promoted expectoration. It was also claimed that it
would destroy worms if drunk in milk, because the worms took to it
so greedily that they killed themselves by excess. Oxymels, too, had
at one time a high repute. A compound oxymel, containing a number of
aromatic herbs, was handed down from Mesué to the early pharmacopœias,
and was esteemed as a stimulant of the liver and kidneys.

An oil of wax was known as the Celestial Medicine. It was made by
melting bees’ wax, then wringing it out by hand pressure seven times in
sweet wine, and finally distilling it twice. It would kill worms, cure
palsy, and greatly assist in childbirth.




                                  XVI

                   REMINISCENCES OF ANCIENT PHARMACY

   At the Renaissance of letters at first everything had to give
   place to the books of the ancients; nothing was good or true
   except what was found in Aristotle or Galen. Instead of studying
   plants as they grew, they were only studied in the works of
   Pliny and Dioscorides; and nothing is so frequent in the
   writings of those times than to find the existence of a plant
   doubted for the simple reason that Dioscorides has not spoken of
   it.
                            J. J. ROUSSEAU: _Dictionary of Botany_.



                           PRECIOUS STONES.

Marvellous virtues were attributed by the ancients to the precious
stones known to them, but rather perhaps in their character of amulets
than as medicines. One of the so-called hymns of Orpheus, composed
probably about 500 B.C., is “On Stones,” and describes the
properties of many of these highly esteemed minerals. Four lines
(taken from a translation in the Rev. C. W. King’s “Natural History of
Precious Stones”) will serve as a sample:--

    With its complexion of a lovely boy
    The opal fills the hearts of gods with joy;
    Whilst by the mild effulgence of its light
    Its healing power restores the fading sight.

Coral, according to the same authority, acquired its special properties
from Minerva. This substance was much valued by the Romans, who
attached pieces of it by ribbons to their children’s necks, in the
belief that it would protect them against the designs of sorcerers; and
Paracelsus adopted the same view, recommending necklaces of coral to be
worn as a preventive of epilepsy, “but such impostures,” says Quincy
(1724), “are now deservedly laughed out of the world.” Some old writers
insisted that coral worn on the person changed colour, becoming dull
and pale when the wearer’s health failed.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries coral and pearls were
considerably used in medicine in the form of magisteries, tinctures,
syrups, and arcana. Lemery says coral was given to infants in their
mothers’ milk as soon as they were born (he does not explain how) to
prevent epilepsy, and he names a multitude of other disorders for which
it was good. Boyle, too, in his “Collection of Remedies,” recommends it
in drachm doses to “sweeten the blood and cure acidity.” The largest
and reddest obtainable was to be chosen.

Pearls were used in medicine until the eighteenth century, when it
began to be suspected that chalk had the same effect. The tiniest
pearls, known as pearl seeds, ground to a fine powder, were prescribed
as an absorbent, antacid, and cordial. This powder was also used, says
Pomet, “by ladies of quality to give a lustre and beauty to the face.”
It was superseded before long by Lemery’s magistery of bismuth, which,
however, retained the name of pearl white. Pomet further states that
a magistery of pearl was made (apparently by quacks) by combining the
ground pearl with acids; an arcanum, spirits, flowers, and tinctures
were also prepared and credited with marvellous virtues, “to pick
fools’ pockets.”

Pearls, writes Jean de Renou (1607), “are greatly cordial and rejoice
the heart. The alchemists consequently make a liquor of pearls, which
they pretend is a marvellous cure for many maladies. More often than
not, however, their pretended liquor is nothing but smoke, vanity, and
quackery. I knew a barber in this city of Paris who was sent for by
a patient to apply two leeches, and who had the impudence to demand
six crowns of gold for his service. He declared that he had fed those
leeches for an entire month on the liquor of pearls.”

It is on record that Pope Clement VII took 40,000 ducats’ worth of
pearls and other precious stones with unicorn’s horn within fourteen
days. (See Mrs. Henry Cust’s “Gentlemen Errant.”)

Emeralds had a great reputation, especially on account of their moral
attributes. They were cold in an extra first degree, so cold that
they became emblems of chastity, and curious tales of their powers in
controlling the passions were told. Moses Maimonides, a famous Jew
who lived in Egypt in the twelfth century, in a treatise he wrote by
command of the Caliph as a concise guide in cases of venomous bites or
poisons generally, declared that emeralds were the supreme cure. They
might be laid on the stomach or held in the mouth or 9 grains of the
powdered stone might be taken in wine. But recognising that emeralds
were not always handy when the need arose, Moses names a number of more
ordinary remedies.

Confection of Hyacinth was a noted compound formulated in all the old
pharmacopœias, and regarded as a sovereign cordial, fortifying the
heart, the stomach, and the brain; resisting the corruption of the
humours and the malignity of the air; and serving for many other
medicinal purposes. The original formula ordered besides hyacinths
(which were probably amethysts), sapphires, emeralds, topazes, and
pearls; silk; gold and silver leaves; musk, ambergris, myrrh, and
camphor; sealed earth, coral, and a few vegetable drugs; all made into
an electuary with syrup of carnations. A similar compound, but in
powder form, was known as “Hungary Powder” and was believed to have
been the most esteemed remedy in the Hungary Fever, to which some
reference is made in the sketch of Glauber (Vol. I, pp. 260–264). The
Emperor Ferdinand’s Plague Powder was another variation of the same
compound. The formula given in Lemery’s Pharmacopœia orders about
twenty vegetable drugs with bole, hartshorn, ivory, and one scruple
each of sapphires, hyacinths, emeralds, rubies, and garnets, in a total
bulk of about 4½ ounces. The dose was from ½ scruple to 2 scruples.

Sir William Bulleyn, a famous physician in the reign of Henry VIII,
and said to have been of the same family as the Queen, Anne Boleyn, in
his “Book of Simples,” which was a work of great renown in its day,
gives the following recipe for Electuarium de Gemmis. “Take 2 drachms
of white perles; two little peeces of saphyre; jacinthe, corneline,
emerauldes, granettes, of each an ounce; setwal, the sweate roote
doronike, the rind of pomecitron, mace, basel seede, of each 2 drachms;
redde corall, amber, shaving of ivory, of each 2 drachms; rootes both
of white and red behen, ginger, long pepper, spicknard, folium indicum,
saffron cardamon, of each one drachm; troch diarodon, lignum aloes, of
each half a small handful; cinnamon, galinga, zurubeth, which is a kind
of setwal, of each 1½ drachm; thin pieces of gold and sylver, of each
half a scruple; musk, half a drachm.” The electuary was to be made
with “honey emblici, which is the fourth kind of mirobalans with roses,
strained, in equall parts, as much as will suffice.” What that may mean
I do not know. The medicine, it was said, would heal cold, disease of
the brain, heart, and stomach, and Bulleyn adds, “Kings and noble men
have used this for their comfort. It causeth them to be bold-spirited,
the body to smell well, and ingendreth to the face good colour.”

There was a theory that the engraving of a design or a monogram on a
gem increased its medicinal virtues. Galen doubts this, however. He
states that the jasper benefits the chest and the mouth of the stomach
if laid thereupon, and for complaints of these parts he recommends
a necklace of jaspers hung round the neck and reaching down to the
affected part. That he knew would do good. But some recommended that a
serpent should be engraved on the stones, and Galen had tried this, but
could not discover that the engraved stones were any better than the
plain ones (Simp. Med., ix).

The idea did not die, however. Mr. King quotes the opinion of Camillo
Lionhardo, physician to Cæsar Borgia, to the effect that if precious
stones were engraved by a skilful person under a particular influence,
that influence would be transmitted to the stone; and if the figure
engraved corresponded with the virtue of the stone itself or its
natural quality, the virtue of the figure and of the stone would be
doubled.

Jerome Cardan and other mystic writers of the sixteenth century gave
great prominence to precious stones as remedies; and Culpepper after
quoting from several of them intimates that he expects some of his
readers may consider the accounts given incredible. They declared that
the diamond rendered men fearless, that the ruby took away idle and
foolish fancies, that the emerald resisted lust, that the amethyst kept
men from drunkenness and too much sleep, and so on. Culpepper’s reply
to prospective sceptics is that he has named his authorities, and that
he knows nothing to the contrary why it may not be as possible for
these stones to have the effects attributed to them as for the sound of
a trumpet to incite a man to valour, or a fiddle to dancing. Moreover,
said Garcius, if the stones applied externally were so efficacious, how
much more so would they be if taken internally.


                     THE FOUR OFFICINAL CAPITALS.

This description was applied in old medical books to Mithridatium,
Venice Treacle, Philonium, and Diascordium. There were writers who
ventured to criticise some of the details of composition, or some of
the uses frequently made of these compounds, but the possibility of
medicine existing without them was hardly contemplated previous to the
eighteenth century. Of the two confections first named much has been
said in other chapters; but it may be of interest to present here a
conspectus of the ingredients of each, comparing the last formulas
prescribed in the London Pharmacopœia with what may be regarded as
the original compositions. The first pair of formulas are quoted from
Galen, who gives the Mithridatium from Damocrates and the Theriaca from
Andromachus. Both were in Greek verses. It is not known whether the
prescription of Andromachus was versified by Nero’s physician or by his
son.


                  ANTIDOTUS MITHRIDATICA DAMOCRATIS.

   Root of round birthwort; of valerian; of each 4½ oz.; of sweet
   flag, 5 oz. 3 drm.; of gentian, 7½ oz.; of Ligusticum meum, 3
   oz. 6 drms.; of ginger, 15 oz.; herb of dittany of Crete, 7½
   oz.; of pennyroyal, and of scordium, of each 10½ oz.; leaves of
   laurus cassia, 12 oz.; flowers of St. John’s wort, 3½ oz., of
   French lavender, 12 oz.; of red lavender, and of roses, of each,
   7½ oz.; Celtic nard, 7½ oz.; spikenard, 15 oz.; lemon grass, 13
   oz.; seeds of thlaspi, 15 oz.; of seseli, 12 oz.; of carrot,
   10½ oz.; of parsley, and fennel, of each, 7½ oz.; of anise,
   4½ oz.; juniper berries, 1 oz.; long pepper, 12 oz.; white
   pepper, and fruit of amyris opobalsamum, of each 10½ oz.; lesser
   cardamoms, 7½ oz.; saffron, 15 oz.; cinnamon, 15½ oz.; Arabian
   costus, 12 oz.; cassia lignea, 10½ oz.; trochiscs of agaric, 15
   oz.; castor, 12 oz.; scincus marinus, 3½ oz.; myrrh, 16 oz.;
   olibanum, 15 oz.; bdellium, 10½ oz.; gum Arabic, 7½ oz.

   Pulverise, mix, and sift the above. Then dissolve in 8 lb. of
   wine galbanum and opoponax, of each 12 oz.; sagapenum, 4½ oz.;
   juice of hypocist, 12 oz.; juice of acacia, 4 oz.; opium, 7½ oz.

   Mix this solution with 106 lb. despumated honey, and gradually
   incorporate the powder. Then pour into the mixture 12 oz. of
   storax dissolved in 14 oz. of turpentine, and finally add 12 oz.
   of opobalsamum. Stir for several hours and leave the mixture to
   ferment in a large vessel.


                    ELECTUARIUM THERIACALE MAGNUM.

   Root of Florentine iris, licorice, of each, 12 oz.; of Arabian
   costus, Pontic rhubarb, cinquefoil, of each 6 oz.; of Ligusticum
   meum, rhubarb, gentian, of each, 4 oz.; of birthwort, 2 oz.;
   herb of scordium, 12 oz.; of lemon grass, horehound, dittany of
   Crete, calamint, of each, 6 oz.; of pennyroyal, ground pine,
   germander, of each, 4 oz.; leaves of laurus cassia, 4 oz.;
   flowers of red roses, 12 oz.; of lavender, 6 oz.; of St. John’s
   wort, 4 oz.; of lesser centaury, 2 oz.; saffron, 6 oz.; fruit
   of amyris opobalsamum, 4 oz.; cinnamon, 12 oz.; cassia lignea,
   spikenard, of each, 6 oz.; Celtic nard, 4 oz.; long pepper, 24
   oz.; black pepper, ginger, of each 6 oz.; cardamoms, 4 oz.; rape
   seeds, agaric, of each 12 oz.; seeds of Macedonian parsley, 6
   oz.; of anise, fennel, cress, seseli, thlaspi, amomum, sandwort,
   of each 4 oz.; of carrot, 2 oz.; opium, 24 oz.; opobalsamum, 12
   oz.; myrrh, olibanum, turpentine, of each 6 oz.; storax, gum
   Arabic, sagapenum, of each 4 oz.; asphaltum, opoponax, galbanum,
   of each 2 oz.; juice of acacia, and of hypocist, of each, 4 oz.;
   castor, 2 oz.; Lemnian bole, calcined vitriol, of each, 4 oz.;
   trochiscs of squill, 48 oz.; of vipers, of sweet flag, of each
   24 oz.

   Triturate the balsams, resins, and gums in a sufficient quantity
   of wine, to form a thin paste, and incorporate the whole with
   960 oz. of honey.

Appended are the formulas for these two confections as given in the
P.L. 1746. The drugs named in parentheses are those which the College
officially authorised as substitutes.


                 CONFECTIO DAMOCRATIS (MITHRIDATIUM).

   Cinnamon, 14 drachms, myrrh, 11 drachms; agaric, spikenard,
   ginger, saffron, thlaspi seeds, frankincense, Chio turpentine,
   of each, 10 drachms.

   Camel’s hay, Arabian costus (zedoary), Indian leaf (mace),
   French lavender, long pepper, hartwort seeds, juice of rape of
   cistus, strained storax, opoponax, strained galbanum, balm of
   Gilead (expressed oil of nutmeg), Russian castor, of each, 1 oz.

   Poley mountain, water germander, fruit of balsam tree (cubebs),
   white pepper, Cretan carrot seeds, strained bdellium, of each 7
   drachms.

   Celtic nard, gentian root, Cretan dittany leaves, red roses,
   Macedonian parsley seeds, lesser cardamum seeds, sweet fennel
   seeds, gum Arabic, strained opium, of each 5 drachms.

   Sweet flag root, wild valerian root, aniseed, strained
   sagapenum, of each 3 drachms.

   Spignel, St. John’s wort, juice of acacia (catechu), bellies of
   seines, of each 2½ drachms.

   Clarified honey, three times the weight of all the rest.


                         THERIACA ANDROMACHI.

   Troches of squills, ½ lb.

   Long pepper, strained opium, dried vipers, of each, 3 oz.

   Cinnamon, balm of Gilead (expressed oil of nutmeg), of each, 2
   oz.

   Agaric, orris root, scordium, red roses, navew seeds, extract of
   licorice, of each 1½ ounces.

   Spikenard, saffron, greater cardmoms, myrrh, costus (zedoary),
   camel’s hay, of each 1 oz.

   Cinquefoil root, rhubarb, ginger, Indian leaf (mace), Cretan
   dittany leaves, horehound, calamint, French lavender, black
   pepper, parsley seeds, olibanum, Chio turpentine, valerian root,
   of each, 6 drachms.

   Gentian root, Celtic nard, spignel, poley mountain, St. John’s
   wort, ground pine, creeping germander, fruit of balsam tree
   (cubebs), aniseed, fennel seed, lesser cardamoms, bishop’s weed,
   hartwort, treacle mustard, juice of rape of cistus, catechu,
   gum Arabic, storax, sagapenum, Lemnian earth (Armenian bole),
   calcined green vitriol, of each, ½ oz.

   Creeping birthwort, lesser centaury, Cretan carrot seeds,
   opoponax, strained galbanum, Russian castor, Jews’ pitch (white
   amber), sweet flag root, of each, 2 drachms.

   Clarified honey, three times the weight of all the rest.


                              PHILONIUM,

a famous antidote invented by Philon of Tarsus, who is supposed to
have lived in the early part of the first century (a contemporary
probably of Saul of Tarsus). Galen says of it that it had been in
great reputation for a long time, and was one of the earliest of the
compounds of the kind. Philon gives his formula in Greek verses and in
such enigmatic language that it would be impossible to interpret it if
Galen himself had not come to the rescue. Philon writes:--

Take of the red and odorous hairs of the young lad whose blood is
shed on the fields of Mercury (saffron), as many drachms as we have
senses; of the Nauplium Euboic (pyrethrum), 1 drachm; the same quantity
of the murderer of the son of Menetius, preserved in sheeps’ bellies
(euphorbium); add 20 drachms of white fire (white pepper); the same
quantity of the beans of the pigs of Arcadia (henbane); one drachm
of the plant which is falsely called a root, and which comes from a
country renowned because of Jupiter Pissean (spikenard); write pium,
and place at the head of the word the masculine article of the Greeks
(opium) 10 drachms; and mix the whole with the work of the daughters of
the bull of Athens (Attic honey).

The words in parentheses are the explanations of this rather unwieldy
joke as they are provided by Galen. It is conjectured from an obscure
passage in Pliny that this antidote was prescribed against a peculiar
form of colic which became epidemic at Rome about the time when Philon
was practising there.

Philonium was the original of the confection of opium which remained
in our pharmacopœias until 1867. In the first London Pharmacopœia
the formula was more similar to that which Galen gives; later, a
modification by Nicolas Myrepsus was adopted, the most important
change being the omission of the euphorbium. Until 1746 it was called
Philonium Romanum. In the P.L. 1746, the ingredients were white pepper,
ginger, caraway seeds, strained opium, and syrup of poppies (or of
meconium, as it was called). This had been substituted for honey in all
the English formulas. The name was also changed in 1746 to Philonium
Londinense. The proportion of opium in Philonium was 1 grain in 36
grains.


                             DIASCORDIUM,

the last of the four officinal capitals, was a medicinal compilation
by Hieronymus Frascatorius, and is given in his book “De Contagio
et Morbis Contagiosis.” It was devised as a preventive of plague,
but it acquired such popularity that Dr. James in the introduction
to his Dispensatory (1747) writing of the conventional esteem in
which so many compounds are held, says, “Thus the Venice Treacle
invented by Andromachus under the reign of Nero, and the Diascordium
of Frascatorius, have been used by almost every physician who has
practised since their publication.” The original formula, which was
adopted in its integrity in the first P.L., was as follows:--

   Cinnamon, Cassia wood, aa ½ oz.; true scordium (water germander)
   1 oz.; Cretan dittany, bistort galbanum, gum Arabic, aa ½ oz.;
   storax, 4½ drachms; opium, seeds of sorrel, aa 1½ drachm;
   gentian, ½ oz.; Armenian bole, 1½ oz.; sealed earth (Lemnian), ½
   oz.; long pepper, ginger, aa 2 drachms; clarified honey, 2½ lb.;
   generous canary, 8 oz. Make into an electuary, S.A.

In the eighteenth century this compound became a popular household
opiate, and was frequently given to children for soothing purposes,
especially as the Pharmacopœia had substituted syrup of meconium
(poppies) for the honey. As the preparation was rather a strong
astringent it was doubly harmful as a frequently taken remedy. In the
P.L. 1746 two species of diascordium were prescribed, one with and
one without opium; at the same time a “pulvis e bolo compositus” was
introduced in which the scordium, the dittany, the sorrel seeds, the
storax, the sealed earth, the bistort, and the galbanum, as well as
the wine, were omitted. Edinburgh likewise omitted the scordium and
other ingredients, and made the preparation still more astringent by
the addition of catechu and kino. This was called Confectio Japonica.
The mangled remains of the various formulas are represented in the
British Pharmacopœia by Pulvis Catechu Compositus.


                               THERIACA.

Theriaca was invented by Nero’s physician, Andromachus, and was devised
as an improvement on Mithridatium which until then was the great
antidote in Roman pharmacy. The most important addition which appeared
in the new formula was the introduction of vipers. Andromachus named
his electuary “Galene,” which meant tranquil, probably to suggest that
it was a soothing, anodyne medicine. It soon, however, acquired its
permanent name, for it is referred to as Theriaca by Pliny, who would
have been a contemporary with Andromachus. Pliny, it may be remarked,
was rather contemptuous of the polypharmaceutic compounds which were
then becoming so popular. They were devised, he says, “ad ostentationem
artis;” just to “show off,” as we should say.

Andromachus (or it may have been his son, a physician of the same
name) wrote his formula, and described the virtues of his compound
in Greek elegiac verses which he dedicated to Nero, and which Galen
has preserved. The object of giving the formula in verse was that it
should be less easy to modify it. The enumeration of the medicinal
properties of the antidote left very little room for any other remedy.
First it would counteract all poisons and bites of venomous animals.
Besides, it would relieve all pains, weaknesses of the stomach, asthma,
difficulty of breathing, phthisis, colic, jaundice, dropsy, weakness of
sight, inflammation of the bladder and of the kidneys, and plague.

Galen, after describing its alexipharmic properties, states that he
tested it by causing a number of fowls to be dosed with it. To these
he brought others to which no theriaca had been given. The poison was
administered to all. The fowls to which the theriaca had been given all
survived, and all the others died. Galen’s encomiums on this compound
were no doubt largely responsible for the marvellous reputation it
enjoyed all through the centuries in which his authority was accepted.
He declares that it resists poison and venomous bites, cures inveterate
headache, vertigo, deafness, epilepsy, apoplexy, dimness of sight, loss
of voice, asthma, coughs of all kinds, spitting of blood, tightness of
the breath, colic, the iliac passion, jaundice, hardness of the spleen,
stone, urinary complaints, fevers, dropsies, leprosies, the troubles to
which women are subject, melancholy, and all pestilences.

Down to the seventeenth century these virtues were almost universally
accepted, and many were the learned treatises written to explain its
action; how one drug toned down the effect of others, and how the whole
formed a sort of harmony in medicine. At the same time most of the old
masters in pharmacy fancied they could suggest some improvement, and
the original formula was modified in scores of ways.

In addition there arose new electuaries, modelled more or less closely
on theriaca, but perhaps devised for some special complaints, and
bearing the names of their authors. Many of these also attained to
considerable fame.

For some centuries the theriaca made in turn at Constantinople, Cairo,
Genoa, and Venice was in such reputation that customers would have it
so branded. Ultimately the last-named city secured almost the monopoly
of the manufacture. A reference to its production there occurs in
Evelyn’s Diary, dated March 23, 1646. Evelyn writes: “Having packed up
my purchases of books, pictures, casts, treacle, &c. (the making and
extraordinary ceremony whereof I had been curious to observe, for it is
extremely pompous and worth seeing), I departed from Venice.”

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth English apothecaries began to
claim that they could make the confection as well as their Italian
contemporaries. Some curious documents illustrating their confidence
were given in an interesting research by Mr. W. G. Piper, published
in _The Chemist and Druggist_, March 15, 1880. He quotes from
William Turner, “the learned divine, daring Protestant, and first
English botanist,” the title of a work on the virtues and properties
of the great Triacle (published in 1568 but not now known), and also
a few paragraphs from a later volume on the same subject in which,
after describing the method of making the remedy, he says: “Wherefore
if there be any Apothecaries in London that dare take in hande to make
these noble compositions they may know where to haue them.” It appears
that Hugh Morgan, the Queen’s apothecary, accepted the challenge,
for in a pamphlet by him (1585) he insists that his product has been
compared with other “theriacle” brought from Constantinople and Venice,
and has been better commended. “It is very lamentable to consider,”
he writes, “that straungers doe dayly send into England a false and
naughty kinde of Mithridatium and Threacle in great barrelles more
than a thousand weight in a year, and vtter ye same at a lowe price for
3d. and 4d. a pound, to ye great hurt of Her Maiesties subjects and no
small game to straungers purses.”

  [Illustration: PREPARATION OF THERIACA.

  (From Brunschwick’s “Destillir,” Strassburg, 1500.)

  _Reproduced (by permission) from “The Follies of Science,” by H.
  Carrington Bolton (Pharmaceutical Review Publishing Co., Milwaukee,
  U.S.A.)_]

Mr. Piper also quoted at length from another pamphlet published in
1612 by R. Band (in a subsequent edition, R. Browne), who relates how
the Master and Wardens of the Grocers’ Company, having marked that “a
filthy and unwholesome baggage composition” was being brought into this
Realm as Tryacle of Genoa, “made only of the rotten garble and refuse
outcast of all kinds of spices and drugs, hand over head with a little
filthy molasses and tarre to worke it up withal,” communicated with
the College of Physicians, and induced them to prescribe the proper
formula and to superintend the manufacture, which was then entrusted to
Mr. William Besse, apothecary in the Poultry. Mr. Besse had to take “a
corporall oath” before the Lord Mayor, and every year when he made the
confection had to show the ingredients and the product to the College
of Physicians. His triacle was sold at not above 2_s._ 8_d._
per lb. or 2_d._ per ounce. It appears from the same pamphlet
that nothing was alleged against Venice Treacle except its “excessive
dearness.”

Prosper Alpinus, a Paduan physician, wrote an account of his three
years’ residence at Cairo (“De Medicina Ægyptorum”) in 1591, and has
much to say of the manufacture of Theriaca in that city. It was only
allowed to be made in public, and the ceremony was performed once
a year in the month of May in the Mosque of Morestan by the chief
pharmacist of the city in the presence of all the physicians. The
operator would give no information to Albinus, a Christian, about the
composition; but he got what he wanted from a famous herbalist who
collected all the materials for the compound. Albinus states that at
that time Italians, Germans, Poles, Flemings, Englishmen, and Frenchmen
came to Cairo to purchase this true Theriaca.

Theriaca (Tyriaca, as he calls it), was among the drugs recommended to
Alfred the Great by Helias, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The manuscript
is quoted in “Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms” by the Rev. Oswald Cockayne. (See
Vol. I, p. 124, 131.)

Many allusions in old records show how highly the confection was
esteemed by those who could afford to take it. According to Buckle
(“Miscell. Works,” Vol. II, p. 303) it is first mentioned in English
literature by Foucher de Chartres (1124). He had come to know of it in
the first crusade. A “Pixis argenti ad Tyriacum” is named in the Close
Roll of King John, 1208; in the old romance of Sir Tristrem (about
1250) a man is slain by a dragon; and “His mouth opened thai And pelt
treacle in that man”; the “triacle box du pere apelle une Hakette
garniz d’or” is mentioned among the precious effects of Henry V; in the
Paston letters written in the reign of Edward IV we find allusions to
“treacle pottes of Geane (Genoa) as my potecarie swerytht on to me, and
moerovyr that they were never undoo syns that they came from Geane.”

In early English books treacle was a term used metaphorically for the
divinest blessings. Nothing could better prove the high appreciation
in which it was held. Piers Ploughman (about 1370) writes, “Treuthe
telleth that love ys tryacle for synne”; Chaucer (1340–1400) has
“Crist, which is to every harm triacle”; in Coverdale’s Bible (1535)
the sentence in Jeremiah viii, 22 is rendered “Is there no triacle
in Gilead?”; Sir Thomas More (1573) writes of “laying up a store of
cumfort in your hart as a triacle against the poyson of desperate
dread”; and later Milton speaks of “the treacle of sound doctrine”;
Jeremy Taylor says, “We kill the Viper and make treacle of him; that
is, we not only escape from but get advantage by temptations.”

Laurens Catelan, Master Apothecary of Montpellier, and Apothecary in
Ordinary to Monseigneur the Prince de Condé, has left a full report of
his discourse on the occasion of his dispensing a batch of Theriaca at
Montpellier on September 23, 1628. It is a most interesting lecture,
full of curious old facts chiefly about poisonings, and inspired with
an unshakable faith in the importance of the operation in which he was
engaged. The exordium is explanatory of the ceremony:

“The regulations and statutes under which we live in this city,” says
Master Catelan, “require that whenever we prepare either Theriaca,
Mithridatium, Confection of Hyacinth, or Confection Alkermes, the
compounding shall be done in public, and in the presence of the
very illustrious professors of this famous University of Medicine,
so that they may have the opportunity of censuring or approving the
ingredients, and the public may therefore be assured of the fidelity of
these important medicines.

“This is why I have here spread out before you all these drugs which
are used in the composition of the great and famous Theriaca.

“But as I am honoured with the attendance of such an august assembly, I
ought not, I think, to omit to lay before you some of the singularities
associated with the history and composition of this remedy, and I
will divide what I have to say on these subjects into three sections,
namely--

“(1) The discoverer of this compound; (2) the purpose of the invention;
and (3) the reasons why these drugs and no others of the multitude
known to us have been chosen for this purpose.”

The lecturer then entered upon a history of Mithridates and his
wonderful immunity against poisons; of his defeat by Pompey, of the
recovery of his formula, of the additions made to it a hundred years
later by Andromachus, and of the preservation of directions for making
it which Galen wrote some fifty years after Andromachus had completed
his invention.

At this point the book tells us there was an interval, and some music
was performed. When the lecturer resumed he proceeded to tell of
the risks which princes and nobles ran of being poisoned in those
old times, and of the precautions taken against such crimes. Of the
rings and amulets they wore, of the tasters they employed, and of the
treatment such as Mithridates went through of accustoming his system to
poisons to such an extent that they took no effect on him. He quotes
in support of the belief in this method of ensuring immunity against
poisons two or three stories from the classics which one would have
thought would have been too strong even for a professional eulogist of
Theriaca.

One case was that of a girl who ate spiders from her childhood, and was
so fortified against poisons as not to be afraid to take any of them.
A man is alluded to by Galen who would drink a cup of wine in which a
live viper had been drowned. We have also the account of a girl whose
system had been so saturated with aconite that an Indian king had sent
her as a present to Alexander the Great in the hope that he would kiss
her, and thus imbibe the poison with which her lips would be charged;
but, fortunately, Aristotle saw her first, and recognised by her
flaming eyes that she was filled with some sort of poison, and thus the
Indian’s purpose was frustrated.

After another interval and some more music, the lecturer came to the
third part of his subject, in which he expounded the special virtues
of the drugs before him. These were grouped, and it was shown that
some were good for the brain, others for the chest, for the stomach,
for the kidneys, the heart, and other organs. Others, like the viper’s
flesh, were directly sympathetic with poisons, and would go straight
for them if they were inside the body, or would lie in wait for them,
as it were, if they were only expected. When the subject was exhausted,
it was announced that in consequence of the lateness of the hour the
weighing of the ingredients would be postponed till the next day. That
ceremony was duly performed on the 24th of September, and the drugs
were passed on to a “pulveriser.” It was not until the 16th of November
that the final mixing was undertaken.


                                KERMES.

Kermes as a pharmaceutical term reaches us through the Arabic, qirmis,
red. But it was not a native Arabic word. It was adopted into that
language from the Persian, and was of Sanskrit origin. The word
Krimija in Sanskrit meant produced by a worm, and was itself from
krimi, a worm; worm is the direct English descendant of krimi. Kermes
is responsible in modern English for carmine and crimson, but it need
hardly be said that it has no connection with the Flemish kermess
though it looks so like it. Kermess is kerkmess, or, in English,
church-mass.

The kermes of the Arabs was the kokkos of the Greeks, coccus of the
Romans. It was found on a species of oak, now called the Quercus ilex,
a low, shrubby, evergreen bush with prickly leaves like the holly.
The tree, however, bears acorns. The ancients generally regarded
these insects as the fruit of the trees, though they were aware that
worms came from them. But these they thought were produced from the
corruption of the fruit. The principal use they made of them was in
dyeing, and for this purpose they were employed until the superior
coccus cacti from Mexico superseded the coccus ilicis. In the middle
ages kermes was retained as the medicinal name, but for dyeing the
insects were called vermiculi, and the cloth dyed by them was known
as vermiculata. From this came the French word vermeil, and from that
vermilion was derived.

Medicinally the coccus was principally employed by the Greek and Latin
physicians as an application to wounds and for inflamed eyes. It
acquired a very high reputation among the Arab doctors as a cordial
for internal administration, and the famous Confection of Alkermes,
invented by Mesué the younger, who was contemporary with Avicenna,
continued in popular favour up to the eighteenth century. Meanwhile,
the external application of kermes lingered in the use of scarlet cloth
in measles, erysipelas, and other red diseases.

The original Confection of Alkermes contained juice of rennet apples,
rose water, silk, kermes, sugar, ambergris, amber, yellow santal, lapis
lazuli, pearls, musk, and leaf gold. In the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries this compound was prepared publicly at Montpellier, and
was supplied from that city to all Europe. It was described as good
for all maladies proceeding from the melancholic humour, faintings,
palpitations, heart weakness, and in slow convalescence. It fortified
the stomach, rejoiced the heart, and engendered good spirits. The dose
was 1 drachm, or it might be applied externally on a piece of scarlet
cloth.


                            MEL ÆGYPTIACUM

is a very ancient compound used chiefly by veterinarians as an
escharotic. Its name suggests Egyptian origin, but it has not been
traced further back than to the “Grabadin” of John Mesué, the Arabian
author, about the year 800. Scribonius Largus before him gives a
similar formula under the name of Hygra. Mesué’s formula was to boil
1 oz. of vinegar with 1 oz. of honey to the consistence of honey and
to add 2 drachms of verdigris. This formula was modified in various
ways in the different pharmacopœias in which it was adopted; alum was
added in some cases, cream of tartar in others. The chemical action
varied with the process, but generally the result was to reduce a part
of the verdigris to an oxide of copper, metallic copper, and a little
basic acetate in different proportions. The compound appeared in the
London Pharmacopœia of 1721 as Unguentum Ægyptiacum; in that of 1746 as
Mel Ægyptiacum; as Oxymel Æruginis in that of 1788; and as Linimentum
Æruginis in the P.L. 1851. In this last edition the formula given was
to dissolve 1 oz. of verdigris in 7 oz. of vinegar, and boil this with
14 oz. of honey to a proper consistence. It was not adopted in the
British Pharmacopœia. In old veterinary recipes it was often combined
with tincture of myrrh to form a detergent liniment, and occasionally
in a very diluted form was administered internally as a tonic. On the
Continent, where its employment lingered longer than in this country,
an Egyptiac of Solleysel, from which the vinegar was omitted, but
litharge, sulphate of zinc, and arsenic in small proportions added, was
frequently preferred to the original.

An Unguentum Ægyptiacum magis compositum, containing rock alum and sal
ammoniac, in addition to the other ingredients mentioned, was included
in the London Pharmacopœia 1721. In some foreign pharmacopœias camphor
was prescribed as an ingredient, and in one old one theriaca is ordered.


                           TERRA SIGILLATA.

Various earths were celebrated as medicines in old times, that from
the Island of Lemnos especially having been esteemed from the days of
Herodotus among the Greeks, and this product retained its reputation
in Western Europe down to the seventeenth century. It is still used
by the Turks and neighbouring nations. The Lemnian earth is a greasy
clay which is dug from a desolate hill in the island and consists of
silica, alumina, chalk, and magnesia, with a little oxide of iron
which gives it a red tint. It acquired the fame of being an antidote
to all poisons, and was given in dysenteries, internal ulcers, and
hæmorrhages; also in gonorrhœa, and in pestilential fevers. Externally
it was applied to festering wounds. The characteristic of the best
Lemnian earth was its greasy feel and freedom from grit.

A sufficient supply of this Lemnian earth is still, and has been
certainly from the time of Galen, dug out of the hill only on one day
of the year, with considerable ceremony and in the presence of the
principal inhabitants of the island. At present the ceremony is largely
a religious one, and the day fixed for it is the 6th of August, which
in the Greek church calendar is the Fête of the Saviour. Formerly the
ceremony was originally associated with the worship of Diana, and the
date of the performance was the 6th of May. The particular earth may
not be dug by any one on any other day of the year except that formally
set apart for the operation. According to Dioscorides the earth was
made up into a paste in his time with goats’ blood, but when Galen
visited the place 150 years later he could find no evidence of this
addition.

Lemnian earth was, and I presume still is, a monopoly of the Sultan
of Turkey. Most of the produce of the day’s digging was sent to
Constantinople and was made up into round tablets of about half an
ounce in weight, which were stamped with designs similar to those shown
in the accompanying sketches. At one time it is said the figure of
Artemis (Diana) or the goat, which was one of her symbols appeared on
the tablets, and it may be from this that the story of the goat’s blood
originated.

  [Illustration]

Many other sealed earths were also more or less used in medicine, and
were credited with similar virtues. The Terra Mellitea came from Malta
and was alleged to have a special power against the bites of serpents,
Malta, vipers, and St. Paul thus associating themselves in the public
mind. These cakes bore the effigy of St. Paul, and a popular legend
attributed their efficacy to a blessing on the earth of the island
when the apostle landed there. There were besides Terra Samia, from
the Isle of Samos; Terra Sicula or Fossil Bezoar from Sicily; Terra
Portugallica, stamped with the figure of a rose, from Portugal; Terra
Strigensis or Germanica from Strigonium in Hungary, stamped with a
design, suggesting mountain peaks and cross-keys on them; and Terra
Livonica. Naturally the temptation of selling soil at fabulous prices
per shovelful appealed to all nations.

The appended formulas from Geoffroy’s Materia Medica (written before
1731) will show how this sealed earth was used. Both are for dysentery.

Lemnian earth, ʒi, syrup of quinces, 1 oz., plantain water, and knot
grass water, of each 3 oz. Spoonful doses.

Lemnian earth, conserve of red roses, conserve of hips, of each ½ oz.;
syrup of bearberries sufficient to make a soft electuary. Take ʒi
morning and evening.

Several so-called “alexipharmic powders” or mixtures much more
complex than the preceding were prescribed in small-pox, fevers, and
pestilential diseases.


                            OIL OF BRICKS.

Oil of Bricks appeared in the earlier London and Edinburgh
pharmacopœias and in many foreign formularies. It was long held to be
a specially valuable application in gouty and rheumatic pains, and was
especially in repute as a cure for deafness. It was also sometimes
given as an internal remedy. Among its synonyms were those of oleum
philosophorum, oleum sanctum, oleum divinum, and oleum benedictum;
but as these names were adopted for selling purposes they may not
have meant much. The process given in the P.L. 1746 was to heat
bricks red-hot and quench them in olive oil until they had soaked up
all the oil. They were then broken into small pieces and put into a
retort, and by means of a sand-bath with a gradually increasing heat
a distillate of oil and so-called spirit was obtained. The spirit was
water impregnated with empyreumatic oil. The oil was nothing but an
empyreumatic olive oil.


                           ARQUEBUSADE WATER

was the original of many vulnerary waters invented for application
to wounds, bruises, and ulcers. It was a weak, spirituous distillate
from a large number of herbs and aromatic plants, such as angelica,
rosemary balm, hyssop, mint, rue, sage, and wormwood. These would
furnish an antiseptic lotion. As the arquebus was displaced by the
musket about the end of the sixteenth century it may be supposed that
the lotion acquired its name and popularity at that same period; but
these evidently lasted for a long time, as we find that a certain John
Thomson took out a patent for “a concentrated balsam of arquebusade” in
1786.


                         FOUR THIEVES VINEGAR

is the sub-title of the Antiseptic Vinegar of the French Codex. It is a
strong vinegar in which a number of aromatics with camphor and garlic
have been macerated. The story of its origin is that in the year 1720 a
plague was raging in the city of Toulouse, and that during the period
of panic four thieves went about the city plundering the dead and
dying. People wondered why they never took the disease, and when they
were ultimately brought to justice and convicted, they were offered
pardon if they would reveal the secret of their prophylactic. This is
the legend as given by Littré, who quotes it from Abbé Lemontey. Other
authors make Marseilles the scene of the exploit.


                         ELIXIR PROPRIETATIS.

This medicine was very celebrated in all countries for several
centuries, and, though not in the British Pharmacopœia, was official
under the name which Paracelsus gave it in the P.L. 1724, as Elixir of
Aloes in the P.L. 1746, and later as Tinct. Aloes Co. In the Ph. Ed.
it was called Tinct. Aloes et Myrrhæ, and this was the most usual name
for it until quite recent times, and probably is still. Paracelsus
wrote about it and extolled it as a compound which would prolong life
to its utmost limits. That he used the same ingredients mainly as
his successors is certain, but he never gave any clear formula. His
disciple, Oswald Crollius, however, deduced from his writings that
it was a tincture of aloes, myrrh, and saffron, with sulphuric acid.
Boerhaave substituted vinegar for the sulphuric acid and left most of
that behind by distillation. Van Helmont had previously made an Elixir
Proprietatis without any acid; and in many continental pharmacopœias
the elixir was made alkaline by the addition of carbonate of potash.
This also originated with Boerhaave. Other authors added a few spices.
The Elixir of Garus which still appears in the French Codex was the
same sort of preparation but with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and other
ingredients, diluted with syrup of maidenhair. Garus was a grocer,
who acquired great popularity under the Regency with his Elixir. St.
Simon says he cured the Maréchal de Villars with it, and that he would
probably have saved the life of the Duchesse de Berry if the physician
Chirac, jealous of his fame, had not administered to her a purgative
which killed her (“Mem. de St. Simon,” cxi, pp. 140–228).


                           BALSAM OF SULPHUR

was a famous medicine up to our own days. It appears now to have
dropped out of use. It was highly commended by Van Helmont, Rulandos,
Boyle, and indeed by most of the medical experts of the seventeenth
century, and was compounded from many different formulæ. The simple
balsam was made by boiling one pound of flowers of sulphur with four
times its weight of olive oil until the sulphur was dissolved and a
thick dark balsamic substance was obtained. This was the formula of
the P.L. 1746. But linseed oil and walnut oil were often prescribed
in preference to olive oil, and oil of anise, oil of amber, oil of
juniper, white wine, Barbadoes tar, turpentine, myrrh, aloes, and
saffron; one or more of these substances were combined with the balsam
in other receipts. The use of the balsam was generally for coughs,
asthmas, and lung diseases. Salmon says, “It is of good use to digest
crude humours and undigested matter in any part of the body, being
often anointed upon the same.” The terebinthinated balsam was given
in stone; a combination with iron, Balsamum Sulphuris Martis, was
prescribed in gravel. These balsams were applied externally to ulcers,
or taken in doses of from five to forty drops.




                                 XVII

                             PHARMACOPŒIAS

    But here is one prescription out of many:--
    Sodæ sulphat. ʒvi, ʒss Mannæ optim.,
    Aq. fervent, f℥iss, ʒii Tinct. Sennæ
    Haustus (and here the Surgeon came and cupp’d him),
    R. Pulv. Com. gr. iii Ipecacuanhæ
    (With more besides if Juan had not stopp’d ’em).
    Bolus Potassæ Sulphuret sumendus,
    Et haustus ter in die capiendus.
                       BYRON: _Don Juan_, Canto x (41).


                       THE LONDON PHARMACOPŒIA.

The collection of medicinal formulas was a favourite occupation of
ancient medical writers. Galen and Avicenna, Mesué and Serapion,
Nicholas Prepositus and Nicolas of Salerno were the authors of the
dispensatories most esteemed up to the sixteenth century in Europe.
The College of Medicine of Florence adopted an Antidotarium in the
early part of that century, and in 1524 the Senate of Nuremberg
made the Dispensatory of Valerius Cordus official in that city.
Augsburg followed the example of Nuremberg, and the Pharmacopea
Augustana of 1601 was probably the first work of the kind designated a
Pharmacopœia and issued under authoritative sanction. A quasi-official
Dispensatorium for the State of Brandenburg, forerunner of the
Prussian Pharmacopœia, came next in 1608, and the London Pharmacopœia,
which appeared in 1618, was the first really national publication of
that character. The first French Codex was published in 1639, and no
other work of similar standing was issued until the next century.

The College of Physicians was incorporated by Charter in the reign
of Henry VIII, in the year 1518. The idea of preparing an official
pharmacopœia was first considered by the College on June 25th, 1585,
“but as the matter seemed weighty” (_sed quoniam res videbatur
operosa_), the deliberation on it was postponed and was only resumed
on October 10th, 1589. On this occasion ten committees were appointed
and to these were assigned the work of selection and compilation
distributed thus:--Committee 1 was charged with Syrups, Juleps, and
Decoctions; 2 took Oils; 3, Waters; 4, Liniments, Ointments, Cerates,
and Plasters; 5, Juices, Conserves, Candies, and Confections; 6,
Extracts, Salts, Chemicals, and Metallic Preparations; 7, Powders and
Dragees; 8, Pills; 9, Electuaries, Opiates, and Eclegmas (looches); 10,
Lozenges and Eye-salves.

The work must have been carried on leisurely, for it is not mentioned
in the minutes again until 1614, when eight fellows were appointed to
examine certain foreign Antidotarii. In 1616, an editing committee was
appointed, and all the collaborators were called upon to send their
papers to this body. It then appeared that many which had been prepared
had been lost, a misfortune attributed to the carelessness of the
recently deceased President, Dr. Forster. His successor, Dr. Atkins,
put more energy into the business and consequently the manuscript was
completed and in type by the day after Palm Sunday, 1618. Sir Theodore
Mayerne was commissioned to write a dedication of the work to King
James I, and his Majesty’s proclamation requiring all the apothecaries
in the realm to obey this Pharmacopœia and this only, was dated April
26th, 1618. It will be observed that exactly a century intervened
between the incorporation of the College and the production of the
Pharmacopœia.

The President was evidently a smart man, but the printer was still
smarter, for while the former was out of town for a few days the
printer rushed the publication through, “surreptitiously and
prematurely,” as the College officially declared, with a number of
errors and imperfections, on May 7th, 1618. This presumptuous printer
was one John Marriot, at the inappropriate sign of the White Lily “in
platea vulgo dicta Fleet Street.” On December 7th in the same year the
College brought out a corrected edition, to which they appended an
epilogue, expressing their opinion of their offending “typographus” in
terms which left no excuse for not appreciating their dissatisfaction
with him.

The first London Pharmacopœia did not err on the side of condensation.
It comprised 1028 simples and 932 preparations and compounds. Among
the simples were 31 animals and 60 parts of animals or derivatives
from them. The herbs named numbered 271, and there were 138 roots and
138 seeds. Among the preparations were 178 simple and 35 compound
waters, 3 medicated wines, 10 medicated vinegars, 1 vulnerary potion,
8 decoctions, 90 syrups, 18 mels and oxymels, 18 juices and linctuses,
115 candies and conserves, 43 species or powders, 58 electuaries,
36 pills, 45 lozenges, 151 oils of various kinds, 53 ointments, 51
plasters and cerates, and 17 chemicals.

The names of the inventors of many of the compounds were duly attached
to the formulas, some of which were very elaborate and complicated.
Rufus of Ephesus, physician to the Emperor Trajan, the Arabian doctors,
Nicolas, Rivierus, Fracastor, Fallopius, and many others are thus
quoted. There were 211 preparations with more than ten ingredients
in each, and one, the Antidotus Magnus Matthioli, called for 130
substances in its composition, among the 130 being Mithridatium and
Theriaca which would have contributed another hundred between them.
Medicated waters which had been invented by Arnold de Villa Nova in the
13th century still commanded respect, over 200 different kinds being
provided. Worms, swallows, frogs’ spawn, and other animal remedies as
well as the whole range of the vegetable kingdom were requisitioned
to surrender their virtues to these waters by distillation. Syrups,
honeys, oxymels, and lohochs were numerous and included syrups of white
and red poppies, rhubarb, violets, marshmallow, coltsfoot, liquorice,
oxymel of squills, and mel Egyptiaca. Powders of hot precious stones
and of cold precious stones, powders of pearls and spices, and a
compound senna powder; troches of various drugs; basilicon ointment
and a multitude of plasters are formulated. Neapolitan ointment was
our blue ointment, the mercury being killed by fasting spittle. An
itch ointment was made with corrosive sublimate. May butter was a
favourite ingredient in ointments. It was butter made in May, melted in
the sun, strained and kept the year through. Oils was a term of wide
significance. Not only were expressed and distilled oils included in
the reference, but oils in which things had been infused, as oil of
ants, of bricks, of earthworms, of wolves, and oil of vitriol was also
in the same classification. Vipers in lozenges were there, lohoch
of foxes’ lungs was the great remedy for asthmatic complaints, and
a modification of Vigo’s plaster with its live frogs and worms and
vipers’ flesh was not omitted. The full list of the animal substances
recognised as medicinal in this Pharmacopœia and its two successors has
been given in the Section on Animal Medicines.

  [Illustration: TITLE-PAGE OF THE LONDON PHARMACOPŒIA.

  (From the reprint of the First Edition, 1627.)]

Chemicals included calomel, turpeth mineral, flowers of sulphur, the
mineral acids, preparations of steel and antimony, sugar of lead,
and caustic potash. The inclusion of some of these may no doubt be
attributed to the influence of Sir Theodore Mayerne.

After the first Pharmacopœia had been several times reprinted a new one
appeared in 1650. Notable features of this issue were that the gallon
hitherto 9 lb. of water was now fixed at 8 lb.; corrosive sublimate and
red and white precipitate were among the additions, but it has to be
remarked that the white precipitate of that day was not what we know
by name but really a precipitated proto-chloride of mercury. Its true
chemical composition was not recognised until some fifty years later
by Deidier in his “Chimie Raisonné.” Tinctures formed a new class of
preparations, seven of them being formulated, castor, saffron, and
strawberries being among these. Syrup of buckthorn was added to the
syrups, and Gascoin powder to the powders. Mercury was now killed by
turpentine. Mezereon, Winter’s bark, and cochineal were among the new
drugs; antimonial wine made from the regulus of antimony was adopted;
and the skull of a man killed by violence, and moss from that skull
were admitted.

The third Pharmacopœia (1677) did not present many remarkable features,
and was apparently rather hastily produced. The most striking new
formula it contained was one for “Aqua Vitæ Hibernorum sive Usquebagh.”
Burnt alum, flowers of benzoin, balsams of capivi and tolu, contrayerva
root, Jesuits’ bark, and resin of jalap were among the new drugs. Steel
wine was added.

Sir Hans Sloane presided over the compilation of the P.L. of 1721,
the fourth of the series. The preface to this edition claimed that
all remedies owing their use to superstition and false philosophy had
been thrown out, but perhaps the far-reaching effects of the false
philosophy were not fully appreciated. Many of the absurd old formulas
were retained, but an approach to greater simplicity is apparent. The
transition from the old to the new pharmacy can be traced very easily
in this volume. The names of the plants, we are told in the preface,
are “not only distinguished by the names known in shops, but also by
such as are sometimes used by the more eminent writers in botany.”
Tinctures are growing in favour, their number being increased to 18.
The number of waters and syrups is largely diminished, and puppies,
hedgehogs, wagtails, bread-crust plaster, lapis lazuli pills, and
Galen’s unguentum refrigerans are dismissed. The last-named has,
however, refused to die to this day. Among new chemical preparations
Hepar Sulphuris (pot. sulphuret.), Flores Salis Ammoniaci Martiales
(ammonio-chloride of iron), Tinctura Martis cum Spiritu Salis (tinct.
ferri perchlor.), Sal Martis (ferri sulphas), Aqua Sapphirina (solution
of ammonio-sulphate of copper), Lunar Caustic, Tartar Emetic, Ens
Veneris, Aurum Mosaicum, Ethiops Mineral, Spirit of Sal Volatile,
Mynsicht’s tincture of steel, Elixir of Vitriol, and Lime Water may be
mentioned.

The P.L. 1746 (the fifth) was very different from its predecessors.
Among those who took an active part in its preparation were the
President of the College, Dr. Plumptre, and Drs. Crowe, Mead, Heberden,
and Freind. In the preface to this work the old “inartistic and
irregular mixtures” and “the antidotes superstitiously and doatingly
derived from oracles, dreams, and astrological fancies” are severely
condemned, and the College declares its intention of freeing the
book as much as possible from whatever remains of former pedantry.
Notwithstanding these good intentions the old pharmacy is still
abundantly represented. Crabs’ eyes, coral, bezoar stones, harts’
horns, woodlice, pearls, vipers, and skinks’ bellies continue to figure
among the simples, and formulas for Mithridatium with 45 ingredients,
and for theriaca with 61 are likewise retained. On the other hand,
human fat, unicorn’s horn, mummy, spiders’ webs, moss from the human
skull, bone from the stag’s heart, and lac virginale disappear. There
are now 34 tinctures, while the medicated waters have been reduced to
about 30 and the syrups to about 20. Tinctures of cummin, valerian,
and cardamoms, syrup scilliticus, and pilula saponacea (soporific) are
new; and lixivium saponarium (liquor potassæ), sal diureticus (potassæ
acetas), causticum commune fortius (potassa cum calce), sal catharticus
Glauberi, pilulæ mercuriales, and spiritus nitri dulcis make their
first appearance.

The sixth P.L. (1788) proceeds on the same lines. The College claims
to have paid special attention to the application of the advances of
chemistry to pharmacy, and to have provided that very few traces of
former superstition should remain. Mithridatium, theriaca, bezoar
stones, vipers, and oil of bricks are dismissed, but woodlice remain.
Materia medica synonyms are now according to Linnæus. Among the new
drugs admitted we find aconite, arnica, cascarilla, calumba, kino,
quassia, simarouba, castor oil, senega, and magnesia; and among
the new preparations may be named Dover’s powder, James’s powder,
Mindererus’s spirit, Rochelle salts, tartrate of iron, oxide of zinc,
Huxham’s tincture of bark, ether, Hoffmann’s anodyne, the decoctions
of sarsaparilla, tincture of calumba, compound tinctures of benzoin,
cardamoms, and lavender, and extract of chamomile. Tincture of opium
made with proof spirit deposes the Tinctura Thebaica made with wine,
and elixir paregoricum assumes the name of tinct. opii camphorata. A
number of other names are changed. It is significant of the declining
familiarity of doctors with Latin that for the first time an English
translation of the Pharmacopœia is authorised.

The seventh P.L. is dated 1809. The new chemical nomenclature is
introduced, and the minim substituted for the drop. Acidum vitriolicum
becomes acidum sulphuricum, and ferrum vitriolatum is changed to ferri
sulphas. More than a hundred articles are omitted, and nearly that
number substituted. Among the new drugs and preparations are arsenic,
belladonna, cajeput, cusparia, digitalis, infusions of calumba,
rhubarb, and digitalis, compound decoction of aloes, acetum colchici,
confections of roses, rue, and almonds, pulv. kino co, pil. cambogiæ
co, emp. opii, ung. zinci, Griffiths’ mixture and pills, Plummer’s
pills, lin. hydrargyri, cataplasm of yeast. Prepared woodlice, crabs’
claws, tutty ointment, and the electuaries fall out.

The eighth P.L. (1824) recognised bismuth, cubebs, croton oil, and
stramonium, and admitted confection of black pepper as a substitute for
Ward’s paste, and colchicum wine in imitation of the Eau Medicinale
d’Husson. But the conservative College lacked the courage to endorse
the claims of morphine, iodine, and quinine, though these were pretty
generally established in medical practice at the time.

The Pharmacopœia of 1836 was largely the work of Richard Phillips, a
very competent pharmacist, who had mercilessly criticised the edition
of 1824. This, the ninth P.L., was brought well up to date with notes
indicating the methods of ascertaining the purity of medicines, better
methods of preparing chemicals, and the introduction of the most
important of the new products. The alkaloids aconitine, morphine,
quinine, strychnine, and veratrine found admission. Iodine and bromine
and their compounds, hydrocyanic and phosphoric acids, creosote, ergot,
and lobelia were also among the novelties. Acetum cantharidum, aqua
flor. aurant., aqua sambuci, cataplasma lini, decoct. cinchonæ (2),
extract. colchici corm., extract. colchici acet., hydrarg. iodid.
and biniodid., inf. krameriæ and inf. lupuli. lin. opii, liquor sodæ
chlorinatæ, mist. spt. vini Gall., pil. rhei co. and tinct. colchici
were the principal new compounds. Muriatic acid now became hydrochloric
acid, subcarbonate of magnesia was advanced to be a carbonate, and
tartarised antimony assumed the title of antimonii potassio-tartras.

The tenth and last of the London Pharmacopœias appeared in 1851.
Henbane seeds, spigelia, oyster shells, and extract of digitalis were
removed after longer or shorter periods of service, together with soda
and potash waters, and biniodide of mercury and veratrine ointments,
which had only found admission in the preceding edition. Cod-liver oil,
chloroform, atropine, gallic and tannic acids, extract of nux vomica,
tincture of aconite, tincture and ointment of belladonna, iodide
of sulphur, chloride of zinc, and ammonio-citrate of iron, were the
principal novelties now made official.

The first Edinburgh Pharmacopœia appeared in 1699 and the last in
1841, while the first Dublin Pharmacopœia was published in 1807 and
the last in 1850. The Medical Act of 1858 authorised the fusion of the
Pharmacopœias of the three kingdoms, and assigned the task of carrying
out this work to the General Medical Council created by that statute.
The first British Pharmacopœia was issued in 1864, but it failed to
give satisfaction, and was superseded by a second dated 1867. The third
and fourth editions were published in 1884 and 1898.




                                 XVIII

                        SHAKESPEARE’S PHARMACY.

    But law and the gospel in Shakespeare we find,
    And he gives the best physic for body and mind.
                     GARRICK: _Shakespeare’s Mulberry Tree_.


The two most familiar pharmaceutical allusions in Shakespeare’s
writings are the apothecary and his shop in “Romeo and Juliet” (Act V.,
Sc. 1), and the juice of cursed hebenon which Hamlet’s uncle poured
into the ear of his father (“Hamlet,” Act I., Sc. 5). Some remarks on
both these noted allusions are given separately. The medical knowledge
of Shakespeare has been discussed by several eminent doctors, notably
by Dr. J. C. Bucknill, of Exeter, who published a very interesting
work under that title in 1860, in which the writer almost went so far
as to hint at the possibility that the great dramatist must have had
some training in the medical science of the day before he took to the
theatre business. A similar suggestion was made by Lord Campbell in
regard to the poet’s legal knowledge.

Great interest in drugs and poisons was taken by the people generally
in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, and the medical controversies of the period
filled a good many books. It is certain that Shakespeare at least
skimmed a good many of these. “Galen and Paracelsus” are mentioned in
“All’s Well that Ends Well” (Act II., Sc. 3). In “Coriolanus” (Act II.,
Sc. 1) Menenius says of a letter from Coriolanus that it gives him an
estate of seven years’ health, adding “the most sovereign prescription
in Galen is but empiricutick, and,” compared with this letter, “of no
better report than a horse-drench.”

Apothecaries are mentioned in “Henry VI” (Part II., Act III., Sc.
3), when Cardinal Beaufort, delirious on his deathbed, cries, “Bid
the apothecary bring the strong poison that I bought of him.” Also
in “Pericles” (Act III., Sc. 2), the amateur physician Cerimon, a
Lord of Ephesus, who had studied medicine, and “by turning o’er
authorities” had made himself familiar with “the blest infusions that
dwell in vegetives, in metals, stones,” gives a prescription to his
servant, saying, “Give this to the ’pothecary, and tell me how it
works.” Apothecaries’ weights are used as metaphors in “All’s Well
that Ends Well” (Act II., Sc. 3) when Lafeu, who has given Parolles
“most egregious indignity,” which the latter says he has not deserved,
replies “Yes, good faith, every dram of it; and I will not bate thee
a scruple,” and by Falstaff, who, in his interview with the Chief
Justice, refers rather enigmatically to drams and scruples. Falstaff
again, in “Merry Wives of Windsor,” is responsible for the simile of
those who “smell like Bucklersbury in simple time.” The Dr. Caius in
the same play, with his “by gar” and comical English, is assumed by
some interpreters to have been a burlesque on Sir Theodore Mayerne,
but except that Mayerne was French and certainly spoke English with
a foreign accent, there is no reason for associating him with the
character. Mayerne never acquired English. In one of his later letters
he writes of Lady Cherosbury, for Shrewsbury. There was a very famous
Dr. Caius, who had been physician to Queen Elizabeth, who founded
Caius College, Cambridge, and who died in 1573, not so very long before
this play was written. But it is agreed that he could not have been the
original of the caricature.

Of the drugs and pharmaceutical preparations named by Shakespeare most
would be familiar to anyone acquainted with the literature of the
day. “Throw physick to the dogs,” says Macbeth to the physician who
is telling him of the mental illness of Lady Macbeth. Then, his mind
recurring to the war in which he was engaged, he demands of the doctor
“What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug would scour these English
hence?” (Act V., Sc. 3). In the same play (Act I., Sc. 3), Banquo asks
when the witches vanish, “Have we eaten of the insane root That takes
the reason prisoner?” There are many allusions in classical literature
to herbs which destroyed the reason. In Plutarch’s life of Antony, for
example, there is an account of some Roman soldiers in the Parthian
war eating a root which deprived them of all memory, and it is said
they occupied themselves in digging, and in hurling stones from one
place to another. Among the ingredients of the witches’ cauldron (Act
IV., Sc. 1), the animal substances named recall much of the pharmacy
of the period, but only one vegetable drug, “root of hemlock, digg’d
i’ the dark,” is named. Lady Macbeth (Act II., Sc. 2) tells how she
has drugg’d the possets of Duncan’s grooms, so that “death and nature
do contend about them Whether they live or die.” In Act V., Sc. 1, she
complains that “all the perfumes of Arabia” will not sweeten her hand
from the smell of blood. It is also in this play that the description
of Edward the Confessor curing the King’s Evil (see Vol. I, p. 299)
occurs.

In the “Comedy of Errors” (Act IV., Sc. 1) Dromio of Syracuse
tells Antipholus of Ephesus that he has found a bark for him, put
the freightage on board, and bought “the oil, the balsamum, and
aqua-vitae.” In Act V., Sc. 1, the Abbess declares that Antipholus
having taken sanctuary in the Priory she will not let him stir, “Till I
have used the approved means I have, with wholesome syrups, drugs, and
holy prayers, To make of him a formal man again.”

In “Much Ado about Nothing” (Act III., Sc. 4) Margaret recommends
the love-sick Beatrice to “get you some of this distilled Carduus
Benedictus, and lay it to your heart; it is the only thing for a
qualm.” This drug was in great repute in Shakespeare’s time and was
used for a multitude of complaints. Woodall says the distilled water
of it “doth ease the pain of the head, conformeth the memory, cureth
a quartane, provoketh sweat, and comforteth the vital spirits.” The
Physician in “King Lear” (Act IV., Sc. 4), tells Cordelia there are
“many simples operative whose power will close the eye of anguish.”

The story of “All’s Well that Ends Well” is based on a secret remedy
for fistula which Helena had acquired from her deceased father, and
with which she heals the King. The Queen in “Cymbeline” is an amateur
pharmacist. In Act I., Sc. 6, she tells the doctor that he has taught
her how “to make perfumes, distil, preserve”; and in Act V., Sc. 5, the
doctor tells the King that on her deathbed she confessed she had “a
mortal mineral” which would “by inches waste you.”

In the “Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Act III., Sc. 1), a fairy named
Cobweb gives Bottom the opportunity of alluding to the usefulness of
cobwebs for cut fingers. “In Twelfth Night” Sir Toby Belch jocularly
addresses Maria as “My nettle of India” (Act II., Sc. 5), probably
Indian hemp. We read of “parmaceti,” “the sovereign’st thing on earth
for an inward bruise,” and also of the “villainous saltpetre” in Act
I., Sc. 3, of “Henry IV.” Part I.; in the second part (Act I., Sc. 2)
there is an allusion to the fashion of diagnosis by the examination of
a person’s water; and in Act IV., Sc. 4, we find mention of the deadly
character of aconitum, and in the same scene of gold “preserving life
in medicine potable.” In “Antony and Cleopatra,” the Queen greets
Antony’s messenger with the remark that though so much unlike him yet
that “coming from him, that great medicine hath with his tinct gilded
thee” (Act I., Sc. 5), evidently an allusion to the tincture of gold.
Another reference to potable gold is found in “All’s Well that Ends
Well.”

The plantain for a broken shin is called for by Costard in “Love’s
Labour’s Lost” (“plantain, a plain plantain; no salve, sir, but a
plantain,” Act III., Sc. 1); plantain leaf for a broken shin is also
recommended by Romeo (Act I., Sc. 2). In the same scene occur the words
so dear to homeopaths: “One fire burns out another’s burning.” In “King
John” (Act V., Sc. 2,) revolt is likened to a plaster which will heal
“inveterate canker of the wound by making many.”

In “Henry VI.,” part II. (Act V., Sc. 1) York quotes the legend of
Achilles’ spear “able to kill or cure”; while in “Hamlet” (Act IV., Sc.
7) Laertes declares that he will anoint his sword with unction bought
of a mountebank;

    “No mortal that but dips a knife in it,
    Where it draws blood, no cataplasm so rare,
    Collected from all simples that have virtue
    Under the moon, can save the thing from death
    That is but scratched withal.”

The action of drugs as charms is much in evidence in “Othello.” The
father of Desdemona accuses the Moor of having

    “Practised on her with foul charms,
    Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals
    That awaken motion.”

And again Brabantio tells the Duke that Desdemona has been stolen from
him

                  “And corrupted
    By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks.”

These allusions all occur in scenes 2 and 3 of the first Act; in the
latter also Iago promises Roderigo that Desdemona shall soon be to
Othello “bitter as coloquintida.” At the end of this play Othello
describes his “subdued eyes dropping tears as fast as the Arabian trees
their medicinal gum.”

Autolycus refers to aqua vitæ as a restorative in the “Winter’s Tale”
(Act IV., Sc. 3), as does the nurse in “Romeo and Juliet” when she
finds her mistress dead (Act IV., Sc. 5). The “popinjay” takes snuff in
“Henry IV.” (part I., Act I., Sc. 3), Cleopatra calls for mandragora to
drink “that I might sleep out this great gap of time my Antony is away”
(“Ant. and Cleop.,” Act I., Sc. 5). “Not poppy nor mandragora, nor all
the drowsy syrups of the world,” said Iago, shall medicine Othello
against the poison he has given him (“Othello,” Act III., Sc. 3).
“Sleepy drinks” are mentioned in the “Winter’s Tale,” (Act I., Sc. 1),
and in the same play (“Winter’s Tale,” Act II., Sc. 1) Shakespeare uses
the word “land-damn,” which some of his commentators have been disposed
to identify with laudanum. The King of Sicily grossly insults his wife,
Hermione, declaring her to be an adultress, Antigonus warmly defends
her and assures the King that he has been “abused by some putters-on
who will be damn’d for’t,” and he adds,

          “Would I knew the villain,
    I would land-damn him.”

The idea is that this may be a misprint for laudanum, meaning, “I would
poison him.” It must be added that this explanation does not find
much favour, and perhaps it is rather far-fetched. It is mentioned
by Stevens as having been proposed by Dr. Farmer, but Furness thinks
that Stevens was poking fun at the solemn nonsense of his learned
friend. But the other interpretations are not much better. There is,
it appears, an old dialect word “lan-dan” which meant following a man
with kettles and other rough music. Another suggested meaning is an
association with an old Saxon word (hland) for urine, conveying the
notion that the villain is to be made ill by a suppression of urine.
Both these explanations seem ludicrously insufficient to express the
anger of the speaker. Damn him up with land, that is, bury him alive,
is gruesome enough, but this is an obscure way of expressing the
proposal. Johnson disposes of the term by the theory that it was “a
word which caprice brought into fashion, and reason and grammar drove
irrevocably away. It has also been assumed, and this looks likely, that
the punctuation has got misplaced and that the sentence should read “I
would--Lord damn him.”

Shakespeare’s favourite daughter Susannah was married to Dr. John
Hall, and it is possible that the doctor and his wife lived with the
poet in his later years at Stratford. Dr. Hall was a practitioner of
some eminence, and wrote a book in Latin (translated into English in
1657 by James Cook) entitled “Select Observations ... Cures Empirical
and Historical on Very Eminent Persons in Desperate Disorders.” The
following, which is Observation 60, is worth quoting for the picture it
gives of pharmacy in the Elizabethan age.

“Talbot, the first born of the Countess of Salisbury, aged about one
year, being miserably afflicted with a fever and worms, so that death
was only expected, was thus cured. There was first injected a clyster
of milk and sugar. This gave two stools and brought away four worms. By
the mouth was given hartshorn burnt, prepared in the form of a julep.
To the pulse was applied Ung Populeon ʒii mixed with spiders’ webs, and
a little powder of nutshells. It was put to one pulse of one wrist one
day, to the other the next. To the stomach was applied mithridate; to
the bowel the emplaster against worms. And thus he became well in three
days, for which the Countess returned me many thanks and gave me great
reward.”


                 THE APOTHECARY IN “ROMEO AND JULIET”

is a favourite illustration of the scrupulous care which Shakespeare
bestowed on the revision of his dramas. The story on which the play
is founded is well known to students. It was written by an Italian
novelist, Luigi da Porto, of Vicenza, and was entitled “La Giuletta.”
This author died in 1529. In Girolamo de la Corte’s “History of
Verona,” published at Venice in 1549, it is given and stated to be a
true story. An English translation of it in rhyme by Arthur Brooke
appeared in 1562, and a prose translation by Painter some time later.
The version by Brooke is entitled “The Tragicall Historie of Romeus
and Juliet,” and it is from this that Shakespeare took not only the
incidents, but, as will be seen, some of his expressions. Brooke
describes Romeus in Mantua, resolved to die, and looking for a shop
where he may buy poison.


                       _Brooke’s Version, 1562._

    And then from street to street he wand’reth up and down
    To see if he in any place may find in all the town
    A salve meet for his sore, an oil fit for his wound,
    And seeking long, alas, too soon, the thing he sought he found,
    An apothecary sat unbusied at his door,
    Whom by his heavy countenance he guessed to be poor;
    And in his shop he saw his boxes were but few,
    And in his window of his wares there was so small a shew.
    Wherefore our Romeus assuredly hath thought
    What by no friendship could be got with money should be bought.
    For needy lack is like the poor man to compel
    To sell that which the city’s law forbiddeth him to sell.
    Then by the hand he drew the needy man apart
    And with the sight of glittering gold inflamed well his heart.
    “Take fifty crowns of gold (quoth he) I give them thee
    So that before I part from hence thou shalt deliver me
    Some poison strong that may in less than half an hour
    Kill him whose wretched hap shall be the poison to devour.”
    The wretch by covetisse is won and doth assent
    To sell the thing whose sale ere long too late he doth repent.
    In haste he poison sought and closely he it bound
    And then began in whisp’ring voice thus in his ear to round:
    “Fair Sir (quoth he), be sure this is the speeding gear,
    And more there is than you shall need; for half of that is there
    Will serve, I undertake, in less than half an hour
    To kill the strongest man alive. Such is the poison’s power.”


                   _Shakespeare’s First Rendering._

This is the rendering of the scene from Shakespeare’s first quarto
edition, 1597:

                               As I do remember
           Here dwells a pothecarie whom oft I noted
           As I past by, whose needie shop is stuft
           With beggarly accounts of empty boxes.
           And on the same an Aligarta hangs,
           Olde ends of packthred, and cakes of roses
           Are thinly strewed to make up a show.
           Here as I noted thus with myselfe I thought:
           Ah, if a man should need a poison now,
           (Whose present sale is death in Mantua),
           Here he might buy it. This thought of mine
           Did but forerune my need; and hereabout he dwells.
           Being holiday the beggar’s shop is shut.
           What ho! Apothecary! Come forth I say.
     _Ap._ Who calls? What would you, Sir?
    _Rom._ Here’s twenty ducats.
           Give me a dram of some such speeding gere
           As will despatch the weary taker’s life
           As suddenly as powder being fired
           From forth a cannon’s mouth.
     _Ap._ Such drugs I have, I must of force confesse,
           But yet the law is death to those that sell them.
    _Rom._ Art though so bare and full of poverty,
           And dost thou fear to violate the law?
           The law is not thy friend nor the law’s friend,
           And therefore make no conscience of the law.
           Upon thy back hangs ragged misery
           And starved famine dwelleth in thy cheeks.
     _Ap._ My poverty but not my will consents.
    _Rom._ I pay thy poverty but not thy will.
     _Ap._ Hold, take you this and put it
           In any liquid thing you will, and it will serve,
           Had you the lives of twenty men.
    _Rom._ Hold, take this gold, worse poison to men’s souls
           Than this which thou hast given me. Go hie thee hence,
           Go, buy thee cloathes, and get thee into flesh:
           Come cordial and not poison, go with me
           To Juliet’s grave, for there must I use thee.

Shakespeare was a busy man in 1597, and in the years before as well as
about that date he was preparing novelties for his theatre. Later he
had more leisure, and it is interesting to notice how artistically he
fills out his original sketch with only just such details as make the
ideas more vivid. In the revised version of this scene, published in
1609, there are no new ideas, but scarcely a line is left untouched.
A comparison of title-pages in the two editions is amusing and at
the same time instructive. In 1597 it reads: “An Excellent Conceited
Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet as it hath been often (with great
applause) plaid publiquely.” In 1609 this is toned down to “The most
Excellent and Lamentable Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet as it hath been
sundri times publiquely Acted.” The omission of the parenthetic (“with
great applause”) is significant. The poet knows he no longer needs
meretricious advertisement. The scene as we have it in our modern books
is very similar to


         _Shakespeare’s Revised Version (Third Quarto, 1609)._

    _Rom._ I do remember an apothecary
           And hereabouts he dwells--whom late I noted
           In tatter’d weeds, with overwhelming brows,
           Culling of simples; meager were his looks,
           Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
           And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,
           An alligator stuff’d, and other skins,
           Of ill-shap’d fishes; and about his shelves
           A beggarly account of empty boxes,
           Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds,
           Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses,
           Were thinly scatter’d to make up a show.
           Noting this penury, to myself I said--
           And if a man did need a poison now,
           Whose sale is present death in Mantua,
           Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him.
           O, this same thought did but fore-run my need;
           And this same needy man must sell it me.
           As I remember this should be the house;
           Being holiday, the beggar’s shop is shut--
           What ho! Apothecary!
     _Ap._                        Who calls so loud?
    _Rom._ Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor;
           Hold, there is forty ducats; let me have
           A dram of poison; such soon speeding gear
           As will disperse itself through all the veins,
           That the life-weary taker may fall dead;
           And that the trunk may be discharg’d of breath
           As violently as hasty powder fired
           Doth hurry from the fatal cannon’s womb.
     _Ap._ Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua’s law
           Is death to any he that utters them.
    _Rom._ Art thou so bare, and full of wretchedness,
           And fear’st to die? famine is in thy cheeks.
           Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes,
           Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back,
           The world is not thy friend, nor the world’s law;
           The world affords no law to make thee rich;
           Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.
     _Ap._ My poverty but not my will consents.
    _Rom._ I pray thy poverty and not thy will.
     _Ap._ Put this in any liquid thing you will
           And drink it off; and if you had the strength
           Of twenty men, it would despatch you straight.
    _Rom._ There is thy gold, worse poison to men’s souls
           Doing more murders in this loathsome world
           Than these poor compounds that thou may’st not sell.
           I sell thee poison, thou hast sold me none.
           Farewell; buy food, and get thyself in flesh.
           Come cordial, and not poison; go with me
           To Juliet’s grave, for there I must use thee.

  [Illustration: THE APOTHECARY.

  (Drawn by Miss K. Righton.)]

Two lines in the accepted version have been the subject of much
controversy, sometimes of an acrimonious character among critics. Both
sides quote one or other of the early editions in support of their
contentions. One of the lines is “Need and oppression starveth in thy
eyes.” It is fiercely held that “starveth” in this expression should
be “stareth.” And in the famous line “I pray thy poverty and not thy
will” ordinary readers naturally think “pay” should be substituted
for “pray.” The defenders of the quoted versions contemptuously reply
that it is because we are only commonsense people and not poets that
we cannot rise to the height of appreciating the meaning of the more
recondite phrases that makes us suggest the emendations.


                               HEBENON.

The “juice of cursed Hebenon,” which according to the Ghost, was the
poison chosen by Hamlet’s wicked uncle to kill his father by dropping
some of it into his ears during his afternoon nap, has been much
discussed by commentators. Authorities generally favour either henbane
or ebony (hebenus). Some occasional opinions may be found suggesting
other poisons, but they do not carry much weight. Dr. Paris, for
example, in “Pharmacologia” proposes the essential oil of tobacco,
quoting in support of his opinion the authority of Gerard, who says
it was “commonly called the henbane of Peru.” Dr. Bucknill remarks
that the poet could not have meant henbane because that herb is not a
virulent poison, and would not have had the effect attributed to it.
But no dramatist would care to have his fancies subjected to the test
of science in this way. Possibly Shakespeare would hardly have cared to
justify the introduction of the ghost by strict evidence. Dr. Bucknill
decides that as no poison will fit the description the term was used
as a generic one for a drug producing “hebetudo animi.” In Beisley’s
“Shakespeare’s Garden” it is suggested that hebenon may have been a
misprint for eneron, nightshade, which Dyce, a prominent authority,
politely dismisses as a “villainous conjecture.”

A plausible German interpretation of hebenon is that it is derived
from _Eibenbaum_, the yew-tree. Eibe was the Saxon name for the
yew, and its poisonous properties were recognised from very ancient
times. It is probable that some of the quotations which have been
credited to ebony may have been really due to the yew. Spenser, for
example, writes: “Lay now thy Heben bow aside”; “A speare of Heben
wood” and “trees of bitter gall and Heben sad.” These references are
more likely to be to the yew than to the ebony: and certainly could not
have been applied to the henbane weeds. Gower (1390) has “Of hebanus
the sleepy tree.” In Marlowe’s “Jew of Malta” (1592, contemporary with
Shakespeare), several deadly things are grouped thus:--

    “The blood of Hydra, Lerna’s bane,
    The juice of Hebon, and Cocytus’ breath.”

There is no tradition of poisonous properties associated with ebony,
as there is with both henbane and yew, but in regard to henbane, a
remarkable passage has been found in Holland’s translation of Pliny
which was published in London just about the time when Shakespeare
was writing “Hamlet.” Pliny, dealing with henbane, says (in this
translation): “An oile is made of the seed thereof which if it be but
dropped into the eares is ynough to trouble the braine.” Shakespeare
must have been a voracious reader, he probably got Holland’s book as
soon as it came out, and finding this passage, adopted the suggestion.
He was no doubt familiar with the word hebon or hebonus, and chose
that for his verse, perhaps without caring very much whether it was a
correct interpretation of henbane or not. As a matter of fact, in the
earlier editions of “Hamlet” the word appears as hebona. In the folios,
which came later, hebonon is substituted, no doubt out of consideration
for euphony.

It is notable that the player who enacts the murder of the King (Act
III., Sc. 2) describes the poison as a

    “Mixture rank of midnight weeds collected,
    With Hecat’s ban thrice blasted, thrice infected.”

This of course does not correspond with the suggestion that the juice
of hebenon was the product of some one poisonous plant.




                                  XIX

                           SOME NOTED DRUGS.

   Who was the first cultivator of corn? Who first tamed and
   domesticated the animals whose strength we use, and whom we make
   our food? Or who first discovered the medicinal herbs which from
   the earliest times have been our resource against disease?
              CARDINAL NEWMAN: Sermon on _The World’s Benefactors_.


The most valuable and original records of the history of drugs are
to be found in “Pharmacographia” by F. A. Flückiger of Strasburg and
Daniel Hanbury of London (published by Macmillan & Co.). I have as a
rule avoided copying details from that work, although I have dealt with
no subject without referring to it. In this section, however, the drugs
named are of course treated in “Pharmacographia,” and necessarily the
facts given must to some extent correspond. But comparison would show
that I have only selected subjects which were capable of discussion
from a somewhat different point of view from that which guided Messrs.
Flückiger and Hanbury.[1]


                                ALOES.

Dioscorides is the earliest medical writer to mention aloes as a
medicine. According to him it should be given in doses of from half a
drachm to one drachm as a gentle purge, or of three drachms if its full
cathartic effect were required. The drug is not named by Hippocrates
nor by Theophrastus.

Celsus describes it as specially valuable for city men and men of
letters (urbani et literarum cupidi); he says it is an ingredient in
all purgatives, and it is clear from the later Greek and Roman writers
how highly this remedy was esteemed. In “Pharmacographia” Hanbury
refers to the legend of Alexander the Great visiting the Island of
Socotra at the instance of Aristotle particularly on account of the
aloes grown there. It is said that Alexander left a colony of Ionians
on the island in order to ensure a sufficient supply of the drug.
Undoubtedly there were Greek Christians there in Mohammedan times and
it is probable that the Arabs invented the Alexandrian origin of them.

  [Illustration: THE ALOE IN FLOWER.]

  [Illustration: A MEDICINAL ALOE GROWING UNDER GLASS IN THE CHELSEA
  PHYSIC GARDEN.

     [This photograph was published in “London Botanic Gardens” by
     P. E. F. Perrédès, B.Sc., F.L.S., published by the Wellcome
     Chemical Research Laboratories, and is kindly lent for this book
     by the Director of those Laboratories, Dr. Frederick B. Power].
  ]

The fame of aloes was well maintained by the Arabian physicians, and
the old Greek and Roman formulas for aloetic compounds were passed
on to the Middle Ages by Mesué of Damascus, together with some new
ones. It was one of the drugs recommended to Alfred the Great by the
Patriarch of Jerusalem.

In 1622 Mindererus published a treatise on a special compound of aloes
which he had devised. Raymond Minderer was the most famous physician
of his time. He lived at Augsburg, and was the appointed medical
adviser to the Duke of Bavaria and the great house of the Fuggers, the
Rothschilds of the period. Minderer’s book was entitled “Aloedarium,”
and it described in loving detail each of the nine ingredients of what
is supposed to have been the lineal ancestor of our modern compound
rhubarb pill. The components were:--

Aloes 3 ounces, Marum (herb mastic), and Saffron, of each 3 scruples,
Agaric, Costus, and Myrrh, of each 3 half-drachms, Ammoniacum, 3
drachms, Rhubarb, 3 two-drachms (ʒvi), and Lign Aloes, 3 half-scruples.
These drugs were each separately macerated in appropriate liquids, the
aloes in rose water, the myrrh in rue vinegar, and so forth. Mindererus
recommended these pills not so much as a purgative, but as a general
tonic, especially useful to strong, fair, well-fed persons.

Following Minderer’s book, and indeed slavishly copying it, came a
treatise by Dr. William Marcquis of Antwerp, entitled “Aloe Morbifuga.”
The only notable feature of this work is that its author is clear about
the importance of that part of the aloes which is soluble in water as
the constituent of the drug in which the purgative properties reside.
He was, in fact, the originator of our aqueous extract of aloes.


                              CASTOR OIL.

The supposed identity of the Palma Christi tree, from the seeds of
which castor oil is obtained, with the Hebrew “kikaion” is mentioned in
the note on Jonah’s “gourd” in the section “Pharmacy in the Bible.” It
is not doubtful that the plant was the same as the “kiki” of Herodotus,
and the “kiki” or “kroton” of Dioscorides. Avicenna quotes a reference
to the seeds from Dioscorides, from which, he says, is pressed the oil
of kiki “which is the oil of Alkeroa.” Other Arab authors use the term
“al-keroa” for the Greek “kiki.” A frequent Latin name for the Palma
Christi was “kikinum,” or “cicinum.”

  [Illustration: CASTOR OIL PLANT.]

The earliest allusion to the oil is found in Herodotus (“Hist.
Euterpe,” sec. 94), where we read “The inhabitants of the marshy
grounds in Egypt make use of an oil which they term the ‘kiki,’
expressed from the Sillicyprian plant. In Greece this plant springs
spontaneously without any cultivation; but the Egyptians sow it on the
banks of the river and the canals; it there produces fruit in great
abundance, but of a very strong odour. When gathered they obtain from
it, either by friction or pressure, an unctuous liquid which diffuses
an offensive smell, but for burning it is equal in quality to the oil
of olives.”

From this and other references it is clear that the Egyptians held
the Palma Christi plant in high esteem, and this would hardly have
been the case if it was only used for the extraction of an inferior
burning oil. As is stated in another section, Ebers guesses that an
aperient medicine made from the fruit of the kesebt tree may have
meant the ricinus seeds. The seeds of the Palma Christi, too, have been
frequently found in sarcophagi; evidence that they had acquired a high
reputation of some kind.

Hippocrates apparently tried to reduce the acridity of the seeds so as
to make them more useful as purgatives. Dioscorides alludes to their
purgative properties, but only contemplates the external employment of
the oil in medicine. Pliny, however, is more explicit. Chapter xli., of
Book 23 begins with the sentence: “Oleum cicinum bibitur ad purgationes
ventris cum pari calidæ mensura.” The whole passage is of interest.
The following is the translation of it given in Bohn’s “Classical
Library” (Dr. Bostock): “Castor oil taken with an equal quantity of
warm water acts as a purgative upon the bowels. It is said, too, that
as a purgative it acts particularly upon the regions of the diaphragm
(precordia). It is useful for diseases of the joints, all kinds of
indurations, affections of the uterus and ears, and for burns, employed
with the ashes of the murex; it heals itch, scabs, and inflammations of
the fundament. It improves the complexion also, and by its fertilising
tendencies promotes the growth of the hair. The cicus or seed from
which this oil is made no animal will touch, and from these grape-like
seeds wicks are made which burn with a peculiar brilliancy. The light,
however, that is produced by the oil is very dim, in consequence of its
extreme thickness. The leaves are applied topically with vinegar for
erysipelas. Fresh gathered they are used by themselves for diseases of
the mamillæ and defluxions. A decoction of them in wine with polenta
and saffron is good for inflammations of various kinds. Boiled by
themselves and applied to the face for three successive days they
improve the complexion.”

In Egypt and Rome, therefore, Ricinus was evidently esteemed; and
though as a medicine they dropped largely out of use, it is clear from
old English physic books that a traditional reputation was always
associated with both the seeds and the oil. Gerard, in his “Herbal,”
and Piso, in an account of the natural history of the West Indies,
both recommend them, the former in broth, the latter in the form of a
tincture made with brandy for colic and constipation. Gerard states
that the Palma Christi “of America” grew in his garden (in Holborn) and
in many other gardens likewise. The seeds, however, came to be regarded
as dangerous, and were clearly but little used in orthodox medicine.
Quincy (1724) refers to them as “hardly ever met with in practice,
unless amongst empirics and persons of no credit.”

In 1764, however, Dr. Peter Canvane, of Bath, who had practised for
seven years in the West Indies, published a treatise entitled “A
Dissertation on the Oleum Palmæ Christi, sive Oleum Ricini, or (as it
is commonly call’d) Castor Oil,” in which he warmly recommended the oil
as a gentle purgative, particularly in cases of “dry belly ache.” His
advocacy soon took effect, for in the second edition of his treatise
published in 1769, he says it had become officinal, by which he meant
was sold in the shops, “at Apothecaries Hall and several other shops in
London and Bath.” Dr. Odier, of Geneva, who visited England in 1776,
became then acquainted with the medicine, and subsequently brought
it to the notice of Continental physicians. It was admitted into the
London Pharmacopœia in 1788.

The name “Ricinus” was in Latin the name of the parasite known as the
dog-tick, _Ixodes ricinus_, and was transferred to the Palma
Christi seeds because of their resemblance to the insect. In Greek the
same insect was called the kroton, and Theophrastus and Dioscorides
describe the Palma Christi seeds as kroton seeds. Curiously the name
kroton has been applied in America to the cockroach, not from any
association with ticks, but from a belief that the insects came from
the Croton River when the water from that source was brought to New
York in 1842. The name of castor oil is supposed to have been given
to the oil in consequence of a mistaken idea in the Western Indies
that the plant which yielded the seeds was _Agnus Castus_. There
was, however, a castor oil and compound castor oil in medicinal use in
England and other countries until the eighteenth century. The simple
oil was made by digesting castorum in oil and boiling it with wine
until the latter had all evaporated. The compound oil contained besides
a number of aromatic gums and spices. Possibly the taste of the oil
from the Palma Christi seeds recalled that from the old oil of castor,
and the name may thus have been transferred.


                               CINCHONA.

It is not possible to determine from the legends and reports collected
by the many competent naturalists who visited Peru in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries with the special object of investigating
the history of the cinchona trees whether it was known or used as
a medicine by the natives before its virtues were ascertained by
Europeans.

Peru was discovered in 1513, and became subject to Spain about the
middle of the sixteenth century. But Hanbury points out that no
reference to the bark as a febrifuge has been found earlier than the
beginning of the seventeenth century. It was reported by La Condamine,
and others who acquired their knowledge on the spot, that the Indians
had long used the bark as a dye. The Countess Ana of Chinchon, wife of
the Spanish Viceroy of Peru, was cured of a fever by the bark in 1638,
but there is evidence that its medicinal value had been experienced
by some of the conquering race before that date. One story is that
when the Countess was ill and all the usual remedies had been found
ineffective, the Corregidor of Loxa, Don Juan Lopez Canizares, who
had himself been cured by the bark of a similar illness, brought some
of the remedy from Loxa to Lima and staked his reputation on its
infallibility. After her cure the Countess became an enthusiastic
advocate of the medicine, administering it with uniform success to her
dependents and others in Lima, and on her return to Spain in 1640,
exerting herself to make it known there.

Another story is to the effect that a native maid in the employment
of the Countess had made known the virtues of the bark to the Viceroy
out of affection for her mistress, though until then the Indians had
concealed the secret from their cruel rulers. The most likely account
is that the bark had become known as a valuable medicine to the Jesuit
missionaries who had been in the country for fully fifty years when the
Countess of Chinchon was cured.

Le Condamine stated, in 1738, that the Indians had a legend that they
had become acquainted with the properties of the bark in consequence of
an earthquake in the neighbourhood of Loxa which had caused a number of
the trees surrounding a lake near the city to be thrown into the water.
An Indian violently ill with a fever and consumed with thirst had drunk
water from this lake and had been rapidly cured. Another tradition was
that the pumas of the country had been observed to eat the bark when
they were ill, and that the Indians had learned its value from this
circumstance.

The Count and Countess of Chinchon returned to Spain, as has been said,
in 1640. They went to live on their estate at Chinchon Castle, about
forty miles from Madrid, and their physician, Juan del Vego, followed
them and resided at Seville. Vego brought with him a considerable
quantity of the bark from Peru, and sold it at 100 reals per pound.
Sprengel queries whether the real of Plata or the real of Vellon is to
be understood; the latter was worth about 2d., the Plata or silver real
being worth about 8d. It is not at all certain that Vego’s bark was the
first importation of the medicine into Spain. A Spanish physician named
Villerobel, quoted by Badus in 1663 in a work on the Peruvian bark,
states that a quantity was received in 1632, but was not tried until
1639 (a year after the cure of the Countess, it will be noted). The
patient was an ecclesiastic of Alcala de Henarez, near Madrid. However
this may be, Vego’s reports and the experiments with his bark excited
lively interest all through Spain, and from then began a controversy
almost as bitter as that between the Galenists and Paracelsists. There
were a large number of practitioners who could not bring themselves
to believe in any medicine which Galen had not described. It was also
alleged by some contemporary writers that a prompt cure of intermittent
fevers was not by any means desired by a large number of medical men
and apothecaries, who consequently allied themselves in opposition
to this very effective bark. This statement is no doubt due to the
usual uncharitableness of controversy; but it is possible that the
adversaries of the new remedy might at least cling to their old
prejudices with not less firmness when these and their interests ran on
parallel lines.

Fevers were at that time regarded as caused by some morbific principle
in the humours which occasioned effervescence, and which it was
essential first of all to expel. The patient was, therefore, treated
with evacuants and debilitating medicines while the fever continued,
and the vital spirits were afterwards restored by a course of cordials
and bitters, such as wormwood, chamomile flowers, mace, carduus
benedictus, angelica, and valerian. The opponents of the bark insisted
that if it palliated the fever it “fixed the humour” and ensured a
relapse or some other more dangerous disease. In 1652 Leopold William,
Archduke of Austria, and Governor of the Low Countries, who had
interested himself in popularising the bark, fell ill with a quaternian
fever. He took bark and recovered. A relapse occurred, but the
complaint again yielded to the remedy. Some time after he had another
attack. This time, perhaps influenced by the views already quoted, he
refused to take bark and died. This event was regarded, illogically
enough, as evidence of the dangerous character of the medicine.

Meanwhile, the Jesuits had been busy propagating the new remedy and
proving its virtues. The provincial father brought a large supply to
Rome, and explained the method of using it to a congress of Jesuits
then assembled in that city. The fathers administered it all over
Europe, giving it gratuitously to the poor and to their own order,
but charging its weight in gold to the rich. It is said that they
endeavoured to keep it as a secret medicine, and would only supply
it in powder so that it might be more difficult to identify. The
Procurator-General of the order, Father (afterwards Cardinal) de Lugo,
making a journey to Paris in 1649, found the king, Louis XIV, himself
suffering at the time from an intermittent fever. He recommended to
him the use of the bark, and Louis took it and quickly recovered.
The powder of the Cardinal, the Powder of the Fathers, the Jesuits’
Powder, by which names among others it was known, consequently came
into strong demand. But these titles were largely responsible for the
reaction which almost drove cinchona out of practice. Protestant fears
and prejudices were added to the orthodox opposition of the Galenists,
and besides, many practitioners administered the bark ignorantly, in
too small or too large doses, while the high prices at which it was
sold led to fraudulent substitution, which more than anything else
discredited the bark as a medicine. Sprengel quotes complaints from the
Cardinal de Lugo, the apothecary of the College of Medicine at Rome,
and Vincent Protospatario, a physician at Naples, who alleged that the
Spanish merchants were sending into Italy instead of the true Peruvian
bark various other astringent barks devoid of any aromatic taste, but
flavoured up to the necessary bitterness by aloes.

Although Sydenham in England, and a number of eminent physicians on
the Continent, studied the proper methods of administration and the
suitable doses of bark, it fell to a practitioner whose methods went a
long way to justify charges of charlatanry firmly to establish cinchona
in professional and popular favour.

Robert Talbor was assistant with an apothecary at Cambridge named Dear.
It has been ascertained that in 1663 he had been entered as a sizar at
St. John’s College for five years, but there is no indication that he
took a degree. In his writings he states that he was largely indebted
to a member of the University of the name of Nott for suggestions
relative to the administration of bark. The next heard of him is that
he was practising in Essex. This was about 1671. He wrote a book in
1672, which he called “Pyretologia,” a rational account of the cause
and cure of agues. In this he refers to his own secret remedy, which,
he says, consists of four ingredients, two indigenous and two exotic.
He mentions Peruvian bark and intimates that it is an excellent remedy,
but one that should be employed with prudence, as in the hands of
inexperienced doctors it might occasion serious evils. He does not say
that it was contained in his specific.

Talbor moved to London and set up his sign next door to Gray’s Inn
Gate, in Holborn. His treatment brought him into fame, the climax
of which was that having cured the daughter of Lady Mordaunt he was
sent for when Charles II was ill with an ague and cured him. He was
knighted, appointed a royal physician with a salary of £100 a year, and
the king caused a letter to be written to the College of Physicians
asking them not to interfere with his practice in London.

Talbor next figures in Paris, and there leaped into eminence. For
French convenience he assumed the name of Talbot, an English name with
which they were historically familiar. He soon became a favourite
in high circles. Mme. de Sévigné refers to him several times in her
letters of 1679. In one she says, “Nothing is talked of here but
the Englishman and his cures.” In November, 1780, the Dauphin was
dangerously ill with a fever. Talbor had plenty of friends at court who
wanted him to be sent for. Mme. de Sévigné is again the chronicler. She
writes:--“The Englishman has promised on his head to cure monseigneur
in four days.” If he fails she believes he will be thrown out of the
window. She further states that the King (Louis XIV) insisted on seeing
Talbor prepare his wine; and when she reports the fulfilment of his
promise and the cure of the Dauphin she notes with malicious glee the
discomfiture of the king’s head physician, Antoine d’Aquin.

D’Aquin wrote bitterly against Talbor, insisted that his treatment
of the Dauphin and of other persons had been founded on a mistaken
diagnosis, and that in the Dauphin’s case he had made a bilious fever
into a dangerous disorder. Another critic suggested that his remedy
given to the Duke of Rochefoucauld in an arthritic asthma had had fatal
consequences.

Louis agreed to buy Talbor’s formula, but nothing was published until
after the death of the latter. Two thousand guineas and an annual
pension of £100 were granted to the English doctor, and he was made a
Chevalier. Shortly afterwards he went to Spain and cured the queen of
that country of a fever. Then he returned to London and died in 1781,
at the early age of forty.

His official formula, published after his death, directed 6 drachms
of rose leaves to be infused in 6 ounces of water with 2 ounces of
lemon juice for four hours. A strong infusion of cinchona was added to
the above, together with some juice of persil or ache. He also made
alcoholic tinctures and wines of cinchona. The French doctors were sure
that he was in the habit of adding some opium to his speciality. If he
did he invented a valuable combination.

Another contemporary writer, John Jones, gives the following as
Talbor’s process. He digested finely-powdered bark in juice of persil
and decoction of anise separately. The mixture was placed in an
earthen vessel, and having been stirred frequently he added red wine
and macerated for a week. He also made a tincture of cinchona by adding
8 ounces of alcohol to 2 ounces of powdered bark.

From a handbill in a collection of quack advertisements in the British
Museum Library, dated “1675, &c.,” it appears that Dr. Charles Goodal,
who gave his address “at the Coach and Horses, near Physician’s
Colledge, Warwick Lane,” offers “for the public good a very superior
sort of Jesuit’s Bark, ready powdered, and papered into doses” at
4_s._ per ounce, or in quantity £3 per lb., and as evidence that
this is a reasonable price he refers to Mr. Thain, druggist, of Newgate
Street, to whom he had paid 9_s._ per lb. for a considerable
quantity. Possibly it was Mr. Thain who was advertising.


                          TINCT. CINCHONÆ CO.

The official formula for this tincture is slightly modified from that
devised by John Huxham, M.D., and published in his Essay on Fevers,
1755. It first appeared in the P.L. 1788 as a College preparation.

John Huxham was born as Totnes in 1692, and was the son of a butcher.
He studied medicine under Boerhaave at Leyden, but graduated M.D.
at Rheims. Then he returned to England and after a time settled
at Plymouth. He was a Nonconformist, and at first depended on the
dissenting portion of the population for his practice, but it did not
expand as fast as he wished and it is alleged that he was not above
some of the tricks satirised by novelists; as, for example, being
called out of chapel, riding at full speed through the streets,
walking about with a gold-headed cane, wearing a red coat and
followed by a footman who carried his gloves. He, however, acquired
a considerable reputation both locally and nationally; was elected
F.R.S. in 1739, and was awarded the Copley medal in 1755 for a treatise
on antimony in which he strongly recommended an Essentia or Vinum
Antimonii made by infusing 1 oz. of glass of antimony in 24 oz. of
sound Madeira wine for 10 or 12 days, then decanting and filtering. He
advised doses of 30 to 80 drops of this in tea, wine, beer, or other
liquid, as an alterant, attenuant, and diaphoretic. The treatise though
verbose does not seem to have had any special merit.

  [Illustration: DR. HUXHAM.]

His Essay on Fevers was much more important and has been highly
esteemed by competent critics. He also wrote a valuable note on
scurvy in seamen, recommending a more abundant supply of vegetables
on voyages, and was the first to describe the malignant ulcerous sore
throat now called diphtheria.

Huxham’s formula for Tinct. Cinchonæ Co. as given by himself was as
follows:

Cort. Peruv. opt. pulv. ℥ ii, Flav. Aurant. Hispan. ℥ iss, Rad.
serpent. Virgin. ℥ iii, Croci Anglic. ℈ iv, Coccinel. ℈ ii, Sp. Vini
Gallici, (Brandy), ℥ xx. F. Infusio clausa per dies aliquot (tres
saltern quatuerve) deinde coletur. The dose was ʒ i to ℥ ss every 4,
6, or 8 hours with 10, 15, or 20 drops of elixir of vitriol in diluted
wine. Huxham says of this tincture “it tends to strengthen the Solids,
to prevent the further Dissolution and Corruption of the blood and in
the event to restore its Crassis.” He has previously stated that it is
a very useful remedy “not only in slow, nervous fevers, but also in the
putrid, pestilential, and petechial, especially in the Decline.” But he
adds, “if the patient is costive or hath a tense and humid abdomen, I
always premise a dose of rhubarb, manna, or the like.”

According to Dr. Paris, Huxham believed in complicated prescribing.
“There are several prescriptions of Huxham extant,” we read in
“Pharmacologia,” “which contain more than four hundred ingredients.”


                        CINCHONA OR CHINCHONA.

Sir Clements Markham, whose services in introducing cinchona culture
into India and Ceylon are well known, has earnestly insisted on the
adoption of the name chinchona instead of cinchona in justice to the
lady after whom the generic title was chosen. In a Memoir of the Lady
Ana de Osorio, Countess of Chinchon, Sir Clements Markham somewhat
extravagantly exalts that “illustrious and beautiful lady,” whom he
describes as “one of the most noble benefactors of the human race.” She
may have been an excellent woman, but her advocate does not furnish
sufficient evidence of her virtues to justify such lavish praise. The
Countess was cured of a fever by the bark, and on her return to Spain
she distributed the remedy to such of her vassals as needed it. Perhaps
her physician, who brought a quantity of the bark home with him and
sold it, did more to make it generally known than she did by her gifts.

Still there is no doubt that Linnæus intended by the name he gave to
the genus to perpetuate her memory; and it is likewise true that her
name was Chinchon and not Cinchon. The latter term, Sir Clements says,
means a broad girdle or a policeman’s belt, and makes the intended
honour ridiculous. His opinion was that Linnæus had erred in ignorance,
having been misled by several French writers. Daniel Hanbury, however,
who contested some of Markham’s assertions, gave good reasons for
believing that Linnæus had adopted the term cinchona deliberately
for the sake of euphony. Anyway he shows that Mutis, the disciple of
Linnæus, who sent him the plant from which he wrote his description,
while at first writing of chinchona soon followed the spelling of the
master and continued to do so.

The name cinchona and derivatives from it are too well established to
be dislodged now for a sentimental reason, even if it were not that the
adopted name is undoubtedly easier to pronounce than the more strictly
correct one would be.


                 CULTIVATION OF CINCHONA IN THE EAST.

Many botanists and travellers remarked upon the reckless manner in
which the natives of Peru collected the bark. They felled the trees and
stripped them of bark without planting new ones to take the place of
those destroyed. Humboldt says that 25,000 trees were thus destroyed in
a single year.

The first attempt to transport any plants to Europe was made by La
Condamine in 1743. He had obtained some young plants and was conveying
them down the Amazon River to Cayenne, intending to transport them to
the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. At the mouth of the river a wave swept
over his little vessel and washed away his whole collection. Joseph
de Jussieu, who had accompanied La Condamine on his expedition, and
remained in the country after him for fifteen years, was robbed of his
collection at Buenos Ayres, and lost his reason as a consequence of his
misfortune.

Royle in 1839 strongly advocated the introduction of cinchona into
India, and suggested the Nilgiri Hills as a suitable position for
the experiment. His suggestions were taken into consideration by the
Government, but no immediate steps were taken. The Dutch Government
first moved in the matter, sending a botanist named Hasskarl to South
America in 1852. Their object was to establish cinchona gardens in
Java. All through the fifties they were carrying on their experiments,
but with very slow success. The English Government were meanwhile
instructing their Consuls in South America to obtain seeds, but it
was not until 1859 that the collection was seriously undertaken for
India. In that year Mr. (now Sir) Clements Markham was commissioned
to go to South America to collect seeds of the best species. Markham
has told the full story of his mission in his work on “Peruvian Bark,”
and has incidentally in that narrative exposed the parsimony of the
authorities in their treatment of those associated in the important and
profitable enterprise successfully carried through after some years of
hard and often perilous labour. His principal coadjutor, Dr. Spruce,
whose health was utterly ruined by his efforts, was paid a salary of
£30 a month while the work lasted, and a special grant of £27 for an
exhaustive report which he prepared. A pension of £50 a year was given
him by the British Government for his botanical services, and after
thirteen years of persistent importunity, the Indian Government granted
him another £50 a year. Mr. Pritchett, who collected plants and seeds
in the forests of Huanuco, was paid his salary and nothing more. To Mr.
Cross, who assisted Dr. Spruce in the collection of the red bark, two
grants of £300 each were made. Mr. Weir, “a most conscientious, active,
and skilful worker, and, so far as his own labours were concerned,
completely successful,” crippled and disabled for life, got nothing
from the Government, though the Horticultural Society collected some
funds which yielded £27 a year.

The monumental instance of official ingratitude was, however,
manifested in the case of Charles Ledger, to whom, more than to
any other man, the world is indebted for cheap quinine, and out of
whose adventurous services the Dutch nation have made millions in
their Java dependency. Between the years 1841 and 1858 Ledger was
travelling in South America in the employment of the New South Wales
Government buying alpacas. He had a faithful servant, Manuel Manami,
who had often told him how jealously the natives, especially those
of Bolivia, guarded the knowledge of their best seeds. Manami had
himself been a cascarillero or bark cutter. On Ledger’s return to
Australia in 1858 he found that Holland and England were eagerly
seeking to plant cinchona in their Eastern possessions. The mission
of Hasskarl had been practically a failure. He had not been able to
enter Bolivia, and the species he brought to Java were comparatively
valueless. Ledger was in South America when Markham went there on his
official journey. He endeavoured to open communication with the British
Government’s envoy but failed. He, however, pressed his faithful Manami
to secure some of the precious “rojo” (_Cinchona Calisaya_, var.
_Ledgeriana_) seeds from Bolivia. Manami fulfilled this service,
somewhat reluctantly, sent the seeds to his master, but was himself
thrown into prison, beaten, and died soon after in consequence of the
cruel treatment he underwent.

Ledger sent the seeds to his brother in England authorising him to
dispose of them as he best could. They were at first offered to the
British Government, but as Markham was then in India superintending
the planting of the seeds he had brought from Peru, the offer was not
entertained. Half of them were sold to a Ceylon planter, and the rest
were taken, after some discussion, by the Dutch Government for about
£33, with a promise of a further payment if the plants flourished. A
year later on a report that 20,000 plants had been raised from these
seeds the Dutch Government paid Ledger a further £100 and got from him
a letter expressing his satisfaction. That was in 1866.

For many years Ledger was lost sight of, and it was stated in several
books that he was dead. In 1895, however, a letter from him was
published in _The Chemist and Druggist_, of London, dated from
Goulburne, N.S.W. He wrote simply in reference to a paper which had
been printed in that journal referring to the admixture of some white
flowers with coca as imported. The addition of the “inga flowers,” Mr.
Ledger explained, was made by the natives in the belief that they kept
the coca leaves fresh and green. Later it was found that Mr. Ledger
was living in comparative poverty in consequence of the failure of
Australian banks and the slump in land values. Efforts were made to
induce the Dutch Government to make some compensation to the man who
had done them such grand service, but at first a blank refusal was
returned. In May, 1807, however, on his seventy-ninth birthday, Mr.
Ledger received the announcement from Amsterdam that an annuity of £100
would be conferred upon him. He lived nine years after this.

  [Illustration: CHARLES LEDGER, CINCHONA PIONEER.

  (From _The Chemist and Druggist_.)]

The Ledger cinchona had also been introduced into India, and as it
was found to be yielding such rich bark Mr. Markham appealed in 1880
to the Indian Government to grant Mr. Ledger at least the sum of £200
to compensate him for the expenses he had been put to, which far
exceeded what he was paid for the seeds. “The reply, after four months’
delay, was a curt refusal,” wrote Mr. Markham to _The Chemist and
Druggist_, in April, 1895.

Mr. Ledger, who was born in Bucklersbury, London, on May 4, 1818,
wrote a very pleasant and modest autobiographical sketch of his varied
experiences for _The Chemist and Druggist_, which was published in
that journal of July 27, 1895.


                                CUBEBS

have had a rather chequered medical history. The Arab physicians used
them apparently for the same medicinal purposes, that is, for checking
urethral discharges, as they are generally prescribed for by our own
physicians; but in the middle ages we hear of them as a popular but
costly condiment. Curious particulars of this use of cubebs are given
in “Pharmacographia.” They were an ingredient in the P.L. formulas for
Mithridate and Theriaca, probably as a stimulant. Then they seem to
have dropped out of use. They were omitted from the P.L. 1809. Their
re-introduction into medical practice is due to an article by Dr.
Crawfurd in the _Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal_, 1818,
but it appears that the knowledge of the anti-blennorrhagic properties
of cubebs came from an English officer in Java, whose Hindoo servant
had recommended to him the use of them as a medicine. The employment of
cubebs in hoarseness and bronchial complaints was popularised by some
American Troches, a proprietary medicine, but this use of the medicine
was familiar a hundred and fifty years ago. In James’s Dispensatory it
is stated that cubebs are “recommended in hoarseness and loss of voice,
especially when the tonsils are stuffed and obstructed.”


                              DIGITALIS.

Foxglove, the common and ancient name of this handsome plant, is
believed to be a corruption of a still older name, Foxes’ glew, or
Foxes’ music, in allusion to an instrument consisting of a series of
bells hanging from one support. The Norwegian name of the plant is
Rev-bjelda, fox-bells. A pretty fancy, but one which is not supported
by evidence, is that the original name was folks’ glew, or fairy bells.
In Scotland the flower is called bloody fingers, and sometimes dead
men’s bells; in France, gants de notre Dame, and doigts de la Vierge.
The German popular name is finger-hut, finger hood or thimble, and the
Latin term, digitalis, coined by Fuchs of Tubingen about 1550, was
intended to be the equivalent of that designation.

The medical history of the foxglove is somewhat varied. It appears
to have been used as an ingredient in external applications by old
herbalists, principally for scrofulous complaints. Gerard, Parkinson,
and Salmon, who wrote in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, extol
its virtues and mention also its employment internally for the falling
sickness or epilepsy. Parkinson quotes an Italian saying concerning
it that it is a salve for all sores. It found a place in the London
Pharmacopœia of 1650 and in several subsequent issues.

But foxglove was always a medicine with a popular rather than a
professional reputation until Dr. William Withering, of Birmingham,
published “An Account of the Foxglove, and some of its Medical Uses,”
in 1785. Withering was a scientific pioneer of European fame, an
intimate associate of Priestley, Watt, and Boulton, a painstaking
botanist in whose honour a genus of the Solanaceæ was named
Witheringia, and a mineralogist whose name is similarly commemorated by
the name Witherite, given to barium carbonate.

  [Illustration: WILLIAM WITHERING, M.D.

  (From a print in the British Museum.)]

In Dr. Withering’s “Account of the Fox-glove,” he narrated that ten
years previously his opinion had been asked about a family recipe for
the cure of dropsy which had long been the secret of an old woman
in Shropshire, and which he was told had cured cases after regular
treatment had failed. The medicine was composed of some twenty
different herbs, but it was not difficult, he says, for one conversant
with such matters to perceive that foxglove was the active ingredient.

Dr. Withering details his experience as well as that of others with
the drug in some hundreds of cases. He noted its action on the heart
and as a diuretic. He had also ascertained that it was prescribed
in family recipes in Yorkshire. An article in Parkinson’s “Herbal,”
written he believed by Mr. Saunders, “an apothecary of great reputation
at Worcester,” declared it to be of great value in consumptive cases.
It had been admitted into the Edinburgh Pharmacopœia 1783, but many
practitioners were giving it in such dangerous doses that he feared its
reputation would not last long.

Dr. Withering died in 1799 at the age of fifty-eight. A foxglove is
carved on his monument in Edgbaston Old Church.


                               GUAIACUM

Came into fame in Europe in the early years of syphilis. The story told
about it (perhaps it was only a clever advertisement, though it is
related without any question by Leclerc) was that a certain Spaniard
named Gonsalvo Ferrand having taken the disease and finding no cure
for it resolved to go into the countries from which the infection had
come, confident that he would there find the remedy which the natives
themselves employed. He went to St. Domingo, discovered that the wood
there called Huaiacon was regarded as a specific, took it himself,
and was cured. This was in 1508. Whatever may be the truth of this
history it seems that Ferrand was subsequently a seller of guaiacum
wood (according to Freind), at seven gold crowns per pound (say
35s.), and accumulated a great fortune. Enormous popularity accrued
to guaiacum by the book which Ulrich von Hutten, the German poet and
reformer, wrote on the “Morbus Gallicus” in 1519. Therein he narrated
his own experience; what he had suffered from this disease; how he had
undergone salivation with mercury eleven times to no purpose; and how
at last he had been cured completely in thirty days by a course of
treatment by guaiacum. This early treatment as it was developed in the
sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries deserves to be recorded. First
a decoction was made by boiling 1 lb. of the wood raspings in 8 or 10
pints of water down to 5 or 6 pints. After straining this off another
weaker decoction was made from the same wood. The syphilitic patient
was prepared for his course of treatment by a few days’ spare diet, and
by a few aperient doses. Then he went to bed in a well-warmed room, and
early every morning took half a pint of the first decoction warm. He
was then covered with blankets and allowed to sweat for two or three
hours. After being dried he was given a few biscuits with some almonds
and raisins. The process was repeated in the latter part of the day,
and so on for fifteen days, only enough food being given to prevent
the patient from fainting. In the middle of the month a day or two’s
interval was granted, and during that time the bowels were evacuated by
an enema. Then the treatment was renewed as before, but a rather more
liberal diet was permitted. All the time the second decoction was taken
for drink as freely as the patient could be induced to swallow it.
Gradually the usual habits of eating and drinking were resumed.

It is not surprising to learn that the treatment just described was
soon accused of so reducing the strength of many patients that they
never recovered from it, and it was being abandoned when Boerhaave
revived it for a time as a remedy in syphilitic cases.

  [Illustration: PREPARATION OF GUAIACUM REMEDIES AND THEIR
  ADMINISTRATION.

  (Etching by Stradanus, 1570.)

  _Reproduced (by permission) from “The Follies of Science at the
  Court of Rudolph II.” by H. Carrington Bolton, Pharmaceutical Review
  Publishing Co., Milwaukee, U.S.A._]


                             IPECACUANHA.

Although several earlier allusions to ipecacuanha have been found,
the first being in an account of Brazil by a Portuguese friar given
in Purchas’s “Pilgrimes” (1625), where the medicine is named Igpecaya
and is described as a remedy for the bloody flux, its effective
introduction to European medicine was in the year 1686, when Louis XIV
bought from Jean Adrien Helvetius the secret of a medicine with which
he had performed a number of remarkable cures of diarrhœa and dysentery.

Helvetius, whose original name was Schweitzer, was the son of a Dutch
quack, and had gone to Paris to try to sell his father’s compounds
there. Apparently he had also enrolled himself as a student of
medicine, for he is reported to have accompanied a physician of note at
the period, named Afforty, in his attendance on a merchant variously
called Grenier and Garnier. The merchant, having recovered from his
illness, wished to present to Afforty a parcel of a new drug which
he had received from Brazil. Afforty was not tempted by the offer,
but his companion was more open to be influenced by something new. He
experimented with the medicine and found it of remarkable efficacy in
dysentery. Thereupon he placarded the corners of the streets with his
announcements of a new remedy but without stating what the drug was.
Colbert, having heard of the success of Helvetius, mentioned the remedy
to Louis XIV when the dauphin was ill with dysentery, and the young
Dutch quack was sent for. With the consent of the court physician,
D’Aquin, Helvetius treated the Dauphin and cured him. As a result the
king authorised D’Aquin and his confessor, the Père de la Chaise, to
negotiate with Helvetius for the publication of his secret, which
he sold for a thousand louis d’or, for a share in which the merchant
Garnier unsuccessfully sued. This was the beginning of a successful
career which was continued by his son and his grandson. The last became
France’s fashionable poet and philosopher in the generation before
the Revolution. The discoverer of ipecacuanha was appointed Inspector
General of the Hospitals of Flanders, and became physician to the Duke
of Orleans.

It appears from a treatise which Helvetius wrote that at first
ipecacuanha was given in doses of two drachms, sometimes in decoctions
and sometimes in enemas. Hans Sloane in England and Leibnitz in Germany
wrote warmly in favour of the new remedy, but it was not till thirty
years after it had been introduced that the dose was popularly reduced
to some four to ten grains. Dover’s lucky combination of ipecacuanha
with opium had a great effect in ensuring its permanent adoption.


                                KOUSSO.

Although Bruce, the African traveller and others had described the tree
which bears the kousso flowers in Abyssinia (Hagena Abyssinica) and had
noted that the natives used these as worm medicine, the first knowledge
of them actually made use of came through a French physician named
Brayer residing in Constantinople about the year 1820. Brayer was one
day in a café where was a waiter extremely emaciated and who suffered
cruel pains from tapeworm. An old Armenian came into the café and told
this waiter that he possessed a remedy which his son had brought from
Abyssinia, and which he was sure would cure him. Brayer ascertained the
successful result of the experiment and subsequently tested the remedy
himself on other patients with similar results. He sent some of the
flowers to the German botanist Kunth, to whom they were new, and who
named the tree _Brayera anthelmintica_. Still it does not appear
that much notice was taken of the reports until about the year 1850,
when a Frenchman offered the flowers in London for 35s. per ounce. The
fancy price attracted attention to the remedy, which proved effectual.


                                OPIUM.

The ancients recognised two kinds of opium. The superior kind was
called opion, and was the juice which exuded from the poppy head while
it was growing; and the second quality, which was named meconion, was
an extract made from the crushed heads and leaves of the poppy.

It is doubtful whether Hippocrates was acquainted with the juice of the
poppy at all. He refers to mecon but he attributes to it a purgative
as well as a narcotic power; it is therefore probable that he alludes
to some other plant. In any case, he made but very little use of
poppy or opium if he used either. Theophrastus certainly knew opium,
and Dioscorides distinguishes opion and meconion as explained above.
Dioscorides also gives the receipt for the famous Dia-kodion (made from
the poppy head), the original of our syrup of poppies. His process was
to macerate 120 poppy heads for two days in three sextarii (a sextarius
was nearly equal to our Imperial pint) of rain-water. This was boiled,
strained, mixed with honey, and boiled down to a suitable consistence.

Probably the shopkeepers and travelling quacks made more use of opium
in Rome than the regular physicians. Galen expressly says that he never
used the drug except in very urgent cases; but he enthusiastically
commends several confections such as theriaca which owed their
efficiency to opium more than to any other ingredient. Indeed it may
be said that the fame of those compounds was due to opium, and that by
them the medicinal employment of the drug was maintained during many
centuries.

We know that Paracelsus owed much of his success to the bold way
in which he administered opium to his patients; evidence that his
contemporaries did not use it to any great extent. His followers were
as enthusiastic as himself over the virtues of opium, and before
long the most serious practitioners were advocating it, and devising
formulas for its suitable administration. Platerus of Basle about 1600
strongly recommended it, and Sylvius (de la Boe) a Dutch physician said
that without opium he would not practise. Van Helmont about 1640 used
opium so frequently that he was called the Doctor Opiatus. Sydenham
about 1680 says, “Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty
God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal
and so efficacious as opium.” Many other eminent physicians might be
cited to the same effect, and some who took an opposite view. Stahl,
for instance, wrote a treatise entitled De Imposturis Opii. Hoffmann
considered that the use of opium was greatly abused, and he believed
his ether would fulfil its purpose in almost all cases.


                                QUASSIA

was sent to Linnæus from Surinam in 1763 by C. D. Dallberg, one of
his pupils, with the statement that it formed the basis of a secret
remedy employed there by a negro slave in endemic malignant fevers. The
negro’s name was reported as Quassi, and from this Linnæus invented the
name of quassia. This bitter wood was obtained from a shrub growing in
Dutch Guiana, but for the English market it was subsequently superseded
by the wood of a large tree growing in Jamaica, belonging to the same
genus. The earlier product is, however, still used in France and
Germany. Ritman, who was in Surinam in 1756, said he had met with the
old negro, Quassi, there, and reported that he was almost worshipped by
some, while others suspected him of magic. Ritman, however, found him a
simple old man skilled in old women’s medicines.


                             SARSAPARILLA.

Sarsaparilla was introduced to Europe early in the sixteenth century,
and soon leaped into fame. The great Emperor Charles V, was cured
of gout by it, or fancied he was, and this gave it an enormous
advertisement. It appeared afterwards that it was really China root,
another smilax, that was given to the Emperor, but it was called
sarsaparilla, and the western medicine got the glory. Sarsaparilla
was vaunted as a cure for syphilis, but physicians were not long in
discovering that it was much more effectual whenever it was combined
with mercurials. Its advocates insisted that it was a wonderful
sudorific, and for many years a “sweating cure” was practised in
Denmark and Sweden with apparent success. As a matter of fact
sarsaparilla has no sudorific properties whatever; but it was given in
long draughts, other more effective medicines were associated with it,
and vigorous exercise and heavy blankets were adjuncts of the cure. It
is not surprising that a sudorific result ensued.

Other confusions have distinguished the history of this so-called
remedy. The species which Linnæus selected as the medicinal
sarsaparilla and which he named _Smilax sarsaparilla_, happens to
be about the only one of some two hundred species which has never been
employed in medicine at all. It is only found in North America and not
further south than Virginia. Jamaica sarsaparilla has the reputation of
being the best, and that comes from Central America. The sarsaparilla
which actually grows in Jamaica is not valued in European markets. The
origin of the name of sarsaparilla is not agreed upon. Some authorities
attribute it to sarsa--red, and parilla--a little vine. Littré derives
it from zarza--a bramble, and Parilla--a hypothetical Spaniard who
helped to introduce it. The native Indians call it salsa, and the
French follow this origin and call it salsepareille.


                              STRAMONIUM

may have been known to the ancients as a poison. Dioscorides included
it among the henbanes, and Avicenna is supposed to have described
it under the name of the Methel nut. Some species of Datura were
frequently used in Eastern countries by thieves and sorcerers to
induce delirium and subsequent coma, and the herb had the worst of
reputations when Störck, of Vienna, experimented with it first on
himself about 1765. In consequence of its action on the brain he gave
it in cases of mania and epilepsy, and he and some practitioners who
followed him claimed to have administered it in such diseases with much
success. Its action as an asthma remedy was, however, a popular Indian
tradition which was made known to Europeans through a General Gent
about 1802. It had been recommended to him by a native, and he found
so much relief from it that he introduced it to Dr. Anderson who was
practising at Madras. It was stated that General Gent used it so freely
and so frequently that it caused his death.




                                  XX

         FAMILIAR MEDICINES AND SOME NOTES OF THEIR HISTORIES.

    Morbi, non eloquentia sed remediis, curantur.
                                    CELSUS: _De Re Medica_.


                            BLACK DRAUGHT.

Laxative or cathartic potions have been prescribed in all modern
pharmacopœias, most of them being preparations of senna. The original
one was devised by Mannagetta, an Italian physician at the court of the
Emperor Rudolph II, about 1600. His prescription became popular under
the title of Aqua, or Potio Laxativa Viennensis, and was popularly
known all over Germany as “Wiener Trank.” The formula was 1 oz. of
senna, 6 drachms of currants, 2 drachms of coriander seeds, and 2½
drachms of cream of tartar. These ingredients were packed in a bag
and suspended in hot water for a night. In the morning the liquor was
strained after the bag had been pressed, and 5 oz. of manna and 3
drachms of cream of tartar added. The dose was 3 to 4 oz. In the London
Pharmacopœia the alkaline salt of tartar was at first prescribed with
the senna, but later the acid tartrate of potash was preferred. In the
Edinburgh Pharmacopœias of the eighteenth century a formula for “Infusi
Sennæ Unciæ Quatuor” was included, while the London Pharmacopœias of
the same period provided an alkaline infusion, and an “Infusum Sennæ
Limoniatum,” containing lemon peel and lemon juice with the object of
making the draught less nauseous.

The modern combination of sulphate of magnesia with an infusion or
tincture of senna, and sometimes with manna, sometimes with ammonia,
and always with some aromatic ingredient, began to be used about the
beginning of the nineteenth century. The earliest mention of the term
“black draught” that I have met with is in Paris’s “Pharmacologia,”
1824. It was dropped out from later editions. The mixture was called
“black dose” in Brande’s “Materia Medica and Pharmacy,” 1839. The
phrases “black draught” and “blue pills” were not given as synonyms in
the Pharmacopœia until 1885. They are essentially English. Dorvault
gives a formula (practically the Mist. Sennæ Co.) entitled “Potion
Noire Anglaise,” and Hager has “Pilulæ Hydrargyrosæ seu pilulæ ceruleæ
Anglorum.”


                            BLAUD’S PILLS.

These pills are probably taken in larger numbers than any other pills
sold in Great Britain. If in proper condition they present iron in the
form of the protocarbonate, either formed in the pills, or perhaps
partially or entirely in the stomach. They are similar to Griffiths’
pills, which were the popular Mist. Ferri Co. in pilular form. Dr. J.
Blaud, a French provincial practitioner, in an article published in the
_Revue Medicale_, in 1831, entitled “Memoires sur les Maladies
Chlorotiques,” gave the following formula:--

“Gummi Arabici, 5 grammes; solve calore baln. vapor in aquæ
distillatæ, 30·5; syrupi simplicis 15 grammes; ferri sulfuric. sicci,
30; quibus caute mixtis adde kalii carbonici, 30; et inter agitatione
ope spatula ferreæ in balneo vaporis evaporando ad massam pilularum
redige; e qua forma pilulas 120; obducantur argento foliato.”

There has been much discussion concerning the best method of making
these pills so as to keep them from oxidation. Honey was for a long
time generally used as the excipient, but glycerin and sugar are
generally preferred with gum acacia or tragacanth. Pilula Ferri, B.P.,
is a substitute for Blaud’s pills.


                        THE CHELSEA PENSIONER.

An electuary for rheumatism bearing this title was evidently popular
under the above name in the early part of the nineteenth century,
but I have not been able to discover where or when or with whom it
originated. The compilers of books of formulas naturally copy from
each other, and consequently a legend once started is likely to become
crystallised.

In _The Chemist and Druggist_, of June 13th, 20th, and 27th, 1896,
an attempt was made to track this medicine to its origin, and a number
of old formulas were sent in by correspondents. The statement is made
in many books that the compound acquired its name from the circumstance
that the recipe for it was given by a Chelsea Pensioner to Lord Amherst
for gout and proved so successful that Lord Amherst gave him £300 and
an annuity of £20. Sometimes this story associated Lord Anson with
the pensioner and the amounts given in gratitude varied from £300 to
500 guineas, with an annuity sometimes of £20, sometimes of £30, and
occasionally of £100. The then living descendants of Lords Amherst and
Anson were written to by _The Chemist and Druggist_, but neither
could give any information. It rather looks as if the fiction were
concocted as an advertisement in the days when the electuary was a
proprietary medicine, if it ever was.

The earliest formula traced in the correspondence referred to was given
in Gray’s Supplement, 1821. This ran:--Pulv. gum. guaiaci, ʒi; pulv.
rhei, ʒij; pulv. pot. bitart., 1 oz.; flor. sulph., 2 oz.; one nutmeg,
and 1 lb. of honey. Of this, the dose was two tablespoonfuls night and
morning. Sometimes pulv. pot. nit. is substituted for pulv. pot. bit.;
probably a mistake of a copyist. In other formulas mustard appears
instead of nutmeg; perhaps a similar slip for myristica. Treacle
occasionally takes the place of honey, and the proportions of the
ingredients vary considerably.

The Secretary of the Chelsea Hospital was good enough to take some
trouble in reply to my inquiry to endeavour to trace this compound,
but only negative results were attained. Dr. Thomas Ligertwood, the
oldest living medical officer of the Royal Hospital, was appealed to,
but he only knew of the remedy as “a very useful combination,” and had
never heard the story of Lord Amherst’s purchase of the secret. He
thought some information might be found in a work on the “Diseases and
Infirmities of Old Age” by Dr. Daniel Maclachlan, a former Principal
Medical Officer of Chelsea Hospital. That work (dated 1863) contains
two allusions to the Chelsea Pensioner, but nothing about its history.
Writing of Chronic Rheumatism the author says:--“ ... The more
stimulating diaphoretics and diuretics prove serviceable. Among these
the preparations of guaiacum deserve the confidence they have long
enjoyed. The virtue of the powder (_sic_) known as the Chelsea
Pensioner is chiefly due to the guaiacum and sulphur it contains.” In
the section on gout he writes:--“The once famous Portland Powder has
for long been abandoned, as has also the almost equally noted Chelsea
Pensioner gout powder. One formula for the latter consisted of rhubarb,
sulphur, nitre, and gum guaiacum, in equal parts. Fifteen or twenty
grains of the powder were taken morning and evening in treacle. Another
was powdered bark, ginger, guaiacum, aa ʒi, cream of tartar 1 oz.,
flowers of sulphur ½ oz., to be made into an electuary with simple
syrup. One teaspoonful to be taken three times a day. This is certainly
not a bad combination though a nauseous one.”

The following formula is given in the “Pharmacopœia Batava recusa
cum notis et additamentis Medico-Pharmaceuticis,” published by J. F.
Niemann, in 1824:--Resin of guaiacum, rhubarb, aa ʒij; supertartrate of
potash, 1 oz.; sublimed sulphur, 2 oz.; one nutmeg; despumated honey, 1
lb. It is evident that this “Anti-Rheumatismal Electuary,” as Niemann
calls it, and the Chelsea Pensioner had a common origin, and as the
formula is not to be found in Niemann’s previous edition, 1811, it
would appear to have come into popularity between that date and 1824.
So far it remains doubtful whether its composition is due to an English
or a Dutch author.


                           CITRINE OINTMENT.

An ointment thus named appeared first in the P. L. 1650. It was a
compound of coral, limpet shells, quartz, white marble, white lead, and
tragacanth incorporated into a basis of hogs’ lard, suet, and hens’
grease. It was reputed useful for certain skin complaints, freckles,
etc. In the P.L. 1678 some of the old ingredients were omitted,
sugar of lead was substituted for the white lead and rose water, and
frankincense and citron bark were added.

Nitrate of mercury ointment appeared first in the Edinburgh
Pharmacopœia of 1722. It was made by dissolving mercury in a sufficient
quantity of nitric acid, and adding the solution to melted lard
gradually. This was not a satisfactory formula, and it was not until
1787 that anything similar was introduced into the P.L., when 1 oz.
of mercury, 2 oz. of nitrous acid, and 1 lb. of lard were combined.
This was intended, according to Christison, as an imitation of the
well-known golden eye salve, which, however, was, as we know it,
an ointment of the red oxide of mercury. Other authorities, Paris
Dorvault, Gray, etc., have stated that Singleton’s golden eye ointment
was an ointment of sulphuret of arsenic, orpiment some say, realgar
others. Pliny refers to the use of sandrach (probably realgar) as an
application in ophthalmic affections.

Apparently the originator of the P.L. nitrate of mercury ointment was
a Dr. Thomas Nettleton of Halifax, Yorkshire. In a pamphlet entitled
“On a Safe and Efficacious Medicine in Sore Eyes and Eyelids,” by
Thomas Dawson, M.D., of Hackney, printed in 1782, the writer relates
that he had heard of a yellow ointment specially good for sore eyes,
which fifty years previously had been in the possession of Dr. Thomas
Nettleton of Halifax, “whose merit as a man and a physician exceeds all
encomium.” One day one of Dr. Dawson’s patients told him of a yellow
ointment she had had from a Dr. Key, of Manchester, who had been a
pupil of Dr. Nettleton’s. Dr. Dawson wrote to Dr. Key, who at once
sent him the recipe, which was as follows:--

Take 1 oz. each of aqua fortis and mercury; dissolve and add the
solution to 8 oz. of butter melted. To this add 2 drachms of camphor
dissolved in 2 oz. of olive oil.

About the end of the eighteenth century, a citrine ointment, made
with an ounce of mercury dissolved in nitric acid and incorporated
with a pound of lard, was introduced into the Hotel Dieu Hospital of
Paris, and used to cure itch. The formula was adopted in the Dublin
Pharmacopœia, 1807.


                              COLD CREAM.

The Unguentum Refrigerans, also called “Ceratum,” appeared in the first
P.L., the formula being attributed to Galen. Four ounces of white wax
were melted in 1 lb. of rose oil (ol. rosarum omphacinum, that is,
olive oil in which rose buds 4 oz. to the lb. had been macerated, the
maceration being carried out three times, each time with a fresh lot of
roses). The melted oil and wax were to be poured frequently from one
vessel to another, stirring in a little cold water meanwhile, until the
mixture became white. Lastly, it was to be washed with rose water, and
a little rose water and rose vinegar were to be added.


                          DIACHYLON PLASTER.

The original formula for this plaster was compiled by Tiberius Claudius
Menecrates, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, and was
probably his physician. In a Greek inscription discovered at Rome he
is described as Physician of the Cæsars, probably Tiberius, Caligula,
and Claudius, for he died in the reign of the last named. He wrote a
great work on remedies entitled “Autocrator Hologrammatos,” literally,
“The Emperor, whose words are written in full.” Probably the book was
dedicated to one of the Emperors, and thus got its first title. The
second intimates that the recipes are written out in full so that any
reader could understand them; suggesting that the other physicians who
wrote such books were in the habit of employing abbreviations.

The formula for diachylon and the directions for compounding it were
put into iambic verses by Servilius Damocrates, who lived a little
later than Menecrates, and it is in this form that they have been
preserved by Galen. Briefly the composition was to incorporate 1 lb.
each of the mucilages of fœnugreek, of linseed, and of marshmallow root
with 3 lb. of old oil, and 1½ lb. of golden litharge. The mucilages
were made by boiling the seeds and root in water. Damocrates concludes
his poem with the line (I quote from the Latin translation): “Vocabat
ipsum non absurde Dia Chylon.”

Mesué wrote at length about this plaster, and devised a much more
complicated formula which was named Diachylum Magnum. It contained,
besides the mucilages already named, others made from raisins and figs,
juices of orris, squill, and dill, œsypus (sheep wool fat), turpentine,
rosin, and wax. Subsequent authors also devoted their talents to the
further improvement of this famous preparation.

Diachylon meant a preparation of juices, and this plaster received the
name of plaster of the mucilages in many pharmacopœias. In 1746 the
London College, having dismissed the adjuncts, altered the name of
the simple plaster to Emplastrum Commune, but the old term has refused
to die. An Emplastrum Commune cum Gummi was also prescribed. This
contained galbanum, thus, and turpentine combined with the Emplastrum
Commune.

The Menecrates to whom we owe Diachylon is alleged to have written 155
works, and Galen gives a number of his formulas, but no other than
Diachylon has survived. He must not be confounded with the perhaps
more celebrated Menecrates who was physician to Philip of Macedon.
This one was particularly noted for his vanity, which amused the king.
Once he wrote a letter to Philip commencing “Menecrates-Jupiter to
King Philip, greeting.” The king replied, heading his letter, “Philip
to Menecrates, Health and Common Sense.” Menecrates got himself up
to look like Jupiter, and had attendants who were made to figure as
Apollo, Æsculapius, and Mercury. Philip gave a banquet in his honour. A
separate table was reserved for him, and instead of viands only incense
was served to him, while the other guests were gloriously feasted.
Menecrates was offended at the joke and left the table in anger. He is
credited with having written a Book of Remedies, but it has been lost.


                            DOVER’S POWDER.

Thomas Dover, to whom we owe “Dover’s Powder,” practised as a doctor
in London in the first half of the eighteenth century. He was born
and buried at Barton on the Heath in Warwickshire in 1660. How he got
his medical training is not on record, but some time in his youth he
lived in the house of Thomas Sydenham, the famous physician, from
whom probably he acquired his independent ideas of medical treatment,
and possibly the germ of his lack of reverence for the College of
Physicians. While living with Sydenham he had small-pox, and forty or
fifty years later he described how the doctor treated him. First he was
bled to the extent of 22 oz.; then he took an emetic. He only took to
his bed when he became blind with the disease. In his bedroom he had
no fire, the windows were always kept open, and the bedclothes were
only allowed up to his waist. This was in the middle of January. For
medicine, Dover says, “he made me take twelve bottles of small beer
acidulated with spirit of vitriol every twenty-four hours,” and he
concludes, “I never lost my senses one moment.”

Having resisted both the disease and the treatment, Dover is first
heard of in practice in Bristol in 1684. He plodded along there until
1708, when at the age of forty-eight he set out with a privateering
party on a voyage round the world. The expedition consisted of two
ships, the _Duke_ and the _Duchess_. Captain Woodes-Rogers,
who has left an account of the voyage, was in chief command, and Dover
on the _Duke_ was his lieutenant. He must have had previous
experience of seafaring life or he would never have been entrusted with
the command of a vessel.

The buccaneers were away from England three years, and when they
returned they brought with them a Spanish frigate of twenty-one
guns, and a quantity of loot. One event of their voyage proved to
be of world-famous importance. On February 2, 1709, Dover, on the
_Duke_, touched at the island of Juan Fernandez and took on board
Alexander Selkirk who had lived alone on the island four years and four
months, and whose story was to develop in the skilful hands of Defoe
into that of the immortal Robinson Crusoe.

A few months after leaving Juan Fernandez the expedition arrived at
Guayaquil in Peru. Having duly sacked the city and stored their plunder
in the ships, the sailors slept in the churches, and Dover quaintly
relates how annoyed they were by the smell of the Spanish corpses;
for plague was raging in the place at the time, and the victims were
buried just under the floors with only a plank or two over them. Two
days later, at sea, the disease broke out among the crews. They had
180 cases all at the same time, and Dover had four surgeons with him.
He ordered them to go round and start bleeding all the patients, and
to stop the bleeding when the round had been completely made. About
100 oz. of blood, he says, was taken from each man. Then he gave them
spirit of vitriol, and only seven or eight died.

The next we know of Dover is that from 1721 to 1728 he was in practice
in Cecil Street, Strand; he returned to Gloucestershire for a few
years, then came back to London and practised in Lombard Street,
removing in 1736 to Arundel Street, Strand.

He is supposed to have died about 1742. It was in these latter years
that he wrote his “Ancient Physician’s Legacy to his Country.” He
describes himself on the title-page as Thomas Dover, M.B., and his book
as “Being what he has collected in forty-nine years’ Practice, or an
account of the several diseases incident to mankind, described in so
plain a manner that any person may know the nature of his own disease.
Together with the several remedies for each distemper faithfully set
down.”

In this work Dover relates a number of wonderful cures he had
effected, gives names and addresses of many of his patients, often
adding grateful letters from them. He had but limited confidence in the
“clan of prejudiced gentlemen,” as he calls the College of Physicians,
and he complains vigorously of the extortions of the Apothecaries.
Metallic quicksilver was his panacea, and he prescribed it so lavishly
that he acquired the title of “the quicksilver doctor.” It forms balsam
with the blood, he says. That is why it cures venereal diseases. Other
doctors gave it, but in disguise, in the form of Ethiops Mineral
generally; which was like using the sword in the scabbard.

His formula for “Diaphoretic Powder” is given in a chapter on gout. It
was as follows:--

“Take opium 1 oz.; saltpetre and tartar vitriolated, each 4 oz.;
liquorish 1 oz.; ipecacuanha, 1 oz. Put the saltpetre and tartar into a
red-hot mortar, stirring till they have done flaming. Then powder them
very fine. After that slice in your opium; grind these to a powder,
and then mix the other powders with them. Dose, from 40 to 60 or 70
grains in a glass of white wine posset going to bed, covering up warm,
and drinking a quart or three pints of the posset while sweating. In
two or three hours at furthest the patient will be free from pain, and
though before not able to put his foot to the ground, ’tis very much if
he cannot walk next day. The remedy may be taken once a week or once a
month.”

The dose appears to us in these degenerate days a large one, and Dover
states that “some apothecaries have desired their patients to make
their wills before they venture upon so large a dose.” But he declares
he has given up to 100 grains, and the patient has appeared abroad the
next day. The notion of danger, he adds, proceeds entirely from their
ignorance, and from the want of knowing those ingredients that are
mixed up with it, for they naturally weaken the power of the opium.

Dover’s powder first appeared in the London Pharmacopœia for 1788.
Probably it was adopted after the quack Ward had made it famous as a
“sweating powder.” Ward died in 1761 and the formulæ for his remedies
were published soon after his death.


                           UNGUENTUM ELEMI.

Ointment of elemi was in all the London Pharmacopœias, and was only
dropped from the B.P. 1898. In the earlier issues it was called
“unguentum or linimentum Arcœi,” because it had been introduced and
recommended by Arcœus of Amsterdam in 1574, for healing wounds.
A similar ointment was called “Balsamum Arcœi” in the Prussian
Pharmacopœia of 1847. The inventor’s formula was to melt together six
parts each of gum elemi and turpentine, and add six parts of melted
stag’s suet, and two parts of oil of St. John’s wort. Arcœus was a
Spaniard by birth, and an eminent authority on the treatment of wounds.


                     FOWLER’S SOLUTION OF ARSENIC.

Thomas Fowler kept an apothecary’s shop in York from 1760 to 1774. In
the latter year he relinquished trade, and went to Edinburgh to study
medicine. Graduating as M.D. in 1778, he settled at Stafford, and was
appointed physician to the Infirmary of that town. Later, he returned
to York, where he acquired a large practice, and where he died in 1801.

It was in 1786, during his residence at Stafford, that Dr. Fowler
published his treatise, entitled “Medical Reports of the Effects
of Arsenic in the Cure of Agues, Remitting Fevers, and Periodic
Headaches.” It was only a small work, but it made Fowler’s reputation,
and introduced arsenic into the list of recognised remedies. The
doctor stated that a certain Patent Ague Drops known as Tasteless Ague
and Fever Drops, which had acquired some reputation in this country,
had been occasionally tried in the Stafford Infirmary, and had been
found efficacious. With the assistance of the apothecary to the
Infirmary, a Mr. Hughes (“whose industry, attention, and abilities in
his professional line justly merit applause”) he had ascertained that
these drops were a preparation of arsenic, and he goes on to detail
the experiments which led him and Mr. Hughes to devise the following
formula as representative of the patent medicine:--

“Recipe arsenici albi in pulverem subtilissimum triti.

“Salis alkalini fixi vegetabilis purificati, singulorum grana sexaginta
quatuor.

“Aquæ fontanæ destillatæ, libram dimidiam.

“Immitantur in Ampullam florentinam qua in Balneo Arenæ posita,
Aqua lente ebulliat donec Arsenicum perfecte Solutum fierit. Deinde
Solutioni frigidæ adde.

“Spiritus Lavendulæ compositum, unciam dimidiam.

“Aquæ fontanæ destillatæ, libram dimidiam, plus vel minus, adeo ut
solutionis mensura libra una accurata fiat, vel potius Pondere unciæ
quindecim cum dimidia.”

Fowler reminds his readers that of course troy weights are intended,
and he explains that the spirit of lavender is added merely to give the
mixture a medicinal appearance, lest patients entrusted to drop it for
themselves might be tempted to use a water-white solution too freely.
He also suggests that as arsenic conveys rather alarming ideas, this
medicine should be described as “mineral solution.”

It is universally recognised that Fowler introduced the modern
medicinal employment of arsenic, but it should in fairness be
remembered that he was guided to his discovery by a quack remedy, as
lie himself fully acknowledged.

The Liquor Arsenici Chloridi, P.L., was adopted from a formula of Dr.
F. de Valangin, a Swiss doctor who qualified in England in 1765. He
made a quantity and presented it to the Apothecaries’ Hall, where it
was sold for some time under the name of Solvent Mineral.


                            FRIAR’S BALSAM.

Tinct. Benzoin Co., was a copy of Ward’s Balsam, which itself was
only the adaptation of compounds which had been for a long time sold
under the names of Friar’s Balsam, Commander’s Balsam, Jesuit’s Drops,
Turlington’s Drops, and Traumatic Balsam. It was under the last name
that it first appeared in the P.L. of 1746. This was only the Latinised
name of Wound Balsam, another old designation of a similar preparation.

It is not known how the still popular name for this preparation,
Friar’s Balsam, originated. It is included in the Schedule to the
Medicine Stamp Act of 1812, suggesting that at that time it was
regarded as a proprietary medicine.

A correspondent of _The Chemist and Druggist_ (P. F. R., April 15,
1885) quoted from the _Western Antiquary_, 1884, page 136, the
curious item that a Portuguese merchant named Peter de Frias obtained
from the Viceroy of Peru, about the year 1581, the fruit of a balm
or balsam. It is not an impossible suggestion that Peter de Frias
may have been the originator of our Friar’s Balsam. The substitution
of benzoin for the balsam of Peru, which was probably the basis of
his “wound balsam,” is easily accounted for. Perhaps a more likely
explanation of the introduction of Friar’s Balsam into the Medicine
Stamp Act is that there was a patent medicine “called the Frier’s
Drops,” patented by Robert Grubb on June 13, 1777. It was intended
for the cure of the venereal disease, scurvy, rheumatism, and other
complaints. It contained calomel, antimony, guaiacum, and balsam of
Peru in spirit.

The Baume de Commandeur, which was also called Baume du Commandeur de
Permes, and Baume du Chevalier de Saint Victor, seems to have been the
original of these benzoinated tinctures, and acquired considerable
reputation in France. It was evidently at first a proprietary
preparation, but Pomet in 1694 gave a formula for an imitation of it,
with the remark that it would cure in eight days any wound by iron or
fire, if it were not a mortal one. His formula prescribes benzoin,
3 oz.; dry Peruvian balsam, 1 oz.; storax, 2 oz.; Socotrine aloes,
myrrh, olibanum, angelica root, and St. John’s wort flowers, of each ½
oz. digested in 2½ lb. of spirit, and strained. The Traumatic Balsam
introduced into the P.L. substituted Balsam of Tolu for the Balsam of
Peru, and omitted the myrrh, olibanum, angelica, and St. John’s wort.
This was almost identical with the Tinct. Benzoin Co. of the present
B.P.

The simple tincture of benzoin was already popular in this country when
the Traumatic Balsam was introduced. It was taken in doses of 20 to 60
drops in asthma, but its more usual employment was as Lac Virginis (1
drachm of the tincture in 4 ounces of water) as an application for the
skin.


                           GREGORY’S POWDER.

The original of the Pulv. Rhei Co. of the British Pharmacopœia was a
prescription very frequently given by Dr. James Gregory, of Edinburgh,
in his time the most famous physician of that city. He died in 1822.
This Dr. Gregory was Professor of Medicine in Edinburgh University,
as his father was before him. His son became Professor of Chemistry
in the same university. Direct ancestors of these Gregorys had been
professors of history, astronomy, and mathematics at Edinburgh, Oxford,
and St. Andrews. Within a century and a half the family furnished
sixteen professors to British universities, and it is a curious
coincidence that the Church of Rome likewise counts sixteen Gregorys
among its Popes.

  [Illustration: DR. JAMES GREGORY.

  Professor of Medicine in Edinburgh University, 1790–1821. Author of
  _Conspectus Medicinæ Theoreticæ_ and inventor of Gregory’s Powder.

  (From a mezzotint, “after Raeburn,” in the British Museum.)]

It does not appear that the Gregory of powder fame ever published any
special recommendation of his compound. He wrote a “Conspectus Medicinæ
Theoreticæ” (1788) but the formula for his powder does not appear in
that book. Annexed is a facsimile of one of Dr. Gregory’s prescriptions
for his powder. He gave this prescription very frequently, but
occasionally varied the proportion of the ingredients.

  [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF DR. GREGORY’S PRESCRIPTION.]


                             HIERA PICRA.

A medicine with this familiar name can be bought in any chemist’s shop
in Europe or America to-day, just as it could in Damascus a thousand,
or in Rome and Alexandria two thousand years ago. Probably it is the
oldest pharmaceutical compound still in existence. Through all the
centuries the hiera picra known to the public has been a preparation of
aloes. The adjuncts have varied but aloes has always been the essential
ingredient, with one celebrated exception.

The origin of this medicine is variously stated by medical historians.
The common theory is that it first acquired fame as a remedy employed
in one or other of the Æsculapian Temples. This may have been the case,
but there is no evidence in support of the suggestion. It is possible
that the name may have suggested the notion, and the drug vendors of
Rome would certainly not discourage the fancy.

Before the time of Julius Cæsar there were no physicians in Rome. Greek
practitioners of the minor arts of medicine, such as bath-keepers,
corn-cutters, tooth-drawers, and herbalists crowded into the great city
as it became rich, and opened shops which were known as “medicinas,”
and it is likely that most of these brought with them a more or less
famous “hiera,” claiming that it had been compounded from a genuine
Temple formula.

Leclerc, an excellent authority on all matters concerning ancient
medicine, attributes the first Hiera to Themison of Laodicea, who
practised in Rome about 50 B.C., and who is reputed to have
been the first physician to make use of leeches. The Hiera of Themison
was composed of 100 drachms of aloes, with 1 oz. each of mastic,
saffron, Indian nard, carpobalsamum, and asarum.

The Hiera of Galen, which was modified from that of Archigenes, was
originally in the following form:--

Socotrine aloes, 100; cinnamon, spikenard, xylobalsamum, mastic,
asarum, and saffron, of each 6; honey to make an electuary. In the P.L.
this was ordered to be kept in the form of species, and was principally
used to make a tincture which was called tinctura sacra. In the 1721
edition the mastic and the spikenard were omitted, cardamom seeds being
substituted for the latter, and some cochineal was added with a view to
colouring the tincture. In 1746 hiera picra became simply a mixture of
aloes and canella, and as such it was retained in the following edition
(1788), but under the title of Pulv. Aloeticus, which in the Index is
given as “olim Hiera Picra.” This was the latest reference to Hiera
Picra as such in the London Pharmacopœia. The P.L. of 1788 gave also
a Pulv. Aloeticus c. Guaiaco, which consisted of 1½ oz. of Socotrine
aloes, 1 oz. of powdered guaiacum, and ½ oz. of aromatic powder
(afterwards called Pulv. Cinnamomi Co., and compounded of cinnamon,
cardamoms, ginger, and long pepper). The canella mixture did not appear
again, but that with guaiacum was repeated in all the subsequent London
Pharmacopœias including the last in 1851, but was dropped from the
British Pharmacopœias.

Pil. Rufi, our Myrrh and Aloes pill, was originally a Hiera invented
by Rufus of Ephesus, who lived in the reign of the Emperor Trajan. The
Hiera was made into pills by the Arabs, and were for a long time known
as Pilulæ Pestilentiales, which was the name Avicenna gave them. In the
early Edinburgh Pharmacopœias they were called Pilulæ Communes.

Scribonius Largus, physician to the Emperor Tiberius, relates
(A.D. 52) that one of these noted hieras, the Hiera Pachii,
was much sought after, and that large sums had been offered for the
formula. When Pachius died at Antioch the Emperor had his library
searched, and the true recipe for the famous medicine was there found
in a book which Pachius had prepared and had dedicated to the Emperor.
Tiberius handed the formula to Scribonius with instructions for its
publication. The formula given by Scribonius, which it will be noted
contained no aloes, was as follows:--Colocynth, agaric, germander,
white horehound, Arabian stœches (a sort of lavender), of each ℥x;
opoponax, sagapenum, parsley seeds, round birthwort root, white pepper,
of each ℥v; spikenard, cinnamon, myrrh, and saffron, of each ℥iv;
despumated honey, 3 lb. 3 oz. 5 drachms, to make an electuary.

It is not necessary to describe the other hieras devised by later
authorities, but it may be noted that the Hiera Tralliani compounded
by Alexander of Tralles (about 550 A.D.) contained scammony,
and that he advises concerning it that the quantity of scammony
shall not be increased, as it appears some were inclined to do, not
knowing that thereby they make it useless. For he says it is not the
intention that the medicine should be carried immediately through the
system. It should be detained in the body and conveyed to the remote
parts so as to correct the various humours, open the passages, remove
the obstructions of the nerves, and make way for the motion of the
spirits. This was the formula given in the P.L. 1721 under the name of
Hiera Diacolocynthidis, but our present-day hiera picra has descended
from the Hiera Simplex of Galen. The old dispensatories up to the
eighteenth century give a liberal choice of Hieras, among which were
the Hiera Simplex Galeni cum Agarice, Hiera Logadii, Hiera Antiochi,
Hiera Archigenes, Hiera Tralliani, Hiera Rufi, Hiera Justi, Hiera
Constantini, and others. Originally these were all electuaries made
with honey. It became the practice, however, to keep them in the form
of “species,” and ultimately electuaries went out of fashion altogether.


                               LAUDANUM.

Paracelsus probably invented the name of laudanum, and seems to have
called several medicines by that term. In one place he expressly states
that his laudanum was made from gold leaf and unperforated pearls; in
other places he seems to mean red precipitate, and undoubtedly opium
or a compound of it was sometimes intended. Crollius gives a formula
for a pill mass, which he designates the laudanum of Paracelsus, which
contained one-fourth of its weight of opium, to which were added
henbane juice, mummy, salts of pearls and corals, the bone of the heart
of a stag, bezoar stone, amber, musk, unicorn, and some species, with
a few drops of many of the essential oils. The Anodynum Specificum of
Paracelsus was a product obtained by first digesting opium, 4, in a
mixture of orange and lemon juices, 180, with distilled frogs’ sperm
water, to which cinnamon, 4, cloves, 45, ambergris, 4, and saffron, 45,
were added. This mixture was digested for a month, and after pressing
and straining, coral, magistery of pearl, and quintessence of gold, of
each 2, were added, together with the salt extracted from the marc.

The laudanum of the early London Pharmacopœias was a pill mass made
as follows:--Thebaic opium extracted by spirit of wine, ℥i.; saffron,
similarly extracted, ℥iss; castorum, ℥i; combined with ℥ss. of species
of diambræ made into a tincture with spirit of wine; to these might be
added, ex-gratia, ambergris and musk, of each 6 gr., and oil of nutmeg
10 drops. Evaporate the moisture and leave the mass.

One would think that the name laudanum was an echo of laudandum, and
that has been the usual opinion. But Professor Skeat is confident that
it is a variation of ladanum, which, he says, was a stomachic cordial
made and named from gum labdanum, which had been in medical use for
centuries. This, of course, is possible, but it must be remembered that
Paracelsus was untrammelled by any etymological rules in his invented
words, and that the one unlikely thing for him to do would have been
to adopt with a slight modification the name of a remedy then in use,
if, indeed, a preparation of labdanum was at that time popular, or
even known at all in Germany in his time.[2] Adam of Bodenstein, son
of the theologian Carolstadt, who wrote both for and against Luther’s
doctrines, wrote a treatise in which he professed to explain all the
mysterious terms used by Paracelsus. Laudanum, he says, is from _a
laude_, and was a quintessence of mercury and not an opiate.

Sydenham’s Laudanum is the preparation of opium which attained the
highest popularity. It has always been the principal liquid preparation
of the drug in continental practice, and formulas for it more or less
corresponding with the original are in all the principal Pharmacopœias
except the British. It was omitted from the P.L. in 1746, or rather a
very similar preparation named Tinctura Thebaiaca was substituted for
it. Sydenham’s formula, which was given incidentally in his description
of the dysentery of 1669–72, prescribed strained opium, 2 oz., saffron
1 oz., cinnamon and cloves of each 1 drachm, and Canary wine, 1 pint.

“I do not think this preparation has more virtue than the solid
laudanum of the shops,” he wrote; “but I prefer it before that for its
more commodious form, and by reason of the greater certainty of the
dose, for it may be dropped into wine or any distilled water, or into
any other liquor.”

This passage is quoted from Pechey’s translation of Sydenham’s works.
The allusion to “the solid laudanum of the shops” confirms the opinion
that Sydenham’s was the first liquid preparation generally designated
laudanum. Among the Sloane manuscripts in the British Museum is
included what is described as “The Commonplace Book of an Apothecary
at Great Dunmow,” which contains several more or less similar recipes
for laudanum. The book is dated 1644–5. The most elaborate formula is
headed “Laudanum Josephi Michælis,” and lengthy directions for making
this are given. The ingredients were opium, extract of henbane, species
diambræ (a compound of most of the known spices), pearls, coral,
amber, musk, mummy, cloves, and oil of cloves. Some of these were to
be extracted with spirit of wine, and the spirituous extracts were to
be distilled. Ultimately the whole was to be set aside to ferment for
three months. The dose was stated to be 4 or 5 grains at bedtime.

Rousseau’s laudanum, which also became famous among opium preparations,
differed from others in being a fermented compound. It was made by
dissolving 12 oz. of honey in 3 lb. of warm water, and setting the
mixture in a warm place. When it began to ferment, 4 oz. of opium mixed
with 12 oz. of water were added, and the fermentation was allowed to
continue at a moderate temperature for a month. After straining, the
liquid was evaporated to 10 oz., and 4½ oz. of alcohol were added.

Rousseau was a Capuchin monk and was destined for mission work in Asia.
Sent from Rome to Paris to study medicine so that he might be better
fitted for his life’s work, he carried a letter of introduction to
Colbert, the first minister of Louis XIV. Rooms were provided for him
in the Louvre, and there before long he set up a laboratory and began
to prepare and sell medicines. The Capucin of the Louvre became the
fashionable quack, and Louis ordered the Faculty of Medicine to confer
on him a degree. The life was so agreeable that, when orders came from
Rome that he was to proceed on his mission, Rousseau refused, and,
having transferred his allegiance to the order of Cluny, he continued
his medical practice in Paris. Falling ill he refused medical aid,
treated himself with his own compounds, and died. After his death his
brother published his “Remédes et Secréts Eprouvés” (1697).

Black Drop was the name of a celebrated proprietary medicine very
popular from the first half of the eighteenth, until the early part of
the nineteenth century. Its inventor was one Edward Runstall of Bishop
Auckland in the county of Durham, but it also came to be known as the
Lancaster or the Quaker’s Black Drop. A formula for it was found by a
Dr. Armstrong among the papers of a relative of the proprietor, and was
published in a treatise on fevers in the early part of the nineteenth
century. The recipe was as follows:--Opium, ½ lb.; good verjuice (the
juice of the wild crab), 4 pints; nutmegs, 1½ oz.; saffron, ½ oz. Boil
to a proper consistence, set in a warm place, add two spoonfuls of
yeast, set in a warm place for six or eight weeks, then in the open
air until it becomes of the consistence of syrup. Decant, filter, and
bottle, putting a little sugar into each bottle.

This preparation was three times the strength of laudanum. The acetum
opii of the Edinburgh and Dublin Pharmacopœias was intended as a
substitute, but closer approximations to the original formula were
given in the Hamburg Codex of 1845 and in the U.S. Pharmacopœia of
1851. The growing favour with which morphine was regarded gradually
destroyed the popularity of the Black Drop.


                     TINCTURA LAVANDULÆ COMPOSITA

has much fallen from its earlier glories. In the P.L., 1721, it was
made with French brandy and twenty-seven other ingredients, including
besides lavender, sage, rosemary, betony, borage, lilies of the valley,
cowslips, balm, orange flowers, bay berries, cinnamon, mace, nutmegs,
cardamoms, cubebs, aloes wood, ambergris, saffron, musk roses, and
a few other less familiar flowers or cordials. The preparation was
known as Palsy Drops, but I am not sure whether the official compound
acquired this title, or whether it was an imitation of a tincture
previously known as such.


                          LENITIVE ELECTUARY.

The formula prescribed in the first London Pharmacopœia was as
follows:--Raisins (stoned), polypody of the oak, Eastern senna, of
each 2 oz.; herb mercury, 1½ handful; jujubes and sebestens, of each
20; maidenhair, violets, and cleaned barley, of each 1 handful; prunes
(stoned), tamarinds, of each 6 drachms; liquorice, ½ oz.

These drugs were to be boiled in 10 lb. of water to one-third of its
volume, and to the strained liquor were to be added pulp of cassia
fistula, tamarinds, prunes, sugar of violets, of each 6 oz.; sugar, 2
lb.; and at last 1½ oz. of powdered senna was to be incorporated to
each pound of the electuary.

In the Pharmacopœia of 1650 powdered aniseed, 2 drachms to each pound
of the electuary, was added in order to correct the action of the senna.

In 1721 figs (20) took the place of the jujubes and sebestens; and
powdered coriander seeds were substituted for the aniseed.

In the Pharmacopœia of 1746 the preparation was much simplified, the
raisins, polypody, herb mercury, maidenhair, violets, and barley, being
rejected. The formula then adopted was very nearly the same as the one
now prescribed, but the name of the compound was changed in 1851 to
Confection of Senna.

As in the case of most other medicines, the dose of this compound has
been gradually reduced. There was more senna in proportion to the
finished product in the old formulas than in the modern ones; but the
dose was stated by Culpepper to be “one ounce for a man of reasonable
strength.” Later a piece the size of a walnut was recommended; now the
official dose is 1 to 2 drachms.

For a long time this preparation was grossly adulterated. “I
understand,” says Paris, “that a considerable quantity is manufactured
in Staffordshire in which unsound or spoilt apples are an ingredient;
that jalap blackened with walnut liquor is frequently substituted for
pulp of cassia; and that the great bulk of what is sold in London is
little else than prunes, figs, and jalap.”


                      COMPOUND LIQUORICE POWDER.

Although this popular medicine was only made official by being adopted
in the B. P. Additions, 1874, it had already acquired reputation as
a pleasant laxative in household medicine, and had been familiar in
German pharmacy for the better part of a century. It first appeared
in the Prussian Pharmacopœia in 1799, and had been devised by a noted
physician of Berlin, Dr. E. G. Kurella, who died in the year named.
He called the mixture Pectoral Powder, and he made an electuary from
similar ingredients.

The Prussian powder looks like a modification of a compound senna
powder included in the first London Pharmacopœia, 1618. This contained
senna, liquorice, caraway, fennel, cumin, spikenard, cinnamon,
galangal, and gromwell seeds. Its “first contriver” (says Quincy) was
Isaac Hollandicus.


                              OPODELDOC.

So far as can be traced Paracelsus first used the term opodeldoc (or
as it is generally found in his works, opodelloch or opodeltoch). If
he invented the word it is probable that he did not derive it from
any etymological elements. Various suggestions have been made from
time to time in explanation of the term, but without any sound basis.
The most ingenious one is given by Hermann Peters in his “Pictorial
History of Ancient Pharmacy.” He derives it from the first syllabic
of opoponax, the second syllable of bedellium, and the third syllable
of aristolochia root. These were the principal ingredients of the old
opodeldoc plaster as it appeared in the last Nuremburg edition of the
“Dispensatory of Valerius Cordus.”

In some dictionaries Mindererus is credited with the invention of the
word, but incorrectly. He uses it, but expressly attributes it to
Paracelsus. In his “Medicina Militaris,” for example, he advises the
army doctor to “be provided with a good plaister for wounds made by
thrusting (spear-wounds) such as are the opodeldoc of Theophrastus.”
Schröder, another medical author of about the same date (1600) also
refers to the “oppodeldoch plaister of Paracelsus.” Paracelsus only
uses the term opodeldoc for plasters, and for these he does not give a
specific formula. One of his annotators, Felix Wurtz, however, states
that the following was the method of preparing the great opodeldoch
plaster which Paracelsus was in the habit of using. Its formula was as
follows:--

   Galbanum, opoponax, of each 3 oz.; ammoniacum, bdellium, of each
   1 oz. Macerate for eight days in distilled vinegar and slowly
   evaporate the solution to the consistence of honey. Then boil
   together, litharge in fine powder, ½ lb., with 1½ lb. of oil,
   stirring until the compound acquires the colour of bay. Add 1
   lb. of wax, and when melted mix with the solution the gums above
   mentioned, and soon after add 3 oz. of oil of laurinus. Stir all
   these diligently until they are perfectly mixed, then remove
   from the fire and work in the following powders, all finely
   powdered:--

   Crocus martial, mummy, prepared magnet, magistery of white
   coral, and magistery of red coral, of each ½ oz.; calamine,
   myrrh, frankincense, mastich, aristolochia root, of each 2 oz.
   Stir these gradually with the liquefied plaster.

   Separately mix 1 drachm of powdered amber, 1 drachm of oil of
   laurinus, and ½ oz. of turpentine, and add to them 1 drachm
   of camphor and ½ drachm of saffron. Add this mixture to the
   plaster, and when perfectly blended form into magdaleons
   (rolls). These may be slightly softened with oil of St. John’s
   wort.

The author explains that this plaster will heal all wounds and all
ordinary ulcers without the formation of pus; but for rodent ulcers
he recommends the addition of 1 drachm of the following mixture of
powders to each ½ oz. of plaster:--Crocus of antimony, vitriol of
calcined rubies, and red precipitate; equal parts worked in with a
little oil of turpentine. Other forms were given by different authors,
but this was the one which was adopted in the P.L., 1721.

Just when the name was transferred from a plaster to the liquid soap
liniment cannot be traced; it was applied to an ointment on the way.
There is a formula for an Unguentum Opodeldoch in the first Edinburgh
Pharmacopœia, 1722, as follows:--

   “Rad. angelicæ, aristolochiæ longæ, imperatoriæ, aa 2 oz.;

   “Fol. ocimi (basil), origani, salviæ, serpylli,

   “Flor anthos, lavandulæ, aa 1½ oz.;

   “Bacc. juniper, lauri, sem. cummini, aa 2 oz.; castorei, 1 oz.

“Affunde Spirit. Vini Rect. congium unum. Digere frigide per triduum
in vaso clauso; tandem humitatur in B.M. tepidum per horas aliquot.
Colatura expressæ adde

   “Camphoræ 1 oz., saponis Venet. minutim incisi, lbii.

“Digere rursus in vase circularorio juncturis lutatis, leni calore B.M.
donec coeant in unguentum.”

Steer’s opodeldoc was similar to this compound, but with some ammonia
added. It appeared about the middle of the eighteenth century, and
foreign dispensatories state that it was the patent of an English
doctor. I have not been able to trace either the patent or the doctor.
Steer’s opodeldoc was evidently the model imitated in most of the
foreign pharmacopœias.


                              PAREGORIC.

Paregoric Elixir originated with Le Mort, Professor of Chemistry at
the University of Leyden from 1702 till 1718, when he died and was
succeeded by Boerhaave. A modification of Le Mort’s formula was given
in the P.L., 1721, as Elixir Asthmaticum, thus:--Honey and liquorice
root, of each 4 oz.; flowers of benjamin and opium, of each 1 drachm;
camphor, 2 scruples; oil of aniseed, ½ drachm; salt of tartar, 1 oz.;
spirit of wine, 2 lb. Quincy (1724) says, “there is not any composition
of our shops to be compared to it in the intention in which it is
ordered.” He explains that opium procures a truce with the cough,
and so provides a better opportunity for the other ingredients to
rarefy and thin the viscid cohesions in the vessels, and fit them for
circulation and secretion. In the P.L., 1746, the honey, liquorice,
and salt of tartar were omitted, and the name of the preparation was
changed to Elixir Paregoricum. The Edinburgh Pharmacopœia of 1756 left
out the honey, liquorice, and salt of tartar, substituted saffron for
camphor, and ammoniated the spirit. The P.E. also adopted the name of
Paregoric. In the P.L., 1788, the official name became Tinct. Opii
Camphorata, and in 1851, Tinct. Camphoræ Co. A similar formula appears
in most foreign Pharmacopœias. In the German Pharmacopœia and in some
others it is called Tinct. Opii Benzoica.

Paregoric, that is, soothing, remedies were frequently spoken of before
the adjective became specific. Leclerc, dealing with the later Greek
and Roman remedies, states that preparations into which poppy juice
or opium entered as an essential ingredient, whether they were pills
or liquids, were called anodyna or paregorica. Bishop Berkeley said
of his tar water that it was “both paregoric and cordial.” The word
was derived from a Greek combination originally meaning to speak in
an assembly, but it acquired the secondary sense of speaking words of
consolation.


                             PIL. COCHIA.

Pil. Cochia originated with the Greco-Roman physicians, from Galen
onwards, and all the formulas for it associate aloes with a more
drastic purgative such as colocynth, which is the usual ingredient.
The term, however, did not come into use until about the seventh
century, and according to some authorities it was first formally
adopted by Rhazes, the Arab. The predecessors of our pills were called
“katapotia,” which meant things to be swallowed, and the earlier
prescribers directed katapotia of such a size. Celsus, for example,
orders katapotia of the size of an almond, of an Egyptian bean, and so
on. Subsequently as patients became more fastidious they were humoured
by the doctors, and katapotia of the size of a coccus, which was a
lentil berry, were prescribed. Coccion meant a diminutive coccus, and
as the pill of aloes and colocynth was frequently prescribed in this
way the term came to distinguish those pills particularly. Paul of
Ægina’s formula (sixth century) ordered aloes and colocynth pulp, and
extract of wormwood, of each one part, with scammony two parts. To be
made into pills of the size of a coccus. Eleven were to be taken for
a dose. The early London Pharmacopœias contained formulas for pilulæ
cocciæ majores, from Rhazes, and pilulæ cocciæ minores, from Galen.
Only the latter survived. In the P.L., 1746, the name of Pilulæ cocciæ
minores was changed to Pilulæ ex Colocynthide cum Aloe, and the
formula ordered Socotrine aloes and scammony, of each 2 oz.; pulp of
colocynth 1 oz.; oil of cloves, 2 drachms.


                           PLUMMER’S PILLS.

Pil. Calomel. Co. originated from a formula devised by Dr. Andrew
Plummer, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh in the
middle of the eighteenth century. Dr. Plummer first published his
formula in the “Edinburgh Medical Essays,” 1751. It was only a slight
modification of the Pilulæ Æthiopicæ which were already official in the
Edinburgh Pharmacopœia. These were originally a combination of Ethiops
Mineral with the golden sulphide of antimony, but the Edinburgh College
had substituted calomel for the former.


                    AMMONIATED TINCTURE OF QUININE.

Under this name Mr. Joseph Ince recorded in the _Pharm. Journ._,
June 13th, 1874, that a preparation was made and called by this name
which was a solution of 1 grain of sulphate of quinine in one drachm of
compound spirit of ammonia. This did not meet with general approval,
and in 1853 Mr. Bastick proposed an Ammoniated Solution of Quinine made
by dissolving 32 grains of sulphate of quinine in 3½ ounces of proof
spirit and ½ ounce of solution of ammonia. The present B.P. tincture
contains less ammonia, and alcohol is employed instead of proof spirit.


                         COMPOUND SOAP PILLS.

Pil. Sapon. Co., formerly official as Pil. Sapon. c Opio, Pil. Opii,
Pil. ex Opio, and when first authorised in the P.L., 1746, Pil.
Saponacea, was adapted from a famous nostrum long sold as Matthews’s
Pills, and as Starkey’s Pills. Starkey, a qualified physician, was
understood to have devised the process, and Matthews was the vendor
in whose name they were sold. But a little before his death in 1665
Starkey told Dr. George Wilson that the formula he had sold to
Matthews was not his genuine and best process. In both, however, the
characteristic ingredient was “soap of tartar,” which it was claimed
added an aperient quality to the opium which made it safe to give
in asthmas and other complaints when opium alone was objectionable.
The soap of tartar was made by melting together in a crucible equal
parts of cream of tartar and saltpetre, the compound being afterwards
crystallised and powdered, and with it was incorporated 4 oz. of
turpentine to each pound of the resulting salt. Matthews’s Pills
were made from 4 oz. each of extract of opium, black hellebore, soap
of tartar, and liquorice, with 1 oz. of saffron. Starkey’s deathbed
formula ordered 4 oz. of extract of opium, 2 oz. each of nutmeg and
mineral bezoar (calx of antimony), saffron and snake root, of each
1 oz., soap of tartar 8 oz., oil of sassafras ½ oz., tincture of
antimony, 2 oz. These pills were also known as pilulæ pacificæ.


                      DECOCTIONS OF SARSAPARILLA.

Sarsaparilla, guaiacum, sassafras, and mezereon enjoyed fitful periods
of fame in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
especially for the treatment of syphilis. From the time of their
introduction the Paracelsists denounced these remedies, and Paracelsus
himself was especially sarcastic about “the wooden doctors,” as he
called those who relied on these woods. Still they were employed to
an immense extent. A number of remedies were made from them, generally
from a combination of them. One of these called the Lisbon Diet Drink
became very popular in the eighteenth century. This was taken not only
in syphilitic cases, but as an antirheumatic and generally purifying
medicine. It was said to contain antimony, and the following was
reputed to be a correct imitation of it:--Sarsaparilla, 90, red sandal,
90, yellow sandal, 90, rose root, 30, guaiacum wood, 30, sassafras,
30, mezereon bark, 15, sulphide of antimony, 60, boiling water, 3600.
Infuse twelve hours and boil down to half, adding near the end of the
boiling fifteen parts of liquorice. An English Dr. Leake wrote a book
about this decoction in 1787, describing what he had seen of its good
effects in the cure of venereal diseases, scurvy, and other stubborn
chronic complaints. He had been to Lisbon, and intimated that he had
obtained the correct formula, but he did not give it. He had, however,
for some time made it, and would supply it in a concentrated form.

A compound decoction of sarsaparilla was introduced into the London
Pharmacopœia of 1788, and the Liquor Sarsæ Co. Conc. of the B.P. is the
direct descendant of that preparation.

Sirop de Cuisinier has long been a popular preparation of sarsaparilla
in France, and has been officially recognised by the Codex for a
century. A compound syrup of sarsaparilla was introduced into the
United States Pharmacopœia in 1820 expressly as an imitation of
the French syrup. The original Sirop de Cuisinier was evidently a
proprietary article, but I have not been able to trace its history.
The Codex formula prescribes sarsaparilla, with flowers of borage and
white roses, senna, and aniseed, made into a syrup with honey, sugar,
and water. The U.S.P. substituted liquorice for the borage. It has
often been employed as a vehicle for corrosive sublimate, but a number
of experiments have shown that unless this mixture is quite fresh the
sublimate will be reduced to calomel.


                           SEIDLITZ POWDERS

are a well known misnomer. Fr. Hoffmann discovered the Seidlitz spring
in 1724, and found that it owed its medicinal effect to sulphate of
magnesia with some sulphate of soda. Seidlitz or Sedlitz is a small
town near Seidschutz in northern Bohemia. There is evidence that at one
time sulphate of magnesia was obtained commercially from this spring
as it was from the Epsom water, and in this country then, and in some
Continental countries still, Seidlitz salt was and is a synonym for
sulphate of magnesia. In Christison’s Dispensatory it was suggested
that the name as applied to the powders which have so long been known
in Great Britain was a corruption of Seignette’s powders. Other writers
suggested that the name may have resulted from a confusion between
Seidlitz and Selters. The most probable explanation, however, was
given in _The Chemist and Druggist_ of February 23 and March
2, 1901, from which it appeared that Thomas Field Savory, of Bond
Street, London, took out a patent in 1815 for “the combination of
a neutral salt or powder which possesses all the properties of the
medicinal spring in Germany under the name of the Seidlitz powders.”
The specification was for the production of three powders, namely,
(1) tartrated soda, (2) bicarbonate of soda, and (3) tartaric acid,
but these chemicals were not designated by their usual names, but
old-fashioned methods of producing them were set forth. Then it was
stated that ʒij of No. 1, ℈ij of No. 2, and ℈ij of No. 3 were to be
taken and mixed in the manner so familiar to us. In 1823 Mr. Savory
brought an action against Messrs. Price & Son, of 4, Leadenhall Street,
for alleged infringement of his patent, which, however, the Court
held to be invalid in consequence of the elaborate directions in the
specification for the production of the several ingredients, all of
which were chemicals sold in all chemists’ shops. At the same trial
it seems to have been admitted that the combination was both new and
useful. There is no record of any objection to the title.

In 1778 Bergmann published a treatise on artificial mineral waters,
giving analyses of the most popular, and recommending the use of the
factitious waters as preferable to the natural ones. About the same
time a French pharmacien, named Vanel, introduced a powder with which
to make the favourite Eau de Seltz, or Selters water. Apparently
the salts for making mineral waters acquired a certain degree of
popularity, and it is likely that Seidlitz salt was among them. Nothing
would make this palatable, and Mr. Savory’s idea of substituting a
pleasant draught for a nauseous one was at least a commercial success.


                           TURNER’S CERATE.

Daniel Turner, M.D., the inventor of Turner’s Cerate, which appeared
in several Pharmacopœias as Ceratum Calaminæ, was at first a surgeon
in London, but was admitted a Licentiate of the College of Physicians
in 1711, and practised in Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate. In William
Munk’s Roll of the Royal College of Physicians an opinion of him is
quoted that he was too fond of displaying his talents upon paper; the
result being that he published many volumes which are now forgotten.
(A commentary which might be made on most other authors.) It is also
said of him that his cases were not stated in the most delicate terms,
nor was politeness among his excellences. As several of his works
were about syphilis it may be that his style was merely perspicuous.
He wrote comments on Dover’s “Ancient Physician” and on Mr. Ward’s
Pill and Drop. His biographer, however, quotes from him with approval
a pious exhortation to physicians not to be ashamed to avow their
religious principles even if they kept their politics to themselves.
“It can be no disgrace,” he wrote, “for a physician who owns himself
to be no more than Nature’s minister to acknowledge himself also the
servant of Nature’s Master.”

Turner’s original formula for his Ceratum de Lapide Calaminari was to
melt together 3½ lb. of freshly made unsalted butter, 3½ lb. of the
best yellow wax, and 4 lb. of pure and newly-prepared olive oil. These
when melted to be strained through a linen cloth, and while cooling,
3 lb. 10 oz. of the best calamine stone, “sufficiently triturated
and passed through a Sierce,” to be sprinkled into the mixture with
constant stirring till it sets.

Turner’s comments on this cerate are worth quoting, because they
incidentally illustrate the pharmacy of the period. He says:--

“As I have had ample experience of this cerate, I may be allow’d,
I hope, to judge of its singular properties and good effects in
all cutaneous ulcerations and excoriations either from scalding,
burning, or fretting of the said parts by means of salt, acrid, or
sharp humours; upon which accounts, not straining a tittle beyond
its deserved euology, I am bold to affirm it will do more in all
these superficial hurts of the body than either Unguentum Tutiae,
Diapompholyx, Nutritum, Desiccativum Rubrum, Rosatum, or all the
epuletic medicines now in use; and for which cause I can, for the
public benefit, sincerely recommend it to all the professors of the
art; and do wish that the Apothecaries would keep it made up in their
shops, to deliver, at a suitable price, to indigent or poor people,
instead of their ridiculous Locatellus’s Balsam, and other improper
medicines which they call for ignorantly to heal their skin-deep
maladies. I know the medicine has been imitated by several, and I have
seen somewhat like it in some gentlemen’s salvatories; but I know not
more than two persons I ever communicated it to, as I was wont to
prepare it for my own use. The medicine thus prepared is of a good
consistence and a true cerate, serving both for pledget or plaister,
neither sticking troublesomely, nor running off or about by the heat
of the parts; but keeping its body and performing things incredible.
Whoever thinks fit to take it into practice will never repent it,
nor perhaps (when he has experienced it as I have done) think I have
said too much in its Commendation. This is the medicine I have so
often taken notice of, which, that I might contribute my mite to the
Surgeon’s Treasure of Medicine, I here have publish’d, and leave it to
take its fate.”

The other preparations to which Dr. Turner refers as being at that
time in public demand may be briefly noted. Tutty was another impure
oxide of zinc generally containing some oxide of lead or copper. It
was obtained from the flues of smelting furnaces where zinc ores were
purified. Tutty was so called from an Arabic or Persian name given
to zinc, or to a zinc and tin bronze imported from China and used as
a gong metal by the Chinese. The tutty ointment was properly made up
with viper’s fat. Pompholyx was one of the names given to oxide of
zinc prepared by combustion. It was a Greek word meaning a bubble in
melted metal, from pomphos, a blister. Unguentum Diapompholyx contained
besides the flowers of zinc, white lead, the juice of nightshade
berries, and frankincense. Unguentum Nutritum was an acetate of lead
ointment. Unguentum Desiccativum Rubrum was compounded from litharge,
bole armeniac, calamine, and camphor. Unguentum Rosatum was similar to
cold cream.




                                  XXI

                            NOTED NOSTRUMS

    From powerful causes spring the empiric’s gains,
    Man’s love of life, his weakness, and his pains;
    These first induce him the vile trash to try,
    Then lend his name that other men may buy.
                                  CRABBE:--_The Borough_.


                           PATENT MEDICINES.

In the early days of English commerce monopolies were granted by the
sovereigns at their own pleasure, and often for their personal profit.
Queen Elizabeth so largely abused her power in this direction that
towards the end of her reign the discontent of her subjects compelled
her to promise she would offend no more: and her successor, James I,
gave a similar undertaking. The abuse, however, was continued until
the Statute of Monopolies, passed in 1624, regulated all such grants,
placing the power in the hands of Parliament, and limiting the period
of privilege to fourteen years.

For the first century or thereabout of the administration of this
Act, specifications of processes or formulas were not a condition of
the patent. The idea was the introduction into the country of new
industries, and it was supposed that the artificers who would have
to be employed in any such industries would certainly acquire such
necessary skill and knowledge about any new manufacture as would
prevent any perpetuation of the monopoly. It was during the reign of
Queen Anne that the law officers began to require that specifications
should be filed before letters patent were issued. But the condition
was not by any means uniformly or intelligently insisted upon, as will
be seen immediately in the case of certain patented medicines.

The term “patent medicines,” as now popularly used, means generally
secret medicines, and the meaning is therefore in exact contradiction
to the expression. Truthfully to declare the composition of many
of these proprietary compounds would ruin their sale. Not that the
ingredients are often improper or injurious; this rarely occurs; but
because the success of these remedies depends in most instances rather
on the mystery with which the makers can surround them than on their
exceptional merit.

But some old medicines which became popular, including a few the
reputation of which lives to this day, were actually patented. The
first compound medicine for which a patent was granted under the Act
of 1624 was No. 388, and was dated October 22, 1711. It was granted
to Timothy Byfield for his sal oleosum volatile, “which by abundant
experience hath been found very helpfull and beneficiall as well in
uses medicinall as others.” No particulars of the ingredients or method
of manufacture are given.

Stoughton’s “great cordial elixir” comes next, in 1712, and there is
nothing more in the proprietary medicine line until 1722, when a patent
for Robert Eaton’s Styptick medicine appears. In that year a curious
patent was granted to George Sinclair for “raising and cultivating the
plants which are commonly called or do produce the balsam of tolu,
Peru, and capair, dragon’s blood, coloquintida, scamony, rhubarb,
jalap, ipecacuanha (and others named), and curing the insect commonly
called cochenele and cultivating the plant which they feed and live
upon.” No particulars of the inventor’s ideas are given.

Benjamin Okell’s patent for Dr. Bateman’s pectoral drops, stated to
act by moderate sweat and urine, and to be useful in rheumatism,
afflictions of the stone, gravel, agues, and hysterics, was dated March
31, 1726, and was granted to him in recognition of the long study,
application, and great expense he had been put to in finding out this
remedy and bringing it to perfection. He furnished no particulars.
Bateman’s drops probably always depended on opium for its efficacy, and
in time various formulas for a medicine under that name for coughs came
to be adopted. In 1833 the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy published
the following formula “to represent Bateman’s Pectoral Drops because of
its general use, and to secure uniformity.” They said the preparation
was then being sold in strengths varying from 7½ to 100 grains to the
pint. The formula prescribed was: Diluted alcohol, 4 gallons; red
sanders, rasped, 2 oz. Digest for 24 hours, filter, add opium in powder
2 oz., catechu in powder 2 oz., camphor 2 oz., oil of anise ½ oz.
Digest for ten days.

The patent for John Hooper’s Female Pills, granted in 1743 to John
Hooper, apothecary and man midwife of Reading, contains a copy of an
affidavit made by the patentee, who, being “obliged to give under
his hand and seal a particular description of his invention,” came
before the King in Chancery, and satisfied the royal representative
with a specification declaring that his medicine was “compounded
as followeth:--Of the best purging stomatick and anti-hysterick
ingredients, duly proportioned and made into a powder, and beat into
a mass for pills with sufficient quantity of a strong infusion of the
above-mentioned ingredients; and when the same is made into pills about
the bigness of a small pea, two or three are to be given to persons
from 7 years of age to 15, and three or four from 15 years of age to 70
every other night.” Hooper must have been a humorist.

Betton’s British oils “for the cure of rheumatic and scorbutic and
other cases” had been patented in 1742. The oil was “extracted from the
black, pitchy, flinty roch or rock lying immediately over the coal in
coal mines.” This was reduced to powder and then subjected to heat in a
closed furnace, by which means the oil was obtained.

The patent for Dr. James’s fever powder (1747) is referred to at length
elsewhere. It is agreed that the preparation could not be produced by
the process detailed; but, according to Lord Mansfield, it was also
defective in another respect. In a judgment given by that eminent
authority in 1778 (in the case of Liardet v. Johnson) he illustrated
an argument he was using by a reference to Dr. James’s patent, “in
the specification of which,” he said, “he has mentioned the articles
only of which those powders were composed, and omitted the proportion
or quantity.” Consequently Lord Mansfield added, “Dr. James never
durst bring an action for infringement, and it was certainly wise in
him not to do so, for no patent could stand on such a specification.”
His lordship went on to enlarge on the extreme importance of exact
quantities in the exact formulas for medicines.

Dr. James also patented his “analeptic pills” in 1774. They were to be
compounded of equal parts of pil. rufi, gum ammoniacum, and his own
fever powder. The two first named ingredients were to be “placed in
a large cave underground furnished with the conductors of electrical
fire” by which they were to be dissolved. The powder was then to be
added and the pills to be made up with gum arabic.

In the second half of the eighteenth century the patents for compounded
medicines become more numerous, but they are generally of no present
interest. The names of a very few have come down to our day. Ann
Pike’s itch ointment (patented 1760) may be noticed. To prepare this,
pomatum and calomel were first mixed and allowed to stand several days;
another ointment was made with hogs’ lard and Jesuit’s bark, and this
was likewise set aside for a few days. These two ointments were then
blended together, mercury added to them, and the mass stirred daily
for some time. Two other ointments were also made and combined like
the others, the ingredients of these being deer suet, turbith mineral,
lard, powdered tutty, flowers of brimstone, and wood soot.

In 1777 Robert Grubb patented a medicine called the Frier’s Drops,
“for the cure of the venereal disease, scurvy, rheumatism, stranguary
and gleets.” It contained calomel, antimony, guaiacum wood, balsam of
Peru, hemlock, sugar candy, oil of sassafras, tartaric acid, and gum
arabic, with spirit of wine. The particular interest of this is the
name which may have been the original of the Friar’s Balsam named in
the Medicine Stamp Act. The Friar’s Balsam known to us cannot be traced
as a proprietary medicine.

Gale’s Spa Elixir, patented 1782, is notable as a specimen of
condensed information. Its composition is thus described:--“R. fer.
q.l.; cor, anima., sp.vin. esse.tinc. anima: super:aq: nat:, sp.sal:
q.s.; dissolve, digest, correct, evaporate, and extract the elixir
S.A.” The abbreviated terms and the punctuation are copied from the
specification.

Nathaniel Godbold’s Vegetable Balsam was patented in 1785, Spilsbury’s
Anti-scorbutic Drops in 1792, Ching’s Worm Lozenges in 1796, and
Innocenza della Lena winds up the century with a formula conceived
quite on the lines of the pharmacy then departing. It was for “A
certain medicine called flogistical and fixed earth of Mars or
powder of Mars.” It is not stated what the medicine was for, but its
preparation was awe-inspiring. Mineral earth of iron, copper, crude
antimony, mineral salt, and urine were digested for a considerable
time in an unvarnished vessel, hermetically sealed, deep down in the
earth. Subsequently the mixture was exposed to the rays of the sun for
a period, more urine was added, and the interment and the exposure were
several times repeated.

Roche’s Embrocation for whooping-cough, patented in 1803, was declared
to be compounded of oil of elder, rose leaves, chamomile flowers, oil
of caraway, oil of rosemary, cochineal, and alkanet root. This remedy
is still popular, but it is understood to have a composition very
different from that specified.

Perkins’s Metallic Tractors were patented on March 10th, 1798. Benjamin
Douglas Perkins claimed to have discovered “an art of relieving and
curing a variety of aches, pains, and diseases in the human body,
by drawing over the parts affected or those contiguous thereto, in
certain directions, various pointed metals, which from the affinity
they have with the offending matter,” or from some other cause,
“extract, or draw out the same, and thus cure the patient.” The
metals used were combinations of copper, zinc, and gold; or of iron,
silver, and platinum. The tractors were invented by Elisha Perkins,
the father of Benjamin, who died at New York in 1799. The tractors
were united together like a pair of compasses, and one of the arms
was obtuse and the other pointed. They professed to apply galvanic
action to the relief and cure of pain and disease. Galvani’s report of
his experiments was only published about 1790, and not much earlier
Mesmer’s animal magnetism had excited marvellous interest in Paris.
Perkins’s Tractors had an enormous popularity for a time in England and
in Denmark, but nowhere else to any extent. Two Bath doctors, named
Falconer and Haygarth, professed to get as good results with tractors
made of wood, many patients of the Bath Hospital declaring that these
promptly relieved their pains. From these experiments it was argued
that the alleged cures were entirely due to the imagination of the
sufferers.

After 1800 medicinal compounds are only rarely patented. Of those known
to the present generation, Ford’s Balsam of Horehound appears in 1816,
Savory’s Seidlitz Powders were protected in 1815, Ridge’s Food, 1862,
and Page Woodcock’s Wind Pills, 1852. A patent was taken in 1853 by Sir
James Murray for aerating cod-liver oil with carbonic acid gas, and
William Brockedon’s patent for compressing drugs and blacklead, which
has borne fruit a thousandfold in these later days, was granted in
1843.


                        ANDERSON’S SCOTS PILLS.

These pills acquired extraordinary popularity, particularly in Scotland
and France, and to some extent in other countries, including England.
Either these pills or Singleton’s Eye Ointment is the proprietary
remedy still sold in this country with the longest history. It is
claimed that the ointment was invented some forty years earlier than
the pills, but it must be admitted that the records of the latter,
especially in their early days, are more exactly authenticated.

  [Illustration: PATRICK ANDERSON, M.D.]

Dr. Patrick Anderson was a Scotch physician of considerable reputation
in London in the Stuart period. He is described on some of his books
as Physician to Charles I. In 1635 he published a treatise entitled as
follows:--“Grana Angelica; hoc est pilularum hujus nominis insignis
utilitas; quibus etiam accesserunt alia quaedam pancula de durioris
alvi incommodis propter materiam cognitionem, ac vice supplementi in
fine adjuncta.” He stated that he had obtained the formula for these
pills in Venice. After his death they were sold in Edinburgh by his
daughter Miss Katherine Anderson, and she by a deed registered in the
Commissary Court books of Edinburgh, the 16th December, 1686, declared
that she had communicated the secret to Thomas Weir, surgeon, in
Edinburgh, “and to no other person.”

To Dr. Weir letters patent for the pills were granted by King James II,
1687, with letters of Certification, &c., by King William and Queen
Mary, 1694; and Testification by the Town Council of Edinburgh, 1694.
From Dr. Weir by regular succession and assignation, the secret was
conveyed to his widow, 1711; thence to their son Alex. Weir, 1715;
then to Lilias Weir, his sister, 1726; by her to Dr. Thomas Irving,
her nephew, 1770; then to his widow, Mrs. Irving, 1797; by her to her
son, James Irving, 1814, but the old lady appears to have retained an
interest in them until her death in 1837, at the age of 99. During
her life, and probably before and after, the “shop” where the pills
were made and sold was on the second floor of a house in the Lawn
Market opposite the site of the West Bow, a steep street which led
down to the Grassmarket. The house still remains, the date 1690 being
carved on the lintel. After certain assignations and trusteeships the
property came into the hands of a Mr. J. Rodger who sold his rights to
Messrs. Raimes, Blanshard & Co. in 1876. They and their successors,
Raimes, Clark & Co., Limited, have been the proprietors since the date
mentioned, and they inform me that there is still a small demand for
them.

Formulas for “Anderson’s Scots Pills” will be found in all the
manuals of pharmacy published in Europe and America, but they differ
considerably. Paris in “Pharmacologia” said they were a compound of
aloes and jalap with oil of anise; the French Codex which adopted them,
or at least the name, compounded them of aloes and gamboge with oil
of anise; Niemann, whose formulary had a quasi-official sanction in
Holland early in the nineteenth century gave a much more complicated
recipe, adding to the aloes both jalap and gamboge, together with
sulphur, burnt ivory, liquorice powder, and soap. “Pharmaceutical
Formulas” states that they are well represented by Pil Aloes et Myrrhæ
B.P., “which (saving excipient) contains the same ingredients as those
mentioned in a copy of the original document deposited in the Rolls
House.”


                          ANODYNE NECKLACES.

Anodyne necklaces were perhaps the most extensively advertised of the
quack remedies of the eighteenth century. The introduction of them is
generally attributed to one of the Chamberlen family, well known in
medical history as the inventors of the modern midwifery forceps.

In a collection of quack advertisements in the British Museum, all
published in the last half of the seventeenth century, there is a
handbill issued by Major John Coke, “a licensed physician and one of
his Majesty’s Chymists” advertising miraculous necklaces for children
breeding teeth “preventing (by God’s assistance) feavers, convulsions,
ruptures, chincough, ricketts, and such attendant distempers.” These
are 5_s._ each. A number of titled people whose children have used
these necklaces are named. A correspondent of _Notes and Queries_
(Mr. J. Elliot Hodgkin, 6th Ser., Vol. IX.) quotes a reference to
anodyne necklaces from a pamphlet published in 1717 dedicated to Dr.
Chamberlen and the Royal Society, evidently an advertisement which
it may not be too uncharitable to suppose was written by Chamberlen
himself. But another correspondent of the same journal (6th Ser., Vol.
X.) quotes from Smith’s “Book for a Rainy Day” another reference to the
necklaces in which they are alluded to as Mr. Burchell’s, and are said
to be “so strongly recommended by two eminent physicians, Dr. Tanner,
the inventor, and Dr. Chamberlain,” to whom he had communicated the
prescription. The necklaces were composed of artificially prepared
beads, small like barleycorns, and they were sold at 5_s._ each.
The beads were often made of peony wood, a substance which Oribasius
(fourth and fifth centuries) recommended to be hung round the neck for
the cure of epilepsy. They were especially recommended for children
cutting teeth, and for pregnant women. No doubt they served like any
other hard substance to help in the former trouble to open the gums,
but the idea suggested was that they gave out a certain vapour or
effluvium which reduced the feverish condition.

“May I die by an anodyne necklace,” is an expression used by one of
the characters in “The Vicar of Wakefield” (Ch. XX.). In a comment on
this allusion by the eminent authority on the eighteenth century, Mr.
Austin Dobson, it was explained that hanging was there euphemistically
referred to. Mr. Dobson’s mistake was pointed out in _Notes and
Queries_, and he acknowledged it.

The Collier de Morand was a neckband sold for goitre. It was made of
carded cotton on which was sprinkled a powder consisting of equal parts
of sal ammoniac, common salt, and burnt sponge. Paracelsus recommended
that coral should be worn round the necks of children to preserve them
from the effects of sorcery.


                            DAFFY’S ELIXIR.

The Rev. Thomas Daffy, who invented the Elixir Salutis with which his
name has been associated for about 250 years, was rector of Redmile in
Leicestershire from 1660 to 1680. He had been appointed rector of Harby
in the same county in Cromwell’s time, but the Countess of Rutland,
who presumably “sat under” him, was a lady of evangelical ideas, and
the Rev. Thomas was apparently of a “high” tendency, for according
to Nichols’s “History of Leicestershire,” “he was removed from that
better living to this worse one to satisfy the spleen of the Countess
of Rutland, a puritanical lady who had conceived a feeling against
him for being a man of other principles.” Just when he invented his
elixir does not appear, but it is to be hoped that the profits from it
made up for the sacrifice he had to make in consequence of his “other
principles.” It is clear from the references to the medicine which are
found in general literature and from the fact that it was imitated in
the Pharmacopœia (under the formula for Tinctura Sennæ Co.) that it
acquired considerable popularity. The following advertisement from the
_Post Boy_ of January 1, 1707, tells most of what is known about
the elixir:--

   Daffye’s famous Elixir Salutis, prepared by Catherine Daffye,
   daughter of Mr. Thomas Daffye, late rector of Redmile in the
   vale of Belvoir, who imparted it to his kinsman, Mr. Anthony
   Daffye, who published the same to the benefit of the community
   and to his own advantage. The original receipt is now in my
   possession left to me by my father. My own brother, Mr. Daniel
   Daffye, apothecary in Nottingham, made this Elixir from the
   said receipt and sold it there during his life. Those who know
   it will believe what I declare; and those who do not may be
   convinced that I am no counterfeit by the colour, taste, smell,
   and operation of my Elixir. To be had at the Hand and Pen,
   Maiden Lane, Covent Garden.

Catherine Daffy was not a clever advertiser, for her announcement seems
calculated to assist Anthony Daffy’s preparation as much as her own,
and it is likely that this was not her intention. Such little evidence
as exists goes to show that it was Anthony’s and not Catherine’s Elixir
that maintained the fame which had been won.

Daffy’s Elixir is still made by Sutton & Co., of 76 Chiswell Street,
the successors to Dicey & Co., of Bow Church Yard, who were themselves
successors to Benjamin Okell, who was carrying on the business in
1727, but when or from whom, or for what consideration the property
was transferred to them from the Daffy family, is not known. The
old-fashioned handbills wrapped round the bottles state that the
Elixir was “much recommended to the public by Dr. King, Physician to
King Charles II, and the late learned and ingenious Dr. Radcliffe.”
Unhappily, however, “a low set of mercenary vendors” have been making
imitations of this “noble and generous Elixir,” using “foul and
ordinary spirits instead of clean and pure brandy, and base and damaged
drugs,” of which none could be guilty “but such as never feel for any
but themselves.”


                         BAUME DE FIORAVENTI.

This medicine still figures in the French Codex and in other
continental Pharmacopœias. It is an alcoholic tincture of canella,
cloves, nutmegs, ginger, and other spices, with bay berries, to which
are added amber, galbanum, myrrh, aloes, elemi, and other resins, and
one-sixth by volume of turpentine. After digestion this mixture is
distilled to a yield of about two-thirds of the original bulk. The balm
was formerly given in doses of 5 or 6 drops in kidney disorders, but it
is now only used externally in rheumatism and for chilblains, and for
strengthening the sight. For the last-named purpose the hand is wetted
with the balm and held before the eyes.

Fioraventi was a famous Italian quack in the latter half of the
seventeenth century. He practised in Naples, Rome, Venice, Milan, and
Florence, and was specially honoured in his native city of Bologna,
where he was made a Doctor, a Chevalier, and a Count; titles of which
he made the utmost use. He published numerous works on medicine,
devised various “Nostra,” and pretended to give the exact formulas
for these, but they were always so complicated that no doubt the rich
clients whose patronage Fioraventi cultivated would prefer to buy the
remedies ready compounded. His medical advice though crammed with
bombast was generally sensible, but in all cases he recommended one
or another of “our” remedies. These included “our Balm Artificiall”
(the compound just referred to), “our Electuaria Anglico,” “our Sirrup
Solutivo,” “our Lignum Sanctum,” “our Oleum Benedictum,” and so
forth. Above all Fioraventi made play with his “Petra Philosophale.”
Philosophers had long disputed, he says, whether it was possible to
produce a medicine which would cure all diseases. There was no longer
any occasion for dispute; the discovery of “our Petra Philosophale”
was conclusive. The directions for making this remedy were very
complicated, and of course it was essential that they should be
followed minutely. Briefly, the process was to take so much “Sal Niter,
Roche Allum, and Roman Vitrioll” (I take the names from an old English
translation), “add some Sal Gemmæ, and distil. Then mix Mercury, Sope,
Quick Lime, and Common Ashes, sublime off the Mercury, and add it to
the first distillate. To the mixture add so much steel, iron, and gold,
dry the compound to a stone, which ‘keep as a precious Jewell’ in a
closed glass vessel.”

Why Fioraventi should have troubled to invent any other remedies after
this, or why his patients should have been called upon to buy any
others, is not explained.


                           BAUME TRANQUILLE

was originally made by the Capucin monk, Aignan, whose religious name
was Father Tranquille. The Capucins of the Louvre were noted in the
seventeenth century for their medical skill, and Father Tranquille was
one of them. Twenty herbs were used in compounding this balsam, among
them poppy, tobacco, lavender, and rue. These were infused in oil. “The
Baume may be made still more effective,” writes Père Rousseau, who was
a fellow monk with Father Tranquille, “by adding as many large live
frogs as there are pounds of oil. These are to be boiled in the oil
until they are almost burnt. Their juice and fat combine with the oil
and greatly augment the excellence of the remedy.” Mme. de Sévigné,
writing to her daughter, December 15, 1684, says, “I am sending you the
most precious treasure I have: my half bottle of Baume Tranquille. I
could not send a full bottle; the Capucins have no more.”


                             BAUME DE VIE.

Baume de Vie, which is represented by Decoct. Aloes Co., B.P., was
first sold by a French apothecary named Le Lievre, of the Rue de
la Seine, Paris. A second edition of his book recommending it is
dated 1760. He describes himself as “le sieur Lelievre apothicaire,
distillateur du Roi.” He says of it that it gently evacuates the
heterogeneous humours, restores and fortifies the stomach, reanimates
the system without causing any fever or other inconvenience, preserves
the humid radical (a fluid supposed to be the principle of life and
the generator of vigour), makes the blood circulate, absorbs from it
all acids and renders them balsamic, and counteracts debility. He also
advises its use for horses, cattle, and dogs. Le Lievre’s formula, as
given by Cadet de Gassicourt, was as follows:--

Socotrine aloes, treacle, of each 1 oz.; gentian, ½ oz.; rhubarb, 6
drachms; saffron, agaric, zedoary, myrrh, of each 2 drachms; sugar, 4
oz.; proof spirit, 2 lb.


                             DUTCH DROPS.

Haarlem Oil or Dutch Drops have been made in Haarlem since the year
1672, when they were invented by one Claas Tilly, and they are
still manufactured in Haarlem by a person who claims to be a direct
descendant of the inventor. The preparation is stated in Paris’s
“Pharmacologia” to have as a base the residue left in the still after
the redistillation of turpentine; a red, thick, resinous matter,
sometimes called balsam of turpentine. But the same author adds
that a preparation often sold as Dutch Drops is a mixture of oil of
turpentine, tincture of guaiacum, and spirit of nitre, with oils of
amber and cloves. Dutch Drops are asked for all over the world and
are known to old-fashioned people as “Medicamentum.” In remote places
they are kept in the house and a few drops taken occasionally as a
preventive of disease.


                           GODFREY’S CORDIAL.

The following advertisement which is taken from Reed’s _Weekly
Journal_, February 22, 1722, throws light on the origin of the still
popular “Godfrey.”

   To all retailers and others. The general cordial formerly sold
   by Mr. Thomas Godfrey, of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, deceas’d,
   is now prepar’d according to a receipt written by his own hand,
   and by him given to my wife, his relation, is now sold by me
   Tho. Humphreys of Ware, in the said county, Surgeon, or at
   John Humphreys, at the Head and Sheers in Jewin Street, near
   Cripplegate, London. Also may be furnished with Arcanums and
   Vomits, and will be allowed the same for selling as formerly.

Godfrey’s Cordial was named in the Medicine Stamp Act of 1812, and was
no doubt a proprietary medicine at that time. It now appears to be made
by anyone who chooses to make it. In Paris’s “Pharmacologia,” (8th
edition, 1833) the following receipt which he says was obtained from a
“wholesale druggist who makes and sells many hundred dozens a year,”
was printed:--

“Infuse 9 oz. of sassafras; 1 oz. each of carraway, coriander, and
anise seeds, in 6 pints of water. Simmer down to 4 pints. When cold add
3 oz. of tincture of opium.”

In 1833 the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy adopted the subjoined
formula for Godfrey’s Cordial in order to ensure uniformity:--

“Tinct. Opii, 1½ pint; molasses, from the sugar refiners, 16 pints;
alcohol, 2 pints; water, 26 pints; carbonate of potash, 2½ oz.; oil of
sassafras, 4 drachms.”


                            EAU DES CARMES.

Eau de Melisse des Carmes, an aromatic spirit, recommended as a
cordial for internal administration, and to bathe the temples, was
first compounded in the pharmacy of the Barefooted Carmelites, near
the Palace of the Luxembourg in the Faubourg St. Germain in 1611. In
the course of the century the preparation became a valuable property,
and though its composition was kept secret by the monks, formulas
innumerable were published. Richelieu, Elizabeth of Bavaria, mother
of the Regent during Louis XIV’s minority, and later, Voltaire,
“reclaimed” it. Patents authorising the monks to carry on the
manufacture and sale were granted by Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis
XVI, but when the last was applied for in 1780, the College of Pharmacy
opposed it, but withdrew their opposition for the consideration of £40
a year which the monks agreed to pay them. In 1791 when the monastic
orders were suppressed and their property confiscated, forty-five
Carmelites of the Monastery of the Vaugirard formed themselves into a
commercial company to manufacture and sell the Eau des Carmes. Their
deed of association provided that the property should remain in the
hands of the forty-five down to the last survivor. This one was a
certain Brother Paradise, who took as a partner a M. Royer and died
in 1831 on the premises in the Rue Taranne where the company had been
constituted. M. Royer died a few years later, and his widow married
a M. Boyer in 1840 who wrote a “Monographie Historique,” which it is
believed was edited for him by Alexander Dumas.

The following formula for a preparation resembling the Eau des Carmes
was published by Baumé after many experiments, and was adopted by the
compilers of the Codex:--

“Balm, in flower, freshly gathered, and freed from the stalks, 2 lbs.;
lemon peel, fresh, 4 oz.; coriander seeds, 8 oz.; nutmegs, cloves,
cinnamon, each bruised, 2 oz.; angelica roots, dried, 1 oz.; spirit of
wine, highly rectified, 10 pints.”


                           GODDARD’S DROPS.

The original formula for these is given as follows by Dr. William
Salmon in his edition of “Bate’s Dispensatory”:--

   R. Humane Bones or rather scales, well dryed, break them into
   bits, and put them into a retort, and join thereto a large
   Receiver which lute well; and distil first with a gentle Fire,
   then with a stronger, increasing the fire gradatim; so will you
   have in the Recipient a Flegm, Spirit, Oyl, and Volatile Salt.
   Shake the Receiver to loosen the Volatile Salt from the sides,
   then close your Receiver and set it in the earth to digest for
   three months, after that digest it in a gentle heat fourteen
   days, then separate the Oyl which keep for use.

Salmon says they that please may make it according to the prescription,
but he gives an alternative formula which was “to rectify the Oyl from
the Flegm, then to grind the Volatile Salt with the Oyl, and so by a
long digestion to join them together.” Salmon also tells us that if
these drops are distilled from the bones of the skull they are good for
apoplexy, vertigo, megrims, &c., but “if you want it for gout of any
particular limb it is better to make it from the bones of that limb.
The dose is 6 to 12 drops, but it has an evil scent.” You can, however,
correct that, and “Elixirate” the preparation, bringing it “even to a
Fragrancy” if you add so much Spirit of Nitre as will dissolve the oil,
and then mix it with four times its weight of spirit of wine. Then you
should give 20 to 60 drops in a glass of Canary. “So you will have a
medicine beyond all comparison ten times exceeding the other in worth
and efficacy.”

Who was the inventor of this medicine? Salmon says, “The author of
this Recipe was not that Goddard whose Recipes and Prescriptions are
scattered up and down in several places of this book, but the famous
W. Goddard, a great Philosopher and Physician who deserved well of the
World in his Day and Time, and who has even in this Remedy left himself
an Immortal name. And this is the true Medicine which was purchased of
the Doctor by King Charles the Second, so much famed through the whole
kingdom, and for which he gave him, as it is reported, fifteen hundred
pounds sterling.” Other statements say that Charles bought the formula
for £5,000 or £6,000.

Salmon had lived in the reign of Charles II, and may be expected to
have been correct in regard to such a recent event. But in the Roll
of the Royal College of Physicians by William Munk, M.D., published
by the College in 1878 I find the invention of these drops attributed
to Jonathan Goddard, M.D., a person of some historical fame, due
to a large extent to his association with Oliver Cromwell, whom he
accompanied as first physician to his army through his Irish and Scotch
campaigns. Cromwell made him Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and in
other ways showed his confidence in him. In the Little Parliament which
succeeded the Long Parliament Dr. Goddard was the sole representative
of the University of Oxford, and became a member of the Council of
State. With this record it is not surprising that the doctor did not
become a favourite with Charles II. when that monarch returned to
London. Dr. Goddard was removed from his Wardenship, but subsequently
became Professor of Physic at Gresham College, London, and it was
there that he and a few other scientific associates founded the Royal
Society. It is difficult to believe that he was the inventor of the
drops of which Salmon writes; and it is impossible to accept the
statement that he offered, or that the King agreed to purchase, the
secret of their composition from him.

Dr. Munk, however, states that “Dr. Goddard was a good practical
chemist and the inventor of certain volatile drops, the Guttæ
Goddardianæ vel Anglicanæ, as they were termed on the Continent, long
in great repute and commended by Sydenham, who gave them a preference
over all other volatile spirits whatsoever for ‘energetically and
efficaciously attaining the end for which they are applied.’”

There was a Dr. William Goddard admitted a Fellow of the College in
1634 of whom Dr. Munk records that “on the 23rd of November, 1649,
having been contumacious and refusing to attend at his place in the
College, though repeatedly summoned by the President, he was, by a vote
of his colleagues, dismissed from his fellowship: _Decrete Collegii,
in Collegii societale locum amisit._” Dr. Goddard carried the matter
into the Court of King’s Bench, but was defeated.

This was most likely Salmon’s W. Goddard, and seems more like the
genuine Goddard of the Drops fame. Contumaciousness was sometimes a
synonym for exploiting a quack remedy.

In Dr. Martin Lister’s “Journey to Paris,” 1698, that rather garrulous
York doctor states that while he was in Paris (in company with some
members of a diplomatic party) he was sent for by the Prince de Conti
to see his son, and was requested to bring with him some of the late
King Charles’s drops. The doctor replied that he had nothing with him,
and could only prescribe such medicines as would be found in any of
their shops. It was the drops, however, that the Prince wanted and not
the extempore invention of this comparatively unknown practitioner. For
apparently the attendance of Dr. Lister was excused, and he makes the
reflection, after intimating that the young prince died, “It is evident
that there is as false a notion of physic in this country as with
us, and that it is here also thought a knack more than a science or
method; accordingly little toys, the bijoux of quacks are mightily in
request.” Dr. George Henning who edited Dr. Lister’s narrative states
that these drops were made from raw silk which “yields an incredible
quantity of volatile salt and the finest spirit I ever tasted.” He adds
that raw silk is indeed nothing but a dry jelly of the insect kind, and
therefore it must be very cordial and stomachic.


                 EAU MEDICINALE D’HUSSON.--COLCHICUM.

The medicinal use of colchicum preparations for gout is comparatively
recent and the knowledge of its value for that purpose is undoubtedly
due to its success in a secret proprietary remedy. The authors
of “Pharmacographia” give some interesting historical notes on
_Colchicum autumnale_, L., or meadow saffron, which show how
general was the belief in its deleterious qualities in both classical
and mediæval times. Dioscorides alludes to the poisonous properties of
Kolchikon, which he says grew in Messenia and Kolchis. Pliny and Galen
likewise allude to colchicum as a poison. Pliny recommends milk as an
antidote.

Hermodactylus is recommended for gout in the writings of Alexander of
Tralles, and Paul Egineta (sixth and seventh centuries), and the Arab
doctors, Avicenna, Serapion, and Mesué, describe a similar remedy under
the name of Surengian. It is also recommended by Ambrose Paré, Sylvius
(de la Boe), and other authorities in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries; but Tragus (1552) warns his readers against its use for
gout, for which he says it is recommended in Arab writings. Grevin
(1568) observes “ce poison est ennemy de l’homme en tout et par tout.”
Lyte, translating Dodoens (1578), says “Medow or wilde saffron is
corrupt and venomous, therefore not used in medicine.” Gerard declares
the roots of “Mede Saffron” to be “very hurtfull to the stomacke.”

Evidently some species of colchicum (Planchon thinks _C.
variegatum_, L., but Hanbury does not agree) was used in ancient
medicine under the name of Hermodactylus. Linnæus knew hermodactyls
brought from India and attributed them to _Iris tuberosa_. Royle
says they are sold in the bazaars of northern India under the name of
Surinjan, but he thought they were brought from the shores of the Red
Sea via Bombay. And notwithstanding the unfavourable opinions just
quoted, Radix Colchici and Hermodactylus appear among the simples of
the London Pharmacopœias of 1618 and 1639. They are then omitted, but
Colchicum reappears in the edition of 1788. This was in consequence
of the strong recommendation of Stoerck of Vienna, a practitioner and
medical teacher who had a passion for experimenting with discredited
remedies. Stoerck’s report, published in 1763, showed that the medicine
was a powerful and a dangerous one; but it was a most potent diuretic,
and he had administered it with success in dropsical cases in the
Vienna Hospital. He recommended particularly a colchitic oxymel. He
reports favourably on it as a remedy for asthma and in mucous catarrh,
but does not suggest it as a remedy for gout.

In the early part of the eighteenth century the bulbs of colchicum were
frequently recommended by physicians of repute to be carried in the
pocket or worn round the neck as an amulet.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century a French proprietary
article called D’Husson’s Eau Medicinale became popular. Its inventor
was an army officer, and it is not known how he acquired his medical
knowledge. I have no information as to the price at which the Eau
Medicinale was sold in France; but from some interesting communications
to the _Pharmaceutical Journal_ published in 1852 from medical
men, Thomas Bushell, of 117, Crawford Street, Portman Square, and
George Wallis, M.D., many details have been collected, among them
being the statement made by Mr. Bushell that the proprietors of the
Eau Medicinale were a firm of foreign perfumers in Bond Street; that
they told him the sale had at that time (1852) quite died out; that
four or five years previously they had sold a few bottles at 9_s._
6_d._ each, but that when it was in demand the price was
22_s._ a bottle. The bottles each contained 2 fluid drachms, and
the dose was 1 drachm, to be repeated if necessary in four to six hours.

According to Pereira, Cadet and Parmentier had endeavoured to ascertain
the composition of this medicine in 1782; but they only arrived at the
conclusion that it contained no metallic or mineral substance, and
that it was a vinous infusion of some bitter plant. Alyon, another
French inquirer, had guessed gratiola; an English doctor (Moore) had
diagnosed that it was a vinous infusion of white hellebore with
laudanum. Mr. Bushell, quoting from some references to the medicine
in the _Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal_ of 1810, relates
the experience of a Dr. Edwin Godden Jones, who had come to know of
D’Husson’s remedy while on the Continent with a gentleman who was
a great sufferer from gout, and who had derived much benefit from
the nostrum. The Edinburgh journal also mentioned that Sir Joseph
Banks, the President of the Royal Society, having experienced the
most extraordinary deliverance from his arch-enemy, made D’Husson’s
preparation his pocket companion. Attempts to discover the secret
of the mixture still resulted unsatisfactorily. Rhododendron,
chrysanthemum, digitalis, tobacco, and elaterium were among the new
guesses made. In 1814, however, a Mr. Want published a statement in
the _Medical and Physical Journal_ indicating that colchicum
was the basis of D’Husson’s remedy. Mr. Bushell states that Want had
previously made known his discovery in a popular journal entitled
_The Monthly_. There are three stories of the means by which
he came by his information. He himself said he got the first hint
from Alexander of Tralles, who recommended a remedy “Hermodactylon”
for the cure of gout, and that the Hermodactylus from which that
was compounded corresponded with colchicum. Dr. Wallis, of Bristol,
however, “in justice to a departed friend,” wrote that Want had derived
his knowledge entirely from Mr. C. T. Haden, when the latter was a
medical officer of the Brompton Dispensary. Dr. Wallis says that in
1811 Mr. Haden was practising in Derby with his father, an eminent
surgeon of that town. They had a patient who was anxious to try the
Eau Medicinale. The younger Haden examined the stuff and came to the
conclusion that it was made from colchicum, with which he had some
acquaintance through having made the oxymel. After many experiments
he was convinced of the accuracy of his opinion. Soon after Mr. Haden
left Derby and settled in Sloane Street, where he commenced the
publication of the _Medical Intelligencer_, the predecessor of
the _Lancet_. At the Brompton Dispensary he introduced colchicum
in the treatment of gout. Dr. Wallis alludes to the annoyance caused
to his friend by what he characterises as literary petty larceny,
forestalling his own communication on the subject.

The third story told by Mr. Bushell is the most curious of the three.
He was apprenticed near Covent Garden two or three years after Mr.
Want had published his discovery, and frequently went to Mr. Grimley,
a herbalist, in the Garden, to buy medicinal herbs. Mr. Grimley, he
said, told him that Want had “discovered” the colchicum secret in this
wise:--His wife’s father having a bad attack of gout, a nursemaid in
Mrs. Want’s service told them that she once lived with a little French
gentleman who made a famous medicine for gout called “Eau Medicinale.”
He kept his materials very secret, but this promising young detective
had managed to secure a piece of the principal ingredient used, which
she then gave to Want. Want took it to Grimley, and between them they
made out what it was. Grimley further said that he had been in the
habit of selling quantities of colchicum to a little Frenchman who used
to come in a hackney coach and take with him 1 to 1½ cwt. at a time.

Want’s tincture was made from 1 part of the fresh bulb of the
colchicum autumnale and 2 parts of alcohol 36°; dose 5 or 6 drops in
a tablespoonful of water. Sir Everard Home, who studied colchicum
preparations with much care, preferred a wine made from the corms;
and he believed that he had succeeded in removing the deleterious
constituents of the medicine by filtering out a deposit which formed
after a few days of maceration. Williams and Haden advocated the
employment of the seeds. Copland, Bushell, and Frost advised the
flowers.

Drying the corms was found to reduce considerably their medicinal
and poisonous effects. Prosper Alpin states that the Egyptian women
of his time were in the habit of taking as many as ten bulbs of some
hermodactyl after roasting them like chestnuts at bedtime. They
believed they produced the embonpoint which was regarded as a female
attraction.


                            JAMES’S POWDER.

The antimonial preparation which attained the most permanent popularity
was Dr. James’s Fever Powders. The inventor, Dr. Robert James, was
a life-long friend of Dr. Johnson. The two went to school together
at Lichfield, in which town James at one time practised. He was also
in practice in Sheffield and Birmingham before he came to London. He
first settled in Southampton Street, Covent Garden, but removed later
to Craven Street, Strand. He was a man of considerable attainments,
and is described as cordial, impetuous, improvident, but thoroughly
loved by his associates. He was the author of a massive Dictionary of
Medicine, and Dr. Johnson said of him: “No man brought more mind to
his profession.” Dr. Munk, in his “Roll of the College of Physicians,”
adds to this, however: “But he tarnished the fair fame he might
otherwise have attained by patenting his powder and falsifying the
specification.” Dr. James died in 1776 at the age of 73.

  [Illustration: DR. JAMES.]

The patent for his fever powder was taken out in 1747. It is on record
that Johnson introduced him to John Newbery, a noted bookseller of the
time, who had a shop at the corner of St. Paul’s Churchyard and Ludgate
Hill. Newbery became the agent and part proprietor of the medicine. It
is still owned and prepared by the direct descendants of John Newbery,
who carry on business in Charterhouse Square.

The specification of the patent directs to “Take antimony, calcine it
with a continual protracted heat in a flat unglazed earthen vessel,
adding to it from time to time a sufficient quantity of any animal
oil and salt well dephlegmated; then boil it in melted nitre for a
considerable time, and separate the powder from the nitre by dissolving
it in water.” The doctor adds to his specification a process for a
mercurial pill with antimony, made by amalgamating equal parts of
martial regulus of antimony with “pure silver” (_sic_), adding
a proportionable quantity of sal ammoniac, then distilling off the
mercury and using it again. This performance was to be repeated nine
or ten times, the mercury being at last dissolved in spirits of nitre
(nitric acid), distilled to dryness, the caput mortuum calcined till
it was of a golden colour, and this powder, after spirits of wine had
been burnt upon it, was ready to be made into pills. Dr. James gave the
moderate dose of the antimonial powder at 30 grains, and that of the
mercurial at 1 grain.

Paris says that James “usually combined his antimonial powder with
some mercurial, and always followed it up with large doses of bark.”
He suggests that the adjuncts largely accounted for the success of the
medicine.

The fever powder acquired great fame in James’s lifetime, and after
his death imitations were numerous. One of these is of interest
because of an advertisement against it written by Dr. Johnson. The
man who ventured to imitate the genuine product was named Hawes, and
he had once been in the employment of Dr. James. He professed that he
had learned how to make the powder during his service, but Dr. James
signed an affidavit against his pretensions a short time before his
death. Later Hawes asserted that when the doctor made that affidavit
he was not in the possession of his mental faculties. To this Francis
Newbery replied by an advertisement quoting affidavits by many of
James’s patients and acquaintances. A paragraph was appended which
Newbery himself stated was written by Dr. Johnson, and as a section
of literature rather foreign to the famous author, it seems worthy of
reproduction. It ran thus:--

   “The public will now be fully enabled to judge of Mr. Hawes’s
   pretensions to the knowledge of this medicine; and they will
   determine what degree of credit they ought to pay to the
   assertions of a man who has made so daring an attempt to impose
   upon their understanding; who in contradiction to Dr. James’s
   deposition has represented himself as possessing a secret with
   which he was never entrusted, and as having performed operations
   at which he was never present; and who, to invalidate the
   Doctor’s testimony, has declared him to be reduced to fatuity at
   a time when the vigour of his mind was known and acknowledged by
   the physician and surgeon who attended him, and by patients of
   the highest rank who continued to entrust him with health and
   life.”

In 1774 Dr. James patented an “analeptic pill.” It was composed of
his own fever powder with pil. rufi and gum ammoniacum, the last two
ingredients to be dissolved in an underground cave furnished with the
conductors of electric fire.

The first official substitute for James’s powder was introduced into
the London Pharmacopœia of 1787. The formula was devised by a Dr.
Higgins, and the experiments were made in the laboratory of the Society
of Apothecaries. It was composed of equal parts of tersulphuret of
antimony and hartshorn shavings. This was found to be stronger than
the original, and further experiments were made for the College by Dr.
Pearson, who reported in 1791 that James’s powder consisted of about
equal parts of oxide of antimony and phosphate of lime. The formulas
in the London Pharmacopœias of 1809 and 1824 were consequently reduced
in strength, one part of the antimonial salt with two parts of horn
shavings being substituted. The ingredients were heated to redness
in a crucible and afterwards powdered. For the Pharmacopœia of 1851,
Mr. Richard Phillips experimented, and mainly confirmed Dr. Pearson’s
results. The formula remained as in 1824. Meanwhile the Edinburgh
Pharmacopœia continued to adopt the stronger combination, while the
Dublin Pharmacopœia prescribed a different preparation altogether,
tartarised antimony and phosphate of soda solutions being mixed, and
a precipitate consisting of teroxide of antimony and phosphate of
lime being produced by precipitation by the addition of a solution of
chloride of calcium and ammonia. This was a modification of a process
advocated by Chevenix in a paper published in _Phil. Trans._,
1801. His process was recommended by Abernethy and many other of the
leading practitioners of his time. In the British Pharmacopœias the
simple formula of one part of antimonious oxide and two parts of
calcium phosphate has been adopted. The name of Dr. James’s Powder as
a synonym has now been dropped.

It has been suspected that Dr. James did not actually invent the
powder, but adopted it from an Italian recipe which was certainly
popular when he introduced it. In Colborne’s “English Dispensatory,”
published in 1756, directions are given for making Mr. Lisle’s Powder
for Fevers, sent to the author, he says, by a friend in Italy.
Hartshorn shavings are to be boiled in a large quantity of water for
six hours; the water is then to be strained off, the hartshorn to be
dried by a slow fire, and finely powdered. Equal weights of this and of
diaphoretic antimony are to be heated in a crucible, stirring all the
time with a long iron, for eight hours or as long as it smokes. This
powder is said to have been in great reputation for some years, having
been successful in cases when hardly any hope seemed left. Twenty
grains is indicated as a moderate dose at not less than six hours’
interval, and it is noted that the first and second doses often cause
vomiting.

Whether this was the original of James’s invention or not it may be
presumed that the formula was a guide to those doctors and chemists who
were busying themselves with the analysis of his powder. Another claim
of precedence was made by a patent medicine dealer of London named
William Baker, who alleged that Dr. James’s process was an infringement
of a patent or at least a copy of a formula invented by a German named
Schwanberg.

Medical opinion has varied concerning the relative merits of the
proprietary medicine and its official imitation. Christison in his
Dispensatory (1842) expresses an opinion which was very generally
held at least in his time when he says, “No one can deny that the
antimonial powder of the Pharmacopœias is an irregular preparation
inferior in activity as well as certainty to the nostrum sold by Dr.
James’s representatives.” Some dispensers will recollect that up to
recent years it was not at all unusual for prescribers specially to
order “Pulvis Jacobi Vera.”

That Dr. James was a man of great ability and industry is testified
by his great Dictionary and also by his “Pharmacopœia Universalis or
New English Dispensatory.” The latter is a most valuable guide to
the Pharmacy of the eighteenth century, and is not only full in its
information but particularly advanced in much of its criticism.

It may be of interest to add that the famous novelist G. P. R. James
was a grandson of the Doctor.


                       ST. JOHN LONG’S LINIMENT.

John St. John Long after he became famous was always reticent about his
origin; but it was believed that he was the son of a basket maker, some
said of the name of Driscoll, that he was born in or near Doneraile,
and in his youth assisted his father: that later, being possessed of
some artistic talent, he practised as a portrait painter in Dublin and
afterwards in Limerick. An advertisement appeared in a Limerick paper
of Feb. 10, 1821, which was as follows:--

   “Mr. John St. John Long, Historical and Portrait Painter; the
   only pupil of Daniel Richardson, Esq., late of Dublin, proposes
   during his stay in Limerick to take portraits from Italian Head
   to whole length; any person desirous of getting theirs done in
   historical, hunting, shooting, fishing, or any other character;
   or their family grouped in one or two paintings from life-size
   to miniature, so as to make an historical subject, choosing one
   from history,” &c.

The advertisement went on to announce that specimens might be seen at
his (the artist’s) residence, 116, George’s St. He was also willing to
take views in the country, and would give instructions “to a limited
number of pupils of respectability.” He succeeded fairly well in
Limerick, but evidently not well enough to satisfy his ambition.

  [Illustration: JOHN ST. JOHN LONG.

  (From a print in the British Museum.)]

He is next found in London, where he got some employment from Sir
Thomas Lawrence, assisting him in his studio; was elected a member of
the Royal Society of Literature, also of the Royal Asiatic Society.
One of his occupations was to colour anatomical drawings for the
professors and pupils of one of the minor surgical schools of London.
This perhaps suggested the opening of his brilliant career as an
unqualified doctor.

His treatment consisted of the application of a liniment, and the
inhalation of a vapour. The liniment had the extraordinary virtue of
selecting between sound and unsound tissues. If the part to which it
was applied was healthy no effect would be produced; but if there were
seeds of disease beneath the surface the liniment might be relied
upon to draw out the virus which could then be easily disposed of;
thus tubercles on the lungs were extracted and the disease cured.
Consumption was the principal disease which Long professed to treat;
but gout, rheumatism, palsy, liver disorders, and other frequent
complaints were dealt with by him. He was a handsome Irishman with
fascinating manners, and the gift of inducing confidence. His
consulting rooms in Harley Street were crowded, chiefly by ladies, from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and all the day patients were seated round a piece of
furniture which looked like a piano but from which a number of tubes
extruded supplied with mouth pieces from which they were inhaling or
smoking the medicated vapour. Hopeless cases he declined; those which
he preferred were those which were in the imaginary stage.

At the height of his popularity St. John Long was making an income
of over £13,000 a year (_Gent. Mag._ 1843). That was in 1829.
The next year, 1830, he was tried for manslaughter, a young Irish
lady, Miss Catherine Cushin, having died after, and it was alleged
in consequence of, his treatment. A number of aristocratic patients
gave evidence in his favour, and Mr. Justice Park, who tried him,
summed up strongly on his behalf. But the jury found him guilty, and
he was sentenced to pay a fine of £250 or to be imprisoned until the
money was paid. Long ostentatiously produced a roll of notes, counted
out the amount, and then drove off from the court in the Marquis of
Sligo’s carriage. Next year a coroner’s jury returned another verdict
of manslaughter against him in connection with the death of a Mrs.
Lloyd. He was again tried but on this occasion was acquitted. Strong
articles against him appeared in many of the principal newspapers,
but his aristocratic clients as a rule remained faithful to him. He
published a book in defence of his system and included in it a number
of extraordinary testimonials, together with a series of smart attacks
on the medical profession. He retained his popularity to the last; but
it was not to be for long. He was attacked by the disease over which he
had claimed to exercise so much power, and he died from consumption in
1837 in the 37th year of his age. A graceful monument was erected in
Kensal Green Cemetery to his memory by his patients and admirers “to
show how much its inhabitant was respected by those who knew his worth,
and the benefits derived from his remedial discovery.” His estate
became the subject of a lengthy litigation, the principal claimant
being an elderly woman of evidently humble surroundings, who, it was
proved, was his lawful wife. He had married her when a lad, but had
afterwards induced her to agree to an amicable separation. It was then
remembered how steadfastly the charlatan had resisted the blandishments
of his society friends, many of whom in very high circles had shown
their infatuation with the attractive Irishman.

The formula and good will in the liniment were ultimately sold for ten
thousand pounds, but it does not seem to have retained its popularity
after the personality of its inventor had been removed. Nevertheless it
possessed certain properties which were thought by some of its users
to be little short of miraculous. For example, when applied to the
skin the particular part where the pain was most severe would develop
redness quicker than the other parts. In the course of a little time,
the rubbing being continued, a fluid varying in colour according, as
was believed, to the nature of the illness, would ooze from the skin,
though the cuticle remained unbroken. Lastly, the treatment being
still continued, the part affected would gradually resume its healthy
appearance. In the _Lancet_ of June 23, 1838, may be found the
report of a meeting of the “Medico-Botanic Society,” held on the
13th of that month, at which Dr. Macreight communicated the result
of an investigation into the composition of this famous liniment,
an imitation of which had been made by himself and Mr. Fownes, the
well-known chemist. The explanation of the analysis was accompanied by
a good many disparaging comments on Long, and suggestions that there
was nothing very wonderful about his liniment after all. The formula
which Dr. Macreight and Mr. Fownes devised for a liniment which they
said corresponded exactly with the quack compound was as follows:--

Yolk of one egg; pure oil of turpentine, 1½ oz.; strong acetic acid, 1
oz.; distilled water, 3 oz.

Dr. Macreight notices one of St. John Long’s recommendations to apply
a cabbage leaf to the skin when the discharge had been obtained, and
remarks “this in many respects is superior to a common cataplasm, which
is clumsy and dries up rapidly; but of course no regular practitioner
would employ cabbage leaves while the simple and elegant contrivance,
lint covered with oiled silk, was within his reach.” Perhaps if a
medical man had constructed the cabbage leaf, it might have been also
regarded as “a simple and elegant contrivance.”


                          SEIGNETTE’S SALTS.

(Soda Tartarata, Sodii potassio-tartras, Rochelle salts, Sel de
Seignette, Sal polychrestum Seignette.)

Peter Seignette was an apothecary at Rochelle in the later half of the
seventeenth century. He had at least a local scientific reputation, and
a paper of his describing certain remarkable natural products of his
locality was printed in the “Transactions” of the Academy of Sciences
of Paris. A little before 1672 Seignette was making some soluble tartar
(tartrate of potash), and inadvertently used carbonate of soda with
the cream of tartar instead of carbonate of potash. At that time the
distinction between the fixed alkalies had not been discovered. The
product was a salt different from that which he had expected, and
Seignette was ready to believe that he had made a valuable discovery.
He ascertained that his new salt had laxative properties, he called
it Sal Polychrestum, and advertised it by means of prospectuses, or
handbills. From one of these it appears that he sold it at “20 sols la
prise,” say 10_d._ for a dose. Each dose was sold in an envelope
on which appeared the design of a goose. One of the prospectuses states
that Seignette’s salt was sold in Paris by Lemery, but another refers
customers to the “Messieurs Seignette, at present at Paris, lodging on
the Quay de le Megisserie.”

Peter Seignette died in 1716, and his son continued to sell the powder.
Many attempts to analyse it were made by pharmacists, but it remained
a secret until 1731 in which year both Boulduc and Geoffroi, both
noted pharmaciens of Paris, solved the problem. Boulduc’s paper on the
subject was published in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, Paris,
and Geoffroi sent his account to Sir Hans Sloane of London and it was
published in the “Philosophical Transactions,” (436, p. 37).

Sal Polychrestum (salt of many virtues) was a name which had been
adopted a few years before Seignette made his, by Christopher Glaser,
apothecary to Louis XIV. and the Duke of Orleans. Seignette’s salt
pushed Glaser’s out of popularity to some extent, so that the latter is
generally designated Sal Polychrestum Glaseri in the old books. Glaser
made his preparation by mixing nitre and sulphur in equal proportions,
then putting the mixture, a spoonful at a time, into a red-hot
crucible. The powder would deflagrate, and the next spoonful was not
to be added until the flame of the first had gone out. The mixture was
kept in fusion for four or five hours, and after cooling was dissolved,
the solution filtered and evaporated to dryness. Sulphate of potash
with perhaps a little free sulphur was produced, and this has long
represented Glaser’s Sal Polychrestum or Sal de Duobus, as it was also
called.

Seignette’s salt was first admitted into the London Pharmacopœia of
1788 under the name of Natron Tartarizatum which was altered in 1809 to
Soda Tartarizata.


                   SINGLETON’S GOLDEN EYE OINTMENT.

An allusion to this renowned proprietary preparation will be found
under Citrine Ointment, this Vol., page 126, in connection with the
several discordant guesses as to its composition which have been
published by eminent authorities. The ointment is mentioned in this
section also because of its long history. According to the statement
published by its present proprietor it is the oldest proprietary remedy
still sold in this country. The present proprietor, Mr. Stephen Green,
inherited it from his grandfather of the same name who died in 1874.
He acquired the property by marrying (in 1825) Selina Folgham, who
brought to him one-fifth share in the rights as a part of her marriage
settlement, and after her death in 1831 the elder Stephen Green bought
up the shares of other relatives. This Selina Folgham was a daughter of
another Selina Folgham, _née_ Singleton, granddaughter of Thomas
Singleton who died in 1779, and whose tomb, I understand, may still be
seen in Lambeth churchyard. This Thomas Singleton was the first of the
Singletons. Before his time the ointment appears to have been known as
“Dr. Johnson’s Golden Ointment,” and the present owners claim that it
was first made by a “Dr. Johnson” in 1596, and that it was left by him
to a certain George Hind whose great-granddaughter married the Thomas
Singleton already mentioned.


                    MRS. STEPHENS’S CURE FOR STONE.

Perhaps the most notable recognition of a nostrum in English history
was the Act of Parliament passed in 1739 entitled “An Act for providing
a reward to Joanna Stephens upon a proper discovery to be made by her
for the use of the publick of the Medicines prepared by her for the
Cure of the Stone.”

Mrs. Stephens was a widow and professed to have received the recipe
from her late husband. A number of persons in the higher classes of
society had been cured, or believed they had been, by taking her
remedy, and in the year 1738 a movement was started to buy the formula
from her for the benefit of the public. This was specially advocated
in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, and the lady being approached
expressed her willingness to sell the recipe for £5,000. An account was
opened at Drummond’s Bank, and £500 was subscribed in the first few
days. Dr. David Hartley, of Bath, was the chief organiser of the fund,
and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Principal of Brasenose College,
Oxford, and other responsible persons wrote letters testifying their
knowledge of the good effects produced by Mrs. Stephens’s treatment.
Hartley published an account of “Ten Cases of Persons who have taken
Mrs. Stephens’s Medicines for Stone.” When Hartley died Warburton in
his letters referred to him as “a philanthropic visionary, a martyr
to Mrs. Stephens’s medicine.” It is said in some accounts that Horace
Walpole was one of Mrs. Stephens’s cures.

The subscription list was kept going until the end of the year, and
though it included dukes, earls, bishops, and several doctors of
medicine, only a total of £1,356 3_s._ was promised. Evidently
some strong influence was therefore brought to bear on the Government,
for early in the next year the Act referred to was passed and the
trustees named in the Act being satisfied that Mrs. Stephens had made
the full discovery required, the £5,000 was duly paid to her.

Mrs. Stephens’s “full discovery” was published in the _London
Gazette_ of June 19, 1739. It was very full indeed. Omitting
superfluous details it ran as follows:--

“My medicines consist of a powder, decoction and pills. The powder
is made by first taking hens’ egg-shells, cleaning and drying them,
crushing them up in the hands, and putting them into a three-pint
crucible, lightly, so that they will fill about three-fourths of its
capacity. Cover the crucible with a tile and place it in the midst of
a strong, clear fire, above and below. Keep the crucible in the fire
until the egg-shells are calcined to a greyish-white, and have acquired
an acrid, salt taste. This will need eight hours at least. The calcined
shells are to be kept in a dry, clean, open earthenware pan, about
three parts filled, in a dry room for two months exactly. They will
then have become of a milder taste and the part which is sufficiently
calcined will be in a powder of such fineness that it will pass through
a hair sieve, which has to be done.

“In like manner take garden snails with their shells, cleaned from
dirt, put them in a crucible whole, put the crucible in the fire as
before, and keep it there until the snails have done smoaking, which
will be about one hour. They are then to be rubbed to a fine powder in
a mortar, the two powders are to be mixed, sifted through a cypress
sieve, bottled in close-stopped bottles, and kept in a dry place for
use.”

“I have generally added a small quantity of Swines-Cresses, burnt to a
blackness and rubbed fine, but this was only with a view to disguise
it,” adds the lady, conscientiously.

“The egg-shells may be prepared at any time of the year, but it is best
to do them in summer. The snails ought only to be prepared in May,
June, July, or August, and I esteem those best which are done in the
first of those months.”

The decoction was made by beating 4½ oz. of best alicant soap in a
mortar with a large spoonful of Swines-Cresses burnt to blackness, and
as much honey as would make the whole of the consistence of a paste.
Make this into a ball. This ball was to be sliced and boiled for half
an hour in two quarts of soft water, with 1 oz. each of chamomile
flowers, sweet fennel, parsley, and burdock leaves. The boiled liquid
to be strained and sweetened with honey.

The pills were to be made of equal quantities by measure of snails
calcined as before, wild carrot seeds, burdock seeds, ashen-keys, hips
and haws, all burnt to blackness, “or which is the same thing, till
they have done smoaking.” The mixed powders to be passed through a
cypress sieve, and a large spoonful or 4 oz. of best alicant soap, and
a sufficiency of honey added to make pills; each ounce of the mass to
be divided into sixty pills.

One dram (avoirdupois) of the powder was to be taken three times a day
in a large teacupful of white wine, cyder, or small punch, and half a
pint of the decoction had to be drunk after each dose. If the medicine
caused much pain an opiate was to be given. The bowels were to be kept
regular with lenitive electuary or some other laxative. The pills were
to be given in fits of gravel or suppression of urine, five every hour;
or ten or fifteen might be taken daily to prevent formation of gravel
stones in constitutions subject to breed them.

Salt meats, red wine, and milk were to be avoided. The patient was
to take as few liquids as possible, and to have but little exercise.
The object aimed at was that the urine might be impregnated with the
medicine, which would then dissolve the calcareous deposits.

Mrs. Stephens died in 1774. The publication of her formula undoubtedly
stimulated investigation into the employment of alkaline medicines in
the treatment of stone, but her “cases” were not substantiated by later
evidence. One in particular was that of a man who was experimented on
while the proposal to buy the recipe was under consideration. He was
unquestionably suffering from stone, and he soon improved and in time
seemed to be quite cured after taking the remedies. After his death
examination showed that the stone was still in his bladder; but it had
made for itself a little sac in which it was so tightly embedded that
it never caused any inconvenience.

Pereira, summing up the evidence in regard to the Stephens’ treatment,
says it cannot be doubted that many patients obtained relief from
the remedies, “but no cure was effected; that is, no calculus was
dissolved. For in the bladder of each of the four persons whose cure
was certified by the trustees the stone was found after their death.” I
have not traced the report of the four cases; only of the one referred
to above.


                      EARL OF ROCHESTER AS QUACK.

The witty but profligate Earl of Rochester, well known in history as
the boon companion of Charles II, especially in his debaucheries,
frequently gave offence to that monarch by his impudence or his
sarcasms. His best known epigram is that referring to

          Our Sovereign Lord the King
    Whose word no man relies on
    Who never said a foolish thing
    And never did a wise one.

On several occasions Rochester was ordered to leave the Court, but
Charles always sent for him to come back again. In one of these
absences it is recorded that he took lodgings in Tower Street under the
name of Alexander Bindo and practised for a time as a quack doctor.
It is believed that he had a stall on Tower Hill on which he spread an
assortment of remedies and cosmetics, and that he especially cultivated
the patronage of women, to whom he gave advice. This must have been
about the year 1677. In a book published in 1710, giving the poetical
works and speeches of Sir Charles Sedley by Captain Ayloff, is printed
a copy of what purports to be one of Rochester’s harangues on Tower
Hill. No evidence of its authenticity is offered, and as the Earl was
undoubtedly gifted with a glib tongue and plenty of talent it would
seem unlikely that he would trouble himself to write out, or if he
did write it, to preserve such rubbish. The “Dictionary of National
Biography,” however, alludes to it without questioning its genuineness,
but does not quote any part of it. The following specimens of the
Earl’s alleged patter are quoted from an old part of _Notes and
Queries_:--

“I am the famed Paracelsus of the age, by name Segnior Doloso
Euprontorio, son of that wonder-working Chymist lately deceased in
Alsatia and famed through all Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; from
the oriental exaltation of Titan to his occidental declination, who
in pity to his own dear self and other mortals has by the prayers and
solicitations of divers Kings, Emperors, Princes, Lords, Gentlemen, and
other Personages been prevailed with to oblige the world with notice
to all persons, young and old, lame and blind, that they may know
where to repair for their speedy cure in all Cephalgies, Orantalgies,
Paralitical Paroxysms, Rheumatisms, Gout, Fevers, Fractures,
Dislocations, and all other Distempers incident to the human Body,
external or internal, acute or chronic, curable or incurable.

“My medicines are the Quintessence of Pharmaceutical Energy; the Cures
I have done are beyond the art of the whole World.

“I have an excellent hypontical, captical, odoriferous, carminative,
renovative, stiptical, corroboratory Balsam of Balsams, made of dead
men’s fat, rosin, and goose grease. It is the true Pharmacopœia of
Hermes Trismegistus, the true Pentemagogon of the triple kingdom,
which works seven several ways, and is seven years preparing, which
being exactly completed secundem artem by Fermentations, Solutions,
Sublimations, Putrefactions, Rectifications, and Quidlibelifications
in Balnea Mariæ in the Crucible, becomes Nature’s Palladium, Health’s
Magazine. One drachm of which is worth a Bushel of March dust. For if
any of you chance to have your heads cut off or your brains beat out,
ten drops of this seasonably applied will recall the fleeting spirits
reigning through the deposed Archeus, and in six minutes will restore
the departed Life to its pristine vigour with all its functions, vital,
rational and animal.”

The quack goes on to recount some of his cures. Among them were the
god-mother of Prester John of a stupendous Dolor in her Os Sacrum; the
Empress of Boolampoo of a Cramp she got in her tongue by eating Pork
and buttered parsnips; an Alderman of Grand Cairo of a scarlet burning
raging fever of which he died; the Emperor of Morocco, who lay seven
years sick of the plague and was cured in 42 minutes so that he danced
the Saraband, Flip-flap, and Somerset.

The orator announced that he was to be found at the Golden Ball in Fop
Alley whenever he was not on Tower Hill; for he had devoted himself
wholly to serve the Public.


                          WARBURG’S TINCTURE.

Dr. Carl Warburg, an Austrian doctor, compounded a tincture some
seventy years ago which soon acquired an extraordinary reputation in
the treatment of agues and malarial fevers. Although its formula was
not disclosed, the Austrian Ministry of Health about 1848 put it on
the list of medicines which had to be stocked by all pharmacists,
fixed the maximum price at which it should be sold to the public at
2 fl. 30 kr. (about 5s.), and established a central depot in Vienna
for its manufacture, paying Dr. Warburg a salary for overseeing its
preparation. A little later a medical commission was appointed to
examine the tincture and draw up a formula for it. The commissioners
formed themselves into three sections, and each section made an
independent analysis. All agreed that the tincture was an alcoholic
preparation of quinine, aloes, camphor, and saffron; zedoary root
and angelica were guessed at by two of the sections, and rhubarb by
one. The formula adopted was Hepatic aloes, and zedoary root, of each
1 drachm; Angelica root, and camphor, of each 2 grains; Saffron, 3
grains, spirit of wine, 3 ounces. Dissolve, filter, and add 30 grains
of sulphate of quinine.

The publication of this formula did not apparently interfere with the
sale of the proprietary article, which might have continued if the
inventor had not been persuaded to surrender his secret.

About the middle of the century Warburg’s Tincture had acquired great
reputation in India. Lt.-General Sir Mark Cubbon K.C.B., Commissioner
of the Mysore province, seems to have first made it known. At his
own expense he supplied 1,500 bottles to the medical officers of his
commission. Subsequently remarkable evidence was given before a Royal
Commission, appointed to inquire into the health of the Indian Army,
by Major-General Cottin R.E., who stated that many great engineering
works carried on in “deadly jungles” had been brought to a successful
issue mainly through the protection afforded to the workmen by this
tincture. In an article published in the _Lancet_, November
15, 1875, Professor W. C. Maclean, Inspector General of the Army,
gave still more striking testimony. He said he had treated remittent
fevers of every degree of severity contracted in India, China, and the
Gold Coast, and had never known quinine when given alone act in the
characteristic manner of this tincture. A dose of 9½ grains of quinine
in Warburg’s Tincture would often not only arrest the exacerbation of
the fever but would frequently prevent its recurrence. He had never
known quinine have that effect. In the same article Professor Maclean
published the formula for the tincture which Dr. Warburg had confided
to him on the advice of his friends. It was as follows:--Socotrine
aloes 1 lb.; East India rhubarb, angelica seeds, confectio Damocratis,
of each, 4 oz.; elecampane, fennel seed, saffron, prepared chalk, of
each 2 oz.; gentian root, zedoary root, cubebs, picked myrrh, camphor,
larch agaric, of each 1 oz. Digest these ingredients in 500 ounces of
proof spirit in a water bath for 12 hours, express, and add 10 oz. of
sulphate of quinine. Replace the mixture in the water bath till the
quinine is dissolved, and filter.

The tincture was supplied in 1 oz. bottles, and ½ oz. was given for a
dose after the bowels had been evacuated. The other ½ oz. was given 3
hours after.

Three years later Professor Maclean wrote to the _Times_ stating
that Dr. Carl Warburg was living in England in poverty. The large
fortune he had made from his tincture at one time had disappeared, and
the publication of his formula had resulted in the loss of his income.
He asked that the Indian Government would make some provision for him
in return for the publication of his valuable secret. The India Office
made a grant of £200 to Dr. Warburg in 1882, but in June, 1890, the
Hon. Sydney Holland wrote to _The Chemist and Druggist_ appealing
for further assistance. The old man was then 86 and Mr. Holland and
Professor Maclean had collected enough to provide him with 15s. a week
for the rest of his life. This was the last heard of the old gentleman,
and his case may be remembered as a caution to over-scrupulous
inventors of remedies.


                           WARD’S REMEDIES.

Joshua Ward, who was born in 1685 and died in 1761, was one of the most
notorious and successful of English quacks. In Gray’s “Supplement”
and in Paris’s “Pharmacologia” he is said to have been a footman
and to have obtained his recipes from some monks while travelling
on the Continent with his master. This story is not corroborated by
contemporary accounts, nor is it adopted by the “Dictionary of National
Biography.”[3] From these sources it appears that Ward came of a good
family, and in early life was associated with his brother William in
the business of a drysalter in Thames Street, London.

In 1717 he was returned to Parliament as member for Marlborough; but
there was either fraud or mistake about this return, for a Committee
appointed to investigate it reported that not a single vote had been
given for Ward. He was consequently unseated and the other candidate
for whom a few votes had been cast got the seat.

  [Illustration: JOSHUA WARD, ORIGINATOR OF WARD’S PASTE.

  (From a print in the British Museum.)]

Apparently Ward had got into some political trouble; the “Dictionary
of National Biography” suggests that it was in connection with
the Jacobite rising in 1715. He had escaped to France before the
Parliamentary inquiry, and in Paris he commenced the sale of the pills
and drops which he afterwards made so famous in London. Ward had
evidently not finished sowing his political wild oats, for he somehow
became obnoxious to the French Government, and was only saved from a
sojourn in the Bastille through the intervention of his friend, John
Page, M.P. In 1733 he obtained a pardon from George II. and returned to
England.

Wards pharmacopœia became a rather extensive one. His pills and
drops were the principal medicines he concocted; both were strong
antimonial preparations. The pills were composed of glass of antimony
(an oxysulphide of the metal), 4 parts, mixed with 1 part of dragon’s
blood. This combination was made into 1½ grain pills. The combination
of antimony with a resinous substance had been adopted in several
earlier preparations, mastic being generally preferred. The resin was
supposed to “blunt” the action of the antimony. The drops were made by
dissolving ½ oz. of glass of antimony in 1 quart of Malaga wine. These
powerful medicines were no doubt effective in many cases. Both cures
and casualties were likely enough to result from them. These were the
medicines which Ward first made famous in Paris, and with which he
started his career in London.

Ward made besides a “white drop” which was an ammoniated solution of
nitrate of mercury; two sweating powders, one of which was simply
“Dover’s,” but with some liquorice powder added; the other was the same
with the addition of white hellebore. His paste for fistula and piles
was the original of our Conf. Piper. Nig. His “liquid sweat” was a
wine of opium with saffron, cinnamon, and salt of tartar; his “dropsy
purging powder” was jalap, cream of tartar and orris powder in equal
proportions; later the orris was dropped and a small quantity of bole
armeniac was substituted, and his essence for the headache appeared
later in the Pharmacopœia as compound camphor liniment.

By advertisements of various kinds, and by a number of startling cures,
Ward attained astonishing success. George II. had unbounded faith in
him. At his first interview with the King the latter had a dislocated
thumb. Ward gave it a sharp wrench which incited some strong German
from the monarch, but which put the thumb right. Subsequently George
provided the quack with a room in his almonry at Whitehall, and paid
him to treat poor people there. Ward bought besides three houses at
Pimlico and converted them into a hospital where his remedies were
administered, highborn ladies assisting in the conduct of this charity.
His patients included Lord Chesterfield, Gibbon the historian, and
Fielding the novelist, as well as a large number of titled persons of
less permanent fame, and when he brought an action for libel against
the _Grub Street Journal_ (which, however, he failed in) Reynolds,
the Lord Chief Baron, and Horace Walpole were among his witnesses. In
1748 a Bill was introduced into Parliament to restrict the practice of
medicine, and it contained a clause specially exempting Ward by name
from its penalties.

Naturally the qualified members of the medical profession were
irritated at the amazing prosperity of this charlatan. Queen Caroline,
it was said, once asked General Churchill if it was true that Ward’s
medicines had made a man mad. “Yes, Madam,” Churchill replied, “Mead.”
Dr. Richard Mead was the King’s physician.

Ward retained his fame to the end of his life, and the King’s
liberality made it possible to publish a collection of his recipes
which his old friend John Page compiled after his death. But George’s
tenderness to the memory of the great physic-monger did not go to the
extent of fulfilling the desire expressed in his will, that he should
be buried in Westminster Abbey, in front of the altar, or as near
thereto as possible.

The story of Ward’s treatment of George II.’s thumb is thus told by
Dr. George Henning in a note to Dr. Martin Listers “Journey to Paris”
(this Vol., page 181): “George II being afflicted with a violent
pain of the thumb which had baffled the skill of the faculty, sent
for the noted Dr. Joshua Ward; who, having ascertained the nature
of the complaint before he was admitted, provided himself with a
suitable nostrum which he concealed in the hollow of his hand. On
being introduced he requested permission to examine the affected part,
and gave it so sudden a wrench that the King cursed him and kicked
his shins. Ward bore this very patiently and when the King was cool
respectfully asked him to move his thumb, which he did easily and found
the pain gone.” In reply to the King’s offer to do something for him
Ward diplomatically replied that the pleasure of serving his Majesty
was quite sufficient reward, but he would be grateful if the King would
do something for a nephew. The nephew was made an ensign in the Guards
and Ward himself was presented with a carriage and pair of horses.

In the _Daily Advertiser_ of June 10th, 1736, a report is
published of an attendance at the court at Kensington by the Queen’s
appointment of Joshua Ward, Esq., with eight or ten persons who in
extraordinary cases had received great benefit by taking his remedies.
Her Majesty was accompanied by three surgeons and several persons of
quality, the patients were examined, money was distributed to them, and
Mr. Ward was congratulated on his success.

In Lord John Hervey’s “Memoirs of the Reign of George II” that eminent
courtier (Pope’s “Lord Fanny”) relates that he gave Ward’s Pills to
the Princess Caroline for rheumatic pains, and he remarks of them “an
excellent medicine not only in rheumatics, but in several cases, which
for being so all the physicians and surgeons endeavoured to decry.”

Ward is referred to in the newspapers of the day as “Spot Ward.” The
nickname was acquired in consequence of a claret mark on one side of
his face. Pope refers to him in the lines:

    Of late, without the least pretence to skill,
    Ward’s grown a famed physician by a pill.

Ward bequeathed his book of secret formulas to his faithful friend and
helper in his earlier troubles, John Page, M.P. Mr. Page was a wealthy
man, and he decided to publish the recipes of those remedies which were
most esteemed for “the noblest of all purposes, the common good of
mankind.” So he states in introducing the pamphlet. But a difficulty
occurred in respect of these formulas. They did not in all cases
represent the medicines which the public had become accustomed to. They
had been made for Ward by a Mr. John White, a manufacturing chemist of
Twickenham, and a Mr. F. J. D’Osterman, who was probably an apothecary,
and those two manufacturers alone knew the exact modifications which
had been made in the preparations. In these circumstances the King
(George II) consented in his “most benevolent disposition and extensive
bounty” to make ample provision for these chemists. Whereupon the “Book
of Secrets” was published. A depot for selling them was established,
and a moderate tariff fixed at which those compounded by the chemists
already named could be obtained, though, of course, anybody was at
liberty to make similar preparations. Mr. Page provided that profits
after paying expenses should be divided between an Orphan Asylum and a
Magdalen Institution.

The following are the recipes for the fistula or pile paste and for the
headache essence, both of which, being adopted in the Pharmacopœia,
have some historic interest:--

Paste for the Fistula: Elecampane root, 1 lb.; fennel seeds, 3 lb.;
black pepper, 1 lb. All in fine powder, mixed and sifted. Melt together
2 lb. each of honey and white sugar, and when this mixture is cool
knead into it the prescribed powders. The dose was a piece the size of
a nutmeg, to be taken morning, noon, and night, followed by a glass of
water or white wine.

Essence for the Headache, etc.: French spirit of wine, 2 lb.; Roch alum
in fine powder, 2 oz.; camphor, cut small, 4 oz.; essence of lemon, ½
oz.; strongest volatile spirit of sal ammoniac, 4 oz. A little of this
essence was to be rubbed on the hand, and the hand was to be held hard
to the part affected until it was dry. Ward told Mr. Page that it was
this application which had cured George II’s thumb.

In a lecture on Hæmorrhoids delivered by Sir Benjamin Brodie at St.
Georges Hospital, and reported in the _London Medical Gazette_,
February 3, 1835, that eminent practitioner stated that he had often
found the Confectio Piperis Co. (“similar to what was once very
celebrated as Ward’s Paste”) successful when other simple expedients
failed. He said it was rather disagreeable to take, tasted like a
coarse gingerbread, and must be persevered in for a considerable time.
He stated that one of the worst cases he ever knew was that of a lady
who had consulted him, and he did not think it possible to cure her
without an operation. She, however, was obliged to go into the country
at the time, and as the operation must be delayed for a month at least,
he recommended her to try Ward’s Paste meanwhile. She came back to him
six or eight weeks later quite cured. He thought the remedy acted by
passing into the colon and, becoming blended with the faeces, served as
a local application.


                         THE WHITWORTH DOCTORS

are almost forgotten now, but a century ago they were famous all over
England. The Whitworth red bottle and the Whitworth drops are still
more or less popular reminiscences of their pharmacy. The former was an
embrocation, and the second an antispasmodic tincture. Both contained
oil of thyme. Formulas are given in “Pharmaceutical Formulas,”
published at 42, Cannon Street.

The founder of the family of the Whitworth Doctors was John Taylor,
originally a farrier, of Whitworth, then a village about three miles
from Rochdale. He died in 1802 at the age of sixty-two. John Taylor had
a younger brother and two sons, and the younger brother also had sons,
all of whom practised surgery. A third and even a fourth generation
of surgeons, some of whom were fully qualified, likewise practised at
Whitworth, and the last of the race died in 1876.

The original brothers Taylor were both farriers, but they became famous
for their treatment of human patients. Their methods were of the most
vigorous character. They were in the habit of buying a ton of Glauber’s
salts from their wholesale druggists, Ewbank and Wallis, of York, and
they dispensed it to those who sought their medical advice with no
niggard hands, and without any formality of weighing. The two brothers
provided free bleeding for poor patients every Sunday morning, and
something like a hundred victims attended for this operation.

John Taylor (the original “Doctor”) never discontinued his treatment
of horse complaints, and was believed to have taken more pride and
pleasure in his veterinary work than in his dealings with humans. But
the latter flocked to him from all parts of the country. Cancers,
improperly set fractures, and deformities were his specialities, but
his practice gradually extended to all kinds of ills. A crowd of rich
and poor patients had to find lodgings somehow in the village, for
they sometimes had to stay for weeks there. Fifty at a time could be
seated in the long room where John treated them. They came in at one
end of the room and went out at the other, and no one, no matter what
his rank, was allowed to have the slightest preference. Eighteen-pence
a week for medicine and treatment was the charge to all, and those who
could not afford that fee were never asked for it. A lord drove up in
his carriage one day, and the powdered footman was sent to ask John
Taylor to “wait upon his lordship.” “Tell the man he must come in here
and take his turn like the rest, if he wants me to wait on him,” said
John; and “the man” had to do so. It is recorded that he left Whitworth
cured.

The other doctors used to tell of Taylor’s failures; but as his cases
were mostly those which they had pronounced incurable, it is not
astonishing if he did not always succeed. But he effected many notable
cures. A lady with a cancer in the breast who had been given up by her
own doctors came from a hundred miles away to Whitworth. John examined
the breast, and then said, “What art thou come here for, woman?” “To
be cured, of course,” she answered. “Not all the doctors in England
can cure thee,” he said sternly; “thou must go home and die.” “I shall
not go home,” said the lady, “till you have tried your hand on me. I
can bear any pain you inflict, and I can only die at last.” “Thou art
a brave lass,” said John; “I will try, and God prosper us.” The lady
stayed at Whitworth six months, and went home cured. She lived thirty
years longer.

This lady was well known to William Howitt, a Quaker and popular
writer in the first half of the nineteenth century. In an article he
wrote in Tait’s _Edinburgh Magazine_, 1839, Mr. Howitt relates
recollections of a visit he had paid to Whitworth some twenty years
previously, and from that visit, and from the conversations he had had
with the lady just referred to, he had gathered the particulars which
he gave in his article.

While under the care of Doctor John at Whitworth the lady told Mr.
Howitt how she occupied herself in assisting “Mrs. George,” old
John’s daughter-in-law, to prepare the medicines. Glauber’s salts
were principally relied upon for internal administration. A caustic
known as “keen” was used for eradicating cancers; a black salve made
up into sticks; a snuff made from asarabacca leaves which he grew
in his garden; blisters; and the Red Bottle, made up the medicinal
armoury. The last is made still in Lancashire, thus: Camphor, 6; oil of
origanum, 6; Anchusa root, 1; methylated spirit, 80.

The lady’s account of the preparation of the salve was that they used
to boil a kettleful of ingredients, and then they would mop the kitchen
floor. While it was wet they would pour the salve on it, and then
scraping it up they would roll it into sticks with their fingers, and
cut it into little pieces.

Howitt also describes seeing James Taylor, the head of the family, when
he visited Whitworth, making his pills. In an old hat slung in front of
him by a cord round his neck was his pill mass. Thus armed, he would
walk up and down in front of his house nipping off bits of the mass and
rolling them into pills with his fingers as he walked.

In his later years John Taylor sometimes visited patients in distant
places. Once he went to attend a duchess at Cheltenham. She had an
abscess which he opened and so relieved her at once. George III was
staying at Cheltenham at the time, and heard of this skilful man. Later
he sent for him to come to London to treat the Princess Elizabeth, who
had pains in her head with fits of stupor. John is said to have cured
her with his snuff. Having prescribed this and provided the patient
with some, John Taylor turned to Queen Charlotte, who with her other
daughters was in the room, and patting her on the back, said: “Well,
thou art a farrantly (good-looking) woman to be the mother of all these
straight-backed lasses.” “Ah, Mr. Taylor,” said the Queen, “I was
once as straight-backed as any of them.” John’s son James was fond of
telling this story.

Thurlow, Bishop of Durham, brother of Lord Chancellor Thurlow, was one
of his patients, and John was once sent for to London to attend him.
More than one eminent physician was in the room when Taylor arrived.
“I won’t say a word till Jack Hunter is here,” said Dr. John; “he is
the only man among you who knows anything.” Jack Hunter was the famous
anatomist. When he was present, Taylor proceeded to examine the Bishop,
and was applying some ointment from a box he had with him. “What’s that
made of?” asked Hunter. “No, Jack, that’s not a fair question,” was
Taylor’s reply. “I’ll send you as much of it as you like, but I won’t
tell you what it’s made of.”




                                 XXII

                          POISONS IN HISTORY

   “To give an exact and particular account of the Nature and
   Manner of acting of Poisons is no easy matter; but to Discourse
   more intelligibly of them than authors have hitherto done, not
   very difficult.”
   (From Dr. Richard Mead’s Preface to his “Essays on Poisons,”
   1702.)


It has been shown elsewhere (Vol. I., page 52) how intimate was the
connection between ancient pharmacy and poisoning. In Greek the
terms came to be almost synonymous, and there is an echo of the same
association of ideas in the words Poison and Potion, which a few
centuries ago were used in English without much distinction.

The priests of Egypt, the Æsculapians of Greece, and perhaps still
more the herbalists of that country and of Italy, necessarily learnt
many things from their studies of medicinal plants. They found herbs
which would cause sleep, furnish dreams, and confuse the brain. They
professed and perhaps believed in their ability to accomplish far more
with their philtres than the vegetable world was capable of, but the
common people had no means of checking their claims, and such science
as there was tended to support them. In the palaces of kings, in
the tents of generals, and in all the high places where intrigues,
jealousies, and enmities found their fullest scope, pharmaceutical
skill was much sought after; in some cases to dispose of rivals, but
more usually to counteract the murderous schemes which in those times
constituted so large a portion of statecraft. There was nothing the
brave men of old dreaded so much as secret poisoning. It is impossible
to say how far this crime was practised. Suspicion and terror may have
exaggerated its records, but on the other hand it is equally possible
that thousands of deaths may have occurred from poisons which were not
attributed to that cause.

Hecate and her daughters Medea and Circe figured prominently in Greek
legends as inventors and discoverers of poisons. The magic arts for
which they were all famous were closely associated with deadly drugs.
They were supposed to live in the island of Colchis, the name of
which still recalls a vegetable which for many centuries retained the
reputation of possessing the most venomous properties. Colchicum was
discovered by Medea, but to Hecate is attributed the earliest use of
aconite.

Kings studied pharmacy and invented antidotes. Orpheus, the physician
and poet, who preceded Æsculapius, wrote a poem on precious stones,
in which he relates that Theodomas, son of Priam, King of Troy, had
learned how to administer these as antidotes to poisons. The marvellous
properties of the antidote invented by Mithridates, King of Pontus, is
one of the commonplaces of medical history. Down to the seventeenth
century theriaca, emeralds, and bezoar stones were the antidotes to all
poisons recognised by the faculty.


                           BIBLICAL POISONS.

No case of poisoning either suicidal, murderous, or accidental, is
alluded to in the Bible, unless we regard the story of the wild gourds
(2 Kings, ch. iv, v. 39) as coming within the last description. The
suicide by poison of Ptolemeus Macron is mentioned in 2 Maccabees,
ch. x, v. 13, but though this was a frequent practice among the
Greeks and Romans when the New Testament was written, no allusion to
it is found in the sacred writings. It may be that the apostles who
include “pharmakeia” among the crimes of the heathen had in mind the
degradation of the art to homicidal purposes, but it is more likely
that they only intended to denounce its application to the service of
lust or its consequences.

The word Rosh occurs eleven times in the Old Testament, and is usually
rendered gall, often in association with wormwood. In two instances,
however (Hosea, ch. x, v. 4, and Amos, ch. vi. v. 12), it is translated
hemlock in the authorised version, and this is retained in the revised
version for the passage in Hosea. Apparently the word was a generic
one for pernicious or nauseous weeds; but as Rosh also means head some
commentators have thought that the poppy was intended.

The word translated poison in Deut. ch. xxxii, v. 24, Job, ch. vi, v.
4, Psalms, lviii, v. 4, and cxl, v. 3, is Chemah, and always means
something burning. It is often used to indicate fierce anger. The verse
mentioned in Job is obviously a reference to the very ancient practice
of dipping arrows into some poison, an application of pharmacy from
which we derive our term toxicology.


                          POISONING IN ROME.

Livy tells the story of the earliest of the poison leagues. He is
dependent on older historians for his facts, as the alleged events
happened some three centuries before he wrote; about the year 330
B.C. in fact. A number of patricians died one after the other, their
illnesses presenting similar symptoms, but the causes of these could
not be traced. At last, however, a female slave gave information to the
Ediles of a group of twenty Roman ladies of the highest position who,
she said, occupied themselves in concocting poisons, and administering
them to their husbands or others who had become inconvenient to them.
The confederacy was directed by two women named Cornelia and Sergia,
and although Livy says 20, some accounts give the number of the
conspiratresses as 170, while others total it at 366. Cornelia and
Sergia were brought before the magistrates, and indignantly denied that
they had done more than prepare wholesome beverages and medicines. On
this the slave, whose own life was in jeopardy, demanded that they
should themselves be required to take some of these compounds. They
were granted permission to consult with their associates before doing
this, and in the interval they all poisoned themselves. Livy states
that this story is not told by all the contemporary narrators.

Later Roman history leaves little doubt that poisoning became a
profession, or rather was frequently associated with the pharmacy of
the period, as it had been in Greece. Theophrastus, who wrote about
300 B.C., alludes to a poison prepared from aconite which
could be so administered as to take effect at a defined future time,
three months, six months, a year, or longer after it was taken, the
victim gradually growing weaker. It was perhaps in consequence of this
belief that the possession or cultivation of aconite was made a capital
offence. Pliny states that Calpurnia Bastia, one of the Catiline
conspirators, was poisoned by aconite.

Locusta was one of the noted poison compounders of the Roman empire.
She had been condemned to death in the reign of Claudius, but probably
by the influence of the Empress Agrippina, she was pardoned and was
employed by that infamous woman. Claudius was getting on in years, and
was showing more affection for his own son Britannicus than for his
stepson Nero, whom at the solicitation of Agrippina he had adopted and
made his heir. The empress therefore resolved to get rid of Claudius,
but she was afraid to use a suddenly acting agent, and Locusta was
ordered to compound something which should produce a fatal effect, but
not immediately. It was to be so compounded that it would destroy the
emperor’s reason lest in the course of his proposed illness he should
take measures to supplant Nero by Britannicus. Locusta had to pretend
to be able to fulfil this commission, and the poison she prepared was
mixed in a dish of mushrooms. Claudius having eaten some of these was
soon taken ill and had to be carried from the table, but as this was
what usually occurred at his dinner not much notice was taken of the
event. His physician gave him an emetic, and he was in a fair way to
recover, but Agrippina, frightened at the possible exposure, employed
another minion to apply more of Locusta’s poison on a feather to his
throat, under the pretence of making him vomit more. He soon died.
Tacitus and Suetonius relate how Nero used Locusta later to help him
rid himself of Britannicus, and also of his old tutor Burrhus, who had
wearied him with his remonstrances. Locusta was executed in the reign
of Galba A.D. 68.

Among other famous Romans believed to have perished by poison were
Germanicus and Drusus. Caligula ordered a deadly ointment to be given
to an impolitic gladiator named Columbus, who had unwisely worsted the
emperor with the fencing foils, to be applied to his wounds. The poor
wretch died in consequence. These are only samples of Roman poisonings.


                       POISONS IN ANCIENT TIMES.

The poisons known to the ancients cannot be with certainty identified.
The one to which the power of philtres was principally attributed
was mandragora, which was said to produce various hallucinations
and temporary madness. It is most likely, however, that in many of
the cases where this drug is named the poison actually used was
belladonna root. Hannibal, fighting against a large army of African
rebels, simulated retreat, but left on the field of battle a quantity
of vases of wine in which “mandragora” had been infused. The savages
drank the wine, which reduced them to a condition of stupor. Then the
Carthaginian hero returned and gained an easy victory over his helpless
foes. Henbane seeds infused in wine made the head light, and gave the
impression of having travelled through the air. Stramonium, dulcamara,
hellebore, opium, Indian hemp, vervain, mezereon, and many other drugs,
were in the stock-in-trade of the philtre mongers and conjurers, and
the legends related by Pliny and others about the properties possessed
by these herbs are sometimes nonsense, but are too often based on their
real powers.

There was a ranunculus which grew in Sardinia, which was credited
with the power of promoting gaiety. It was called the _Herba
Sardonica_. It occasioned spasmodic contraction of the muscles of
the face and so simulated a laugh. Hence our expression “sardonic
grin.” The employment of haschish by the Saracen warriors to make
themselves fierce and reckless in battle is not a mere legend. The
sect who introduced it in the armies of Islam were called hashashin,
the origin of our word “assassins.” The reputation of the myrtle as an
invigorator of the brain, and its consequent adoption by poets as a
garland round their brows, is a sample of a more innocent tradition.

Several of the Greek and Roman medical authors, Galen among others,
profess a cautious reticence in regard to poisons. But there is
a treatise in existence in verse, by Nicandor, which gives such
toxological knowledge as was familiar to the men of science of the
second century before the Christian era. Among venomous animals were
included salamanders, leeches, toads, cantharides, and the sea-hare
(_Lepus marinus_). The blood of bulls (probably putrefied) was a
poison in use by the Athenians. The honey of Heracleus had a certain
fame, for it was alleged that the soldiers of Xenophon having regaled
themselves with this luxury were all so intoxicated with it that
the whole army lay on the field as if they were dead. Next day all
recovered. It is supposed to have been a honey extracted from narcotic
flowers.

The vegetable poisons known to the ancients have mostly been named.
But cherry laurel, elaterium, certain fungi, and smilax, probably our
mezereon, should be added. The mineral poisons in more or less use were
arsenic, in the form of orpiment and realgar, cinnabar, and metallic
mercury, which was reputed to be poisonous. Nicandor alludes to
litharge, ceruse, and gypsum. By the last he may have meant quicklime.
Berthelot translated from Olympiodorus (sixth century) the description
of a process for making white arsenic from the sulphide. The product
was called “alum, white and compact.” The animal kingdom furnished the
Romans with at least one famous poison which they extracted from the
_Lepidus marinus_ (in the Linnean system, _Aplysia depilans_)
which they knew as the sea-horse. According to Philostratus it was by
this poison that Domitian removed Titus.


                    POISONINGS IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

The belief in the skill of the compounders of philtres and mysterious
charms grew rather than diminished in the Middle Ages and as alchemy
developed. In Sir Walter Scott’s “Talisman,” the tale of the Crusades,
the western physician says, “The oily Saracens are curious in the
art of poisons, and can so temper them that they shall be weeks in
acting upon the party, during which time the perpetrator has leisure
to escape. They can impregnate cloth and leather, nay, even paper and
parchment, with the most vile and subtle venoms.”

Official records of the trial of a minstrel named Wondreton in Paris,
in 1384, give a copy of instructions alleged to have been given to
the accused by Charles the Bad, King of Navarre, who had employed
this Wondreton to poison the then King of France, Charles VI, his
brother, two uncles, and several dukes. The scheme was extraordinarily
crude, although Charles the Bad was reputed to be an adept in alchemy.
The minstrel was to buy “arsenic sublimat” from the hotels of the
apothecaries in Pampeluna, Bordeaux, Bayonne, and other towns through
which he would pass. He was to powder this, and get into the kitchens
of the eminent persons who were to be his victims, and then, when he
could do it with safety, he was to sprinkle some of the powder in the
soups and meats served to the masters. Wondreton was arrested before he
had done any mischief, and was executed.

King John of England is alleged to have caused Maud Fitzwalter to be
killed in the Tower by a poisoned egg because she would not yield to
his illicit passion.

The sorcery practised so largely in the Middle Ages must have
frequently developed into poisoning. The philtres were to a large
extent the same as those which the Romans had used. Opium, belladonna,
datura, _Cannabis Indica_, and arsenic were capable of producing
astonishing effects, and there was but little chance of detection
except the chance which was just as likely to result in the conviction
of an innocent as a guilty person. Poisons, or at least the terror
of them, played a considerable part in the history of Italy in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the country acquired
the nickname of Venenosa Italia. Even earlier the famous Venetian
“Council of Ten” was believed to have made a systematic business
of assassination by poison. It employed experts and had a regular
tariff--so much for a king, so much for a duke and downwards, which
was allowed, plus expenses. The crime having been accomplished, the
books of the Council recorded the fee, and the single word “factum” was
added. The Medicis and the Borgias, and other of the great aristocrats
of the nation are supposed to have kept skilled poisoners in their
pay. Giambaptista Porta, Mercurialis, and other scientific men wrote
treatises on toxicology as it was understood at the period, coloured
with exaggerated fancies such as would impress the common public, and
tempt the criminally inclined. Porta, for example, describes the “magic
unction” which witches were believed to employ. It was this which
gave them power to fly through the air. He attributes this virtue to
belladonna. With dulcamara they made a drugged cheese which they gave
to travellers, and which had the effect of inducing the victims to
fancy themselves beasts of burden. In this condition the adepts could
set them to any work they wanted done, and, this performed, they gave
them an antidote which restored them to their proper senses.


                    CREDULITY IN REGARD TO POISONS.

Terror of poisons became epidemic in many countries, and eager
credulity welcomed any alleged antidote. Ambrose Paré relates an
incident in which he was an actor. He, a Protestant, was principal
physician to Charles IX, the wretched author of the Massacre of St.
Bartholomew. His story of the experiment which that king had made
with a bezoar stone is related on page 18. There was also an Archduke
Ferdinand of Austria who in the same century invented an antidote to
poisons. It was composed of sapphire, hyacinth, emerald, ruby, and
garnet. He also, according to Matthiolus, tried an experiment similar
to the one narrated by Paré. A Bohemian, condemned to be hanged,
was given 2 grains of arsenic. In four hours he had become livid,
prostrate, and apparently dying. He was given a dose of Ferdinand’s
powder in a glass of white wine, and recovered. Matthiolus also states
that Pope Clement VII made such experiments on condemned criminals.

In the reign of Henry VIII of England in 1530 an Act was passed making
the crime of poisoning punishable by boiling alive. This was enacted
in consequence of several deaths believed to have been due to poisons
which had occurred in the household of the Bishop of Rochester. In 1542
it is recorded in the chronicles of the time that a young woman named
Margaret Davie was “boyled alive in Smithfield” for having poisoned
persons in three houses in which she had lived. The savage punishment
was reduced to hanging in 1547 in the reign of Edward VI. In Queen
Elizabeth’s reign in 1598 two men were hanged on a charge of having
placed poison in her saddle.

Italian poisoners are alleged to have found abundant employment in
France. Catherine de Medici took with her to Paris her astrologer,
Cosmo Ruggieri, and the people believed that he was responsible for
the death of Charles IX. The ambitious queen has found many defenders,
but the fiend capable of planning the massacre of St. Bartholomew may
support a few extra crimes. Exili went to Paris in the next century
with the reputation of having poisoned 150 persons in Rome. Michelet
says this miscreant had been in the employment of Marie Olympia, Queen
of Rome under Innocent X, and implies that it was on her account that
he exercised his chemical skill. He had also been in the service of
Queen Christina of Sweden, but this employment was apparently not a
criminal one. The latter queen had only engaged Exili to instruct her
in alchemy. It was from this teacher that the famous poisoners of
Paris were alleged to have learned their arts. It is not possible,
however, to ascertain the limits of exaggeration in the accounts which
gossiping chroniclers give of that epoch. Royal edicts were issued
forbidding “all sorts of sorcery or magic, divinations, philtres,
invocations of demons, drinks to win love, enchantments to trouble the
air or excite hail or tempests, to destroy the fruits of the earth or
the milk of beasts, mathematics [which meant astrology], auguries, and
interpretations of dreams.” But though the practice of the “diabolic
arts” was punishable by death, it flourished abundantly, but it is not
necessary to accept the estimate of a diarist named L’Estoile, who,
describing the execution of a witch named La Miraille in 1587, stated
that the number of such persons in Paris at that date exceeded thirty
thousand.

Perfumery and the publication of almanacks were businesses which
covered many of the malfeasances struck at in the edict just quoted,
and no doubt there was a widespread belief in the miraculous
toxicological skill of the fortune tellers, who naturally wished their
predictions to be verified. “Tasters” were employed in the houses of
the wealthy, dishes of “electron” which it was believed would tarnish
if poisons were placed on them, and Venetian glass, which was warranted
to fly into atoms if the wine poured into it had been contaminated,
were in frequent use. As Rogers has written

        Brave men trembled if a hand held out
    A nosegay or a letter, while the great
    Drank only from the Venice glass that broke,
    That shivered, scattering round it as in scorn
    If aught malignant, aught of thine was there,
    Cruel Tophana.

But probably nine-tenths of the crimes suspected were the mere result
of the disordered fancies of the age. Knowing as we do on what
frivolous evidence women were condemned as witches, it is permissible
to be sceptical in regard to the testimony received by the frightened
judges when one of these notorious criminals came before them. Nor are
the alleged confessions of the women themselves necessarily conclusive.
The so-called witches often supplied details of their negotiations
with Satan, and of their Sabbatic excursions; and hysterical women in
all ages have been addicted to the relation of fictitious narratives
circumstantially describing both their vicious and their virtuous
exploits. The rapid putrefaction of a corpse was considered to be
sufficient evidence that the cause of death had been poison, though it
is likely that the poisons then in use would have tended to preserve
the body.


                    THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS

was one of the most interesting of the historic poisoners. She was the
daughter of the civil lieutenant of Paris, Dreux d’Aubray, and her
career as a criminal coincides with the early years of Louis XIV’s
reign. She is described as elegant, “petite,” sweet in her disposition,
and modest in her demeanour. According to her own confessions, produced
at her trial, sometimes admitted, and sometimes denied by her (and
characterised by Michelet as confused and impossible, and probably
composed under the influence of fever), she commenced her career
of crime at the age of 7 years by incestuous intercourse with her
brother. She accused herself also of arson. She married the Marquis de
Brinvilliers when she was about 20, and after helping him to dissipate
their joint fortune, she obtained an order of separation as far as
property was concerned, but continued to live with him as well as with
his intimate friend, a sinister person who called himself Ste. Croix,
and professed to have been a cavalry officer. His real name was Godin,
and Michelet, who investigated all the court documents dealing with the
case, makes him apparently the agent, and ultimately the victim, of an
arch-fiend of the name of Penautier, a cleric who at least profited
largely by the sudden deaths of various persons. He describes Ste.
Croix as a person of austere manners and as the author of some ascetic
books. Penautier was never formally accused, and it is not easy to
disentangle the intrigues associated with the case. Whatever these may
have been, Madame’s father, disgusted with the scandal created, got
Ste. Croix placed in the Bastille. There it is alleged he met with the
notorious Italian poisoner, Exili, and learned from him a number of
poison secrets, though it is doubtful if the art was a new one to him.
Perhaps Penautier got him released; anyhow he went in to the Bastille
poor, and came out rich. He married and set up a fine establishment.
But he still continued his liaison with the marchioness. During his
imprisonment that lady had occupied herself in visiting and consoling
patients in the hospitals. Now, according to the usual story, she
made use of them by giving them poisoned confectionery, and watching
the effects, merely for practice. Then she began to dose her father.
His illness lasted eight months, his murderess nursing him tenderly
meanwhile. Two brothers were also victims, and then she planned the
death of her husband, but according to Mme. de Sévigné her accomplice,
Ste. Croix, saved him by providing an antidote. The marquis lived to
see his wife punished, but was one of those who exerted himself to
get a pardon for her. Ste. Croix next died suddenly, in consequence,
it is said, of his accidentally dropping a glass mask which he wore
when compounding his poisons. This story, says Michelet, is a fable.
A case of poisons in packets was found in his rooms, each neatly
labelled with its effects. These, it was alleged, were addressed to the
marchioness, who managed to escape to England, Penautier giving her
letters of credit, says Michelet. Michelet says the packets of poison
were addressed to Penautier. The marchioness was soon after taken at
a convent at Liège by a detective who, pretending to be an Abbé, made
love to her and induced her to go for a walk with him, when lie handed
her over to his men, who took her to Paris. She was tortured (only
formally, says Michelet), convicted, marched to Notre Dame with a rope
round her neck to make the “amende honorable,” then decapitated, and
her body burned.

One of the witnesses at her trial declared that the marchioness once
showed her a little box containing some white stuff, and said there
were a number of successions in that little parcel. The witness said
she was the daughter of an apothecary and recognised that the substance
shown her was sublimate.

It has been discussed by experts whether the poison on which Ste.
Croix and his mistress chiefly relied was arsenic or sublimate. Most
likely it was arsenic. A certain Guy Simon, an apothecary, was employed
to experiment with it, and to discover its composition if possible.
His report is worth quoting at some length as an illustration of the
condition of toxicological science at that period, and incidentally of
the simple faith in the almost miraculous powers of the poisoners which
evidently possessed all classes at that time.

According to Chapuis (“Traité de Toxicologie”), Simon at first dropped
a little of the liquor in the phials on oil of tartar and sea water,
but nothing was precipitated. Then he digested some of it in a mattrass
on a sand-bath, but on distilling it no substance of acid or acrid
taste was yielded, and no fixed salts were left. Having poisoned a
pigeon, a dog, and a fowl with the liquid, he could only discover on
opening the dead bodies a little clotted blood in the ventricule of the
heart. Some of the powder deposited by the liquid was given to a cat
which vomited for half an hour and then died.

Simon explains that poisons generally sink to the bottom of water, and
when tested by fire the innocent part is dissipated and only the acrid
and piquant principle remains. But this poison of Ste. Croix’s, floated
on water, and tried by fire, left only something sweet and innocent.
It in fact ruled the elements, and killed animals without leaving
any trace. Utterly baffled, the expert concludes: “It is a terrible,
diabolic, intangible (_insaissable_) poison.”


                                TOFANA.

About the same time the woman Tofana was selling her Aquetta di
Napoli in Italy, but she was not brought to justice until 1709,
when she confessed to the Pope and the Emperor Charles VI that her
drops contained arsenic, and that by them she had caused the deaths
of more than six hundred persons. The Emperor repeated her story to
his physician, Garelli, by whom it was communicated to Hoffmann, who
published it in his “Rational Medicine.” She preferred to prepare her
drops by rubbing arsenic into the broken joints of a hog just killed
and then collecting the juice. Tofana took refuge in a convent and
lived for some twenty years after her condemnation. A letter from the
English Secretary of State to the Commissioners of Customs, dated July
29, 1717, is on record, cautioning them against admitting a liqueur
called Aqua Tufania from Italy, as accounts of its dangerous character
had been received from the British envoys at Naples and Genoa.


                         THE CHAMBRE ARDENTE.

After the execution of the Marchioness of Brinvilliers, secret
poisoning, far from being suppressed, appears to have become almost
fashionable. The Government at least pretended to believe in widespread
conspiracies. It may have been a political trick, as has been alleged,
to get rid of some inconvenient opponents; but, however this may have
been, a special commission was appointed by the French Government to
inquire into the truth of certain rumours, and this commission acquired
the title of the Chambre de Poisons, or Chambre Ardente. Louis XIV
consented to the institution of this special court on learning that the
notorious Ste. Croix, the coadjutor of Mme. de Brinvilliers, had at
one time nearly secured the position of maître d’hôtel in his palace
at Versailles. It principally concerned itself with the revelations
made by two women who called themselves La Voisin and La Vigoureux,
who with an unfrocked priest, who had assumed the name of Le Sage, had
carried on a fortune-telling business of enormous extent in the city.
They claimed the power of exhibiting the devil to their clients, and
it was charged against them that they had sold a powder of succession
to those who would pay for it. Many highly connected aristocrats were
implicated, and some faced the commission while others left the country
rather than expose themselves to the shame of exposure. La Voisin had
kept records of her business, but those which were produced displayed
rather the ridiculous than the criminal side of the conspiracy. The
Duchesse de Foix had come to her for bosoms; Madame de Varsi wanted
hips. Others had paid her fancy prices for petitions written with
a special ink guaranteed to make them loved by the king. La Voisin
was extremely insolent to her judges, and apparently she and her
accomplices were all sentenced to be burned. According to Voltaire the
sentence was executed in the case of all of them; but the account given
by Madame de Sévigné, and by historians who lived nearer the period, go
to show that the death punishment was only inflicted on La Voisin.


                        NEGRO CÆSAR’S ANTIDOTE.

In Prestwich’s “Dissertation on Poisons” (1775) an extract is given
from the “Carolina Gazette” of May 9, 1750 stating that the General
Assembly, the governing body of the colony, had authorised the
publication of “Negro Cæsar’s Cure for Poison.” The General Assembly
had purchased Negro Cæsar’s freedom, and granted him £100 a year for
life as the price of this formula. It consisted of roots of plantain
and wild horehound (? of each) 3 oz. boiled together in two quarts of
water down to 1 quart and strained. Of this the patient was to drink
one-third every morning fasting for three consecutive mornings. Certain
conditions of diet were laid down, and it was quaintly added that if
after the three days’ treatment no benefit had resulted it was “a sign
that the patient has either not been poisoned, or has been by such
poison as Cæsar’s antidote will not remedy.”


                            ARSENIC EATING.

About the middle of the 19th century some discussion took place in
various popular and medical journals in reference to the alleged
practice of eating arsenic in Styria and the neighbouring countries.
Drs. Christison, Swaine Taylor, and Pereira were somewhat more than
sceptical, but several doctors and others wrote confirming the
statements from their personal knowledge. One of the most notable
testimonies was contributed by Dr. Craig Maclagan of Edinburgh in the
“Edinburgh Medical Journal” (1865). Dr. Maclagan had visited Styria
and had introductions to several doctors in that country who had
reported cases known to them. Two men were brought to Dr. Maclagan at
the village of Liegist in Middle Styria, and in his presence took, one
about 4½ and the other 6 grains of white arsenic. Dr. Maclagan brought
home some of the substance which the Styrian doctor had given to these
men, and on testing it found it to be genuine white arsenic. He also
brought back some samples of the urine voided by the men some time
after eating the arsenic, and found in it distinct evidence of the
presence of the poison. The arsenic was taken by the men on a piece
of bread, and in one case was washed down with a draught of water.
How extensive was the habit, Dr. Maclagan could not say. The peasants
called it Hydrach or Huttereich; the correct word was said to be
hutten-rauch, furnace smoke. One of the men took his dose about twice
a week, the other generally once a week. They had of course begun
with doses of less than a grain. It was understood to be a tonic and
stimulant, and to aid the respiration in climbing. It was also believed
to promote sexual desire. Having acquired the habit the occasional dose
was much missed if omitted for long.


                               IMMUNITY.

The modern employment of serums in the treatment of zymotic diseases
goes a long way towards explaining the fact of the immunity of
individuals in respect to bacterial poisons. But the possibility of
immunity against such poisons as arsenic, opium, or serpent venom
appears to rest on a different basis. In 1896 Professor (now Sir)
Thomas R. Fraser, M.D., F.R.S., reported to the Royal Institution a
long investigation dealing with the alleged resistant power of certain
tribes or sects in India, Africa, &c., who can suffer the bites of
unquestionably venomous snakes without becoming seriously affected.
After quoting numerous reports from old and recent works showing that
this immunity is an actual fact, Professor Fraser described a long
series of experiments extending over many years with venom which he
had obtained from India, America, Africa, and Australia. The venom, he
stated, is a complex substance and is not a ferment. Ascertaining the
minimum lethal dose for each animal he experimented on frogs, cats,
rabbits, guinea pigs, and other animals, and beginning with one-tenth,
one-fifth, or one-half of that dose, and gradually increasing it, he
found it possible to administer four or five times, and in the case
of rabbits up to even fifty times the lethal dose. From the immunised
animal a serum was prepared which was antidotal in very minute
quantities if mixed with the venom, but if administered separately by
hypodermic injection, though at the same moment with the venom, some
twelve and a half times as much was found to be necessary, and it was
estimated for a normal bite of an average man no less than 11½ ounces
would have to be administered hypodermically soon after the bite to
prevent probably a fatal result. The most interesting observation
was that the poison taken into the stomach was almost innocuous, and
yet exercised a protective effect. In many of the narratives given
by travellers describing the feats of the snake charmers it has been
related that they will squeeze the venom from the serpent’s mouth and
swallow it. This would evidently be one of their methods of rendering
themselves proof against the poison when injected by a bite. Professor
Fraser’s paper is published in full in “Nature” April 16 and 23, 1896.
The author gives his reasons for believing that the action of the
antidote is chemical.


                          MODERN TOXICOLOGY.

Systematic and scientific investigation of alleged poisoning was
scarcely known before the end of the eighteenth or the beginning of
the nineteenth centuries. The advance of chemical and physiological
knowledge, however, was soon applied to the more certain detection of
the criminal use of toxic agents. Orfila’s “Traité de Toxicologie,”
published in 1814, the result of a multitude of experiments, was
the work which led the way in the establishment of exact tests. Dr.
Swaine Taylor in England, Sir Robert Christison in Scotland, Casper
in Germany, and a host of other medical chemists pursued the subject,
and gradually toxicology reached an assured position. How slow was this
attainment may be gathered from the testimony of an expert in a French
murder trial in 1823 that globules of fatty mutton had been mistaken
for white arsenic.

To Marsh’s arsenic test, made known in 1836, may be traced the
practical fall of the poison which for so many centuries had reigned
supreme among the deadly agents employed by the most cowardly but
most dreaded of the tribe of assassins. The power of proving the
presence of the metal which was afforded by the method then set forth
brought out the chemical expert, and led to angry controversies. The
skilled experimenter was apt to be very confident of his results, and
naturally others who claimed to be as skilful as himself disputed his
conclusions. Theories of the almost universal diffusion of arsenic were
vigorously maintained, and on one occasion in France, in 1839, when
Orfila had demonstrated the presence of arsenic extracted from the
organs of the person supposed to have been poisoned, Raspail undertook
to extract as much from the judge’s armchair.

Meantime the resources of the poisoners had been vastly extended by the
discovery of the alkaloids. Many of these substances possessed extreme
toxic power, and the invention of the means of detecting them was
necessarily a gradual process. It was attained, though; and it may be
asserted that at present either by chemical or physiological tests the
recognition of the administration of any of the dangerous alkaloids is
as certain as is that of the metallic poisons.

About the year 1870 a new complication occurred when an Italian
chemist named Dr. Selmi proved that putrefactive animal matter and
certain bacteria yielded alkaloidal products, often poisonous, to which
the name of ptomaines was given. Selmi was engaged as an expert in the
investigation of a case in which it was suspected that an individual
had been poisoned. A product was obtained, apparently an alkaloid, but
which Selmi could not identify with any known vegetable substance.
He came to the conclusion that it was of animal origin, and after
a long series of experiments he proved his theory. Several eminent
toxicologists at first asserted that ptomaines could be distinguished
from vegetable alkaloids by the property of yielding Prussian blue with
ferric salts. This test, however, proved fallacious as several series
of vegetable alkaloids, notably the pyridic and the allylic, gave the
same reaction. The distinction between animal and vegetable alkaloids
is a delicate one, and has to be established by an accumulation of
chemical evidence.

Leucomaines, which are also alkaloidal products, are distinguished from
ptomaines by being formed in the body from living tissues, as a result
of their activity. These were first separated by Armand Gautier in
1886. Their constitution is more complex than is that of the ptomaines,
but they are not generally of a poisonous character.




                                 XXIII

                  PHARMACY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

   “The advance in every section of chemistry during this century
   (the 19th), and especially during the latter half of it, has
   literally been by leaps and bounds. Although practically a
   creation of our own time, no branch has been more fruitful in
   result, in suggestion, or in possibility, than that of organic
   analysis.”
   (SIR THOMAS E. THORPE:--“Essays in Historical Chemistry,” 1894.)


Three great achievements characterise the pharmacy of the nineteenth
century, namely, the discovery of alkaloids in its early years, of
anæsthetics in the middle period, and of synthetic organic products in
its later years.


                              ALKALOIDS.

The alkaloids extracted from vegetables are the ideal quintessences
which the alchemical pharmacists of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries sought so eagerly to obtain. Their characteristic property is
that they are basic, that is, that definite salts can be formed from
them by combination with acids. They all contain nitrogen, and have an
alkaline reaction.

Of all the popular vegetable drugs opium was the one more than any
other tortured to yield up its essence. The early laudanums and
extracts of opium aimed at this result, and preparations, such as the
Magisterium Opii of Ludovici of Weimar (born about 1625, and author
of “Dissertations on Pharmacy”), were used in the belief that the
quintessence had been in some degree secured. Robert Boyle experimented
with opium with the object of extracting its essential principle. The
process he adopted was first to treat the drug with calcined tartar
(salt of tartar), and then extract with spirit of wine. By this means
he obtained a solution which would be principally one of morphine.

In 1803 a French manufacturing chemist, working on an idea suggested by
Vauquelin, produced a crystallisable salt which was at first supposed
to be the active ingredient of opium. Experiments on animals seemed
to confirm this opinion, and the salt of opium, or “sel narcotique de
Derosne,” was believed to have solved the long-standing problem. The
product was described in the “Annales de Chimie” of February, 1804.
It was the substance now known as narcotine. Sertürner regarded it as
meconate of morphium, a misapprehension which was corrected by Robiquet.

In December, 1804, Seguin, a chemist who had been a demonstrator
under Fourcroy, and who subsequently got into trouble with Napoleon’s
Government on charges of having enriched himself out of drug supplies
to the Republican armies, read a paper to the Institute in which he
described a process which would yield morphine. For some unexplained
reason that paper was not published until 1814. Meanwhile Friedrich
Wilhelm Adam Sertürner, a pharmacist of Eimbeck, in Hanover, had
been working on Derosne’s salt, and had investigated more accurately
than anyone before him the composition of opium. His first report
was published in 1806, and in that he announced the discovery of
“opium-säure” (opium acid), but in 1816 he named this product “meconic
acid,” and explained how it was combined with an alkaline base which
he called “Morphium.” He described this as analogous to ammonia, and
prepared several salts from it. He came near to losing his life in the
course of his experiments as, misled by the comparative harmlessness of
Derosne’s salt, he had ventured on dangerous doses of his own product.
Consequently he was able to determine very accurately the therapeutics
of morphine at the same time that he announced its discovery.

“I flatter myself,” wrote Sertürner in 1816, “that chemists and
physicians will find that my observations have explained to a
considerable extent the constitution of opium, and that I have
enriched chemistry with a new acid (meconic) and with a new alkaline
base (morphium), a remarkable substance which shows much analogy with
ammonia.”

Sertürner’s discovery excited much interest and emulation, and its
importance was fully endorsed when, in 1831, the French Institute
awarded to him a prize of 2,000 francs “for having opened the way to
important medical discoveries by his isolation of morphine and his
exposition of its character.”

Before Sertürner had definitely established the nature of alkaloids,
Vauquelin had separated from tobacco a substance which he regarded as
its active principle, and which was undoubtedly an impure nicotine.
This was in 1809. The alkaloidal character of this extract was not,
however, recognised until 1828, when Posselt and Reimann produced it in
a pure form.

Vauquelin had in 1812 extracted daphnine from mezereon root, and in
describing his experiments had alluded to its alkaline character. For
this reason the credit of having been the first to have discovered an
organic alkali has been attributed to him; and when in 1818 Pelletier
and Caventou discovered an alkaloid in St. Ignatius’s beans, to which
they gave the name of strychnine, they stated that it had been their
original intention to designate the substance Vauqueline in honour
of the celebrated chemist who had first established the existence
of an organic alkali. It had, however, been pointed out to them by
distinguished members of the Academy that it would have been a doubtful
compliment to associate such an honoured name as that of Vauquelin with
such an evil (_malfaisant_) substance as this new product.

A number of chemists narrowly missed the discovery of quinine. As
early as 1746 Count Claude de la Garaye obtained from cinchona bark a
crystalline salt which he termed sel essentiel de quinquina. Two other
French chemists, Buquet and Cornette, subsequently introduced another
sel essentiel de quinquina. Both these products were simply kinate
of lime. A Swedish physician named Westerling announced in 1782 that
he had discovered the active principle of cinchona, and he gave it
the designation of vis coriaria. His product was in fact cinchotannic
acid. Seguin perhaps made the worst mistake of all the investigators
in coming to the conclusion that what was precipitated by tannin was
the essence of cinchona from a medicinal point of view, and he actually
recommended that gelatin should be substituted for cinchona in cases
when price was an object. Fourcroy made several attempts to ascertain
the true chemical constitution of the bark. In 1790 he separated a
resinous principle, mixed with some colouring matter, since called
cinchonic red. This he at first supposed was the essential medical
constituent of the bark. Vauquelin later adopted this erroneous
theory, and so missed his way. In 1792 Fourcroy got nearer to the truth
when he observed incidentally that the water in which the bark had been
macerated turned litmus paper green; and he also remarked that lime
water caused a greenish precipitate in the infusion. He did not pursue
the investigation, but his comment on what he had stated is noteworthy.
“These researches,” he said, “will no doubt lead to the discovery one
day of an anti-periodic febrifuge, which once known may be extracted
from various vegetables.” Berthollet followed on Fourcroy’s lines,
but came to the conclusion that the precipitate which lime water gave
with decoctions of cinchona was magnesia, which he believed was a
constituent of the bark in combination with hydrochloric acid.

In 1811 Gomez, of Lisbon, described a crystalline substance which Dr.
Duncan, of Edinburgh, had obtained from certain species of cinchona,
and gave to this product the name of cinchonine. Lambert later prepared
it in a state of considerable purity. But neither of these chemists
suspected its alkaline nature. In 1820 Pelletier and Caventou studied
the whole chemistry of cinchona and succeeded in showing that the
cinchonine of Gomez was a mixture of two alkaloids, to the second of
which they gave the name of quinine. Quinidine was isolated by Henry
and Delondre in 1833, and cinchonidine by Winckler in 1844, but the
name of the latter was given by Pasteur in 1853. Pasteur also produced
the alkaloidal derivatives cinchonicine and quinicine.

Robiquet had the idea that as the coffee plant belongs to the same
family of plants as the cinchonas it might be possible to find quinine
in coffee. In searching for it he isolated caffeine. This was in 1821.
In 1827 Oudry found an alkaloid in tea and called it theine. Jobst and
Mulder in 1838 proved that these alkaloids are identical. It is now
recognised that the alkaloids of cocoa, of guarana, and of Paraguay tea
are all the same substance, or closely related.

Pelletier and Caventou isolated strychnine from the St. Ignatius
beans in 1818, and brucine from false angostura bark (_Brucæa
anti-dysenterica_) in 1819; in the same years they obtained
veratrine from cevadilla seeds and white hellebore root; but it would
appear that in their investigation of cevadilla seeds, which was the
first to yield the alkaloid, they were preceded by a very short time by
Meissner. Pelletier and Magendie produced emetine from ipecacuanha in
1817, and Pelletier alone is credited with narceine in 1832. Codeine
was discovered by Robiquet in 1821 when he was examining a new process
for obtaining morphine which had been suggested by Dr. William Gregory,
of Edinburgh. Belladonna had been studied by Vauquelin and many
chemists after him, but it was not until 1833 that atropine in a state
of purity was isolated from it. This was accomplished simultaneously by
Geiger and Hess, two German chemists, and by Mein, a German pharmacist.


                             ANÆSTHETICS.

The greatest triumph achieved in any department of medicine, and
worthy, perhaps, to be described as almost, if not quite, the most
beneficent discovery in the world’s history, is that of the successful
employment of anæsthetics. This great glory belongs to the nineteenth
century. Indian hemp had been employed for centuries in the East,
mandragora had a classical reputation, and from time to time the
possibilities of hypnotism had been expounded by one or another of
its professors. But it is only within the past sixty years that the
terrible anxiety and suffering associated with surgical operations
have been so far mitigated as largely to increase the prospects of
success, and to annihilate the pain. To Sir Humphry Davy is due the
credit of first suggesting the line of advance towards this precious
goal by describing his experiences of the inhalation of nitrous oxide
gas which he found had the effect of relieving toothache and other
pains; “uneasiness swallowed up for a few minutes by pleasure,” were
his own words; and he foresaw the possibility of this agent being
employed as an inhalation “in such surgical operations as involved no
great effusion of blood.” That was in the year 1800. About 1830 Faraday
observed and noted the effect of ether on the nervous system, which he
stated was similar to that of nitrous oxide gas.

  [Illustration: HORACE WELLS.]

The possibility of painless operations began to be imagined about
this time, but not much serious experimental work seems to have been
attempted. In 1842, Dr. Long, of Athens, Georgia, U.S.A., claimed to
have removed a tumour from a patient under the influence of ether, and
about the same time Dr. Jackson, of Boston, U.S.A., also professed to
have carried out successfully a similar operation. These experiments
have not been rigorously established, but there is no question about
the authenticity of the next. Horace Wells, a dentist of Hartford,
Connecticut, U.S.A., suffering from toothache, resolved to experiment
on himself. He induced a colleague named Rigg to draw a molar while
he was under the influence of nitrous oxide gas, and did not feel the
pain of the extraction. This was in 1844. Wells then, in association
with another dentist, named William Thomas Green Morton, started
to demonstrate the discovery publicly. The first exhibition was an
ignominious failure, and the two pioneers were derided as impostors.
Wells suffered so severely from his disappointment on this occasion
that he died insane a few years later. Morton, however, continued
his investigations, and he and the Dr. Jackson already mentioned
worked together on ether, and assured themselves of its anæsthetic
powers by experiments on animals. Morton then inhaled it himself on
September 30, 1846, and awoke from deep unconsciousness a few minutes
later, convinced of the reality of his discovery. Just then a patient
rang the bell. It was towards evening, but the visitor was shown
into the surgery. He was in agony with the toothache, and begged
the doctor to mesmerise him in the hope of getting some relief. The
nerve was so sore, he said, that he could not summon up courage
to have the tooth drawn. Morton, greatly excited, told his patient
that he could do better for him than mesmerising him. He could take
the tooth out without pain if he would consent. The sufferer agreed
eagerly, and Morton, with two assistants, proceeded to operate. A
handkerchief, saturated with ether, was applied to the mouth and
nostrils, and unconsciousness was produced almost immediately. A
tooth, a firmly-rooted bicuspid, was extracted without arousing the
patient. Then followed a minute of intense fear. The man remained
motionless, and Morton felt convinced he was dead. Seizing a glass of
water he dashed it into the face of this first subject, who at once
revived. “Are you ready to have your tooth drawn?” asked Morton. Rather
hesitating assent was given, and then the extracted tooth was shown to
the patient in the chair. His name, which ought to be recorded in the
annals of surgery, was Eben Frost.

On October 16, 1846, a tumour was removed from a patient at the
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Morton administered the ether,
and Dr. Collins Warren, the senior surgeon, operated. The patient made
no sound, and after he recovered consciousness declared that he had
experienced no pain. “Gentlemen, this is no humbug,” said Dr. Warren to
the other surgeons who had witnessed the operation. Morton died in 1868.

The first operation under ether in Great Britain was performed by
Liston at University College Hospital in December, 1846. In January,
1847, James Young Simpson commenced to employ it in midwifery cases
in Edinburgh. Simpson had already acquired a high reputation as a
gynecologist, and was an enthusiast in his profession. Delighted though
he was with the results of his trials of ether, he felt sure that an
anæsthetic with more lasting effect could be found or made, and with
characteristic courage and pertinacity he and his two assistants,
Drs. Keith and Duncan, carried on personal experiments at Simpson’s
private house on such evenings as they could spare. At the same time
the scientific world was appealed to for suggestions. About this time
David Waldie, a Scotch pharmacist then settled in Liverpool, where
he was manager of the Liverpool Apothecaries Company, was visiting
Edinburgh and had a conversation with Simpson on his absorbing topic.
Waldie had had some special experience with chloric ether at Liverpool,
and had made experiments on its chemical character, which had led him
to the conclusion that the chloric ether then used was chemically only
a mixture of chloroform with some undecomposed spirit. Chloroform, it
must be remembered, was then but little known. Dr. Samuel Guthrie,
formerly an army surgeon, but later practising at Jewelsville,
Jefferson County, N.Y., published an account of a chloric ether he had
made from alcohol and chloride of lime in May, 1831. In October of the
same year Soubeiran in France, and a month later Liebig in Germany,
announced the discovery of a similar compound. None of these products
was an absolute chloroform, but all were heavy substances. Dr. Guthrie
called his chloric ether, and familiarly sweet whisky, Soubeiran’s was
a bichloric ether, and Liebig described his as a trichloride of carbon,
but Dumas showed in 1834 that the essential substance was a trichloride
of formyl, HCCl_{3} and a substitution product of marsh gas. He
invented the name chloroform. It appears too that another French
chemist, Flourens, in March, 1847, reported to the Academy of Sciences
of Paris some experiments he had made with chloroform on animals,
which indicated its anæsthetic properties; but probably neither Simpson
nor Waldie was aware of this paper. This was the chemical which
Waldie recommended to Simpson in the summer of 1847, and the chemist
promised to send some to Simpson on his return to Liverpool. A fire
in the laboratory of his establishment prevented the fulfilment of
this promise, and also, Waldie said, prevented him from experimenting
on himself with chloroform, as he had intended to do. Simpson got
chloroform from Duncan and Flockhart in Edinburgh, but did not expect
it would answer on account of its density. The sample was set aside
for some time, but on November 4, 1847, he and Duncan and Keith
resolved to test it. They all inhaled some from a tumbler, and almost
immediately became loquacious and hilarious. Then unconsciousness came
on, and Simpson, who was the first to recover, found Duncan under the
table, eyes staring, and snoring vigorously, while Keith was kicking at
the supper table. The experiment was repeated a few evenings later, and
this time a niece of Simpson was induced to take a turn. After inhaling
the vapour she fell asleep, murmuring “I’m an angel; I’m an angel.”
Simpson at once began the use of chloroform in his practice, and his
great reputation and powerful advocacy soon caused its general adoption.

  [Illustration: SIR JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON, M.D.

  (From a drawing by T. M. Pape, lent by the publishers of the _Century
  Magazine_.)]


                       A MYSTERIOUS ANÆSTHETIC.

A strange and little known story is told by Professor Franck. Van
Swieten was a Dutch physician, a pupil of Boerhaave. He did not succeed
in his native land so well as he ought to have done, for he was a
devout Catholic. He went to Vienna, where he attained the highest
medical position and the utmost esteem from his patroness, the Empress
Maria Theresa. On May 1, 1771, three young gentlemen called on Van
Swieten and were shown into his study. The professor was then an old
man, 71 years of age.

“What do you desire, my children?” he asked, as he fingered his beads.

“We come to teach Van Swieten what he knows not,” answered one of the
young men.

“That is not difficult,” replied the veteran. Then they told him they
wished to show him a medicine new to the world, and as the doctor
smiled incredulously, one of his visitors added:

“Like the philosopher of old, we will say to Pain:--Thou art but an
idle word.”

Van Swieten was doubtful, but after further explanation he invited
them to come to his hospital the next morning and demonstrate their
secret. When they were gone he went to Maria Theresa and told her of
the interview. The Empress declared her intention of being present at
the experiment.

The next day when the three young men appeared at the hospital they
found Van Swieten and a veiled lady awaiting them. Certain chemicals
had previously been placed in retorts by them, and a mastiff was made
to inhale the product. The animal exhibited symptoms of inebriation,
and soon fell on the floor unconscious. One of the strangers made
a deep incision into the dog’s chest and covered the wound with a
surgical dressing. The animal showed no sign of pain, and shortly
afterwards recovered consciousness, got on his feet, and walked about
as if nothing had happened.

“This is indeed a miracle,” said the Empress.

“Would you dare to operate thus on a patient?” asked Van Swieten.

“Willingly, Master,” was the reply.

“Then operate on me,” said the Professor.

To this proposal, however, they demurred, and the Empress supported
their objection. An appointment for further experiment a few days later
was made, but when the day arrived Van Swieten was ill. He died on May
18, and Maria Theresa was at the time immersed in political troubles.
The sequel to that strange history has never been told, but some of the
old books tell of the “Holland Oil,” which is believed to have been
the mysterious medicament employed. Professor Franck thinks one of the
strangers was Gautier Van Decoren, a physician of Flemish Holland.


                          SYNTHETIC REMEDIES.


      EARLY DISTINCTION BETWEEN INORGANIC AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY.

The development of organic chemistry in the course of the nineteenth
century is a subject so vast that it is mentioned in this place with
something approaching despair. The great chemists who, in the latter
part of the eighteenth and in the early years of the nineteenth
century, had rescued their science from the superstitious and fantastic
theories and conceits which had encumbered it, Lavoisier, Priestley,
Scheele, Cavendish, Dalton, Fourcroy, Berzelius, and many others
who might be named, distinguished sharply between the products of
the mineral kingdom and those which they called organic, that is,
substances of vegetable or animal origin, combined, it was agreed,
under the influence of what was described as vital force. This force,
it was considered, inherent in living bodies, could never be imitated
in the laboratory, and its achievements were beyond human skill. It was
even doubted whether the elements composing organic substances were
subject to the same laws of combination as were those of the mineral
world.

Lavoisier, it is true, regarded organic bodies as consisting of
radical compounds, hydrocarbon radicals, as he called them, instead
of the metallic bases. His last scientific work was the investigation
of the statics of organic chemistry, and on this subject his clear
vision would probably have enabled him to anticipate many modern
conclusions. He had already recognised some of the transformations
of sugar, had analysed alcohol, and had declared that in animal and
vegetable chemistry no less than in the inorganic kingdom nothing is
ever destroyed, but that vegetation and animalisation are only inverse
phenomena of combustion and putrefaction.


                     SYNTHETIC ORGANIC COMPOUNDS.

Some isolated results of the artificial productions of organic
substances are recorded which do not seem to have been recognised as
challenging the reign of vital force. Scheele, in 1786, formed oxalic
acid by oxidising sugar by nitric acid; and in 1822 Döbereiner produced
formic acid, previously known as a distillate of ants, by oxidising
tartaric acid. In both these cases, however, the transformation was
essentially one from a previous organic substance.

The inauguration of synthetic chemistry is understood to date from
the year 1828 when Wöhler, then a professor of chemistry at Berlin,
produced a supposed cyanate of ammonium by the action of ammonium
chloride on silver cyanate. Wöhler was surprised to find the cyanate of
ammonium which he had obtained did not correspond with other ammonium
salts, but resembled, and as he afterwards proved, was identical with
the organic substance, urea, a crystalline compound which constitutes
about half of the solid matter dissolved in urine. Wöhler and Liebig
next collaborated in a study of organic substances, and one of the
early results of their investigations was the discovery of the compound
radical, benzoyl, as they termed it, C_{7}H_{5}O, which they found
could be combined with chlorine, bromine, iodine, sulphur, ammonium,
and other substances, always retaining its own individuality. It was,
in fact, a compound radical, and though it has never been isolated,
its compounds prove its character. Berzelius was so struck by this
discovery that he suggested the name of proine or orthrine, either
meaning the dawn, in substitution for benzoyl.

  [Illustration: FRIEDRICH WÖHLER.

  (From the Royal Collection of Etchings at Munich.)

     Born at Eschersheim, near Frankfort, 1800; died at Göttingen,
     1882. Wöhler’s notable discovery of the artificial production
     of urea in 1828 is famous as the starting point of synthetic
     chemistry.
  ]

Henceforward discoveries and theories based on them, or propounded to
explain them, so crowd the field that even in bulky volumes the story
is only told in outline. But several of the famous theories or laws or
expositions, on which modern chemistry relies, have been so fertile in
consequences that they must be very briefly mentioned.


                             SUBSTITUTION.

Before 1840 the famous French chemist J. B. A. Dumas developed the
theory of substitution, or “metalepsy,” showing that the hydrogen atoms
in organic substances can be removed one by one from their molecules,
other atoms being substituted for them. A simple illustration of this
process is manifest in the action of potassium on water, though this
is not an example of organic substitution. The water, H_{2}O takes
up one atom of potassium, K, in place of one of its hydrogen atoms,
becoming caustic potash, KOH. It is further possible by an indirect
method to replace the remaining hydrogen atom by another of potassium,
yielding potassium oxide, K_{2}O. Changes of organic bodies are always
proceeding on these lines, and Frankland said the recognition of the
process had contributed more to the progress of the science than any
other generalisation.


                              HOMOLOGUES.

About 1850 C. F. Gerhardt, one of Liebig’s pupils who settled in
France (and died in 1856 at the age of 40), gave the next great
impetus to the development of organic chemistry, or the chemistry of
carbon compounds, as it was coming to be termed, by showing how vast
numbers of organic compounds could be classified and grouped into
homologous series. Starting, for example, with marsh gas, CH_{4}, which
is chemically known as methane, he showed how from this type methyl
alcohol, CH_{4}O, and formic acid, CH_{2}O_{2}, are formed. Ethane,
C_{2}H_{6}, comes next in the series and ethyl alcohol and acetic acid
follow just as methyl alcohol and formic acid follow from methane.
The addition of CH_{2} to ethane gives propane; propyl alcohol and
propionic acid following; another addition of CH_{2} results in butane
with butyl alcohol and butyric acid; and the next type is pentane, with
amyl alcohol and valeric acid in its train. Thus it was perceived that
all the multitude of complex bodies included in the organic kingdom
were compounded in an orderly system.


                               VALENCY.

The English chemist Edward Frankland next put forward the doctrine of
valency. According to this theory atoms possess one, two, three, four,
or more links each, and require that number of other atoms of minimum
combining capacity to “saturate” them in a molecule. Carbon, for
example, is usually considered to be quadrivalent, and as shown in the
instance of methane, requires four hydrogen atoms to saturate it. But
how is it then that in the case of the next type, ethane, C_{2}H_{6},
the conditions are satisfied? The explanation is that the molecule is
arranged in this manner:

                                 H  H
                                 |  |
                              H--C--C--H
                                 |  |
                                 H  H

each carbon atom having three hydrogen atoms attached to it, the fourth
bond uniting it with the other carbon atom. This and other difficulties
led to the theory of


                         STRUCTURAL FORMULAS,

towards which Kekulé, of Heidelberg, was the principal contributor.
“Rational formulæ” as distinguished from “empiric formulæ” were already
recognised as shown by the homologous series of Gerhardt. Let this
be illustrated by the instance of alcohol. The atomic composition
of compound bodies was ascertained by many of the earlier chemists.
Lavoisier analysed alcohol, and assigned to it almost the same
composition as we know it to be. Its empirical formula is C_{2}H_{6}O;
but that does not explain how it is built up. By deductive reasoning it
is established that alcohol is ethane with one hydrogen atom in each
molecule replaced by hydroxyl (OH). Ethane is C_{2}H_{6}; alcohol is
thus formulated--C_{2}H_{5}OH. That is its “rational formula.” Alcohol
is a comparatively simple substance; we shall deal with some formulas
of much greater complexity presently.

  [Illustration: AUGUST KEKULÉ.

  Born at Darmstadt, 1829; died at Bonn, 1896.]

But these explanations were by no means sufficient to meet all the
cases which were coming before chemists, and now Kekulé’s brilliant
“closed ring” theory was conceived, and on this most of the wonderful
building up of the synthetic compounds has been planned. Kekulé was
puzzling over the formula C_{6}H_{6} which had been found to represent
benzene, now so famous as the starting point of the aromatic series.
He stated that the solution of the problem came to his mind on the
top of a London omnibus in 1865, when he was an assistant in the
chemical laboratory of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School. He
conceived the idea of a hexagonal structure with an atom of carbon
at each angle, each united to one atom of hydrogen, and on one side a
double link or bond, and on the other a single one, connecting it with
the next carbon atom, the quadrivalency of each atom being thereby
satisfied.

The formula is depicted in the margin, and is generally accepted; but
it ought to be stated that it has rivals, though all are founded on
the necessity of providing for the saturation of the four links of the
carbon atoms.

                                   H
                                   C
                                  /\\
                                HC   CH
                                 || |
                                HC  CH
                                 \ //
                                   C
                                  ||


                               ANILINE.

Among the events which gradually led to the production of artificial
compounds for which physiological properties and action have been
claimed, the discovery of aniline is prominent. The substance, now
so well known by that name, was first separated from indigo in 1826
in the course of a dry distillation of that dye by a pharmacist of
Erfurt, named Unverdorben. He named his product “crystalline,” from its
character. In 1834 the same substance, as it was later known to be, was
obtained from coal-tar by Runge, who, observing the violet colour which
bleaching powder caused in its aqueous solution, designated the product
“kyanol.” Ten years subsequently Hofmann continued the investigations
which Runge had pioneered. Meanwhile Fritzsche had obtained anthranilic
acid from indigo, and from that he had produced an oily base which
he called “aniline.” This term was derived from the specific name of
the indigofera anil, which was the Sanskrit designation of the famous
blue dye. Hofmann’s researches ultimately proved that Unverdorben’s
crystalline, Runge’s kyanol, and Fritzsche’s aniline were all
chemically identical. Hofmann would have preferred to retain the first
of these names, but the more definite aniline prevailed.

The colour producing power of aniline had been observed (as has been
already mentioned) by Runge in 1834, but it was not until 1856 that
this property became of practical importance, when W. H. Perkin, at
the time a pupil of Hofmann’s, commenced the investigation which
resulted in such a complete revolution in the dyeing industry. Perkin’s
patent for his “mauve” dye was obtained in 1858. It is an interesting
circumstance that he made his discovery as a consequence of experiments
he was conducting with the view of manufacturing an artificial quinine.
Now we may turn to the

  [Illustration: A. W. VON HOFMANN.

     Born, 1818; died, 1892. Was Director of the Royal College
     of Chemistry, London, 1845–1864; subsequently Professor
     of Chemistry in Berlin University. Hofmann commenced the
     researches into coal-tar chemistry and established the chemical
     characteristics of aniline, and was thus one of the principal
     founders of modern organic chemistry.
  ]


                    IMITATION OF NATURAL ALKALOIDS

(_showing how coniine, piperine, atropine, nicotine, caffeine,
theobromine, and others, have been synthesised; and that quinine,
strychnine, morphine, and codeine await conquest_).

Liebig, Gerhardt, and other chemists had been progressing towards
this attainment by studying the structural constitution of various
alkaloids. In 1842 Gerhardt separated a base which he called quinoline
from quinine, cinchonine, and strychnine. This base was subsequently
identified by Hofmann with the leucol which Runge had obtained from
coal-tar in 1834. In 1846 Runge also produced a substance which he
called pyridine from bone oil. Hofmann showed that this was the base
of certain other alkaloids, coniine, piperine, nicotine, and atropine
among these. Now it will be necessary to illustrate progress by means
of a few formulæ diagrams.

Benzene is C_{6}H_{6}; aniline is a derivative of benzene in which one
atom of hydrogen has been replaced by the amino-group, NH_{2}. Its
formula is C_{6}H_{5}NH_{2}, and it is represented thus:

                             CH
                           //  \\
                         HC      CH
                          |      |
                         HC      CH
                           \\   //
                             CNH{2}

Aniline is basic; that is, it combines with acids to form salts.
Together with aniline in coal-tar there occur other basic nitrogenous
substances; of these pyridine and quinoline have already been
mentioned, and to them must be added isoquinoline, which is also the
parent substance of a series of alkaloids.

In pyridine one of the CH groups of the benzene ring is replaced by a
nitrogen atom, the formula of the substance being C_{5}H_{5}N. In 1886
Ladenburg succeeded in synthesising the alkaloid coniine, starting
with pyridine. This was the first occasion on which the artificial
preparation of an alkaloid was achieved. The steps of the process were
as follows;--

By the action of methyl iodide (CH_{3}I), pyridinium methyl iodide
is formed, which is transformed on heating into α-methyl-pyridine
hydriodide. The free base, when treated with acetaldehyde (p. 271),
yielded a compound known as α-allyl-pyridine, which, in turn, was made
to combine with nascent hydrogen. The resulting compound (isoconiine)
becomes coniine on heating to 300° C. or boiling with solid potash. The
chemical history is shown graphically below:--

      CH          CH              CH                   CH
    //  \\      //  \\          //  \\               //  \\
  HC      CH  HC      CH      HC      CH        H{2}C      CH{2}
   |      |    |      |        |      |             |      |
  HC      CH  HC      CCH{3}  HC      CC{3}H{5} H{2}C      CHC{3}H{7}
    \\  //      \\  //          \\  //               \\  //
      N           N               N                    NH
  Pyridine. α-Methyl-pyridine. α-Allyl-pyridine.    Coniine.

Pyridine, it may be mentioned, can be built up from its elements.

This coniine triumph of synthetic chemistry has been followed by many
others of a similar character, and now all the alkaloids mentioned
above in connection with pyridine have been produced artificially.
Piperine was synthesised by Ladenburg and Scholtz in 1894; atropine
together with other solanaceous alkaloids, and cocaine[4] by
Willstätter in 1901–2; and nicotine by Pictet in 1903. The structure of
these alkaloids is considerably more complicated than that of coniine;
atropine, for example, is represented by the formula

                              H    H_{2}
                 H_{2}C----C----C            CH_{2}OH
                       |  /       \           |
                       | N--CH_{3} CH--O--CO--CH
                       |  \       /           |
                H_{2}C----C----C            C_{6}H_{5}
                               H   H_{2}

The molecule of quinoline contains a benzene and a pyridine nucleus
condensed thus:--

                               HC    CH
                                 \ C /
                               // \ / \\
                             HC   ||   CH
                             HC   ||   CH
                              \\  / \  //
                               \\/ C \//
                                HC    N

Among the alkaloids of the quinoline group may be mentioned those of
cinchona bark and nux vomica. The constitution of these alkaloids is
very complex, and in most cases but little understood. As an example of
the cinchona group quinine may be taken. Its structure is probably

                                     CH
                                   /  |  \
                                  /   |   \
                            H_{2}C  CH_{2} CH--CH==CH_{2}
                                 |    |    |
                            H_{2}C  HO·C    CH_{2}
                                  \  / |    /
                                   \/  |   /
                                   /\  |  /
                                  /  \ | /
                               CH_{2}  N
                              /
                       HC     C
                      // \ C / \\
              CH_{3}OC|   \ /  |CH
                    HC|   | |  |CH
                       \\ C \ //
                        HC   N

the formula being C_{20}H_{24}N_{2}O_{2}. Quinine has not been
completely synthesised, but it has been prepared from cupreine, another
cinchona alkaloid. The strychnos alkaloids likewise have not yet been
artificially prepared, and their structure still requires elucidation.

The derivatives of isoquinoline, which was discovered by Hoogewerff and
van Dorp in 1885, include some of the opium alkaloids, papaverine and
narcotine, for example. Morphine and codeine do not, strictly speaking,
fall into either of the three groups mentioned; our knowledge of the
chemical nature of these substances has been much advanced recently,
and it is probable that their synthesis will be effected before long.

                               HC     CH
                              // \ C / \\
                            HC|   \ /   |CH
                            HC|   | |   |N
                              \\/ C \ //
                                HC   CH

                             Isoquinoline.

One of the most beautiful pieces of work on the synthesis of vital
products during recent years was the artificial preparation by Fischer
(1895–98) of the bases caffeine and theobromine. The processes employed
are too long and complicated to be described here, but the formulas may
be given, since they demonstrate the close relationship which exists
between the two substances.

           (CH{3})N-----CO                HN-----CO
                  |     |                   |     |
                  |     |                   |     |
                  CO    C-N(CH{3})          CO    C-N(CH{3})
                  |    || \                 |    || \
                  |    || /CH               |    || /CH
           (CH{3})N-----C-N          (CH{3})N-----C-N

                 Caffeine.                Theobromine.


                       OTHER SYNTHETIC PRODUCTS.

        (_Benzoic acid, camphor, adrenaline, salicylic acid._)

Certain chemical bodies which have been used in medicine for centuries
have been analysed, their structural formulas ascertained, and then the
atoms have been put together in the laboratory so perfectly that in
many cases the artificial products cannot be distinguished from the
natural original ones. Benzoic acid, obtained by subliming gum benzoin,
has been in use since the latter part of the sixteenth century, when
under the name of fleurs de benzoin, soon anglicised into flowers of
benjamin, they were introduced by a French physician, named Blaise
de Vigenère, who was secretary to Henri III. [The name benjamin was
not a bad corruption after all, as the Arabic term from which the
European designations were derived was Luban Jawa, the incense of Java.
The Spaniards first dropped the first syllable under the mistaken
impression that it was the Arabic article. Old etymologies traced
the name to a supposed Ben-jui, or tree of the Jews.] The artificial
benzoic acid is obtained by the oxidation of toluene, a hydrocarbon
distilled from coal-tar.

Comparatively recent achievements of synthetic chemistry are the
artificial production of camphor and of adrenaline, the active
principle of the suprarenal gland. The synthetic products can be
distinguished from the originals by their behaviour towards polarised
light.

Salicylic acid, prepared by acting on carbolic acid by carbon dioxide
in the presence of an alkali, became a practical commercial product
in 1874, but its discoverer, Kolbe of Leipzig, had prepared it in his
laboratory since 1859. The natural product, prepared from willow bark
or oil of wintergreen, was worth twelve guineas a pound; the artificial
salicylic acid in a few years came to be sold at not so many shillings
per pound. Kolbe’s theory was that the compound he devised would
decompose within the organism into phenol and carbon dioxide, and thus
exercise an anti-putrefactive effect.


                      PHYSIOLOGICAL SPECULATIONS.

In many other cases the physiological effect of the compound was
distinctly foreseen, and latterly the relation between chemical
constitution and physiological action has become the objective of much
research. It may be reasonably anticipated that before many years have
passed it will be possible to predict the physiological powers of a
substance from a knowledge of its structural formula, just as already
many of its more noteworthy physical properties may be so foretold.
Even at present certain trustworthy rules, affording guidance in this
respect, have been formulated. Dujardin-Beaumetz and Bardel, dealing
with compounds of the aromatic series, have laid down that (_a_)
those containing hydroxyl (OH) are antiseptic; (_b_) those
containing an amino-group (NH_{2}) or an acid amide are hypnotic; and
(_c_) those containing both an amino-group and an alkyl group
(CH_{3}, C_{2}H_{5}, etc.) are analgesic.

In order to show how synthetic remedies have been built up from simple
products it will be convenient to take a few typical examples in the
order of increasing chemical complexity, rather than with strict regard
to chronological progression.


                ALCOHOL, ETHER, ALDEHYDE, ACETIC ACID.

Ethyl (that is, ordinary) alcohol forms a convenient starting point.
It has been already stated that the molecule of this substance is
represented by the formula C_{2}H_{5}OH but for centuries before its
constitution was unravelled it had been prepared in a more or less
pure condition, as it still is, by a process of fermentation followed
by distillation. Alcohol can be built up from its elements thus:--When
an electric arc burns between carbon rods in an atmosphere of hydrogen,
acetylene is formed; acetylene can be made to combine with hydrogen,
forming ethane; ethane reacts with chlorine, yielding ethyl chloride;
and this acted upon by an aqueous solution of potash gives alcohol as a
result. The steps of the process are shown below:--

         CH       CH{3}          CH{2}Cl            CH{2}OH
         |  -->   |     -->       |        -->       |
         CH       CH{3}          CH{3}              CH{3}

      Acetylene.  Ethane.     Ethyl chloride.    Ethyl alcohol.

Alcohol is the basis of a number of substances used in medicine. On
treating it with a dehydrating agent such as strong sulphuric acid, the
elements of water are removed, and two molecules of alcohol unite into
one, the resulting product being ether (diethyl oxide). The reaction is
rather more complicated than is explained here, but the net result is
as stated. The process was described by the German physician, Valerius
Cordus, and was incorporated in the “Dispensatory” published after his
death by the Senate of Nuremberg, under the title of “Oleum vitriole
dulce verum.” As explained in the article on Ether (Vol. I. p. 347),
the chemical reaction was, until recent times, a favourite topic for
investigation.

When alcohol (C_{2}H_{5}OH) is oxidised, a substance known as
aldehyde (CH_{3}CHO) is formed. This was first prepared and described
by Fourcroy and Döbereiner, but its constitution was explained by
Kolbe. On further oxidation acetic acid (CH_{3}COOH) is formed. The
relationship between the alcohol, aldehyde and acetic acid was traced
by Liebig.


                    CHLORAL HYDRATE AND CHLOROFORM.

The oxidation of alcohol may be effected by the agency of chlorine,
and in that case an intermediate oily product is obtained, in which
three of the hydrogen atoms of the aldehyde are replaced by three of
chlorine. The compound resulting is chloral (CCl_{3}CHO), and this
readily combines with water and forms the familiar chloral hydrate
crystals which were first prepared by Liebig in 1832, but only got
into the “British Pharmacopœia” (Additions) in 1874. Chloral hydrate
treated with caustic potash splits into chloroform and potassium
formate. Chloroform was discovered in 1831 by Liebig and Soubeiran, and
was admitted into the “London Pharmacopœia” of 1851, four years after
Simpson had demonstrated its wonderful anæsthetic property.


                              SULPHONAL.

Returning to acetic acid, it may be stated that by heating its calcium
salt two substances, acetone, (CH_{3})_{2}CO, and calcium carbonate
are formed. Also that when alcohol is acted upon by phosphorus
pentasulphide, mercaptan, C_{2}H_{5}SH, is obtained. By the reaction
of acetone and mercaptan, mercaptol results, and this, when oxidised,
becomes the well-known synthetic hypnotic, sulphonal. It is not
necessary to give the full formulas of these reactions, as they may
be found in the usual chemical manuals; but it may be stated that the
full descriptive name of sulphonal is dimethyl-diethylsulphone-methane.
The group of sulphones furnishes an illustration of the reasoning on
which new synthetic compounds come to be constructed. The theory was
that the physiological action of sulphonal was due to, or connected
with, its ethyl group. It was supposed, therefore, that by increasing
the number of such groups in a molecule the hypnotic effect would
be proportionately developed. It was believed that experiments on
dogs supported this deduction; but it was not maintained in clinical
experience.


                      ACETANILIDE AND PHENACETIN.

Many of the popular synthetic remedies belong to the benzene series.
Benzene is obtained from coal-tar, but, as shown by Berthelot, it is
possible to prepare it by heating the gaseous hydrocarbon, acetylene,
C_{2}H_{2}, in a closed vessel. By this means three molecules of
acetylene are condensed into one, C_{6}H_{6}, which is benzene. Benzene
acted upon by nitric acid yields nitrobenzene, and this by the action
of nascent hydrogen is changed into aniline. Aniline may be regarded
as ammonia, NH_{3}, in which one hydrogen atom has been replaced by
the phenyl group, C_{6}H_{5}, and, like ammonia, it combines with
acids to form salts. Aniline acetate being formed, the elements of
water being eliminated in the process, the product is acetanilide,
or antifebrin. Acetanilide was first prepared by Gerhardt, in 1853,
but its physiological action was only discovered by Cahn and Hepp in
the ’eighties. By the substitution of an ethoxy-group for one of the
hydrogen atoms of acetanilide, para-ethoxy-acetanilide, commonly called
“phenacetin,” is produced.


                                SALOL.

Phenol is another of the multitudes of substances obtainable from
coal-tar; it can be prepared from aniline by the action of nitrous
acid, and can be shown to be benzene with one hydrogen atom replaced by
hydroxyl. If one of the adjacent hydrogen atoms of phenol is replaced
by carboxyl, salicylic acid is produced; and in the presence of a
suitable dehydrating agent salicylic acid reacts with phenol and phenyl
salicylate, known as salol, is formed.


                              ANTIPYRIN.

Many of the synthetic chemicals are much more complex than those so
far described. They are built up on similar lines, but the processes
involve a greater number of stages. Antipyrin (phenazone, or
phenyl-dimethylisopyrazolone) may be added to the examples selected for
this notice. Antipyrin is represented by the annexed formula, which is
said to be heterocyclic,

                             H{3}CC-----CH
                                  |     |
                             H{3}CN     CO
                                   \   /
                                    \ /
                                     N
                                     |
                                     C{6}H{5}

because its molecules, like those of pyridine, consist of rings not
made up exclusively of carbon atoms.

       *       *       *       *       *

It must be understood that in this sketch only a very few notable
instances of modern chemical research have been given, these being
some of the more familiar products which have been introduced into
medicine. Favourite colours, odours, and flavours have likewise been
synthesised, and the manufacture of some of these artificial products
has developed into vast businesses. The object of this chapter has been
to make it clear that the marvellous activity which has been displayed
in these directions during the past half-century, has been guided by
the most profound and skilful research, one step leading to another,
and that the new products have not been hit upon by mere chance.




                                 XXIV

                           NAMES AND SYMBOLS

   “Every trade and handicraft, every art, every science, is
   constantly changing its materials, its processes, and its
   products; and its technical dialect is modified accordingly,
   while so much of the results of this change as affects or
   interests the general public finds its way into the familiar
   speech of everybody.”
       (W. DWIGHT WHITNEY:--“Language and its Study.” 1876.)


The technological vocabulary of pharmacy is very voluminous, and has
been recruited from all languages. Many of the names of vegetable drugs
literally household words in English, have been transferred direct
from savage tongues. Guaiacum, ipecacuanha, and jalap may be cited
as examples. Other names of drugs cover histories which well repay
investigation.

Take, for example, the word hyoscyamus and its English equivalent
henbane (which I select because it does not happen to be alluded
to elsewhere in this work). The obvious and usual explanation of
these names is that hyoscyamus is the Greek genitive hyos, of a
hog, and kyamos, a bean, and in fact the name of hog’s bean is
applied to it in several languages. Henbane, too, is supposed to be
self-explanatory. But there is good reason to believe that neither
of these interpretations is correct. Dioscorides, who calls the
plant hyoscyamos, also mentions that its almost obsolete name was
dioskyamos; and henbane is well known to be a corruption of henne-bell.
The obsolete name is obviously more likely to convey the original
meaning than its corruption, and therefore hyoscyamos is more likely
to have meant the bean of the gods than the bean of the pigs. Possibly
its name was traceable to the idea that the delirium which the drug
produced was the condition induced in human beings when the gods
communicated with them, or that some priests used it to produce that
condition in which messages presumably from the higher powers could be
transmitted. Henbane, again, is not satisfactorily accounted for by
its surface meaning. There is no evidence that hens ever eat the herb
or the seeds. But the Saxon name henne-bell suggests some sort of a
musical instrument, and it is a curious fact that in mediæval Latin
henbane was sometimes known as Symphoniaca Herba; the Symphoniaca being
a rod with a number of little bells on it. This description might be
appropriately applied to the plant, and we have only to suppose a Saxon
term “hengebelle” to clear up the mystery.

I am indebted for the foregoing notes to three very suggestive articles
in _The Chemist and Druggist_ of October and November, 1877, and
February, 1878, by Mr. W. G. Piper.

Next we come to the fanciful and poetic names of metals and their
salts, and of all sorts of chemical compounds, invented by the
alchemists. They gave the names of aquila alba, mercurius dulcis,
panchymagogum minerale, manna metallorum, draco mitigatus, and others
to calomel; regulus, or the little king, to antimony (gold being king);
lunar caustic, ethiops martial, and salts of Saturn; vitriol, tartar,
pompholix, and scores of others, not selected without judgment, but
intended rather to mystify the public than to instruct them.

Chemical nomenclature of the present day has gone to the
opposite extreme. The ingenious laboratory devisers of
synthetic products have developed a nomenclature which it is
impossible to use. It explains itself to the initiated, but
even for intercommunication between chemists, pharmacists, and
physicians words like tetrahydroparamethyloxyquinoline or calcium
betanaphthol-alphamonosulphonate insist on being simplified if the
substances they describe come into medicinal use; and to do them
justice it must be admitted that the inventors of the products are
always ready to meet this requirement with a more or less expressive
title which can be protected as a trade mark. This forces other
manufacturers to devise other distinct names for the same article, so
that among the new chemicals which have become popular within the past
thirty years there are sometimes a dozen designations for the same
substance.


                     A PHARMACEUTICAL VOCABULARY.

The subjoined list of technical terms is limited to the names of
pharmaceutical processes, products, and apparatus; and only (as a
rule, with some exceptions) of such as are not dealt with in other
sections. Many of the terms are obsolete, but are to be met with in old
treatises. Occasionally rather more than a bare definition has been
thought desirable.

       *       *       *       *       *

Acetabulum. Originally a vessel used by the Romans for holding vinegar
at the table. Then a liquid measure about 2½ oz.

Acetum Philosophicum. Vinegar made from honey.

Acopon. A stimulating or anodyne liniment, almost of the consistence of
an ointment. If acopa contained aromatics they were called myracopa.

Adept. An alchemist who “had attained.”

Adust. A dried up condition of the humours.

Aggregatives. Pills devised by Mesué which were intended to purge all
the humours.

Alabaster. A special kind of carbonate or sulphate of lime used by the
ancients for ointment containers which were sometimes called alabastra.
The name is supposed to have been derived from a town in Egypt.

Album Rhasis. White lead ointment, which Rhazes was believed to have
introduced.

Alembic. The Arabic name for a still. It was adapted by the Arabs from
the Greek ambix, a vase, to which was prefixed the particle al. The
word became corrupted in English to Limbeck.

Alembroth. Sal Alembroth was the double chloride of mercury and
ammonium. Also called the salt of wisdom. The word has not been traced,
but has been supposed to be a Chaldaic term meaning the key of art.

Alexipharmic (in Greek alexipharmakon). A remedy against poison.

Alexiteria. Remedies against the bites of venomous animals.

Alhandal. The Arabic name for colocynth which was applied to certain
lozenges or tablets of that drug.

Alkahest. The universal solvent, or menstruum. The word has an Arabic
appearance, but cannot be traced to that language. It is believed
to have been one of Paracelsus’s many etymological inventions. The
derivation has been guessed to have been from the German al-geist,
all spirit, Paracelsus said it was a liquid to cure all kinds of
engorgements. Van Helmont’s Alkahest was capable of restoring to their
first life all the bodies of nature. Glauber’s Alkahest was nitrate
potash which had been detonated on live coals. It was carbonate of
potash.

Alkali, in Arabic al-qaly. Qaly meant to fry, and the technical term
was applied to the ashes of plants after frying or roasting.

Alkekengi. The Winter Cherry, formerly in much esteem as a remedy in
kidney and urinary complaints.

Alkool. This name was given to powders of the finest tenuity. It
was also applied to spirit of wine rectified to the utmost extent.
Boerhaave employed the term to indicate the purest inflammable
principle.

Aloedarium. A purgative medicine with aloes as the principal ingredient.

Aludels. Pear-shaped pots constructed so that they could be fitted one
into another, a series of them being used for sublimations. The name is
supposed to have had an Arabic origin, or it may have meant “not luted.”

Amalgam. A compound of mercury and some other metal. Believed to have
been a perversion of malagma, a soft ointment, with the Arabic article
prefixed.

Amphora. An earthenware vessel with two handles wherewith to carry
it. Used by the Greeks and Romans for wine and oil. The Greek vessel
contained about 9 gallons; the Roman amphora was equivalent to nearly 7
gallons.

Analeptica. Restorative remedies.

Anoyntment. An old term for ointment.

Antidotary. A frequent title of books of formulas for medicines.

Antidote. Something “given against.” Originally, perhaps, an adjective,
and in old medicine employed for various remedies; now limited to
substances which will counteract the effect of poisons.

Apozems. Strong decoctions or infusions. A Greek word meaning “boiled
off.”

Aqua Mirabilis. Once a popular household remedy. Water distilled from
cloves, cardamoms, cubebs, mace, ginger, and other spices.

Aquila Alba. An old name for calomel.

Arcana meant secrets. The original idea of the word was things shut
up and protected as the occupants of Noah’s Ark were shut up. The
alchemists used the word arcanum freely, but it came to be applied
to medicines of known composition but of mysterious action. Arcanum
tartari was acetate of potash. Arcanum duplicatum was another name for
the Sal de Duobus or sulphate of potash which was supposed to combine
the virtues of nitre and vitriol.

Athanor was a self-supplying furnace, the coals or fuel being provided
in a reservoir above the fire and intended to be supplied to the
furnace automatically.

Balm and Balsam, which are words with the same origin, have always
been suggestive of medicinal and healing virtues. Probably balsam
has descended through the Greek and Latin from Semitic terms meaning
spices. The Hebrew Besem or Bosem, often translated “spices,” in one
place “cinnamon,” in another “calamus,” always meant some grateful
aromatic. But the opobalsamum or juice of the Balsam tree, the famous
Balm of Gilead, was Tsori in Hebrew. Old etymologists, supported
by Littré and other moderns, consider that Baal-schaman, prince of
oils, was the original word from which balsam was derived. The Arabic
Abu-scham, father of perfumed oils, was a name for the balsam tree.
Paracelsus taught that the human body contained a natural balsam which
tended by itself to heal wounds.

Basilicon ointment is first met with in Celsus. It means royal ointment
but no explanation of the origin of the term is given. He compounded it
of panax, (perhaps opopanax), galbanum, pitch, resin, and oil. Mesué
made a basilicon minus, composed of wax, resin, pitch, and oil. This
he also called unguentum tetrapharmacum, because it was made from four
drugs. Both of these were black ointments. Later the pitch was omitted
and the ointment was then named yellow basilicon. A green basilicon
ointment was also formulated in the early London Pharmacopœias,
containing verdigris, and used as a detergent. It is sometimes stated
that the ointment acquired its name because it contained the plant
basil (_Ocimum basilicum_) among its ingredients; but I find no
authority for this statement.

Baths. The most usual form of digesting substances in a gentle heat was
in a Balneum Mariæ, Bain-Marie, or as old English writers translated it
a St. Mary’s bath. It was supposed to have been derived from balneum
maris, as if sea water was used; but there is no justification for
this guess. Littré thinks it was called the bath of Mary because
of its gentleness. Sand-baths, cinder-baths, horse-dung baths, and
iron-filings baths were also ordered.

Bezoards. Mineral bezoard was diaphoretic antimony. Silician earth was
also called mineral bezoar.

Blisters. Freind says these were introduced into medicine in Venice and
Padua during the plague of 1576. Jerome Mercuriali wrote about them.
They superseded dropaxes and metasyncretics.

Bolus was a medicine of the consistence of an electuary or rather
stiffer, taken in pieces about the size of a bean. The Greek word meant
a lump of earth, and it was used medically by the Romans. It was the
same as katapotia.

Calx was the name applied to lime which had been burnt, and from this
it came to be applied to the white powdery product yielded by burning
metals. Thus came the calx Lunæ, the calx Saturni, the calx Jovis, the
calx Mercurii, and others. The ancient theory was that in burning the
metal the sulphur principle was driven out, and this was the parent of
Stahl’s phlogiston theory.

Caput mortuum and terres damnées were names applied to residues in
retorts after operations.

Carminative. A medicine which expels winds. One theory traces it
to carmen, a charm, but most authorities consider that it was an
application to medicine of the term carminare, to card wool, and
suggested that the remedy acted by combing through the humours.

Cataplasm. From Greek kata-plassein, to apply over. Used originally
for both poultices and plasters. Cataplasmata were perfumed powders
sprinkled over the clothes, or sometimes depilatories.

Catholica. Electuaries which purged all the humours.

Cerates were ointments made solid by wax, but not so hard as plasters.

Cerevisiæ (Beers). Medicinal preparations made by adding medicines
to malt wort and letting them ferment together were popular in the
early part of the 18th century. It was believed that the process
of fermentation extracted the properties of drugs more effectively
than mere digestion. Quincy (1739) names thirty cerevisiæ, aperient,
antiscorbutic, diuretic, hysteric, stomachic, &c. Many of these were
compounded with numerous drugs.

Ceruse. Old Latin name for white lead. Flowers of antimony were called
ceruse of antimony. The name is supposed to have had some association
with wax, but the connection is not clear.

Cochleare. The usual prescription term for a spoonful, was in Latin
the twenty-fourth of a cyathus or wineglassful. It was an egg-spoon,
but owed its name to a pointed tip used to extract winkles from their
shells as we use pins, and, the cochlear being a small snail, the name
was transferred to the instrument. From it has descended the French
cuillier, a spoon.

Cohobation came to mean only the repetition of distillation, the
distillate being poured on the material from which it had already been
distilled, and again distilled. Paracelsus uses the term cohob to
signify a repetition of the same medicine.

Colcothar. The name was applied to the prepared rust of iron now called
rouge, but originally to the residue left in the retort after oil of
vitriol had been distilled from sulphate of iron. Paracelsus used, and
some say invented, the word; but Murray traces it through the Spanish
to an Arabic origin, qolqotar, which Doxy believes to have been a
corruption of the Greek Chalcanthos, a solution of blue vitriol (from
chalkos, copper, and anthos, flower). Colcothar was the same as crocus
Martis.

Collutories. Medicines of the consistence of honey for applying to the
gums and mouth. Honey and borax is an example. A fluid mouth-wash was
called a collution.

Collyrium. Collyria were “dry,” or powders such as alum, sulphate
of zinc, or calomel, which were insufflated into the eye; soft, or
pomades applied to the eyelids; and liquid, or eye lotions. The term
kollyrion was used in Greek medicine with the same meaning; it was
originally derived from kollyra, a roll of bread.

Conserves properly consisted of only one medicament and sugar.

Crocus (Saffron). The term was applied to certain metallic combinations
of a saffron colour, such as crocus Martis (rust of iron), crocus
Veneris (a copper oxide), and crocus Metallorum (liver of antimony).
Damocrates left a formula for Crocomagma, tonic cakes or trochiscs, of
which saffron was the principal ingredient.

Crucible. A vessel in which metals are melted. The word is generally
attributed to a supposed association with crux, crucis, a cross; but
this is not proved. It was originally the name of a night-lamp, and
several authorities consider it owes its name to the crossing of the
wicks.

Cucupha. A cap to be worn on the head in which certain aromatic drugs
were fixed with the idea of curing headaches.

Cucurbit. A gourd-shaped vessel of glass or earthenware used as a
retort.

Cyathus, translated wineglassful when the word appears in
prescriptions, was the ladle with which the wine was scooped out from
the cratera into the poculum. It was also a Roman measure, about the
twelfth part of a pint.

Decocta have been attributed to Nero as the inventor. At least they
appear to have originated in his household. They were simply boiled
water refreshed by ice, and often flavoured by fruits. These were
employed as beverages. “Et hæc est Neronis decocta” exclaimed the
fallen tyrant as he fled from Rome and allayed his thirst by scooping
some dirty water from a pond.

Deliquium. Deliquescence; as when salt of tartar was resolved into “oil
of tartar” by mere exposure to the air. This was called “deliquium per
se.”

Despumation. The removal of the froth from boiling honey or syrup.

Dia in the “Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman” written by
Langland in 1377 occur the lines:

    Lyf leuede that lechecraft lette shulde elde
    And dryuen away deth with dyas and dragges.

Translated into modern English these lines would read “Life believed
that leechcraft should let (hinder) age, and drive away death with
dyas and dragges.” The dyas and dragges were evidently the means which
leechcraft employed. At that time and for long afterwards a large
number of compounded medicines bore titles with the prefix dia-.
Diachylon, diagrydium, diabolanum diakodion, diasulphuris are examples
of scores. Dia was the Greek preposition, meaning through or from,
which appears in a multitude of English words. In medicine it always
implies a compound, and in old English it is occasionally found alone
as in the instance quoted from “Piers Plowman.” Another given in the
Historical English Dictionary is from Lydgate (1430) “Drug nor dya
was none in Bury towne.”[5] In combination a few survivals remain in
the language as Diachylon, Diapente, and Diacodion, but in the old
medical formularies its use is very frequent. Generally it meant an
electuary or confection. Thus for example the P.L. of 1746 changed the
old Diascordium into Electuarium e Scordio. Apparently the dia- was then
going out of fashion.

Diagredium or Diagrydium. This term was often applied to scammony but
it was correctly reserved to a prepared scammony (see Dia); the object
being to modify the purgative action. One method was to place some
scammony in the hollow of a quince and keep it for some time in hot
ashes. This gave Diagredium cydoniatum. Or sulphur was burned under
a porous paper on which scammony was spread, and the preparation was
known as Diagredium sulphuratum. It was also combined with liquorice
and called Diagredium glycyrrhisatum.

Dropax was the name of a plaster employed as a depilatory. It was
applied warm and pulled off, with the hairs, when cold. It was the
Greek term for a pitch plaster.

Drug. The word “dragges” in the “Vision of Piers Plowman” (refer
to “Dia”) has been generally supposed to have been an earlier form
of drugs; but Skeat contended on philological grounds that the two
terms could hardly be the same. Dragges occurs also in Chaucer in the
description of the Doctour of Phisike:--

    Ful redy had he his apothecaries
    To send him dragges and his lettuaries.

and Skeat presumed that the dragges were a kind of medicinal sweetmeat
corresponding with the French dragées. But Murray has shown that in
most of the texts of Chaucer the word is droggis or drugges. So that
it is probable that the poet was using the term which we now almost
invariably confine to the raw materials of pharmacy. It might easily be
shown that in the past it was more generally applied. The etymology of
drug is doubtful. The majority of philologists trace it to Anglo-Saxon
dryg, and Dutch droog, both meaning dry, the sense originating from
dried herbs. There is, however, a Celtic word, drwg, in Irish, droch,
which has the meaning of something bad. But Littré suggests that the
primary signification of that word is that of an ingredient, and
therefore might have been the derivation of our drug. Most likely it
is the original of the word when employed as indicating something
worthless, as “a drug in the market.” It may well be therefore that
the word used in different senses has distinct derivations. (Two
interesting articles on this subject will be found in _The Chemist
and Druggist_ for February and March, 1882.)

Eclegma. Thick syrups given on a piece of liquorice root to suck with
the object of relieving coughs. (See Electuary for Derivation.)

Ecussons. Compounds of theriaca with some added opium used as plasters.

Edulcorate. To deprive substances of their acrid taste. Generally by
the addition of syrup.

Electuary. Old dictionaries give the origin of this word as from the
Latin electus, on the theory that an electuary was a composition
of selected drugs. It is, in fact, a Latin corruption of the Greek
ekleikton, which meant something that could be licked. See Eclegma.

Elixir. An Arabic word, al-iksir, which Littré says signified the
essence or the quintessence. Murray suggests that it may have had a
Greek origin. Xerion, a late Greek medical term, meaning a desiccative
powder for wounds, is the word which he supposes the Arabs may have
adopted. It is probable that elixir was from the first used to denote
a medicine; perhaps _the_ medicine, the great panacea which Arab
chemists sought for. For although alchemy, the name at least, may be
traced to their laboratories, it is certain that their early efforts
were rather in the direction of the discovery of remedies than in that
of the production of gold. By the alchemists of Europe and England,
however, elixir was understood in both senses. It meant both the
philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life. In “The Alchemist,” Ben
Jonson (1610) alludes to an old superstition thus:

    He that has once the “flower of the sun”
    The perfect ruby which we call elixir
    ... by its virtue
    Can confer honour, love, respect, long life,
    Give safety, valour, yea, and victory
    To whom he will. In eight and twenty days
    He’ll make an old man of fourscore a child.

The word has been a useful one for empirics many times since.

Emplastra are noted by Celsus, many of his formulæ being made with a
lead plaster basis as ours are to this day, litharge (spuma argenti)
and olive oil being boiled together.

Emulsion, from emulsus the past participle of emulgere, to milk out,
was originally applied to the milky liquid extracted from almonds.
Subsequently extended to other milky fluids.

Enchrista. Liquids, Celsus says, “quæ illinuntur,” but the word
linimentum had not been formed in his time. He uses the word
Linamentum for a sort of lint. Acopa were a kind of liniment.

Enema or clyster or glyster are all used to signify either the
injection or the instrument by which the injection is applied. Enema
(properly pronounced with the accent on the first syllable) means
something sent; clyster was the Greek word for the instrument.

Ens. A favourite term with old metaphysicians and alchemists with the
same meaning as essence. Supposed to have been derived from Esse, to be.

Epithema. An alcoholic fomentation or liquid medicine applied to the
heart and stomach as a stupe.

Epithemation was the name of an application described by Galen as of a
consistence between that of a cerate and that of a plaster.

Errhines, called Nasalia in Latin, are substances snuffed up the
nostrils to excite sneezing.

Gas was a word invented by Van Helmont. Several guesses have been
hazarded as to the idea which suggested the term. The Dutch geest,
spirit or ghost, seemed the most likely. The German gäschen, to
ferment, has also been proposed. But in 1897 Dr. F. Hurder discovered a
paragraph in Van Helmont’s writings which stated definitely that he had
derived the word from chaos.

Gilla Vitriola. The name first given to white vitriol. Gilla meant
simply salt.

Gutteta. A term for epilepsy. Pulvis de Gutteta was a remedy against
epilepsy.

Hepars were chemicals of a liver colour, as hepar antimonii, hepar
sulphuris.

Infusions first appeared in the London Pharmacopœia of 1720. In the
revised edition of that issue (1724), however, the three infusions of
1720 appear as Decocti, the title of Infusum being abandoned, but the
directions for the three preparations referred to still give “infunde”
and not “coque.” In the edition of 1746 Infusa re-appear as such,
and “Macera” appears in the directions for the first time. In the
1788 edition Inf. Amarum Simplex becomes Infusum Gentianæ Compositum,
and aqua bulliens gives place to aqua fervens. In 1809 the number of
Infusions is raised from four to eighteen.

Julep, a term made popular in medicine by the Arabs. It was used by
them exclusively for clear, sweet, liquids. Nothing oily or with a
sediment could be a julep. The name is said to be a Persian compound
from gul, rose, and ap, water; applied to rose tinted waters. It has
lingered in modern pharmacy as camphor or mint julep, but in neither of
these cases is it correctly applied, as they are not sweetened. The old
way of making camphor julep was to hold a piece of camphor by pincers,
inflame it, and plunge it in water, repeating this operation frequently
until the water acquired a strong flavour of camphor.

Katapotia. The most usual form of medicine among the Greek pharmacists
was the confection or electuary, a composition of drugs made to a
proper consistence generally with honey. Frequently these electuaries
were called “antidotes,” things given against this or that disease.
There were antidotes against gout, against stone, against colics,
against phthisis, etc. The taste of these antidotes was always
unpleasant, so it became the custom to order them to be made up into
little balls of such or such size. The Greeks called these little balls
“katapotia,” that is, things to be swallowed. “Take a katapotium the
size of a bean” would be an ordinary Greek direction. Galen describes a
composition of 1 part of colocynth, 2 parts of aloes, 2 of scammony,
1 of absinth juice, and a little mastic and bdellium, which was to
be formed into katapotia, each of the size of a dried pea. Trallien
refers to this same pill, but names the size as that of a kokkion, a
seed. This was the origin of our pil. cochiæ or cocciæ as they came to
be known. By this time the names globulus, glomeramus, and pilula had
taken the place in Latin of katapotium. Actuarius says expressly that
what the Greeks called katapotia the Romans knew as pilulæ. Trochisci
were katapotia made very hard.

Lac Virginale. The name was applied to a dilute solution of acetate of
lead (Goulard’s water) and also to water made milky by the addition of
a little tincture of benzoin. Both were used by young girls for their
complexions.

Lapis Infernalis. Nitrate of silver.

Lapis Medicamentosus. An astringent stone of which oxide of iron was
the principal ingredient.

Lapis Mirabilis. An application for wounds, of which green vitriol was
the essential ingredient.

Looch--sometimes loch, lohoch, lohoth--was a thick liquid, between
a syrup and an electuary, almond emulsion being frequently the
basis, which formerly patients were ordered to suck on a stick of
liquorice cut in the form of a pencil for throat and lung irritation.
Sometimes stronger medicines, like kermes mineral and ipecacuanha,
were administered in this way. The word was of Arabic origin, and was
derived from the verb la’aka, to lick.

Maceration is the digestion of a solid body in a liquid for the purpose
of dissolving its active principles.

Magdaleon. Originally a mass or paste such as crumb of bread (Greek,
magdalia), or it may have been used for pill masses made up with crumb
of bread. The term became limited to plasters in cylindrical form.

Magistery. A word much in favour with the alchemists and old
pharmacists. It had not a very definite meaning, but was understood
to be a substance so converted as to present the virtues of the
material from which it had been made in their most effective form.
Boyle mentions that Paracelsus uses the word to signify many different
things, and Boyle himself has not a clear idea of what he understands
by it, for, he says, “the best notion I know of it is that it is a
preparation whereby there is not an analysis made of the body assigned,
nor an extraction of this or that principle, but the whole or very
near the whole body, by the help of some additament, greater or less,
is turned into a body of another kind.” Boerhaave, however, takes
the pretensions of the makers of magisteries to be that they change
a body into another form, as, for instance, solid gold into liquid,
without any addition. According to Littré, precipitates generally were
considered to possess the properties of the bodies from which they were
obtained, and thus became magisteries. The magistery of bismuth is the
one which has survived the longest with us. Resin of jalap was also
regarded as a magistery.

Magma was the residuum left in the press after pressing out the
menstruum. It was also used to describe other substances of a soft
consistence.

Magnes Arsenicalis was a compound of sulphur, arsenic, and antimony,
which, either in the form of powder or made into a plaster, was applied
to syphilitic sores to draw out the virus. Angelo Sala was the inventor
of the plaster.

Malagmata were substances applied to the skin to soften it, such as
poultices.

Malaxation was the process of making a pill mass or a plaster soft
enough to be worked.

Manica Hypocratis (Sleeve of Hippocrates) was a long linen bag used to
filter pharmaceutical preparations.

Manipulus, a handful, often prescribed as an approximate measure of the
quantity of herbs or flowers to be used in a pharmaceutical process.

Manus Christi was the name of a tablet made of sugar and flavoured with
rose into which some prepared pearl entered.

Manus Dei was the name of an old plaster containing myrrh,
frankincense, ammoniac, and galbanum.

Marmalades were conserves of various fruits, the pulp of which was
preserved in sugar. Said to have been originally the pulp of the quince
(in Portuguese marmelo). Some old medical books say the pharmaceutical
preparations known by this name, which often contained manna, were
derived from the French marc mêlé.

Masticatories. Substances chewed with the object of exciting the
saliva. Sage, betony, pyrethrum, and tobacco have been employed for
this purpose.

Matrass. A round or oval glass vessel used in chemical operations to
digest or evaporate liquids. It was provided with a long straight neck,
and is supposed to owe its name to this, matras or matrat being an old
word for an arrow or javelin.

Mellites were syrups made with honey instead of sugar.

Mensis Philosophicus, a philosophic month, or forty days.

Menstruum. The alchemists used this term much as the word solvent is
now used, and some etymologists think it was adopted to indicate that
a month was necessary for a solvent to exercise its full power. Dr.
Johnson says the idea originated “in some notion of the old chemists
about the influence of the moon in the preparation of dissolvents.”
Sir J. Murray says “Menstruum was a mediæval term used in alchemy to
express belief that the base metal undergoing transmutation into gold
corresponded with the seed within the womb which was being acted upon
by the agency of the menstrual fluid.” It is possible, however, that
the old belief in the extraordinary solvent power of the menstrual
fluid may have better accounted for the adoption of the term in
pharmacy. Dr. C. S. Carrington, of Brooklyn, has quoted from a French
narrative of the conquest and conversion of the natives of the Canary
Islands, published in one of the Hakluyt volumes, a passage written by
two monks giving an account of the Flood. Describing the Ark, they say
it was so perfectly joined by “Betun,” a glue so strong that the pieces
united by it could not be separated by any art “sinon par sang naturel
de fleurs de femmes.”

Moxa. In the middle of the seventeenth century Ten Rhyn and afterwards
Kaempfer, both surgeons in the service of the Dutch East India Company,
described a process of cauterisation largely adopted in China and Japan
in the treatment of various maladies. They used the hairy leaves of the
Chinese artemisia and made it up into a cylindrical shape which they
placed on any part on which they wished to act, and then set fire to
it, allowing it to smoulder slowly down to the skin. It was adopted by
many European surgeons, especially by Van Swieten in gout, rheumatism,
and paralysis, but carded cotton, lint, hemp, or other substances were
employed in the same way. Sydenham mentions this as a cure for gout,
and Larrey designed a little instrument to facilitate the application.
Sometimes chemicals were combined, and the stem of the sunflower cut
into inch lengths, the pith being burnt, was also used. The operation
of course gave great pain, and after a time it was doubted if it did
any good.

Nasalia. See Errhines.

Noctiluca. The name given by Boyle to the phosphorus which he made
before the latter word became general.

Nutrition. A term used in old pharmacy to signify the act of combining
substances in a mortar or by agitation until they acquired the proper
consistence. Unguentum nutritum, for example, was an ointment made by
stirring together in a mortar some lead plaster with oil and vinegar
and generally some belladonna juice.

Nychthemeron meant maceration for a day and night, that is for 24
hours. It appears sometimes in directions for treating herbs and
flowers previous to distillation.

Obolos, a Greek weight equal to half a scruple.

Œnclaion, a mixture of wine and oil.

Œnogala, a mixture of wine and milk.

Œnomeli, a mixture of wine and honey.

Œsypus, the name given by Dioscorides to wool fat.

Ointments among the Greeks and Romans were generally liquids. Anything
used to anoint with, not being oil simply, was an ointment (miron in
Greek, unguentum in Latin). From the Greek word was derived Myrepsus,
which meant an ointment maker.

Opiates were originally electuaries containing opium or some other
narcotic. Gradually, however, the word lost its significance and was
used to indicate any medicinal substance of the same character. It is
sometimes used for tooth pastes.

Oxycroceum was the name of a plaster among the ingredients of which
were vinegar and saffron.

Panchrest. A remedy for all complaints.

Panchymagogon. A medicine to purify all the humours. Pulp of colocynth,
black hellebore, diagrydium, of each 2½ ounces; senna, rhubarb, of each
4 ounces; species of diarrhodon abattis, hermodactils, turbith, agaric,
aloes, of each 1 ounce. Make an extract with cinnamon water, adding the
salt from the fæces. Dose, 20 to 30 grains. Calomel was called “mineral
panchymagogon.”

Pedilavium. A decoction of herbs intended to bathe the feet with to
induce sleep.

Pelican. A glass vessel with a tubular neck and provided with two
beaks, one opposite the other, which conducted the vapour back to the
lower part of the vessel, so that cohobation or redistillation was
continually being carried on.

Periapt. An amulet hung round the neck, or applied to some other part
of the body, to preserve the wearer from contagion, or to drive away
evil spirits.

Pessary, from Greek “pessos,” a little round stone used in a game.
Pessaries were in very common use by the Greek women for every kind of
vaginal complaint. They were little balls of wool or lint which were
medicated in various ways.

Pill. The word “pilula” is first found in Pliny, who says “Pharmaca
illa in globulos conformata vulgo pilulæ nominamus.” See “Katapotia.”

Poison is the same word as “potion.” Both originally meant a draught.

Polychrest. A medicine of many virtues,

Pomatum. Originally an ointment made from the pulp of apples, lard and
rose water, and used as an application for beautifying the face.

Populeum. An ointment made from the buds of the black poplar. It
was prescribed by Nicolas of Salermo as a narcotic and resolvent
application.

Poultice, from the Latin “puls (pult-)” through the Italian “polta,”
meaning pap, pottage, pulse. “Poltos” was the Greek term for pottage.
The intrinsic purport of the word was something beaten. The Latin
“pulsare,” to beat, represents the idea, and it is found in our word
“pulse,” which indicates the heart-beats, and also in such words as
impulse, compulsory, and the like. In old medical books, “poultice” is
generally spelt “pultesse” or “pultass,” and this form was retained
until the eighteenth century. In the first quarto of “Romeo and Juliet”
(Act II., Sc. 5) the Nurse asks Juliet, “Is this the poultesse for my
aking boanes?”

Propomata were drinks made of wine and honey in the proportion of four
to one according to Galen.

Psilothrum. A depilatory.

Salamanders’ Blood. The red vapours of nitrous acid.

Salia. Salt was a term very vaguely applied in old chemistry. Anything
soluble and possessing a marked taste was called a salt. Thus grew the
practice of describing substances as salia acida, salia alkalina, and
salia salsa. Sal fixum was a salt not affected by heat.

Scutum. See Ecusson.

Sinapisms were a form of poultices or cataplasms used by the Romans
as counter irritants. They were generally made with crushed mustard,
sometimes with cantharides and crumb of bread, and often with dried
figs wetted and reduced to a pulp.

Smegma was an application to the skin composed of some active remedy
such as verdigris, alum, sulphur, pepper, hellebore, or stavesacre.

Sparadrap. An adhesive plaster on linen or paper.

Suffumenta or Suffumigia. Gums, aromatics, or other substances burned
and inhaled to fortify the brain.

Supplantalia. Remedies applied to the soles of the feet, believed to
attract the vicious humours. Live pigeons cut in two, and other animals
were sometimes thus applied.

Suppositories are at least as old as Hippocrates, who called them
Prosdita or Balanoi. Suppository is from the Latin sub-ponere, and
is stated by modern etymologists to mean to place under; but older
writers say the meaning was to substitute. That is, the suppository was
employed instead of an enema.

Syrup. An Arabic introduction. The Arabic word is Sharab or Shurab, and
our words sherbet and shrub as well as syrup are derived from it.

Tisanes, formerly Ptisans, are mentioned as favourite forms of
administering the simpler kinds of remedies by Celsus. The word was
derived from “ptissein,” to crush, and was applied first to barley
water, made from crushed barley. In French pharmacy Tisanes, mostly
infusions of herbs, are still very familiar. Celsus uses the term
“sorbitio” for gruel. Apozems were stronger than Tisanes.

Troches, from the Greek trochiscos, a cone. Medicines in a hard form.
Subsequently called in Latin, pastilli, and in English, lozenges. They
were first made in the shape of cones. Trochisci plumbi were compounds
of white lead, camphor, gum, etc., like oat grains, invented by Rhazes
for application to the eyes. Named also trochisci Rhasis, and Arab
soap.


               APOTHECARIES’ WEIGHTS AND MEASURES SIGNS.

It is not possible to ascertain with certainty the origin of the
familiar signs ℈, ʒ, ℥, used in formulas and prescriptions to represent
the scruple, drachm, and ounce respectively. A few guesses may be
quoted, but actual historic evidence is not available.

Dr. C. Rice, New York, an accomplished scholar and pharmaceutical
authority, supposed that the scruple sign was a slightly modified
form of the Greek gamma, γ, the first letter of “gramma,” the nearest
Greek equivalent weight, and the original of the modern gramme. The
same author associated the ounce sign with the Greek x, ξ, which was
certainly used in ancient times, often with a tiny ° against it, thus,
ξ°, to represent the “oxybaphon,” or vinegar vessel, which became a
fluid measure equal to about 15 fluid drachms. There is some evidence
that the same sign was used for the later Greek (or Sicilian) ungia,
Latin uncia, the original of our ounce. The oxybaphon, it may be added,
was translated into Latin “acetabulum,” which was also a vinegar vessel
and a measure.

It has been guessed that the scruple sign may have been a slurred Greek
ς, written thus, [symbol] (see Dr. Wall’s “Prescription,” published
at St. Louis, 1888). Apuleius, who wrote in the second century, gives
[symbol] as a sign for an obolus which was equal to about 14 grains.
That symbol could easily have drifted into our ℈. Hermann Schelenz
(“Geschichte der Pharmacie,” 1904, page 153) makes up a table of
medicinal weights and measures from Celsus, Pliny, and Galen, and
quotes the following signs as being then used: ~, sextans or obolus;
℈, gramma or scruple = about 20 grains; <, drachme or Holea = 3
scruples; γο, oungia or uncia = ounce; λι, libra = pound.

The drachm sign in Dr. Wall’s opinion is a reminiscence of an Egyptian
symbol for half, somewhat similar to our figure 3, ʒ. He supposes that
the Greeks adopted this sign to represent the half of the Egyptian
medicinal weight unit, which according to the best authorities was
equivalent to a double drachm. In a treatise by Ebers on the Weights
and Measures of the Ebers Papyrus, he estimates the weight unit at
6·064 grammes (say 103 grains). He explains, however, that the name
of the weight is nowhere given in the Papyrus. I cannot say whether
there is any evidence of the transfer of the Egyptian weights to Greek
pharmacy, but the usual course of the travels of such characters was
from the Egyptian hieratic or demotic writing to the Coptic, and thence
to the Arabic. It appears certain, however, that the Arabic “dirhem”
was adopted from the Greek “drachma.”

The sign [symbol], which frequently occurs in the Ebers Papyrus,
might quite easily and almost inevitably come to be written something
like our ʒ; but Ebers values it at two-thirds of a litre, where it is
named as a fluid measure. He deduces this from the hypothesis that the
[symbol] is the hieratic equivalent of the hieroglyphic [symbol],
dnat, or tenat.

Scribonius Largus, in the first century, and Apuleius in the second,
both give Ζ as the Greek sign for a drachm in medical formulas.
The former says this was equivalent to the Roman denarius, or one
eighty-fourth of a pound.

A writer in the _Lancet_ of August 18, 1906, very confidently
attributed these signs to the abbreviations made by the copyists of
ancient manuscripts in the Middle Ages. One of the old abbreviation
marks is still familiar in the z, which appears in “oz.” and “viz.”
The z was formerly a ʒ, which was largely used to indicate that the
word had been abbreviated; in the cases quoted from onza and videlicet.
Palæontologists say that the ʒ was itself a modification of the mark
“;” which was a common contraction at the end of words ending in bus or
que. Thus, for instance, omnibus and quaque would be written omni; and
qua;. It is alleged that in writing; without removing the pen from the
paper, something like ʒ will result. This is interesting, but it does
not explain how the abbreviation came to signify drachm.

The _Lancet_ writer further stated that the ℥ was a slurred form
of writing oz., and that the scruple sign was a ligature representing
the letters sr.

It may be added that among the old manuscript signs ℈ is often used for
ejus. I am not, however, prepared to suggest any connection between
this word and a scruple.


                                   ℞

Paris, in “Pharmacologia,” pages 13 and 14, makes the statement
that “such was the supposed importance of planetary influence that
it was usual to prefix a symbol of the planet under whose reign the
ingredients were to be collected; and it is not perhaps generally
known that the character which we at this day place at the head of our
prescriptions, and which is understood and supposed to mean Recipe, is
a relict of the astrological symbol of Jupiter.”

I have not met with that statement in any earlier writer, but it has
been quoted by scores of compilers since. It is very confidently
asserted, but I think its accuracy is questionable. As an excuse for my
temerity in challenging such an eminent authority it may be mentioned
that on the same page the author informs us that the word “crucible”
was derived from the circumstance that the alchemists were in the habit
of stamping the figure of a cross on the vessel from which they were
to obtain their long sought prize. No modern philologist would endorse
that etymology.

Paris quotes, in support of the Jupiter theory, a few instances of
directions for gathering specific plants “at the rising of the moon,”
“when the dog-star is in the ascendant,” and so on. But these have no
reference to a compound of several ingredients. It would have been of
no use to invoke Jupiter alone for any of the ancient prescriptions.
Every plant, said Paracelsus, has its special star. It would have
stirred up discord in Olympus if any had been neglected.

Pereira adopts Paris’s theory, but makes it almost impossible to
accept it. In “Selecta et Prescriptis,” he says it was usual in old
prescriptions to prefix to the formula a pious invocation such as “D.
J.” (Deo Juvante), “J. J.” (Jesu Juvante), the figure of a cross, or
some similar Christian sign. The suggestion is that we have progressed
from Christian to heathen symbols. It would be particularly interesting
to know when the physicians of Christendom substituted the appeal to
Jupiter for that which their own religion had pressed upon them.

Greek and Roman physicians wrote prescriptions, no doubt; but I am not
aware that any of these have been preserved to us. Our prescriptions
are the direct descendants of the “bills” which the physicians of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries scribbled in coffee houses
when they met their apothecaries. “Physitians bylles not Patients but
Apothecaries know” (Warner, 1612, quoted in “Murray’s Dictionary”). It
is too much to ask us to imagine that these scribes were in the habit
of sketching the symbol of Jupiter at the head of these documents.


                          PLANETS AND METALS.

There are no historic records of the origin of the association of the
seven metals with the seven planets nor of the connection of either
with the deities of antiquity.

That Greece transmitted the mythological connection to Rome is clear
enough, but it is not so certain whence Greece obtained the idea.
Traces of it can be discovered in both Persia and Egypt, and it is not
unreasonable to suppose that the circle of imagery may have developed
from the worship of the sun. Allowing that heavenly body to have been
the supreme divinity, or at least the residence of such a being, it
would be natural to assign to the moon and the five principal planets
apparently in attendance on the earth similar though lower dignities.
The tendency to group gods and planets and metals into sevens would be
an obvious link between the last two, and the characters of the deities
named would naturally be extended to the materials named after them.

Berthelot considers that Babylon and Chaldea were the localities where
imagination was first most abundantly applied to the elucidation of
science. There and elsewhere in the East the mystic relations of
the number seven came to be recognised. Perhaps it was the regular
appearance of the seven planets, visible to the naked eye, from which
those early notions were based. Then the moon’s phases consisted of
four equal periods of seven days each. The seven stars in the Great
Bear, the seven colours, the seven tones in music, the seven vowels in
the Greek alphabet, the seven sages, and, naturally also, the seven
known metals, were all evidences of this order of the universe. Out
of this correspondence grew the Chaldean and Persian ideas of seven
heavens, each with its gate of a different metal; the first of lead,
the second of tin, the third of brass, the fourth of iron, the fifth of
a copper alloy, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of gold.

The philosophers of Chaldea attributed to the heavenly bodies, or
rather to the deities who had made these their homes, extensive control
over the products of the earth. The sun-god produced gold, the moon-god
silver, and so forth; and this view was prevalent certainly until the
sixteenth century. Naturally all the early investigators had to picture
their fancies more or less crudely, and thus alphabets originated.
The Egyptian ideograms are the most familiar of this ancient poetry
to us, and among these are some which are intelligible to us to-day.
The sun and gold, ☉, are still represented by that sign; water,
[symbol], was so indicated in the papyri and in the alchemical books of
three or four hundred years ago; and the sign still used for the planet
and the metal mercury, ☿, differs but little from the hieroglyph
of Thoth, whom the Greeks called Hermes and the Romans Mercury. Greek
students have imagined that this sign was derived from the caduceus or
winged staff of the god, but some Egyptologists have claimed it as a
picture of the “sacred ibis.”

It need not be supposed that any definite table of the planetary
symbols was ever drawn up and agreed to. These only very gradually
became uniform. Even the association of the planets and the metals
was by no means invariable in different nations. Among the Persians,
for example, copper was assigned to Jupiter; but the Egyptians
dedicated a compound of gold and silver called electron to him, while
in more recent systems Jupiter and tin are allied. Venus controlled
tin according to Persian lore; but the Egyptian attribution of brass
or copper to her has prevailed. Iron belonged to Mercury before
quicksilver was recognised as a metal and at that time Mars was the
god-father of an alloy similar to bronze. The oldest table known is one
given by Olympiodorus in the fifth century, and in that electron is
still associated with Jupiter and tin with Hermes (Mercury).

Berthelot’s laborious researches into the origin of alchemy, and his
reproductions of ancient manuscripts show that while signs were used
by the ancient Greek writers of about the first century of our era,
they were not used by the Latin authors, but seem to have been in full
adoption in the Middle Ages. The manuscript of St. Mark at Venice,
which Berthelot believed was written about the year A.D. 1000, probably
for some prince, contains a multitude of these symbols. A regular
system is followed. Gold, for example, is represented by [symbol];
gold filings by [symbol]; gold leaf, thus [symbol]; and a combination
of gold and silver by [symbol]. A similar modification of the original
symbols is found in connection with the other metals.

There is scarcely any allusion to the symbols in the Arabic
manuscripts, for that race had a holy horror of all forms of Greek
paganism, though it may be noted that their physicians made a
superstition of the practice of bleeding on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
only, unconscious perhaps of the origin of this ritual, which depended
on the fact that Mars, the god of blood and iron, superintended
Tuesday’s operations, and Mercury, who had the management of the
humours, was in charge on Wednesdays. It was really not until the
fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, when the European
alchemists were trying to find a way to transmute the baser metals into
gold, that the code became “conventionalised.”

As already stated, the signs for the seven metals have not been
invariable, but for many centuries they have been distributed thus:--

    ☉ Sol, the Sun, Gold.
    ☽ Luna, the Moon, Silver.
    ♃ Jupiter, Tin.
    ♀ Venus, Copper.
    ♂ Mars, Iron.
    ☿ Mercury, Quicksilver.
    [astrological symbol] Saturn, Lead.

It may be noted in passing how these old-time fictions have influenced
our language, our literature, and especially our medicine. Lunatic,
jovial, saturnine, martial, venereal, and mercurial, are etymological
reminiscences of the time when temperaments and diseases were
associated with the heavenly bodies, and the extent to which metallic
compounds acquired their medical reputations from their artificial
relationship with the powers which were assumed to have adopted them,
is curious. Nitrate of silver was given in brain disorders originally
because of the belief in the control of the mental faculties by the
moon. The administration of iron for the purpose of invigorating the
constitution was largely due to its connection with Mars, whose fame
for virility assured the possession of similar virtue in his metallic
god-son.

  [Illustration:

     These symbols are a few of those used in alchemical treatises
     of the fifteenth century. They are collected in “The Follies of
     Science at the Court of Rudolph II.,” by H. C. Bolton, published
     by the Pharmaceutical Review Publishing Co. of Milwaukee, U.S.A.
     Reproduced by permission.
  ]

To the ancient planetary symbols the alchemists added a number of other
signs to represent chemicals of later discovery, and to make their
jargon even more incomprehensible than it would have been without them.
Thus they indicated earth, air, fire, and water by the signs

  [Illustration]

These were a few of their other characters:

  [Illustration]

The introduction of any kind of mysticism was dear to the alchemical
fraternity, some of whom, perhaps, really believed there was some
hidden meaning in the symbols, for there were among the adepts clever
men, true discoverers, who cannot be accused of fraudulent intentions,
and yet can hardly have accepted literally the poetry they devised.
Glauber, contemporary with our James I. and Charles I., was one of
these. According to him the symbols were invested with a special
mysterious meaning. He showed them in squares, thus:

  [Illustration]

and explained that the extent to which the symbol touches the four
sides of the square indicates how near it approaches perfection. Gold,
it will be observed, touches all four sides, silver three, and the
other metals only two each.


                        INTERPRETING THE SIGNS.

Interpretations of these symbols have often been attempted, but they
are for the most part mere guesses. Those representing the sun and
moon are easy, but the others may generally be read in various ways.
The sign for Jupiter is alleged to represent one of his thunderbolts;
that for copper is supposed to illustrate the looking-glass of Venus;
the iron sign is the shield and spear of Mars; the caduceus of Mercury
and the scythe of Saturn are likewise traced in their respective
signatures. It has also been fancied that the three signs of which
a circle forms part--namely, those for quicksilver, copper, and
iron--were intended to suggest that gold could be formed from them, the
cross or spear attached being in fact the Egyptian phallus, or organ of
generative vigour. In tin and lead there are evidences of the presence
of silver. Perhaps more probable is the idea that these signs were
originally combinations of letters--monograms, in fact, indicating the
name which the planet bore in the country where the symbol was first
adopted. Thus, in the sign for Jupiter, [symbol], the Greek initial
for Zeus, has been traced; in that of Venus, [symbol], we have the
initial of phosphorus; ♂, has been supposed to be [symbol], and
[symbol], the first and last letters of Thouros, one of the names of
Mars; while [symbol] represents the first and second letters of Chronos
(Saturn) welded together. But the interpretation depends largely on the
period when the signs were first used. Pictures preceded alphabets;
they were in fact the originals of the phonetic sounds which ultimately
the letters indicated.

The mysteries which made up so large a part of the science of alchemy
passed from its votaries to the practitioners of physic and pharmacy,
and are hardly dead in those professions yet. Pretended solutions of
gold, vaunted as universal cures, were sold under the title of solar
elixirs; the popular name of nitrate of silver to this day is lunar
caustic; a black oxide of iron is called Ethiops martial; a solution of
sugar of lead is extract of Saturn; sulphate of copper was once known
as vitriol of Venus; muriate of tin was famous for the expulsion of
worms under the name of Salt of Jove; and ointment of quicksilver is
still universally labelled mercurial ointment.




                                 INDEX


            A

    Ablathanabla, 166

    Abracadabra mystery, 164

    Abraxas, mystic word, 165

    Absorbent ethiops, 351

    Abtinas, incense makers, 57

    Acetabulum, ii, 278

    Acetanilide, discovery, ii, 273

    Acetic acid, synthetic, ii, 271.
      _See also_ Pyroligneous acid

    Acetum Philosophicum, ii, 279

    Achillea milfoil, virtues discovered, 16

    Achilles, medical discoveries, 16

    Acids, how first made, 323

    Acidum causticum, 325

    Acidum Pingue, 325
      (_For other acids see specific names._)

    Aconite, discovery, ii, 221;
      as poison, ii, 223

    Acopa, 91; ii, 279; ii, 290

    Adders. _See_ Vipers

    Adept, ii, 279

    Adrenaline, synthetic, ii, 269

    Adrian’s antidote, 288;
      dropsy cure, 299

    Adulteration, early methods of detecting, 210

    Adust, ii, 279

    Advertisement, early, 141

    Ægyptiacum 16; ii, 52

    Aërated cod-liver oil, ii, 167

    Æsculapius, Greek physician, 7;
      portraits, 8;
      death, 8;
      descendants, 10;
      temples, 11, 79

    Æthiops. _See_ Ethiops

    Aetius, medical writer, 215

    Aggregatives, ii, 279

    Ague, cures, 50; ii, 133

    Agyrtoi, 93

    Alabaster, ii, 279

    Albucasis of Cordova, 110, 329

    Album Græcum, ii, 10

    Album Rhasis, ii, 279

    Alchemy, invention, 4.
      _See also_ Chemistry

    Alcohol, constitution, 330;
      formula, ii, 270;
      etymology, 103, 326;
      early references, 328, 329;
      synthesis, 330; ii, 271

    Alcohol of Mars, 327

    Alcohol of sulphur, 327

    Aldehyde, preparation, ii, 271

    Alembic, etymology, ii, 279

    Alembroth salt, 243, 417;
      etymology, ii, 279

    Alexander of Tralles, 216;
      Hiera, ii, 141

    Alexandria library, 88, 98

    Alexandrinus, Nicolas, 219

    Alexipharmic, ii, 279

    Alexiteria, ii, 279

    Alfred the Great, letter to, 114, 131

    Alga nostoch, 375

    Algaroth’s powder, 381

    Algarotti, note on, 381

    Alhandal, ii, 279

    Alkahest, Glauber’s 264; ii, 279

    Alkali, etymology, ii, 280

    Alkalies, early knowledge of, 324;
      Black on, 324

    Alkalised ethiops, 351

    Alkaloids, discovery of, 274; ii, 243;
      synthesis, ii, 265

    Alkekengi, ii, 280

    Alkermes, Arabic derivation, 103

    Al-Koh’l, 326

    Alkool, ii, 280

    Allicola, 360

    All-flower-water, ii, 8

    Almond tree, Biblical reference, 75

    Alœdarium, ii, 280

    Aloes, as pigment, 95;
      tincture, ii, 37;
      elixir, ii, 57;
      notes on, ii, 86;
      picture of, ii, 87; ii, 88;
      books on, ii, 88;
      decoction, ii, 176

    Aloes wood, Biblical references, 63

    Alquimesci oil, 110

    Aludels, ii, 280

    Aluka, 70

    Alum, early uses, 331;
      first factories, 332;
      discovered in Yorkshire, 333;
      composition investigated, 333;
      symbol, ii, 309

    Aluminium, first made, 333

    Amalgam, ii, 280

    Amalgama Jovis, 425

    Amaranth, meaning of, 22

    Ambix, 328

    Ambrosia, identity of, 22

    Ambrosial elixir, 26

    Amen, 6

    Ammon, 6

    Ammonia, made from bones, 263;
      history, 334;
      etymology, 334;
      composition, 337

    Ammoniacum, etymology, 334

    Ammoniated Tincture of Quinine, origin of, ii, 153

    Ammonium acetate solution, 132

    Amphide salts, 326

    Amphora, ii, 280

    Amulets for preventing disease, 162.
      _See also_ Charms

    Anæsthetic, mysterious, ii, 254

    Anæsthetics, discovery, ii, 248

    Analeptica, ii, 280

    Anderson, Dr. P., portrait, ii, 168;
      publication, ii, 168;
      invents pills, ii, 169

    Anderson’s Scots Pills, origin of, ii, 168;
      formulæ, ii, 169

    Andreas, author, 182

    Andromachus’s theriakon, 90; ii, 20; ii, 42

    Anethon in Bible, 71

    Anglicanus’s “Compendium of Medicine,” 132

    Aniline, discovery of, ii, 263

    Animal magnetism, 199
      medicines, 89, 127; ii, 1; ii, 2
      oil, ii, 25

    Animals, mythical, 26

    Aniseed, magical plant, 18
      oil, use of, 247

    Anne, Queen, cures by touch, 301

    Anodyne necklaces, ii, 170

    Anointing oil, 38, 50, 55;
      formula, 59

    Anointment, ii, 280

    Antidotary, meaning, ii, 280
      of Nicolas Prepositus, 116
      of Nicolas Myrepsus, 219

    Antidote, meaning, ii, 281

    Antidotos ex duobus, 215, 310

    Antidotum Acharistos, 220

    Antidotum Adrianum, 288
      Andromachus, 292
      Mithridatum, 289;
      absurdities of, 290;
      Galen on, 292
      Podagrica, 310
      Pythagoras, 18

    Anthony, Francis, panacea of, 391;
      epitaph, 393

    Anthropomorphon, 20

    Antifebrin, discovery, ii, 273

    Anti-hecticum poterii, 425

    Antimony, introduction, 224, 226, 227;
      used by Paracelsus, 243;
      early use in medicine, 376;
      etymology, 377;
      alchemists, researches on, 379;
      compounds of, 227, 378, 380;
      controversy, 383;
      symbol, ii, 309

    Antimony cups, 385
      sulphide, 326, 378, 382

    Antipyrin, discovery, ii, 274

    Antiseptic vinegar, ii, 56

    Apollo, god of medicine, 6;
      portrait, 7;
      banished from Olympia, 8;
      Apollo and Daphne myth, 9, 33

    Apotheca, meaning, 117

    Apothecary, Biblical mention, 50

    Apothecary’s duty defined, 155

    Apothecary, picture of, ii, 81
      in “Romeo and Juliet,” ii, 77
      versions, ii, 78; ii, 79; ii, 80

    Apothecaries’ Jewish Guild, 51
      become physicians, 152
      charges, 149, 150
      curriculum, 122
      during the Plague, 149
      early references, 142
      oath, 122
      Shakespearian references, ii, 70; ii, 71; ii, 77
      Society, arms, 9, 31;
        motto, 10;
        incorporation, 144, 256;
        drug-inspection, ii, 17;
        weights as metaphor, ii, 71.
        _See also_ Chemists _and_ Pharmacists

    Apothek, derivation, 95

    Apoplexy, remedy, 133

    Apozem of Epsom Salts, 345

    Apozems, meaning, ii, 281; ii, 299

    Aqua aluminosa, 346
      ardens, 223, 328
      arthritica, ii, 8
      kali Puri, 325
      Luccana, 339
      Lulliana, 348
      mirabilis, ii, 281
      Omnium Florum, ii, 8
      Phagadænica, 414

    Aqua Sancti Luciæ, 339
      Temperata, 348
      Tufania, ii, 235
      Vitæ, early use, 223, 329;
        Rhazes on, 107;
        Shakespearian reference, ii, 75;
        symbol, ii, 309;
        Hibernorum, ii, 65.
        _See also_ alcohol
      vini, 329

    Aquetta di Napoli, ii, 235

    Aquila Alba, 419; ii, 281

    Arab pharmacy, 97

    Arabic names in pharmacy, 103

    Arcanum Corallinum, 249
      duplicatum, 355, 371; ii, 281
      meaning of, 249; ii, 281
      Tartari, ii, 281
      Vitrioli, 398

    Arcœus invents elemi ointment, ii, 133

    Areometer, invention, 281

    Arfwedson discovers lithium, 353

    Argentum vivum, 408

    Argile, 333

    Archidoxa Medicinæ of Paracelsus, 390

    Archigenes’s Hiera, ii, 139

    Aristes, medical discoveries, 16

    Arithmetic, invention, 4

    Armoniac, 334

    Arnold of Villa Nova, 329

    Arquebusade water, ii, 56

    Arrow-poisoning, antiquity of, ii, 222

    Arsenic, early use, 108;
      eaten in Styria, ii, 238;
      Marsh’s test, ii, 241;
      symbol, ii, 309

    Assassin, origin of word, ii, 226

    Asclepiades, 79

    Asparagin, isolation of, 275

    Asphalt used in embalming, 359

    Astronomy. _See_ Starcraft

    Athanasia, identity of, 22

    Athanor, ii, 281

    Atropa, sister of the Fates, 24

    Atropine, discovery, ii, 248;
      synthetic, ii, 266

    Attalus cultivates medicinal plants, 288

    Aurum fulminans, 396
      musivum, 424
      Potabile, Anthony’s formula, 392;
        Glauber’s formula, 389, 390, 393;
        other recipes, 394, 395, 396;
        Shakespearian reference, ii, 74
      vitæ, 414

    Avenzoar of Seville, 110

    Averrhoes of Cordova, 110

    Avicenna’s doctrines, 102;
      formulas, 103;
      biography, 108;
      writings, 109;
      portrait, 108;
      influence of, 117;
      introduces silvering pills, 423


            B

    Baaras, identity of, 21

    Bacchus, ancient god, 5

    Bacon, Roger, writings, 132;
      on aurum potabile, 390

    Bagdad, foundation of, 100

    Bain-Marie, ii, 282

    Baktischwah, Persian physician, 104

    Balanites Egyptiaca gum, 53

    Balanoi, ii, 299

    Balard, discovers bromine, 273, 339

    Balm, etymology, ii, 281

    Balm of Gilead, 49, 53;
      Galen on, 213;
      in mithridatum, 293; ii, 281

    Balneum Mariæ, ii, 282

    Balsam Arcœi, ii, 133

    Balsam of bats, 257
      etymology, ii, 281
      of sulphur, 360; ii, 58

    Barbadoes tar, 360

    Barbarossa’s mercurial pills, 411

    Barley water, Hippocrates recommends, 87

    Barytes, discovery, 269

    Basilic powder, 420

    Basilicon ointment, origin, ii, 282

    Basilides, note on, 165

    Bateman’s pectoral drops, ii, 163

    Baths, varieties, ii, 282

    Baume du Chevalier de Saint Victor, ii, 136
      du Commandeur de Permes, ii, 136
      de Fioraventi, ii, 173
      Tranquille, ii, 175
      de Vie, ii, 176

    Baumé, French chemist, 281

    Bayen, French pharmacist, 276

    Bdellium, identity of, 62

    Bears’ grease, use of, ii, 12

    Beer, medicinal, ii, 283

    Bell’s “Historical Sketch of the Progress of Pharmacy,” 150, 156

    Belladonna, etymology, 24;
      old names, 25;
      uses, 25

    Belloste’s mercurial pills, 412

    Benjamin, etymology, ii, 269

    Benzoic acid, synthetic, ii, 268

    Benzoyl, discovery, ii, 257

    Berkeley, Bishop, portrait, 315;
      devises tar water, 316;
      publications, 316

    Bernard, Claude, 285
      of Gordon, 135

    Berthelot’s “History of Alchemy,” 114

    Berthollet, French Chemist, 281

    Besen, meaning of, ii, 281

    Bestucheff’s Tincture, 321;
      secret purchased, 322;
      formula, 404

    Betton’s British Oils, 359; ii, 164

    Bezoar Germanosum, ii, 15
      stones, first mention, 111;
      use in medicine, ii, 15;
      source, ii, 15;
      price, ii, 16; ii, 18;
      as charms, ii, 16;
      fallacy of, ii, 18;
      as antidote, ii, 221

    Bezoardic powder, ii, 19

    Bezoards, ii, 282

    Bible, pharmacy in, 46
      drugs mentioned in, 53
      poisons in, ii, 222

    Biblical references, 27, 29, 33, 46, 53; ii, 222

    Biliousness remedies, 161, 167

    Bindo, A., Earl of Rochester’s pseudonym, ii, 204

    Birthwort as remedy, 184

    Bismuth, first mention, 386;
      regarded as poisonous, 387;
      liquor, 388;
      lozenges, 388;
      oxychloride, 387

    Bitter flavours, Jewish objection to, 48, 64

    Bitter Purging Salts, 345

    Bitumen of Judæa, in embalming, 359

    Black, Joseph, on alkalies, 324;
      portrait, 357;
      on alkaline earths, 356

    Black draught, origin of, ii, 121
      drop, invention of, ii, 145
      precipitate, 418
      wash, introduction, 146, 257

    Bladder wort as remedy, 184

    Blanc de fard, 386

    Blatta Byzantina, 57

    Blaud, Dr., French physician, ii, 122

    Blaud’s pills, original formula, ii, 122

    Bleeding, old cure for, 172

    Blindness, cures, 81, 82, 298

    Blisters, introduced, ii, 282

    Blood root as remedy, 184

    Blue vitriol, 373

    Bodega, derivation, 95

    Boils, Biblical remedy, 46, 73;
      cure for, 170

    Bole armeniæ, medical uses, 216

    Bologna sun-stone, 361

    Bolus, meaning of, ii, 282

    Bombast _See_ Paracelsus

    Borax, early use, 108

    Borith, 324

    Botanologoi, 95

    Boulduc, French apothecary, 281

    Boules de Mars, 402
      de Nancy, 402

    Boutique, derivation, 95

    Bovins’s remedy, 374

    Boyle investigates phosphorus, 365

    Boyle’s “Hell,” 417

    Boyveau-Laffecteur’s rob, 415

    Brandt discovers phosphorus, 363

    Brass, 426

    Brass-alum, 427

    “Breviarium Bartholomei,” 135

    Brinvilliers, poisoner, ii, 232

    British oils, 359; ii, 164

    British Pharmacopœia, animal substances in, ii, 4;
      editions, ii, 69

    Brockenden’s compressed drugs, ii, 167

    Bromine, discoverer, 273;
      isolation, 339

    Brongniart, French pharmacist, 276

    Broom, Biblical plant, 65

    Brugnatelli’s Poudre Vermifuge, 426

    Bucklersbury, drug trade centre, 140

    Burchell’s necklaces, ii, 171

    Burghley’s gout preventive, 172

    Bulleyn’s electuarium de Gemmis, ii, 35

    Burnt sponge for scrofula, 353

    Burt’s “Heartburn Tablets,” 388

    Butter of antimony, 380

    Byfield’s sal oleosum volatile, ii, 162


            C

    Caffeine, discovery, ii, 247;
      synthesis, ii, 268

    Caius, Dr., ii, 71

    Calamus draconis fruit, 31

    Calatippe, ii, 17

    Calomel, introduction, 146, 257, 418;
      etymology, 419

    Calx Jovis, 425; ii, 283
      Lunæ, ii, 283
      meaning of, ii, 283
      Mercurii, ii, 283
      Saturnii, ii, 283

    Camphor, use in medicine, 109;
      synthetic, ii, 269

    Canterbury bells as remedy, 184

    Cantharides as gout remedy, 216

    Capers, use in East, 74

    Caput mortuum, ii, 283

    Carbonic acid gas, discovered, 259

    Cardinal’s powder, ii, 97

    Carduus Benedictus, Shakespearian reference, ii, 73

    Carminative, etymology, ii, 283
      Spirit of Sylvius, 337

    Cassia, introduction of, 105

    Castor oil, used by Dioscorides, 210;
      notes on, ii, 89;
      picture of plant, ii, 90;
      early uses, ii, 90;
      treatise on, ii, 92;
      etymology, ii, 93.
      _See also_ Ricinus.

    Castorum, early use, 217

    Cat, medicinal use, ii, 13

    Cataplasm, etymology, ii, 283

    Catholica, meaning of, ii, 283

    Caustic potash formulæ, 325

    Caventou discovers quinine, 274.
      _See also_ Pelletier

    Celsus, on Egyptian medicine, 35;
      writings, 90

    Centaurs, fable, 15

    Centaury, etymology, 14;
      figure of, 25

    Ceratum, ii, 127
      de Lapide calaminari, ii, 158
      lithargyri, 400

    Cerates, meaning of, ii, 283

    Cereirsiæ, ii, 283

    Ceruse, ii, 284. _See also_ White lead.
      of antimony, ii, 284

    Chamberlain’s restorative pills, 421

    Chamberlen’s necklaces, ii, 170

    Chamomile, use in medicine, 125

    Chambre ardente enquiry, ii, 236

    Chaptal, French chemist, 281

    Charas, French chemist, 279

    Charms, dragon’s blood as, 32;
      use of, 157, 171.
      _See also_ Talismans

    Charles II, prescription for, ii, 6; ii, 182

    Chaucer on physicians, 133

    Chelbanah, 56

    Chelsea Pensioner, origin, ii, 123;
      formula, ii, 124

    Chemistry, Patin on, 243;
      Boerhaave’s definition, 323;
      debt of pharmacy to, 323

    Chemists and Druggists origin, 154.
      _See also_ Apothecaries _and_ Pharmacists

    Chenopodium Botrys, old name, 22

    Chloral hydrate, preparation, ii, 272

    Chloric ether, ii, 252

    Chlorine, discovery, 269

    Chloroform anæsthesia, discovery of, ii, 251; ii, 272

    Cholera, Heraclides’s remedy, 89

    Chinchon, Countess of, ii, 94; ii, 102

    Ching’s Worm Lozenges, ii, 166

    Chin-Nong herbal, 287

    Chiron, knowledge of simples, 14

    Christ, meaning of, 60

    Chromium, discovery, 271

    Churchill, Dr., introduces hypophosphites, 307

    Cibus Celestus, ii, 31

    Cinchona, discovery of, ii, 93;
      how its virtues were discovered, ii, 94;
      first used in Europe, ii, 95;
      opposition to using, ii, 95;
      Talbor employs, ii, 97;
      tincture of, ii, 100;
      derivation of word, ii, 102;
      introduction, ii, 104

    Cinchonidine, discovery, ii, 247

    Cinchonine, discovery, ii, 247

    Cinnabar as panacea, 421;
      confused with minium, 408

    Circe, invention of poisons, ii, 221

    Circulatores, 93

    Circumforanei, 93

    Citrine ointment, origin, ii, 125

    Clement of Alexandria, writings, 37

    “Closed ring” theory, ii, 261

    Clyster, ii, 290

    Cobwebs, for bleeding, ii, 73

    Cocaine, synthetic, ii, 266

    Cochineal insects, patent, ii, 162

    Cochleare, meaning of, ii, 284

    Codeine, discovery, 276; ii, 248

    Coffee, introduction, 284

    Cohal, 327

    Cohobation, meaning of, ii, 284

    Colcothar, ii, 284

    Colchicum, virtues discovered, 17;
      introduction, ii, 182; ii, 221
      wine, ii, 67

    Cold cream, ii, 65; ii, 127

    Collier de Morand, ii, 171

    Collodion, discovery, 340

    Collutories, ii, 284

    Collyrium, ii, 284

    Colical antidote of Nicostratus, 215

    Colocynth, Biblical reference, 69

    Comfrey, used by Saxons, 126

    Commander’s Balsam, ii, 135

    Compound liquorice powder, origin, ii, 148
      soap pills, origin of, ii, 153

    Confectio Anti-Epileptica, 248
      piperis, origin of, ii, 210; ii, 214
      Raleighana, 312, 313, 314

    Confection of Alkermes, ii, 51
      of Mithridates, 290
      of opium, origin of, ii, 40

    Confectionarii, 117

    Coniine, synthetic, ii, 266

    Conserves, ii, 285

    Copper, Valentine’s method of preparing, 228;
      symbol, ii, 307; ii, 310

    Copper sulphate, early use, 108

    Coral, use in medicine, 247; ii, 32

    Cordova, 98;
      view of, 99

    Cornachino’s powder, 420

    Corrosive sublimate, introduction, 105;
      for itch, 108;
      concession, 148;
      as syphilis remedy, 414;
      medical use, 421

    Cos, temple of, 11

    Cosmas, patron saint of pharmacy, 19

    “Cotta contra Antonium,” 391

    Cough, old remedies, 90, 128

    “Council of Ten” as poisoners, ii, 228

    Coursus de Gangeland, 142

    Courtois discovers iodine, 351

    Cow-dung as a medicine, ii, 8

    Crabs’-claws’ powder, ii, 19

    Crabs’ eyes, 356

    Cramp rings, 172, 294;
      antiquity of, 305;
      origin, 306;
      consecration, 306

    Cream of tartar, investigated, 268, 371

    Cress, use in medicine, 125

    Crocomagma, ii, 285

    Crocus Martis, 350, 398, ii, 284, ii, 285
      meaning of, ii, 285
      metallorum, ii, 285
      veneris, ii, 285

    Crollius, medical writer, 183, 185

    Crucible, meaning, ii, 285

    Cubebs, history, ii, 108;
      medicinal uses, ii, 108;
      ingredient in Mithridate, ii, 108;
      re-introduced, ii, 108

    Cucupha, ii, 285

    Cucurbit, ii, 285

    Culpepper, Nicholas, 251;
      criticises P.L., 251;
      portrait, 252;
      house, 253;
      career, 253

    Cusinier’s syrup, ii, 155

    Cyathus, meaning, ii, 285

            D

    Daffy, Rev. T., invents elixir, ii, 172

    Damien, patron saint of pharmacy, 19

    Damocrates, 91;
      Mithridatum, ii, 38; ii, 39

    Dante, connection with pharmacy, 279

    Daphnine, discovery of, ii, 245

    Darsini, 219

    David, King, electuary, 220

    Davy, Sir Humphry, portrait, 284

    Decocta, invention, ii, 285

    Decoctum Aloes Co., origin, ii, 176

    “Degrees” in diagnosis, 179

    Deliquium, ii, 286

    Demons as cause of disease, 158

    Danaus’s Collyrium, 215

    Dephlogisticated air, 269

    Derosne’s salt, ii, 244

    Despumation, ii, 286

    Devil’s claw, 57

    D’Husson’s Eau Medicinale, ii, 182;
      price, ii, 184;
      composition, ii, 184

    Dia, meaning, ii, 286

    Diabetes, papyrus remedy, 43

    Diachylon plaster, invention, 91; ii, 127;
      first formula, ii, 128;
      etymology, ii, 128; ii, 286, 406

    Diacodium, inventor, 90;
      etymology, ii, 287

    Dia-kodion, origin, ii, 116

    Diapente, etymology, ii, 287

    Diaphoretic vitriol, 374

    Diarrhœa, old remedies, 43, 294

    Diascordium, 223;
      formula, ii, 41; ii, 287

    Diatesseron, 310

    Diet, Hippocrates on, 87;
      Aetius on, 215;
      Alexander of Trailles on, 217

    Digby, Sir Kenelm, toothache cure, 168;
      biography, 193;
      portrait, 194;
      tincture of gold, 395

    Digitalis, origin of name, ii, 109;
      medical history, ii, 109;
      book on, ii, 110

    Dill, Biblical reference, 71;
      used by Saxons, 126

    Dioscorides, 90;
      biography, 206;
      writings, 208, 209

    Dippel’s oil, ii, 25;
      uses, ii, 26

    Diseases, transferring, 170

    Distillation, antiquity of, 327

    Distilled waters, 328

    Distillers’ Company, 148

    Dittany, uses, 26

    Dover, T., biography, ii, 129;
      “Ancient Physician’s Legacy,” ii, 131

    Dover’s powder, first official, ii, 67; ii, 115;
      origin, ii, 129;
      original formula, ii, 132

    Drachm sign, origin, ii, 300

    Draco Mitigatus, 419, 420

    Dragon’s blood, origin, 31

    Dragon tree, figure of, 32

    Dragons, Biblical references, 33

    Drink cures, old, 130; ii, 12

    Dropaxes, ii, 282; ii, 287

    Dropsy cured by touch, 299

    Drug, etymology, ii, 287

    Drug-inspection, 138; ii, 17

    Drug-trade, development, 138

    Drugs as charms, ii, 75;
      in Ebers’s papyrus, 40;
      in Bible, 53;
      mentioned by Hippocrates, 77

    Dschondisabour, medical college at, 101, 103

    Dublin Pharmacopœias, ii, 69

    Dudaim, identity of, 20, 49

    Duke of Portland’s powder, 215, 309; ii, 125

    Dumas, French chemist, 286;
      theory of substitution, ii, 259

    Dumeril, French physician, 276

    Duncan and Flockhart’s chloroform, ii, 253

    Dutch Drops, origin of, ii, 176

    Dysentery, ipecacuanha as remedy, ii, 114

            E

    Ear-ache, early remedies, 45, 130

    Earl of Warwick’s powder, 308, 383, 420

    Earthworms as remedy, ii, 11, ii, 12

    Eaton’s styptick, ii, 163

    Eau des Carmes, origin, ii, 178;
      formula, ii, 179
      Divine de Fernel, 414
      de Luce, 338;
        inventor, 339
      de Lusse, 339
      Medicinale d’Husson, ii, 67, ii, 182
      de la Reine d’Hongrie, 297

    Ebers’ papyrus, 36;
      described, 37;
      photograph, 41;
      date, 48

    Ebn-Izak, translator of Greek works, 105

    Ecclesiasticus, author, 47;
      medical aphorisms, 47

    Eclegma, ii, 288

    Ecussons, ii, 288

    Edinburgh Pharmacopœias, ii, 69

    Edulcorate, ii, 288

    Edward the Confessor treats scrofula, 299, 300

    Elements, old theories, 174

    Elemi ointment, origin, ii, 133

    Egrea, daughter of Æsculapius, 11

    Egypt, medicine in, 34, 46;
      conquest, 98

    Egyptiacum. _See_ Ægyptiacum

    Egyptian papyri, medical, 36

    Electron, as poison test, ii, 231

    Electrum, 40

    Electuarium de Gemmis, ii, 35

    Electuary, etymology, ii, 288
      of Alexander of Tralles, 216

    Elemi ointment, invention, ii, 133

    Elixir of Alves, origin, ii, 57
      etymology, ii, 288
      of Garus, ii, 57
      of Long Life, 390
      Proprietatis, ii, 57
      of vitriol, 375

    Elizabeth, Queen, medical knowledge, 295

    Emeralds, used in medicine, ii, 34

    Emetic cups, 385

    Emetic tartar, preparation, 380;
      invention, 382;
      uses, 383

    Emetine, discovery of, ii, 248

    Empedocles, theory of elements, 174

    Empirics, old sect, 89;
      leader of, 217

    Emplastra, ii, 289

    Emplastrum Commune, ii, 129
      vigonium, 410

    Empyreal gas, 269

    Emulsion, etymology, ii, 289

    Enchrista, ii, 289

    Enema, ii, 290

    Enoch, book of, 4

    Ens, ii, 290

    Epidaurus, temple of, 11

    Epilepsy, remedies, 134, 166, 200, 214
      charm, 247, 294, 307

    Epithema, ii, 290

    Epithemation, ii, 290

    Epsom, medicinal springs, 340
      salts, introduction, 340

    Erfurt discovers aniline, ii, 263

    Errhines, ii, 290

    Erythræa Centaurium, 25

    Erzalaum, 427

    Essenes practise medicine, 50

    Essential oils, prepared by Paracelsus, 246

    Ether, early references, 347;
      first made, 347;
      investigated, 347;
      old names, 348;
      chemical nature, 348;
      as anæsthetic, ii, 249;
      preparation, ii, 271

    Ethiops Antimoniale, 351
      gommeux, 350
      magnesium, 350
      Martial, 350, 398; ii, 311
      Mineral, 350
      origin of, 350
      saccharine, 350

    Ethiopic pills, 351

    Everlasting pills, 381

    Excreta, used in medicine, 40; ii, 5, ii, 7, ii, 8, ii, 9

    Exili, poisoner, ii, 230, ii, 233

    Extract of Saturn, 265; ii, 311

    Eyes, remedies for, 185

            F

    Face wrinkles, papyrus prescription, 44

    Fæx vini, 371

    “Fakhiliteh,” Arab treatise, 112

    Fat, human, medical uses, ii, 7

    Ferdinand of Austria, plague powder, ii, 35;
      invents antidote, ii, 229

    Fennel, used by Saxons, 126

    Fernel, Paris physician, 415

    Ferruginous waters, effect of, 403

    Fever, Rhazes’s treatment, 106;
      charm for, 107;
      cinchona for, ii, 95

    Fig poultice, 46, 73

    Fig tree in Bible, 73

    Flies in ointment, quotation, 51

    Fioraventi’s Balsam, ii, 173

    “Fire-air,” 269

    Fire-stone, 360

    Fistula paste, Ward’s, ii, 214

    “Fixed air,” 357

    Flake’s anti-hæmorrhoidal ointment, 425

    Flores martis, 398
      zinci, 427

    Flos cœlorum, 375

    Flückiger and Hanbury’s “Pharmacographia,” ii, 86

    Fluoric acid, discovery, 268

    Folk-lore, superstitious, 168

    Ford’s Balsam of Horehound, ii, 167

    Forget-me-not, old name, 185

    Formic acid, synthetic, ii, 257

    Fourcroy, French chemist, 285

    Four officinal capitals, ii, 37

    Four Thieves’ Vinegar, ii, 56

    Fowler’s Solution of Arsenic, ii, 133;
      original recipe, ii, 134

    Fowler, T., biography, ii, 133;
      publication, ii, 134

    Fox, medical uses, 127

    Foxes’ lungs, as remedy, ii, 1; ii, 11

    Fox-glove. _See_ Digitalis

    France, pharmacy ordinances, 121

    Frankincense, source, 56

    Frankland’s theory of valency, ii, 260

    Frascator, Jerome, biography, 223

    Frederick II, pharmacy edict, 117

    French disease, 413.
      _See also_ syphilis

    Friar’s Balsam, origin of, ii, 135

    Frier’s Drops, ii, 136; ii, 165

    Fritzsche’s aniline, ii, 263

    Furies, propitiating, 167

            G

    Galbanum, Biblical reference, 56

    Gallitzenstein, 427

    Galvani’s experiments, ii, 167

    Gale’s Spa Elixir, ii, 165

    Galen, theory of humours, 178;
      biography, 210;
      infallibility, 210;
      bust, 211;
      portrait, 211;
      influenced by dreams, 212;
      medical fame, 214;
      works, 214;
      criticised, 216

    Galen’s ceratum lithargyri, 406
      cold cream, ii, 65; ii, 127
      confection, ii, 42
      Hiera, ii, 139
      pil. cochia, ii, 152

    Garth’s “Dispensary,” 151

    Garus’s elixir, ii, 57

    Gas, invention of word, 260; ii, 290

    “Gas sylvestre,” 260, 357

    Gascoyne’s powder, ii, 19

    Gay-Lussac, French chemist, 284

    Geber, chemical discoveries, 102, 105

    Gentian, discovery of, 288

    Gentius, King of Illyria, 288

    Geoffrey, French physician, 278

    Gerard’s Herbal quoted, 67

    Gerhardt, French chemist, 283

    Germany, pharmacy ordinances, 120

    Gilead, Balm of. _See_ Balm of Gilead

    Gilead, where situated, 54

    Gilla vitrioli, 374; ii, 290

    Girandeau, syphilis remedy, 415;
      prosecuted, 416

    Glaser’s sal Polychrest, 371;
      makes silver nitrate sticks, 424

    Glauber, biography, 260;
      chemical discoveries, 261;
      bust, 262;
      invents Kermes mineral, 381;
      Kermes, secret purchased, 319;
      discovers spirit of salt, 369

    Glauber’s salts, discovery, 261

    Glaucus, restored to life, 13

    Glucinium, discovery, 271

    Glycerin, discovery, 270

    Glyster, ii, 290

    Godbold’s Vegetable Balsam, ii, 166

    Goddard, Dr. J., note on, ii, 180

    Goddard’s Drops, secret purchased, 319, 337;
      origin, ii, 179;
      uses, ii, 179

    Godfrey’s Cordial, ii, 177

    Gold, medicinal uses, 388;
      for covering pills, 389;
      cure for syphilis, 395;
      symbol, ii, 306; ii, 307; ii, 310.
      _See also_ Aurum

    Gold leaf, use of, 388

    Golden Drops, 321

    “Golden Water,” 329

    Goose grease as remedy, ii, 12

    Gout, remedies for, 129, 136, 167, 172, 215, 216, 217, 353; ii, 183
      powder, Mayerne’s, 257;
      Duke of Portland’s, 215, 309

    Gourd, Biblical plant, 66, 69

    Goulard, biography, 264;
      discoveries, 265

    Goulard’s extract, 265

    Greeks, drugs used by, 77

    Green precipitate, 417

    Green vitriol, 372, 427

    Gregory, Dr. Jas., portrait, ii, 137;
      publication, ii, 138

    Gregory’s Powder, origin of, ii, 137;
      prescription for, ii, 138

    Grew, Nehemiah, on Epsom salts, 342;
      portrait, 343

    Griffith’s mixture, 403

    Grocers’ Guild, 139, 147

    Grubourt, French pharmacist, 282

    Guaiacum, syphilis cure, 414;
      history, ii, 111;
      medical uses, ii, 112;
      preparation, ii, 113

    Gutteta, ii, 290

    Gwynne’s “Aurum non aurum,” 391

            H

    Haarlem oil, origin, ii, 176

    Hair oil, papyrus formula, 42

    Hall, Dr., Shakespeare’s son-in-law, ii, 76

    Haloid salts, 326

    Ham, originator of medicine, 6

    Hamech, a purgative, 203

    Hammon, 6

    Hammoniacus salt, 334

    Hanckwitz advertisement, 141;
      makes phosphorus, 365

    Hartman’s “Book of Chymicall Secrets,” 196

    Headache Essence, Ward’s, ii, 214

    Headache, early remedies, 41, 42, 44, 129

    Heartburn tablets, 388

    Hebenon, Shakespearian reference, ii, 83

    Heberden, Dr. W., portrait, 291

    Helbanah, 56

    Helias’s letter to Alfred the Great, 114, 131

    “Hell-stone,” 424

    Hellebore as medicine, 12;
      used by Paracelsus, 246

    Helvetius’s pills, 32;
      ipecacuanha secret, 319

    Helvetius employs alum, 331;
      French physician, ii, 114

    Hemlock, Biblical reference, 64

    Henbane, etymology, ii, 276;
      toothache remedy, 168, 185.
      _See also_ Hyoscyamus.

    Henry VIII, medical knowledge, 294;
      plaster for ulcers, 295;
      Halford on, 295

    Henry’s patent, 345

    Heracleus honey as poison, ii, 226

    Heraclides, 89

    Herbalists earliest doctors, 1

    Herbs, symbolical names, 35;
      used by Saxons, 124

    Hermes, Greek god, 4;
      works of, 5, 162;
      Egyptian, 157; ii, 305

    Hermodactyls, gout remedy, 217; ii, 183

    Hezekiah’s boil, treatment, 46, 73

    Hezob, 64

    Hhawi, Rhazes’s book, 106

    Hiera Diacolocynthidis, ii, 141

    Hiera Picra, origin, ii, 138;
      antiquity, ii, 139;
      first formula, ii, 139;
      other recipes, ii, 140, 141

    Hin, ancient measure, 59

    Hippocrates, drugs mentioned by, 77;
      biography, 84;
      portrait, 85;
      as pharmacist, 91;
      doctrines, 100, 101, 178;
      theory of cures, 183;
      theories attacked, 217

    Hippocrates’s sleeve, ii, 294

    Hoffmann’s anodyne, 348; ii, 67

    Hofmann, A. W. von, researches, ii, 263;
      portrait, ii, 264

    “Holland oil,” ii, 255

    Homberg’s weather figures, 364;
      narcotic salt, 374

    Homologues, discovery, ii, 259

    Honey, medical uses, 245; ii, 30;
      preparations, ii, 31

    Hooper’s Female Pills, ii, 163

    Horehound, early use, 210

    Horse leech, Biblical mention, 70

    Horus, discoverer of medicine, 3

    Houel, founder of Paris School of Pharmacy, 285

    Hoy’s salt, 345

    Humours, doctrine of, 178

    Hungary Powder, ii, 35

    Hungary, Queen of, invents rosemary water, 296;
      origin of formula, 298

    Huxham, J., biography, ii, 100;
      portrait, ii, 101;
      “Essay on Fevers,” ii, 101

    Huxham’s tincture, ii, 67; ii, 100, 102

    Hyacinth confection, ii, 34

    Hydrargyrum, derivation, 408

    Hydrochloric acid. _See_ Spirit of salt

    Hydrocyanic acid. _See_ Prussic acid

    Hydrophobia, poem on, 224

    Hygeia, daughter of Æsculapius, 11

    Hyoscyamus, etymology, ii, 276.
      _See also_ Henbane

    Hypnotic Powder of Jacobi, 350

    Hypophosphites, medical use, 367

    Hyssop, Biblical reference, 64;
      Dioscorides on, 209

            I

    Icy Noctiluca, 365

    Incense, 38, 50;
      etymology, 55;
      Biblical formula, 55, 57;
      Catholic formula, 58

    Infant’s skin as a charm, 173

    Infusions, introduction of, ii, 290

    Infusum Gentianæ Co., origin, ii, 291

    Insane root, 21;
      Shakespearian reference, ii, 72

    Iodine discovery, 351

    Iodoform, first prepared, 353

    Ipecacuanha, history, ii, 114;
      medical use, ii, 114;
      dose, ii, 115

    Iron citrate, introduction, 405
      iodide, 405
      perchloride as secret remedy, 322
      phosphate, 405
      reduced by hydrogen, 404

    Iron, as remedy, 12, 187, 217, 397;
      varieties, 398;
      in the blood, 398;
      Sydenham and Willis on, 399;
      pharmaceutical preparations, 402, 403, 404, 405;
      symbol, ii, 307; ii, 310
      sulphate, medical use, 108
      syrups, various, 405
      tincture, 404

    Isis founder of medicine, 2, 34;
      invocation to, 38
      tears, name for Vervain, 35

    Isotheos, ancient nostrum, 215

    Israelite medicine, 46

    Itch, treatment, 130, 201
      history, 202
      theories, 203
      cause, 204
      van Helmont contracts, 258, 420

    Ivy, called Osiris, 35

            J

    Jacobi’s powder, 350

    Jamblicus, writings of, 5

    James Dr., portrait, ii, 187

    James’s analeptic pills, ii, 165; ii, 189

    James’s powder, first official, ii, 67;
      patent, ii, 164;
      origin, ii, 187; ii, 191;
      patent, ii, 188;
      imitations, ii, 190

    Jaso, daughter of Æsculapius, 11

    Jesuits’ bark, ii, 97.
      _See also_ Cinchona drops, ii, 135

    Jews, belief in charms, 160;
      medicines of, 48;
      object to bitter flavours, 48, 64

    John of Gaddesden, 134;
      small-pox cure, 169, 186

    John xxi, medical author, 294

    Johnson, Dr., touched for scrofula, 301

    Johnson’s Golden Ointment, ii, 199

    Jonah’s gourd, 66

    Julep, etymology, 103; ii, 291

    Juniper, Biblical reference, 65

    Jussieu, French botanist, 284

            K

    Kadolikoi, 95

    Kakhal, 327

    Katapotia, 86; ii, 283, ii, 291

    Kekulé’s structural formulas, ii, 261;
      portrait, ii, 262

    Kermes, etymology, ii, 50;
      what it is, ii, 50;
      uses, ii, 51
      Mineral, invention, 381;
      medicinal uses, 381

    Kesebt, identity of, 42

    Ketorah, meaning of, 55

    Kik, Gerard’s reference, 67

    Kiki, ii, 90

    King’s Evil, cured by touch, 298;
      Shakespearian reference, ii, 72.
      _See also_ Scrofula

    Kohol, 378

    Kopopoloi, 95

    Koran as Arab literature, 98

    Kousso, introduction, ii, 115;
      tapeworm, remedy, ii, 115

    Krabadin, earliest pharmacopœia, 103

    Kunckel’s, portrait, 362;
      Bologna stone, 363;
      luminous pills, 365

    Kurella, Dr., note on, ii, 148

    Kyanol, ii, 263

    Kyphi, sacred perfume, 45

            L

    La Mère Thecle’s ointment, 407

    La Mothe’s Golden Drops, 321, 404

    La Voisin, poisoner, ii, 236

    Lac Virginis, ii, 136; ii, 292

    Ladanum, Biblical reference, 64

    Lana philosophica, 427

    Lancaster Black Drop, ii, 145

    Lang, Andrew on mythology, 33

    Lapis Bezoar Occidentale, ii, 15;
      Infernalis, 424; ii, 292;
      Medicamentosus, ii, 292;
      Mirabilis, ii, 292

    Laser. _See_ Silphion

    Laudanum, Paracelsus’s, 243;
      Shakespearian reference, ii, 75;
      invention, ii, 142;
      recipes, ii, 142;
      etymology, ii, 143;
      various kinds, ii, 144

    Laugier, French chemist, 282

    Laune, Gideon de, 144;
      biography, 146;
      pills, 147

    Lavoisier, French chemist, 281

    Lavoisier defines salts, 326

    Le Febre’s “great cordial,” 312;
      Baume de Vie, ii, 176

    Lead, medical use, 406;
      preparations, 406;
      Goulard uses, 407;
      symbol, ii, 307, ii, 310

    Lead plaster. _See_ Diachylon

    Lead solution, discovery, 265

    Lebonah, meaning of, 55

    Ledger, C., obtains cinchona seeds, ii, 105;
      annuity, ii, 107;
      portrait, ii, 107

    Leechdoms, Saxon, 124

    Leeches, Biblical mention, 70;
      first use of, ii, 139

    Lemery, French pharmacist, 280;
      works, 281;
      Crocus Martis, 350;
      tincture of gold, 395

    Lemnian earth, ii, 53;
      source, ii, 53;
      uses, ii, 54

    Lenitive electuary, origin, ii, 146

    Lepidus marinus, poison, ii, 226, ii, 227

    Leucomaines, discovery, ii, 242

    Levingstern, Epsom apothecary, 341

    Libanos, meaning, 55

    Liebig, portrait, 283;
      mistake of, 339

    Lign aloes, Biblical reference, 63

    Lilium, Paracelsus’s, 244

    Limbeck, 328;
      etymology, ii, 279

    Lime water, efficacy, 356

    Linamentum, ii, 290

    Linimentum camphoræ compositæ, origin, ii, 210, ii, 214

    Lion, medical, use, ii, 12

    Liquor Bismuthi, introduction, 387
      Cranii Humani, ii, 5

    Lisbon Diet Drink, ii, 155

    Lisle’s Powder for Fevers, ii, 191

    Litharge, 406

    Lithargyrum Argenti, 406
      Auri, 406

    Lithium discovery, 353;
      uses, 353

    Liver complaint, ancient diagnosis, 39;
      old remedy, 288

    Lixivium, 324
      Saponarium, 325
      Tartari, 372

    Lizards’ blood, 39

    Locatelli’s balsam, 32; ii, 159

    Locusta, poisoner, ii, 224

    Lohn’s writing board, 163

    London Pharmacopœia, the first, 103, 133;
      compiler, 146, 218, 256;
      criticised, 290, 418;
      formulæ, ii, 38, ii, 39, ii, 40, ii, 41;
      how prepared, ii, 60;
      contents, ii, 61;
      title-page, ii, 63;
      translation, ii, 67;
      formulæ, ii, 146

    Long, Dr., ether anæsthetist, ii, 249

    Long, St. John, biography, ii, 192;
      portrait, ii, 193;
      income, ii, 194;
      death, ii, 195

    Long’s Liniment, ii, 192, ii, 196

    Looch, origin of word, ii, 292

    Lozenges, ii, 299

    Luban, meaning of, 56

    Luce, Lille, pharmacist, 339

    Lully, Raymond, biography, 221;
      portrait, 222;
      on aqua vitæ, 329

    Luminous pills, 365

    Lunar caustic, ii, 311

    Luna fixata, 428

    Lupus Metallorum, 379

    Lydgate, note on, ii, 286

            M

    Maceration, ii, 292

    Machaon, son of Æsculapius, 11

    Macquer, French chemist, 277;
      arsenical salt, 277

    Madder, used by Saxons, 126

    Magdaleo, meaning of, ii, 292

    Magic and medicine, 2, 157

    Magistery of Bismuth, ii, 293
      of Human skull, ii, 6
      meaning of, ii, 293
      of Saturn, 407

    Magma, ii, 293

    Magnes Arsenicalis, ii, 293

    Magnesia, medical use, 354;
      preparation, 354;
      etymology, 354;
      confused with manganese, 355;
      in mineral springs, 355;
      Black, on, 356
      of Gold, 355

    Magnesian stone, 354

    Magnesium, preparation, 357

    Magnets as cures, 199

    Magnus, Albertus, describes caustic potash, 325

    Magog identified with Prometheus, 12

    Maimonides, Jewish scholar, 111;
      remedies for poison, ii, 34

    Malagmata, 91; ii, 294

    Malascation, meaning of, ii, 294

    Male fern, tapeworm remedy, 320, 321

    Mallows, Biblical plant, 65

    Man, parts of, used in medicine, ii, 4

    Mandrake, legends, 19;
      as sterility remedy, 20, 48;
      ancient uses of, 21

    Mandragora, legends of, 19;
      Shakespearian reference, ii, 75;
      on battle-field, ii, 225

    Manhu, derivation of manna, 60

    Manica Hypocratis, ii, 294

    Manipulus, ii, 294

    Manna, Biblical, 60;
      sources, 61;
      Avicenna, uses, 109

    Manna metallorum, 419

    Manus Christi, meaning of, ii, 294

    Manus Dei, meaning of, ii, 294

    Marcquis’s “Aloe Morbifuga,” ii, 89

    Markham, Sir C., introduces cinchona into India, ii, 102;
      on derivation of cinchona, ii, 103;
      “Peruvian Bark,” ii, 105

    Marmalades, origin of, ii, 294

    Marsh’s arsenic test, ii, 241

    Martial Regulus of Antimony, 379

    Masticatories, meaning of, ii, 294

    Matrass, ii, 294

    Matthews’s Pills, origin of, ii, 154

    Mauve, discovery, ii, 263

    May dew for the complexion, 173

    Mayerne, Sir Theodore de, 144;
      portrait, 145;
      biography, 146, 255;
      impeached, 384;
      introduces calomel, 418;
      anti-epileptic powder, ii, 6;
      writes preface to P. L., ii, 61;
      burlesqued, ii, 71

    Maythe, use in medicine, 125

    Measures, signs for, ii, 300

    Meat, putrid, in medicine, 39

    Meconic acid, discovery, ii, 245

    Medea, medical discoveries, 17;
      inventor of poisons, ii, 221

    Medea oil, 359

    Medical aphorisms in Talmud, 50
      treatises in verse, 137

    Medicamentarii, 92

    Medicamentum ad annum, 310; ii, 177

    Medicina, 95

    Medicine, origin of, 2;
      associated with magic, 2;
      traditional founder, 2;
      god of, 6;
      as a science, 88;
      separation from pharmacy, 91;
      and magic, 157

    Medicines, charges for, 149, 150
      from metals, 376

    Megillat-Sammanin, treatise on pharmacology, 49

    Megrims diagnosis, 128;
      early remedy, 129

    Mel Egyptiacum, ii, 52
      Helleboratum, Culpepper, on, 251

    Melampus, medicinal discoveries, 12, 13;
      uses iron as remedy, 397

    Mellites, ii, 294

    Menecrates, 91;
      originator of diachylon, ii, 127; ii, 129

    Mensis Philosophicus, ii, 294

    Menstruum, meaning of, ii, 294

    Mentha, legend of, 26

    Mercury, ancient god, 4;
      medical use, 243;
      origin of name, 408;
      used by Arabs, 409;
      medical uses, 409;
      as syphilis cure, 409, 410;
      “killing,” 421;
      symbol for, ii, 305, ii, 306, ii, 310.
      _See also_ Corrosive Sublimate, Red Precipitate, Calomel,
        _and_ Quicksilver

    Mercurial ointment, 132, 410, 421
      pills, early formulæ, 411, 412, 421

    Mesué, the elder, 101, 105, 217, 218

    Mesué, the younger, 110, 217, 218

    Mesué’s unguentum tripharmacum, 406

    Mesmer, note on, 201;
      animal magnetism, ii, 167

    Messiah, meaning of, 60

    Metalepsy, ii, 259

    Metallic Tractors, 201; ii, 166

    Metals in Ebers’s papyrus, 40;
      as remedies, 186;
      symbols, ii, 304

    Metasyncretics, ii, 282

    Methel nut, ii, 119

    Midas, punishment of, 7

    Midwifery, anæsthetics in, ii, 251

    Migmatopoloi, 95

    Mindererus’s spirit, invention, 338;
      first official, ii, 67

    Mindererus, old physician, 338;
      biography, ii, 88;
      “Aloedarium,” ii, 88

    Mineral bezoar, 380

    “Mineral Solution,” ii, 135

    Mint, origin of, 26

    Mirfield’s “Breviarium Bartholomei,” 135

    Mistura Ferri Composita, 403

    Mithridates the Great, biography, 289;
      medical discoveries, 289;
      death, 290

    Mithridatum, 91;
      inventor, 289;
      absurdities, 290;
      Galen on, 292;
      number of ingredients, 293;
      formulæ, ii, 20, 38, 39

    Mohammed, influence of, 97;
      death, 104

    Monoceros, mythical animal, 28

    Monopolies abolished, ii, 161

    Moore’s “History of the Study of Medicine,” 135

    Morbus Gallicus, 413.
      _See also_ Syphilis

    Morella furiosum lethale, 25

    Morgan, Hugo, Queen Elizabeth’s apothecary, 298;
      makes theriaca, ii, 44

    Morpheus, how represented, 17

    Morphine, discovery, ii, 244

    Morphium, etymology, 18

    Morton, W. T. G., uses ether in dentistry, ii, 250

    Mosaic gold, 396, 424

    Moses identified with Hermes, 4

    Moss from skull, as remedy, 191

    Mother’s ointment, 407

    Moult, London chemist, 345

    Moxa, meaning of, ii, 295

    Mullein, used by Saxons, 126

    Mummies, medical use, ii, 23;
      opinions on, ii, 24

    Murray’s aërated cod-liver oil, ii, 167

    Mustard for scorpion bites, 18
      seeds, Biblical reference, 71

    Mynsicht’s publications, 375;
      elixir of vitriol, 375;
      invents emetic tartar, 382;
      powder of Saturn, 407

    Myrepsus, Nicolas, 219;
      ointment, 427

    Myrepsus, 95; ii, 296

    Myrophecia, 95

    Myropolia, 95

    Myrrh, origin, 23;
      Biblical references, 63

    Myrrha, legend of, 22

    Mythology, science of, 33

            N

    Naphtha, legend, 359

    Narceine, discovery, ii, 248

    Narcotine, discovery, ii, 244

    Nardos pitike, meaning, 73

    Nardostachys, 74

    Narwhal horn, 28

    Nasalia, ii, 290

    Nataph, meaning of, 56

    Necklaces, medical uses, 214

    Nectarion, identity of, 24

    “Negro Cæsar’s Cure for Poison,” ii, 237

    Nepenthe, etymology, 23;
      identity, 24

    Nettleton, Dr. T., originates citrine ointment, ii, 126

    Newbery, maker of James’s Powder, ii, 188

    Newton, Sir Isaac, connection with pharmacy, 279

    Nicandor’s treatise on poisons, ii, 226

    Nicotine, discovery, ii, 245;
      synthetic, ii, 266

    Nihil album, 427

    Nitre, Biblical reference, 70;
      medical use, 108;
      manufacture in France, 352, 353, 359;
      early references, 358;
      symbol, ii, 309

    Nitric acid, first use in medicine, 105

    Nitrous oxide gas, discovery, ii, 249

    Nitrum fixum, 371

    Noctiluca, ii, 296

    Nostrums, ancient, 215

    Nouffer’s Tapeworm Cure, secret purchased, 319;
      origin, 320

    Nuremberg ordinance, 120;
      old pharmacy, 120

    Nychthemeron, ii, 296

            O

    Obolos, ii, 296

    Oenelaion, ii, 296

    Oenogala, ii, 296

    Oenomeli, ii, 296

    Oesypus, ii, 296

    Oil of Ants, ii, 14
      Bricks, how prepared, ii, 55;
        medical uses, ii, 55
      Eggs, prepared by Paracelsus, 247
      Harts’ horns, ii, 25
      Peter, 360
      Puppies, ii, 11
      Tartar, preparing, 132;
        uses of, 247, 372; ii, 286
      Vitriol, 373
      Wax, ii, 31
      Wine, discovery, 263

    Ointments, ii, 296.
      _See also_ Unguentum

    Old age, Ecclesiastes symbolism, 76

    Oleum Benedictum, ii, 55
      Divinum, ii, 55
      Dulce Paracelsi, 348
      Philosophorum, ii, 55
      Sanctum, ii, 55
      Vitrioli Dulce, 347; ii, 271.
      _See also_ Oil of Wine

    Olibanum, source, 56

    Olive oil, uses, 58

    Onguent de la Mère, 407

    Onions as remedy, 49, 50

    Onycha in Bible, 57

    Opiates, ii, 296

    Opium used by Paracelsus, 243;
      history, ii, 116;
      medical uses, ii, 117;
      active principle, ii, 243

    Opobalsamum, 53

    Opodeldoc, origin, ii, 148;
      derivation, ii, 148;
      originally a plaster, ii, 149

    Oribasius, medical author, 214

    Origanum Dictamnus, 26

    Orthrine, ii, 258

    Osiris, illustration, 3;
      name for ivy, 35

    Ounce sign, origin, ii, 300

    Oxalic acid, synthetic, ii, 257

    Oxycroceum, ii, 297

    Oxygen, discovery, 269;
      why so called, 324

    Oxymels, ii, 31

            P

    Pachius’s Hiera, ii, 140

    Palma Christi, 68; ii, 89, ii, 92

    Palsy Drops, ii, 146

    Panacea, daughter of Æsculapius, 11
      Holsatica, 371
      Mercurialis, 419

    Panchrest, ii, 297

    Panchymagogon, 419; ii, 297

    Pandects of Physic, 104

    Pantopoloi, 95

    Papyri, medical and pharmaceutical, 36

    Papyrus Ebers, 36;
      described, 37;
      photograph, 40;
      prescriptions in, 41, 42;
      date, 48

    Paracelsus, theory of elements, 174;
      “sympathetic ointment,” 188, 190;
      biography, 230;
      education, 232;
      boastfulness, 233;
      epitaph, 236;
      character, 237;
      Browning’s poem on, 239;
      Butler on, 240;
      mysticism, 240;
      chemical observations, 241;
      drugs used by, 243;
      portraits, 247, 248, 249, 250;
      “Archidoxa Medicinæ,” 390;
      “Catholicon,” 414;
      “Zebethum Occidentale,” ii, 9

    Paré’s experiment, ii, 229

    Paregoric Elixir, origin, ii, 151;
      formula for, ii, 151;
      etymology, ii, 151

    Paris, apothecary edicts, 122

    Paris School of Pharmacy, 270, 285

    Parmentier, biography, 272

    Pastilli, ii, 299

    Patent Medicines, origin of, ii, 161

    Patents, why granted, ii, 161

    Pearls, use of, in medicine, ii, 33

    Pectoral Powder, ii, 148

    Pedilavium, ii, 297

    Pelican, ii, 297

    Pelletier, discovers quinine, 274; ii, 247;
      portrait, 275;
      discovers other alkaloids, ii, 248

    Pelouze, French pharmacist, 283

    Peon, identified with Apollo, 7

    Peony, use by Saxons, 126;
      promotes dentition, ii, 171

    Pepperers’ Guild, 139

    Perfume, sacred, 45

    Perfumer, Biblical reference, 50

    Percapt, ii, 297

    Periodeutes, 93, 94

    Perkins’s Metallic Tractors, 201; ii, 166

    Perkin, W. H. discovers mauve, ii, 263

    Peroxide of hydrogen, inventor, 282

    Peruvian bark. _See_ Cinchona

    Pessary, ii, 297

    Peter of Spain, medical author, 294

    Petra Philosophale, ii, 174

    Petroleum, medical uses, 131;
      early use, 359;
      synonyms, 360;
      medical use, 360;
      Barbadense, 360

    Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, foundation, 156

    Pharmacies, State controlled, 103, 104

    Pharmacist, the first, 12

    Pharmacists, royal and noble, 287.
      _See also_ Apothecaries _and_ Chemists

    Pharmacopeus, 93

    Pharmacopœia, the earliest, 103;
      history of, ii, 59

    Pharmacopolis, 92

    Pharmacopoloi, 93

    Pharmacotribæ, 95

    Pharmacy Acts, various, 156

    Pharmacy, myths, 1;
      origin, 1;
      patron saints, 19;
      in Pharaoh’s time, 34;
      in the Bible, 46;
      old use of word, 52;
      identity with sorcery, 52;
      Hippocrates on, 86;
      separation from medicine, 91;
      Arabian, 97;
      in East, 100;
      in Northern Europe, 115;
      edict to regulate, 117;
      Beckmann on, 118;
      concessions, origin, 119;
      in Saxon England, 124;
      animal substances in, ii, 1;
      Shakespearian reference, ii, 70;
      progress in 19th century, ii, 243

    Pharmaka, use by Homer, 52

    Pharmakeia, 52, 92

    Pharmakeuein, 93

    Pharmakoi, use of, 52

    Pharmakon, 93

    Phenacetin, discovery, ii, 273

    Phillips, P. L., critic, ii, 68

    Philon, 91

    Philonium, inventor, 91;
      formulæ, ii, 39, ii, 40, ii, 41

    Philosopher’s stone, 106, 363

    Philosophic egg, 379

    Phlogiston theory, 176

    Phœnix, as alchemists sign, 26;
      legends of, 27;
      Biblical references, 27;
      longevity, 27

    Phosphor paste, 368

    Phosphorus, Hanckwitz’s advertisement, 142;
      etymology, 360;
      discovery, 363;
      made in London, 365;
      medical use, 365;
      prepared from bones, 365;
      dose, 367;
      solubility, 368;
      symbol, ii, 309

    Phthisis, Rhazes’s treatment, 106

    Phylacteries, protect from evil, 161

    Physicians, as priests, 35;
      Biblical references, 46;
      Pope on, 148;
      fees, 151;
      Valentine on, 227

    Pigmentarii, 94

    Pike’s itch ointment, ii, 165

    Pil cocciæ, origin, ii, 292

    Pil cochiæ, origin, ii, 152, ii, 292

    Pil Rufi, origin, ii, 140

    Pills, gilding introduced, 109;
      origin, ii, 292, ii, 297;
      silvering introduced, 109, 423

    Pilula saponis composita, origin, ii, 153

    Pilulæ Communes, ii, 140
      Ethiopicæ, ii, 153
      Lunares, 423
      Pacificæ, ii, 154
      Perpetuæ, 381
      Pestilentiales, ii, 140

    Piperine, synthetic, ii, 266

    Pissaeleum, 328

    Pitt’s “Crafts and Frauds of Physic Exposed,” 149

    Plague remedy, 224

    Planets, as aids to prescribing, 187

    Plantain, Shakespearian reference, ii, 74

    Plasters, Aetius on, 215

    Pleurisy, old remedy, 81

    Pliny, death, 90

    Plough, inventor, 288

    Plummer, Dr. A., note on, ii, 153
      Æthiops Medicinalis, 382
      pills, 351;
      origin, ii, 153
      powder, 382

    Pocula Emetica, 385

    Podalirus, son of Æsculapius, 11

    Poisoners, famous, ii, 230

    Poison, antidotes, ii, 34, ii, 49, ii, 221, ii, 237, ii, 289
      origin of word, ii, 297
      register introduced, 123

    Poisoning, delayed, ii, 223
      detecting. _See_ Toxicology
      punishment, ii, 230

    Poisons, in Bible, ii, 222;
      history of, ii, 220;
      used in Rome, ii, 223;
      in ancient times, ii, 225;
      in Middle Ages, ii, 227

    Polychrest, 369, 371; ii, 198, ii, 297

    Polyidus, magician, 13

    Pomatum, ii, 298

    Pomegranates, Biblical reference, 72

    Pompholyx, 209, 407, 427

    Poppy, in Saxon times, 126;
      as remedy, 184;
      Shakespearian reference, ii, 75

    Poppies, syrup, origin, ii, 116

    Populeum, ii, 298

    Porta, medical author, 183

    Portland powder, 215, 309; ii, 125

    Posca, 71

    Potassium nitrate. _See_ Nitre sulphate, synonyms, 371

    Potato, popularising, 273

    Potio Laxativa Viennensis, ii, 121

    Potion Noire Anglaise, ii, 122

    Poudre des Chartres, secret purchased, 319, 381

    Poultice, papyrus formula, 40;
      etymology, ii, 298

    Powder de Gutteta, ii, 6
      of Projection, 379
      Saturn, 407

    Precious stones, medical use, ii, 32

    Precipitatus per se, 416

    Prepositus’s Antidotary, 116

    Prescribing by chemists, limitation, 155

    Prescriptions on papyri, 36, 41;
      from “Don Juan,” ii, 59;
      origin, ii, 304

    Priestley discovers oxygen, 270

    Primum Ens Sanguinis, ii, 7

    Proine, ii, 258

    Prometheus, the first pharmacist, 12

    Propomata, ii, 298

    Prosdita, ii, 299

    Prussian blue, discovery, ii, 27, ii, 28

    Prussic acid, discovery, 270

    Psilothrum, ii, 298

    Ptisans, ii, 299

    Ptomaines, discovery, ii, 242

    Pulvis Cornacchini, 309
      Principis Mirandolæ, 310
      Scammoniæ co., origin, 308

    Pyroligneous acid, made by Glauber, 263

    Pyroxylin, discovery, 340

    Pythagoras antidote, 18

            Q

    Quack doctor’s harangue, ii, 204

    Quackery in ninth century, 107

    Quakers’ Black Drop, ii, 145

    Quassia, introduction, ii, 117;
      etymology, ii, 118

    Quevenne’s iron, 404

    Quicksilver, first mention, 408;
      bottles for, 408;
      girdles, 420.
      _See also_ Mercury

    Quinodine, discovery, ii, 247

    Quinine, discovery, 274; ii, 246;
      synthetic, ii, 264, ii, 265

    Quinsy, Hippocrates’s treatment, 86

    Quintessences, prepared by Paracelsus, 246; ii, 243

            R

    Ra’s ointment, 43

    Rakach, meaning of, 52

    Raleigh’s Great Cordial, 310, 312

    Raleigh, Sir Walter, portrait, 311;
      medical knowledge, 311;
      confection, 312

    “Rational” formulæ, ii, 261

    Read, Queen Anne’s oculist, ii, 14

    “Receptarium Antidotarii,” 218

    Recipe sign, origin, ii, 302

    Red bottle, ii, 217
      cloth as small-pox cure, 169, 186
      precipitate, introduction, 105;
      used by Paracelsus, 243, 249;
      early references, 416;
      preparation, 416

    Reduced iron, 404

    Re’em, identity of, 29

    Regenerated tartar, 371

    Regulus of Antimony, 379

    Renandot’s mercurial pills, 412

    Rhazes, chemical writer, 105, 106;
      ointment, 407;
      pil cochiæ, ii, 152

    Rheumatism, early treatment, 136

    Rhizotomoi, 95

    Rhubarb, first mention, 216

    Ricinus, Biblical plant, 67;
      origin, ii, 92;
      in papyrus, 41.
      _See also_ Castor oil

    Ridge’s Food, patent, ii, 167

    Rocha alum, 331

    Roche’s Embrocation, patent, ii, 166

    Rochelle salt, 372;
      first official, ii, 67; ii, 197

    Rochester, Earl, as quack, ii, 203

    Rock oil, 360.
      _See also_ Petroleum

    “Romeo and Juliet,” origin, ii, 77

    “Rosa Anglicana,” 134

    Rose water, Arabic origin, 103;
      early mention, 328

    Rosemary, derivation, 296;
      properties, 296;
      Queen of Hungary uses, 297

    Rosencreutz, 181

    Rosetta stone, 35

    Rosh, meaning, ii, 222

    Rosicrucians, 181

    Rouelle, French chemist, 277

    Rousseau’s laudanum, ii, 144

    Royal College of Physicians, incorporation, 143;
      dispensaries, 151, 156;
      prosecute an apothecary, 154;
      origin, ii, 60

    Royal touch cures disease, 298;
      ceremony described, 304

    Rufus pill, invention, ii, 140

    Runge’s researches, ii, 263

    Runstall’s Black Drop, ii, 145

            S

    Sabor-Ebn-Sahel’s Pharmacopœia, 103

    Saffron, called blood of Throth, 35;
      derivation, 72;
      Biblical reference, 72

    St. John’s Wort, charm, 172

    “Sal Admirabile,” 261

    Sal Alembroth, 243, 417;
      etymology, ii, 279;
      ammoniac, discovery, 6;
      Glauber makes, 263;
      early reference, 334

    Sal ammoniacum factitium, 336
      de Duobus, 371; ii, 198; ii, 281
      Enixon, 261
      fixum, 335; ii, 298
      Fossile, 369
      Gemmæ, 369
      Jovis, 425; ii, 311
      Polychrestum, 369;
        Glaser’s, 371; ii, 198;
        Seignette’s, ii, 197; ii, 297
      Prunella, how prepared, 368;
        why so-called, 369
      Purgatorius, 220
      sacerdotale, 220
      sapientiæ, 417; ii, 279
      viperum, 208
      volatile oleosum, 336.
      _See also_ Salt _and_ Sel

    Salamanders’ Blood, ii, 298

    Salerno Medical School, 115;
      dissolved, 117

    Salia, ii, 298

    Salicylic acid, synthetic, ii, 269

    Salmon, W., note on, ii, 179; ii, 180

    Salol, discovery, ii, 274

    Salsa, ii, 119

    Salt, etymology of, 325
      of the Holy Apostles, 220
      of many virtues, 369
      of Mars, 398
      of St. Luke, 220
      of tartar, 326, 371, 372
      of wisdom, 417; ii, 279
      of wormwood, 326.
      _See also_ Sal _and_ Sel

    Saltpetre, _See_ nitre

    Salpêtrière Asylum, why so-called, 359

    “Sardonic grin,” origin of expression, ii, 226

    Sarsaparilla, introduction, ii, 118;
      medical use, ii, 118;
      etymology, ii, 119;
      decoctions, ii, 154

    Savory’s Seidlitz Powders, ii, 156; ii, 167

    Saxifrage as remedy, 184

    Saxon pharmacy, 124

    Scammony powder, 308

    Schacht’s liquor bismuthi, 387

    Scheele, biography, 266;
      statue, 267;
      investigations, 268;
      pharmacy, 269;
      medallion, 276

    Schönbein discovers pyroxylin, 340

    Schwalbach mineral springs, 403

    Schwanberg’s fever powder, ii, 191

    Scorpion grass, 184

    Scrofula, etymology, 299;
      cramprings for, 303;
      burnt sponge for, 353.
      _See also_ King’s Evil

    Scruple sign, origin, ii, 300

    Scutum, ii, 298

    Sea-sickness, early remedy, 126

    Seba, naturalist, 278

    Seed of gold, 389

    Seguin discovers morphine, ii, 244

    Seidlitz powders, origin, ii, 156;
      patent, ii, 167

    Seignette’s salt, 372; ii, 197

    Sel de Duobus, 371; ii, 198
      Essentiel de quinquina, ii, 246
      Narcotique de Derosne, ii, 244
      de Seignette, 372; ii, 197

    Seneca oil, 359

    Senna, introduction, 105, 218

    Seplasia, 94

    Seplasiarii, 94

    Serapion of Alexandria (or The Elder), 109;
        epilepsy remedy, 166, 217
      The Younger, 110

    Serenus, Roman physician, 164

    Sertürner discovers morphine, ii, 244

    Serullas, French chemist, 282

    “Seven metals,” ii, 304

    Sévigné, Marquise de, portrait, 192

    Shakespearian references, 20, 30; ii, 70

    Sheba, Queen of, 54

    Sheben, identity, 42

    Shekel, ancient weight, 59

    Signatures, doctrine of, 183

    “Signet star of philosophy,” 225

    Silphion, introduction, 16

    Silver, medical uses, 422;
      symbol, ii, 306, 307, 310
      nitrate, first use, 105, 423;
      made into sticks, 424

    Simpson, J. G., uses anæsthetics, ii, 251;
      portrait, ii, 253

    Sinapisms, ii, 298

    Singleton’s eye ointment, ii, 126, 199

    Skin, as a charm, 173

    Skull oil, 247

    Skulls, medical uses, 248; ii, 5, 6

    Sleep promoting, 128, 138

    Sloane, Sir Hans, edits P.L. 1721, ii, 65

    Small-pox, first mention, 104;
      early treatment, 130, 169, 186; ii, 130

    Smegma, ii, 298

    Snails as remedy, ii, 11

    Snake-venom antidotes, 112;
      immunity, ii, 239

    Soap, Biblical reference, 70, 324

    Soap liniment, origin of, ii, 150

    Society of apothecaries. _See_ Apothecaries’ Society

    Soda tartarata, ii, 197

    Sodium carbonate, Biblical reference, 70

    Solar elixir, ii, 311

    Solecism, derivation, 207

    Solomon’s treatise on medicine, 49;
      magical secrets, 159
      The Hebrew, 157

    Soluble mercury, 418

    “Solvent mineral,” ii, 135

    Somnus, god of sleep, 17

    “Sons of God” legend, 3

    Sorbito, ii, 299

    Sorcery, identified with pharmacy, 52;
      held in esteem, 160

    Sparadrap, ii, 299
      de Vigo, 411

    Specificum purgans, 244, 371

    Spermaceti, medical use, ii, 28;
      derivation, ii, 29;
      Shakespearian reference, ii, 74

    Spicerers’ Guild, 139

    Spiders, medical use, ii, 14

    Spielman’s Vermifuge Electuary, 426

    Spikenard, value, 73;
      Biblical reference, 73;
      ointment, 73, 74

    Spirit of nitrous ether, origin, 349;
        early formulæ, 349
      of salt, Valentine describes, 228;
        discovery, 263, 369;
        medical uses, 369;
        properties, 370
      of tartar, 372
      of vitriol, 373, 374
      of wine. _See_ Alcohol.

    Spiritus Ætheris Co., origin, 348
      Ætheris Nitrosi. _See_ Spirit of Nitrous Ether
      Ammoniæ Succinatus, 338
      Ammoniæ Aromaticus, 335, 337
      Mundi, 361
      Nitri Dulcis. _See_ Spirit of Nitrous Ether
      Salis Marini Glauberi. _See_ Spirit of Salt
      Volatilis Oleosus, 335, 337
      Vini Ethereus. _See_ Ether
      Vitrioli Antepilepticus Paracelsi, 347

    Spilsbury’s Anti-scorbutic Drops, ii, 166

    “Spot Ward,” ii, 213

    Spruce Dr., obtains cinchona seeds, ii, 105

    Squill called Eye of Typhon, 35;
      vinegar, 18

    Stacte, identity, 56, 63

    Stahl’s theory of the elements, 175;
      portrait, 176

    Starcraft, Saxon, 124

    Starkey’s Pills, origin, ii, 154

    Stationarii, 118

    Steer’s opodeldoc, ii, 150

    Stephens’s Cure for stone, 319; ii, 199;
      recipe, ii, 200

    Sterling, derivation, 138

    Stibium, _See_ Antimony

    Stimmi, 378

    Stoughton’s Cordial Elixir, ii, 162

    Stramonium, history, ii, 119;
      introduction, ii, 120

    Structural formulæ, ii, 261

    Strychnine, discovery, ii, 248

    Strychnos manikon, 25

    Sublimation dulce, 419

    Suffumenta, ii, 299

    Suffumigia, ii, 299

    Substitution theory, ii, 259

    Sugar, arabic derivation, 103;
      a rarity, ii, 30

    Sulphonal, preparation, ii, 272

    Sulphur, symbol, ii, 309

    Sulphuric acid, 373

    Sun-stone, 361

    Supplantalia, ii, 299

    Suppositories, ii, 299

    Swammerdam, Dutch anatomist, 285

    Swediaur’s pilula ferri, 351

    Sweet spirit of nitre, _See_ Spirit of Nitrous Ether

    Sydenham, on iron, 399;
      portrait, 400;
      laudanum, ii, 143

    Sylvius’s Carminative Spirit, 337
      salt, 336

    Sympathetic egg, 190
      ointment, 188, 189, 190; ii, 6
      powder, 191
      remedies, 187

    Symbols, alchemical, ii, 304, ii, 308, ii, 309

    Synthetic Remedies, ii, 256

    Syphilis, book on, 224;
      Valentine’s reference, 229;
      treatment, 243;
      mercury as cure, 409;
      origin, 413;
      early treatment, 413;
      guaiacum as cure, 414, ii, 112

    Syrup, derivation, 103; ii, 299

            T

    Takkum gum, 53

    Talbor’s Tincture of Bark, 319

    Talbor R., employs cinchona, 319; ii, 97
      process, ii, 99

    Talismans worn by Arabs, 163;
      universality, 171.
      _See also_ Charms

    Talmud, medicine in, 49

    Tamarinds, introduction, 105, 218

    Tansy, origin, 22

    Tapeworm remedy, Nouffer’s, 320;
      Kousso, ii, 115

    Tar water, invention, 316;
      opinions, 318

    Tartar etymology, 370
      preparations, 371, 372

    Tartaric acid, discovery, 268

    Tartarised iron, 402

    Tartarum tartarisatus, 373

    Tartarus, mythical hell, 370

    Tartre Stibié, 384

    Tartre Stygié, 384

    “Tasteless Ague Drops,” ii, 133

    Temperature, doctrine of, 180

    Terra Germanica, ii, 54
      Livonica, ii, 55
      Mellitea, ii, 54
      Portugallica, ii, 54
      Samia, ii, 54
      Sicula, ii, 54
      Sigillata, Galen on, 213; ii, 53;
        how prepared, ii, 54;
        uses, ii, 54
      Strigensis, ii, 54

    Terres damnées, ii, 283

    Tetragonon, 87, 376

    Tetrapharmacum, 310

    Theine, discovery, ii, 248

    Themison, Roman physician, 90;
      uses leeches, ii, 139;
      Hiera, ii, 139

    Thénard, French chemist, 282

    Theriaca, medical uses, 131;
      absurdities, 290;
      origin, 292;
      formulæ, ii, 38, 39;
      invention, ii, 42;
      virtues, ii, 43;
      history, ii, 48;
      ceremony, ii, 44, ii, 45, ii, 46, ii, 46;
      esteemed, ii, 47;
      as poison antidote, ii, 221

    Theriakon, Andromachus’s, 90

    Thistles as remedy, 184

    Thoth, inventor of medicine, 4, 38; ii, 305
      blood, 35

    Thurneyssen’s “Magistery of the Sun,” 390

    Thus, derivation, 56

    Thuti, _See_ Thoth

    Thymiana, meaning, 55

    Tilly’s Dutch Drops, ii, 176

    Tin as vermifuge, 424;
        medical compounds, 424;
        symbol, ii, 307, ii, 310
      oxide as nail polish, 426
      salts, used by Paracelsus, 245

    Tinctura Aloes Co., origin, ii, 57
      Benzoin Co., origin, ii, 135
      Lavandulæ Co., origin, ii, 146
      Lunæ, 423

    Tinctura Metallorum, 244
      solis, etc., 390

    Tonica Nervina Bestucheffi, 321, 322, 404

    Tisanes, ii, 299

    Tofano, poisoner, ii, 235

    Tooth-ache, early remedy, 130
      cause, 168
      charms, 161, 168

    Tooth-extraction, anæsthetics in, ii, 249

    Toxicology, rise of, ii, 240

    Tranquille, note on, ii, 175

    Traumatic Balsam, ii, 135

    Trefoil as remedy, 184

    Trismegistus, Hermes’s surname, 5

    “Triumphal Chariot of Antimony,” 224

    Troches, etymology, ii, 299

    Trochiscus trigonus, 87

    Tsora, meaning, 53

    Turbith mineral, Paracelsus uses, 243;
      why so called, 417

    Turlington’s Drops, ii, 135

    Turner’s Cerate, origin, ii, 157;
      formula, ii, 158

    Turner, Dr., note on, ii, 157;
      publications, ii, 158

    Turpentine as remedy, 50

    Tutty, ii, 159

    Typhon’s eye, 35

            U

    Uisage-beatha, old Irish drink, 329

    Unguentum Ægyptiacum, ii, 52
      Arcœi, ii, 133
      Desiccativum Rubrum, ii, 160
      Diapomphologos, 407, 427; ii, 160
      Nutritum, 407; ii, 160; ii, 296
      Refrigerans, ii, 65; ii, 127
      Rosatum, ii, 160
      Saturninum, 407
      Sympatheticum, 188, 189, 190
      Tetrapharmacum, ii, 282
      Tripharmacum, 406

    Ungius odorata, 57

    Unicorn, Biblical references, 29;
      in Royal Arms, 30;
      Shakespearian references, 30;
      Scottish pound, 30;
      Apothecary’s sign, 31

    Unicorn’s horn, 29, 30

    “Universal medicine,” Geber’s claim, 106

    “Universal panacea,” 414

    “Universal remedy,” 132, 374

    “Universal solvent,” Glauber’s, 264

    Urus, identity, 29

    Usquebagh, ii, 65

            V

    Valenciennes, naturalist, 282

    Valency, theory, ii, 260

    Valentine, Basil, 181, 224;
      portrait, 225;
      identity, 228;
      works, 228

    Valangin’s solution, ii, 135

    Van Helmont on weapon salve, 191;
      biography, 257;
      portrait, 258;
      contracts itch, 258;
      discovers carbonic acid, 259;
      physiology, 260;
      employs alum, 331

    Van Swieten’s solution, 421;
      anæsthetic story, ii, 254

    Vauquelin, biography, 271;
      portrait, 272;
      discovers narcotine, ii, 244;
      discovers daphnine and nicotine, ii, 245

    Vegetable ethiops, 351
      vitriol, 375

    “Vegeto-Mineral Water,” Goulard’s 265

    Venice treacle. _See_ Theriaca

    Venom antidotes, Arabian, 112; ii, 239

    Venus uses dittany, 26

    Veratrine, discovery, ii, 248

    Vervain, 35;
      used by Saxons, 126

    Verdigris ointment, 16; ii, 52

    Vigo, John de, biography, 410;
      plaster, 411

    Vinegar, Biblical references, 64, 65, 71

    Vinum Millepedarum, ii, 11

    Vipers, medicinal uses, 90; ii, 19;
      Charas on, 280; ii, 20;
      de Sévigné on, ii, 21;
      Quincy on, ii, 22;
      preparations, ii, 22

    Vis Coriaria, ii, 246

    Vitriol, early use, 372;
      kinds, 373;
      etymology, 373;
      medical uses, 373, 398;
      preparations, 374;
      symbols, ii, 309.
      _See also_ Oil of Vitriol _and_ Spirit of Vitriol

    Vitriol of Mars, 373
      Venus, 373; ii, 311

    Vitriolated tartar, 371

    Vitriolum Camphoratum, 374

    Vocabulary, pharmaceutical, ii, 278

    “Volatile gold,” 396

    Vulnerarii, 92

            W

    Walnuts as remedy, 185

    Want’s Tincture of Colchicum, ii, 186

    Warburg, Dr. Carl, biography, ii, 206;
      poverty, ii, 207

    Warburg’s Tincture, history, ii, 206;
      formula, ii, 207

    Ward, Joshua, biography, ii, 208;
      portrait, ii, 209;
      recipes, ii, 211, 213

    Ward’s paste, ii, 67

    Warts, remedies, 169
      transferring, 170, 172.
      _See also_ Wort-cunning

    Watercress, medical use, 125

    Weapon salve. _See_ Sympathetic Ointment

    Weights, ancient, 44, 59
      signs for, ii, 300

    Wellcome Research Laboratory (Khartoum), 162

    Wells, H., uses nitrous oxide gas, ii, 249;
      portrait, ii, 250

    Whisky, early use, 329

    White lead ointment, 288, 406

    White vitriol, 373, 426

    Whitworth doctors, ii, 215;
      cures, ii, 216

    Whooping-cough, transferring, 170

    Wiener, Frank, ii, 121

    Willis, Dr., portrait, 401

    Willis’s Preparation of Steel, 400, 401

    Witches’ powers, 171

    Withering, Dr. W., biography, ii, 110;
      on digitalis, ii, 110

    Wohler’s discovery, ii, 257;
      portrait, ii, 258

    “Wolf of Metals,” 379

    Wondreton, poisoner, ii, 227

    Woodcock’s Wind Pills, ii, 167

    Wool fat used by Dioscorides, 210

    Words, origin of, 33

    Worms, early remedy, 42, 43, 245

    Wormwood, Biblical reference, 64

    Wort-cunning, Saxon, 124

    Wound Balsam, ii, 135

    Writing, invention, 4

            Z

    Zebethum Occidentale, ii, 9

    Zinc, early references, 426;
        alloys, 426;
        composition, 427;
        preparations, 427;
        symbol, ii, 309
      oxide, synonyms, 427
      sulphate. _See_ White Vitriol

    Zoroaster, inventor of medicine, 6, 157


  R. CLAY AND SONS, LTD., BREAD ST. HILL, E.C., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] The historical part of Dr. Tschirch’s great work on Pharmakognosie
is in course of publication while the proofs of this book are being
read. It promises to be very thorough and modern in regard to drugs.

[2] Labdanum or ladanum is a resinous substance which exudes from the
leaves and branches of a shrub found in the Isle of Candy--_Cistus
creticus_ of Linnæus. It was formerly collected by combing the beards
of goats which fed on these leaves. A commoner kind was brought from
Spain. It was an ingredient in an anti-hysteric nerve cordial called
Theriaque Cœleste. It was also combined in a plaster designed to cure
rupture.

[3] The footman story is also told of the owner of Murray’s Specific
for Gout, of whom it was probably true.

[4] Synthetic cocaine and other artificial alkaloids differ from the
natural products only in being without action on polarised light.

[5] John Lydgate, a monk of Bury, born 1370, left some amusing poems,
very valuable on account of the insight they give into the customs of
his period. One of them is an application to the Duke of Gloucester for
money. Lydgate says he is dressed in black “’cause my purs was falle in
grete rerage”; while his “guttes were out shake, Only for lak of plate
and coyngnage.” So he “sought lechis for a restauratif, In whom I fonde
no consolacione, To a poticary for confortatyf, Drugge nor dya was none
in Bury towne.”


Transcriber’s Note:

1. Obvious printers’, spelling and punctuation errors have been silently
   corrected.

2. Errata have been silently corrected.

3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have
   been retained as in the original.

4. Italics are shown as _xxx_.

5. Subscripts are represented with underscore and brackets, e.g. CH_{4}
   for methane.