No. 5 1

No.5, Fall 2002

News and Notes from the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy

The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is a uniqueorganization dedicated to the preservation of pharmacy’s heri-tage. The Apothecary’s Cabinet is a publication from AIHP thattakes a popular look at the history of pharmacy in its many fac-ets. We welcome your comments and submissions.

CabinetApothecary’s

A Pioneer Herbal Drug:The Early History of American Ginseng

IN 1972, Richard Nixon sur-prised a nation—and shocked hisold conservative allies—by an-nouncing his trip to the People’sRepublic of China. After a gen-eration, the United States againturned its attention to that vastand ancient land. The new opendoor policy brought many aspectsof Chinese culture back into theAmerican consciousness, includ-ing the lore connected with thatmost revered drug: Ginseng.

Before 1970, ginseng wasan inconsequential rarity on theAmerican pharmaceutical scene.Only one company manufacturedginseng products for the nationalmarket, Herb Products Companyof North Hollywood, California.Described only as “Asiatic Gin-seng,” these products included 50#1 capsules of powdered drug for$7.95 and 4-ounce packages of

loose powder for $17.00, andwere probably marketed prima-rily to Asians living on the WestCoast.

Today there are at least 75different ginseng products mar-keted nationally from 30 differ-ent manufacturers. Of these,about half of the products areexplicitly from Asian sources;only a few products are explic-itly from American ginseng. ButI am getting ahead of the story.

In the early to mid-1970s,long before ginkgo, echinacea,

St. John’s wort, or all the otherherbal products flooded phar-macy shelves, the Americanpublic heard about ginseng.Based on the centuries-old repu-tation of ginseng in East Asia,Americans began turning to thedrug as an alternative to con-ventional medicine. In thissense, ginseng was the “pio-neer” herbal.

The lore of ginseng, how-ever, is often much more inter-esting than its true history. Still,the tale of ginseng from its dis-

by Greg Higby

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THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF THE HISTORY OF PHARMACY is incorporated under Wisconsin statute 180 as a non-profit organization de-voted to advancing knowledge and understanding of the place of pharmacy in history. It publishes Pharmacy in History, Apothecary’s Cabinet, occa-sional monographs, and pamphlets; it fosters humanistic teaching in pharmaceutical education; confers awards for outstanding achievement in its field;sponsors historical meetings and exhibits; collects and preserves source materials; and serves as a center for research and information.PUBLICATION PRICES: Apothecary’s Cabinet is distributed free of charge to schools of pharmacy upon request. This and other publications of theAIHP may be obtained through membership ($50 per year for individuals, $100 for institutions); individual copies of Apothecary’s Cabinet are $2.00.

Editor: Gregory J. HigbyAssistant Editor: Elaine Condouris StroudPublisher: American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, located at the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy,

777 Highland Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53705-2222 Phone (608) 262-5378, email AC@aihp.org; www.aihp.org.

Apothecary’s Cabinet • No. 5, Fall 2002 ISSN 1534-4509

covery by Westerners in the New World to its sub-sequent place in American drug trade up to 1900parallels other historical trends in the history ofpharmacy during this period. The early history isespecially interesting because that is where somany myths need dispelling. There is also the in-teresting fact that American ginseng, valued as asubstitute for Asian ginseng in China, was almosttotally ignored as a remedy in American medicine.

Classic Chinese Use

Legend says that ginseng has been usedmedicinally in China, Tibet, and Korea for thou-sands of years. One ancient text describes gin-seng as “a tonic to the five viscera, quieting thespirits, establishing the soul, allaying fear, ex-pelling evil effluvia, brightening the eye, open-ing up the heart, benefiting the understanding,and if taken for some time it will invigorate thebody and prolong life.” Because of its reputationto restore balance to the Yin and Yang of thebody, ginseng was often included in recipes withother drugs. Attempts to cultivate the plantfailed to produce the highest quality root, whichwas controlled by the office of the Emperor.

Early Knowledge by Europeans

European explorers to the East, startingwith Marco Polo in the 13th century, broughtback tales of this wondrous drug. Skepticsdoubted its efficacy. The actual limited sampleslater carried back to Europe with traders created

little excitement, mainly among scholarly physi-cians.

Europeans had learned first about the de-tails of the ginseng plant from the general writ-ings of Jesuit missionaries of the 1660s. Thesedepictions of the wonders of the East—oftenconfirming rejected tales of Marco Polo—werewidely translated and published. In 1708, PierreJartoux, a French Jesuit missionary in China,was ordered with some of his colleagues by theEmperor to compile a modern atlas of China.During his survey of the Chinese border withKorea, Jartoux was given four ginseng plants bya local dignitary. Exhausted from the rigors ofsurvey work in this rugged region, he tried theroot as a tonic, finding its restorative powers tobe surprising. In a letter back to France, Jartouxprovided for the first time a complete botanicaldescription of the entire mature ginseng plant.Moreover, and more significantly for our storyhere, “he described the plant’s habitat and geo-graphical location, suggesting that it might wellbe found growing in a parallel environment inCanada.”

Ginseng in the New World

Jartoux’s letter soon appeared in a publica-tion of the French Jesuits and was translatedinto English and published in the PhilosophicalTransactions of the Royal Society of London in1713. A missionary in Quebec, Joseph FrançoisLafitau, happened to hear about the letter in

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1715 and rushed from his mis-sion to nearby Montreal to reada copy. He hoped that ifJartoux’s hypothesis was correctit would prove his owntheory—that the continents ofAsia and America were onceconnected and that the nativeAmericans had come from Asia.

Apparently, Lafitau did notcopy Jartoux’s letter. He askedhis Native American house-keeper about the plant, describ-ing it from his memory ofJartoux’s letter. She said shenever saw such a plant. Dis-couraged, he asked severalother Iroquois in the area tosearch, with no luck.

Eventually, after lookingfor three months, Lafitaustumbled across the plant infruit near a house he was havingbuilt near the mission. Thebright red of the berries caughthis eye. Showing it to hishousekeeper, she immediatelyrecognized it and said that itgrew all over in the deep woodsnearby. Ginseng was in the NewWorld! Jartoux had been right!

Lafitau had a hard time atfirst getting help from theIroquois because he did nothave a drawing of ginseng andhe only had the description hecould recall from the Jesuit pub-lication. Moreover, the plantwas nothing special to the localindigenous population. Accord-ing to later authorities, theIroquois used ginseng to allayfever, improve breathing duringasthma, and to treat stomach up-set, but that it was not espe-cially prized. Soon afterLafitau’s discovery, however,

the natives were enlisted togather the plant for export, andthey quickly started using itthemselves as a cure-all. Ac-cording to Daniel Moerman, anauthority on the medicinalplants of Native America, thispattern repeated itself across thenorthern forest. And no matterwhat uses they ascribed to theplant, the native populations al-ways traded whatever ginsengthey gathered and did not ap-pear to hoard any for their ownfuture use.

After enlisting a nearbybotanist to verify his identifica-tion, Lafitau prepared an elabo-rate memoir on his discovery.Ambitious, Lafitau addressed itto the Regent of France, ratherthan to the head of his order.(Writing 200 years later, Ed-ward Kremers christenedLafitau’s memoir on ginseng thefirst printed contribution toAmerican materia medica.)

Lafitau, who possessed astrong ethnological interest inthe Native Americans, wasmuch more concerned with howginseng demonstrated the previ-ous existence of a land connec-tion with Asia than with its pos-sible trade. Not only was theplant the same as in China butthe Iroquois name for theplant—gar-ent-oguen—soundedlike ginseng and had a similarmeaning, “man-like.”

For Lafitau, this furtherproved his contention that theAmerican continent was oncejoined to Asia. (Father Lafitauwent on to compose one of thegreat early ethnological studies,Customs of the American Indi-ans of 1724.)

Drawing of ginseng from JosephFrançois Lafitau, Mémoire . . .concernant la precieuse plante du gin-seng de tartarie (Montreal, 1858).

Academic discussion

Upon the publication ofLafitau’s memoir, a great debatewithin European scholarly

4 Apothecary’s Cabinet

circles erupted about the identi-fication. Eventually, the depic-tions of Jartoux and Lafitauwere accepted and both plantswere given the genus name,Panax, from panacea.

dians this summer to go farwithin the English boundaries tocollect these roots.”

Kalm also described theinitial processing of the roots:“After the Indians have sold thefresh product to the merchants,the latter must take a great dealof pains with them. They arespread on the floor to dry,which commonly requires twomonths or more, according asthe season is wet or dry. Duringthat time they must be turnedonce or twice every day, lestthey should spoil or moulder.”

News of ginseng spreadacross to the English coloniststo the south. In 1728, WilliamByrd, the prominent Virginiaplanter and writer (1674-1744)had an experience parallel toJartoux. While surveying theboundary line between Virginiaand North Carolina, he turned toginseng. “[A]s a help to bearFatigue, I us’d to chew a Rootof Ginseng as I Walk’t along.This kept up my spirits, andmade me trip away as nimbly inmy Jack-Boots as younger mencou’d in their Shoes.” The gin-seng he found in the woods cor-responded exactly, both in “Fig-ure and Vertues” with the plantnoted by Jartoux.

Byrd corresponded withhis English friends Hans Sloaneand Peter Collinson about gin-seng, and they passed his re-marks along to John Bartram,the first great American-bornebotanist. In 1738, Bartram’s dis-covery of ginseng along theSusquehanna River created ex-citement in Philadelphia. Dig-gers went out into the Pennsyl-vania woods to gather the root

for export. The American tradein ginseng had begun in earnest.

Colonial Period

As one might expect, thestatistics concerning ginsengexport from colonial NorthAmerica are a bit sketchy. Thepeak of the early American gin-seng market seems to havetaken place in 1750, rightaround the time of Peter Kalm’svisit. Both the British andFrench bartered whiskey andtrinkets for ginseng.

Prices were so high thatthe story goes that the Canadi-ans flooded the market withpoor quality ginseng. In theirrush, they had dug up the rootstoo early in the season and driedthem in ovens rather in the openair. When they arrived in China,these baked ginseng roots wererejected and the Chinese cameto distrust Canadian ginseng formany years.

The trade in American gin-seng did rebound, foretelling aboom and bust trend that wouldrecur for over 100 years. In1770, for example, the coloniesexported 74,605 pounds of gin-seng valued at 1243 poundssterling. Just before his death in1771, the British novelist TobiasSmollett wrote that in sixmonths the price of ginseng fellfrom about $40 an ounce to 8cents an ounce. The onset of theRevolutionary War greatlyslowed international trade andthe ginseng trade especially.The negative impact of war onginseng trade would repeat it-self as well.

The Chinese, by the way,

“Pioneer” Drug

The news of Lafitau’s dis-covery went out far and wide.The Indians near Montreal be-gan collecting it in large quanti-ties, selling it to the FrenchCompany of the Indies, whothen exported it to China viaFrance. By the 1720s, ginsengwas Canada’s second item oftrade behind furs.

Peter Kalm, a Swede trav-elling in the New World around1750, described the resultingtrade: “The Indians especiallytraveled about the country in or-der to collect as much [ginseng]as they could and to sell it tothe merchants at Montreal. TheIndians in the neighborhood ofthis town were likewise somuch taken up with this busi-ness that the French farmerswere not able during that timeto hire a single Indian, as theycommonly do to help them inthe harvest. Many people fearedby continuing for several suc-cessive years to collect theseplants without leaving one ortwo in each place to propagatetheir species, there would soonbe very few of them left, whichI think is very likely to happen,for by all accouunts they for-merly grew in abundance roundMontreal, but at present there isnot a single plant to be found,so effectually have they beenrooted out. This obliged the In-

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soon decided that while Ameri-can ginseng had all the externalqualities of Asian ginseng, itdid not have the same medici-nal activity. By the 18th cen-tury, the Chinese governmenthad a long-standing monopolyover the market in good qualityAsian ginseng, making it ex-tremely rare and expensive.And though American ginsengwas judged as inferior as a re-storative, it was still much bet-ter than no ginseng at all.

Role in Trade

With the signing of theTreaty of Paris in 1783, the warwas over and the infant UnitedStates looked out past its ownshores, hoping to establish it-self as a player on the worldstage. A huge step took placeon August 23, 1784, when asmall ship approached Canton,China. It was called the Em-press of China and it was thefirst vessel flying the stars andstripes ever to enter that har-bor.

It had left New York har-bor six months before, boundto China with trade goods toexchange for tea, silk, andother exotic merchandise.Within its hold, 63,595 lb. lead,97,445 lb. of rope, 2,395 woodplanks, $20,000 in silver, and57,687 pounds of Panaxquinquifolium—American gin-seng. Each one of the nearlyhalf million roots had been dugby hand from the forests ofVirginia and Pennsylvania,garbled (sorted), carefullydried, and carried to Philadel-phia for shipment to New York.

A few previous ships from Eu-rope had already arrived thatseason with smaller cargoes ofAmerican ginseng, thereby de-pressing the market slightly.Still, the ginseng had a value of$240,000, or 82% of the Em-press of China’s total cargo. Asper plan, this was exchanged fortea, cloth, and porcelains.

Upon its return, the ownersof the Empress sold their tradegoods and turned a profit ofabout 25%—not nearly whatthey hoped for.

Despite this low return on avery high risk, the example ofthe Empress of China inspiredimitation. Up on the HudsonRiver, the owners of the sloop,Experiment, planned their owntrip to China soon thereafter.While the Experiment was inCanton in early 1786, four otherAmerican vessels came in, allcarrying varying amounts of gin-seng. The price had droppedconsiderably and the high feescharged by Chinese officials forsmall vessels discouraged othersloops like the Experiment frommaking the trip.

Boom and Bust cycle

Throughout the 19th century,tons of American ginseng werecollected in the wild, garbled,dried, packaged, and shipped tothe Orient. Based on governmentdata, over 31,000,000 poundswere exported from 1790 to 1890.And while the price per poundcould vary by 50% from one yearto the next during this period de-pending on supply and demand,the price after 1879 rose steadilyas the wild supply dwindled.

Negligible Medical Interest

What makes American gin-seng such a fascinating drug isthat it was gathered in the wildfor nearly 200 years exclusivelyfor export to the other side ofthe world. Although valuedmoderately by Native Ameri-cans, they quickly traded allthey could find for white man’sgoods. They made no effort tokeep any for medicine.

And what about Americanphysicians? What did theythink? Early medical botanistslike Benjamin Smith Barton andJacob Bigelow were surprisedthat a root so esteemed by theChinese could be so inert. Atbest it might be mildly sooth-ing. Bigelow compared its tasteand qualities to liquorice. Hestated that ginseng was “princi-pally sold by our druggists as amasticatory, many people hav-ing acquired a habitual fondnessfor chewing it.” Bigelow’s com-ment about chewing ginsengwas copied by Wood and Bachein the first edition of the UnitedStates Dispensatory in 1833.Aside from adding references tothe isolation of proximate prin-ciples in future editions, theUSD kept in the chewing com-ment until 1943. A few yearslater, ginseng finally disap-peared from the book.

Almost all orthodox medi-cal writers of 19th-centuryAmerica agreed—ginseng wasat most a mild demulcent ormild stimulant. And they im-plied strongly that the Chinesewere deluding themselves tothink otherwise. (Only gradu-ally did medical botanists and

6 Apothecary’s Cabinet

pharmacognocists come to dif-ferentiate between Panax gin-seng and Panax quinquefolium.)Ginseng did sneak briefly intothe U. S. Pharmacopoeia, prob-ably because of its role in com-merce and its acceptance in sec-tarian circles.

Non-orthodox or sectarianphysicians in the United Statesaccepted American ginseng butwithout a great deal of enthusi-asm. As a drug plant scatteredacross most of the eastern halfof North America, ginseng ap-pealed to pharmaco-botanicalgroups like the Thomsoniansand the eclectics. Thomson rec-ommended that a strong decoc-tion be made of the pulverizedroot with a dose of one tea-spoonful as a tonic nervine. Theeclectics used a tincture of gin-seng, mainly as a treatment forindigestion. A Lloyd Brotherspublication described a LloydSpecific of Panax for use in“nervous dyspepsia and for ex-haustion of the nervous sys-tem.”

USP 1870 2nd list

Ginseng did get officialstatus on the secondary list ofthe USP of 1870. Ironically, theUnited States Dispensatory of1877, edited by pharmacopoeialauthorities George B. Wood andH. C. Wood, refers to its officialstatus but also says that ginsengis not used medicinally inUnited States! In other texts ofthe era, American ginseng rootwas described in detail becauseit often appeared as an acciden-tal adulterant of other woodlandwild roots such as goldenseal or

snakeroot.Of course, as with any na-

tive drug of repute, ginseng wasmentioned as an ingredient inpatent medicines. But becauseof its great export value, I canpretty well guarantee that al-most no ginseng actually madeits way into any Americanpatent medicine.

Thus, American ginseng asa medicine had minimal influ-ence on therapeutics, but as acommodity, it helped open theAmerican frontier. It provided asource of added income to thoseeaking out a living in the greatEastern forest, and its cultiva-tion eventually made it moregenerally available for export.

American Botanical CouncilGinseng Evaluation Program

“Ginseng comprises one of thelargest sales categories of commercialherbal products in North America. Forthe past 25 years numerous advancedginseng products have been sold intea, capsule, tablet and extract forms.Consumers purchase ginseng in itsvarious forms because they seek thepresumed health benefits of the fabledroot. . . . ABC [American BotanicalCouncil] initiated, in 1993, a compre-hensive study of commercial ginsengproducts sold throughout NorthAmerica: the Ginseng Evaluation Pro-gram (GEP). . . . Through GEP, ABCseeks to set a standard for future stud-ies, increase consumer confidence inproperly labeled brands, and increaseawareness and responsibility on thepart of the manufacturers of naturalproducts.”

More information can be foundon this topic on the ABC web page:h t t p : / / w w w . h e r b a l g r a m . o r g /browse.php/ginseng_eval

Cowen LectureAnnounced

The Rho Chi Honor Soci-ety, The American Institute ofthe History of Pharmacy, andDean John L. Colaizzi of theErnest Mario School of Phar-macy of Rutgers, The State Uni-versity of New Jersey cordiallyinvite you to attend the Four-teenth Annual David L. CowenLecture in the History of Phar-macy.

This year's speaker is Dr.William Helfand—historian,pharmacist, and chemical engi-neer—who will be speaking on"How I Learned about Historyfrom Pharmacy Cartoons." Thelecture will be held on Wednes-day, 13 November 2002 at 4:30p.m. in Room 111 of the Scienceand Engineering Resource Cen-ter (SERC) on Rutgers BuschCampus, Piscataway, New Jersey08854-8020.

Dr. Helfand has receivedthe Edward Kremers Award andthe Urdang Medal from theAmerican Institute of the Historyof Pharmacy, the Pepys Medalfrom the Ephemera Society(London), and the SchelenzPlaquette from the InternationalSociety for the History of Phar-macy. He is author of The Pic-ture of Health and Quack,Quack, Quack, and co-author ofPharmacy: An Illustrated His-tory. Phone (732) 445-2675 ext.605 for more information. Pleasevisit www.rutgers.edu for direc-tions to campus.

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Throop PharmacyMuseum

by Lee Anna Obos

THE Throop Pharmacy Mu-seum is an authentic restorationof the Throop Drugstore, whichwas located in Schoharie, NewYork, approximately forty milessouthwest of Albany. The storewas established in 1800 byJabez W. Throop and remainedin the same location, managedby the Throop family, for thenext 136 years. Besides beingthe store’s proprietor, Jabez wasthe town’s first postmaster, abank president, an educator anda founder of the town’s publicwater system. In 1845 Jabezwas succeeded at the store byhis son, Origen B. Throop.Origen died in a train accidentleaving the store to his son,Charles M. Throop, who oper-ated it from 1883 to 1930. Thelast proprietor of the store wasCharles W. Grant, a grandson,who managed the pharmacyfrom 1930 to 1936.

In 1938 the Albany Col-lege of Pharmacy acquired theThroop Drugstore as a histori-cal museum. It was moved tothe College in its entirety whereit was carefully reconstructedusing the original shelves,counters and drawers.

The Renovation

In 1998 the College initi-ated plans to enlarge and relo-cate the Throop Pharmacy Mu-seum. Working with architectsand the New York State Mu-seum, the final design was ap-proved in January 2000. TheMuseum was painstakingly dis-mantled; the contents werecataloged and placed in storage.The following fall, constructionbegan on the exterior façade ofthe new Museum.

By January 2001, the inte-

rior of the Museum had becomethe focus of construction. Atten-tion was given to every detail tomaintain the integrity of theoriginal structure. A tin ceiling,paint colors, tile, and woodfloors appropriate to the period,were researched and selected.Skilled craftsmen exactly repli-cated new millwork from theolder pieces.

The new Museum boastsmany improvements includingbetter lighting and climate con-trol. It has been relocated to amore prominent site, enlarged,and divided into two rooms. TheHistoric Throop Drugstore is lo-cated in the larger room and amanufacturing pharmacy hasbeen created in the smaller, adja-cent room. Additional windowshave been built into the exteriorfaçade of the building, doublingthe viewing areas into the Mu-seum.

On 22 September 2001, theAlbany College of Pharmacyheld a ribbon-cutting ceremonyto officially reopen the Museum.

Throop Pharmacy Museum

8 Apothecary’s Cabinet

Special guests included retiredArmy Colonel William Throop,the great-great-great grandsonof the original owner of theThroop Drugstore, who trav-eled from Austin, Texas, to par-ticipate in the ceremony.

The New Throop PharmacyMuseum

Visiting the newly recon-structed Throop Pharmacy Mu-seum provides an opportunityto visualize the life of a ruralpharmacist during the 1800s.The original shelves, counters,and wooden drawers thatstored the herbs and crude drugs are in place.The reconstruction includes a tin ceiling,wooden floor, as well as period lighting andmillwork. Advertising signs adorn the walls,showglobes are featured in the windows andspittoons are located at each end of the maincounter. The Museum’s extensive collection ofapothecary bottles and jars is grouped by era onthe shelves. Balances, mortars and pestles, pillmachines, cachet machines, grinders for crudedrugs, prescription books, and cork presses aredisplayed on the counters.

The Manufacturing Museum

The manufacturing section is set up to rep-licate a small mid-nineteenth-century laboratorywith a tile floor and period lab benches. Thisroom features the tools a pharmacist would useto produce larger quantities of medications.These items include large percolators, mortarsand pestles, balances, suppository machines, anda brass sieve collection. Also on display are sev-eral extensive collections of bottles, jars and tinsproduced by the major drug companies in thelate nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Museum Activities

The College is actively involved in promot-ing awareness of the Museum to the community:

• An exhibit was created for the Albany Interna-tional Airport, which highlights the history ofthe Throop Drugstore and the practice of phar-macy in the United States during the 19th cen-tury. A series of posters and display cases fea-ture collections from the Museum.

• The Museum is an active participant in the an-nual Albany History Day hosting a booth to dis-play pharmacy artifacts, answer questions anddemonstrate pill-rolling techniques.

• The Museum worked with and loaned severalpharmacy artifacts to the Albany County His-torical Association to create an exhibit titled“Let Us Be Patient, Medical Developments in19th-century Albany.”

• Guided tours of the Museum, compoundingworkshops and slide shows are given on requestto interested groups.

For further information visit our webpageat www.acp.edu/throop or contact the AlbanyCollege of Pharmacy at 518-445-7200.

Manufacturing Museum

No. 5 9

What Is It?

See page 13 for the answer.

Historical Images ofthe Drug Market

by William H. Helfand

THE New York Quinine andChemical Works Ltd. illustratedexamples of their major productsin an insert published in severalpharmaceutical journals in 1896.The advertisement pictured notonly raw materials that had beenimported in bulk—coca leaves,raw opium, and cinchona bark—but also the al-kaloids that were prepared from them and avail-able for sale. At the top of the illustration arevarious sized packages of cocaine hydrochlo-ride, morphine sulfate, and quinine sulfate. Thecompany became part of the S. B. Penick Co. inthe 1940s, and by the 1990s only morphine sul-fate remained in the firm’s catalog. The adver-tisement is of more than routine interest be-

cause it illustrates the manner in which raw ma-terials were received from their country of ori-gin, probably Latin America for coca leavesand cinchona bark, and the Near East foropium. While the opium was shipped inwooden crates, the other two items arrived inNew York in crude burlap. (Size of advertise-ment, 7 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches. Original in W. H.Helfand Collection.)

Take a Look at Our Re-designedWebsite

The AIHP website (www.aihp.org) wasre-designed along with other web pages atthe University of Wisconsin School of Phar-macy. The goal was to make the designsuniform and accessible. We hope that thenew design will give us the opportunity toadd some new items to the site. Let usknow how you like it; send us ideas forthings you would like to see included.

10 Apothecary’s Cabinet

Industrial Origins and Pharmacy

by David L. Cowen

ratories. In 1845 two Baltimorepharmacists Louis Dohme andAlpheus Phineas Sharp estab-lished Sharp and Dohme. In1851 Ernst Schering turned his

THE pharmaceutical industrydeveloped, variously, out of thechemical industry, out of gen-eral entrepreneurship, out ofmedical practice, and, as to beexpected, out of the pharmacyshop. In London the WorshipfulSociety of Apothecaries estab-lished a joint stock company in1672 that operated a chemicallaboratory with great success. InFrance, in 1775, the famouspharmacist Antoine Baumé ranan enterprise that offered 2,400preparations for sale.

However, the leap from theapothecary shop to the indus-trial house was largely a nine-teenth-century development.Early in the century, Frenchpharmacists Pierre-JosephPelletier and Joseph Caventou,pioneers in alkaloidal research,realized that the new drugscould economically be pro-duced on a large scale. In 1821,Heinrich Emanuel Merck turnedhis family “Engel-Apotheke”(which had been established inDarmstadt, Germany, in 1668)into E. Merck AG of Darmstadt,and began to manufacture mor-phine and other alkaloids inbulk. In 1830 the Philadelphiadruggist, John K. Smith,founded what was to becomeSmith, Kline and French Labo- Silas Burroughs

the Burroughs Wellcome Com-pany in 1880. If it can be saidthat the pharmaceutical industryhas taken over the productionand compounding of medicinalsfrom the pharmacist, it can besaid that in some measure thiswas the industry’s heritage.

“Grüne Apotheke” in Berlininto Schering AG. The firm es-tablished by pharmacist WilliamR. Warner in Philadelphia be-came one of the constituents ofWarner-Lambert in 1856. EliLilly, trained as a pharmacistand owner of a pharmacy for ashort time, founded the Eli LillyCompany in Indianapolis in1876. And in London, far fromthe Philadelphia College ofPharmacy where they had beentrained, Silas M. Burroughs andHenry S. Wellcome established

Advertisement for Smith & Gilbert in 1835Philadelphia directory.

No. 5 11

Who are they now?

by Elaine C. Stroud

What happened to the names of thoseearly pharmacists when companiesmerged, expanded, or were bought out?The pharmaceutical industry family treehas many intertwined branches, andsome dead ends. What follows is a list ofsome of the name changes for a numberof companies whose antecedents werepharmacies.

MERCK

E. Merck was the pharmacy acquired byJacob Merck in 1668. In 1827 theMerck Company was established toconduct large scale production of plant-derived chemicals. The US subsidiarywas founded in 1887, from whichMerck & Co. emerged as an indepen-dent US company after WWI.

Merck & Co. was founded in 1891 in theU.S. by George Merck, in partnershipwith Theodore Weicker. Until WWI,the company was a branch office of thefamily firm of E Merck, Darmstadt,Germany, a supplier of fine chemicalsto the pharmaceutical and other indus-tries. George Merck’s son, George W.Merck succeeded his father as presi-dent in 1925 and established the re-search division in 1933

SMITH, KLINE & FRENCH

John K. Smith was a Philadelphia drug-gist who opened Smith & Gilbert drughouse along with his brother-in-law,John Gilbert, in 1830.

John Gilbert withdrew in 1836 and thebusiness continued as John K. Smith& Company, Druggists.

John Smith died and George K. Smith be-came a leader in wholesaling (1845):George K. Smith & Co. supplied qui-nine and other products to U.S. troopsin 1846, in the war against Mexico.

George K. Smith died in 1864; George Y.

Shoemaker entered the business withEphriam K. Smith and the namechanged to Smith & Schoemaker.

Mahlon N. Kline (George K. Smith’snephew) entered the business as book-keeper in 1865.

Ephriam K. Smith stepped aside (1867),leaving Mahlon K. Smith as generalmanager.

George Shoemaker left in 1870, and thecompany became known as Mahlon K.Smith & Company. Mahlon N. Klinebecame a partner along with Washing-ton J. Sellers.

In 1875 the name changed to Smith, Kline& Company.

Smith & Kline absorbed French, Richard& Co. (1891), to form Smith, Kline &French Company, reorganized asSmith Kline & French Laboratoriesin 1929, with Smith Kline & French,Inc., as a subsidiary.

The name became SmithKline Corpora-tion (1973), with Smith Kline &French Laboratories as the name of thepharmaceutical division.

The merger of SmithKline with BeckmanInstruments (1982) formedSmithKline Beckman Corporation.

SmithKline Beecham created (1989)from the merger of SmithKlineBeckman Corp. of US and Beechamgroup of UK.

SmithKline Beecham acquired Sterling(over-the-counter pharmaceutical unit)(1994 ).

The merger of Glaxo Wellcome andSmithKline Beecham (2000) producedGlaxoSmithKline.

BURROUGHS WELLCOME

Silas Burroughs and Henry Wellcomeformed Burroughs Wellcome Co.(1880).

Glaxo merged with Burroughs Wellcometo form Glaxo Wellcome (1995).

SHARP & DOHME

The name Sharp & Dohme referred toAlpheus Phineas Sharp’s apothecaryand the senior clerk Louis Dohme(1860). With a new building the firmventured into mass production (1865).

Sharp retired and his interest was boughtout by Louis and Charles Dohme(1885). Sharp & Dohme was incorpo-rated for the first time in 1893 in NewJersey.

Sharp and Dohme purchased Mulford(1929) and was reincorporated in thestate of Maryland

Merck acquired Sharp and Dohme throughmerger (1953), forming Merck Sharpand Dohme.

SCHERING

Schering Corporation was established asthe American subsidiary of the Germanenterprise to sell bulk chemicals andpackage pharmaceuticals (1929).

Schering-Plough formed (1971) by amerger of Schering Corp. (research-based pharmaceutical co.) and PloughInc. (manufacturers of consumer prod-ucts).

WARNER LAMBERT

Lambert Pharmaceutical Companyfounded to market Listerine antiseptic(1881).

Wm R. Warner founded (1886).Warner and Lambert merged (1955), form-

ing Warner Lambert.Warner Lambert acquired Parke-Davis

(which was founded in 1866 by HerveyC. Parke and George S. Davis as Parke,Davis and Company) in 1970.

Warner-Lambert and Wellcome agreed toform Warner-Wellcome ConsumerHealth Products (1993).

12 Apothecary’s Cabinet

COLLECTOR’S CORNER

WANTED: Philatelic items (U.S. andworldwide) related to pharmacy, drugsor medicinal plants. Interested in awide range of philatelic items includ-ing postage stamps, advertisingstamps, envelopes, postmarks/cancel-lations, philatelic literature relating topharmacy. Contact Jack Chen, 7854Calmcrest Drive, Downey, CA 90240;(909) 469-5602 or via emailjackchen@msn.com.

WANTED: Surgical related itemsfrom the 18th and 19th century. In-struments, books, etchings, photos andanything of interst. Contact Dr. AlanKoslow at koslow@mchsi.com or(515) 267-1821.

FOR SALE: Pharmacy MuseumMemorabilia, late 18th Centurythrough mid 20th Century. Includes20-gallon Red Wing crock used atStricker’s Drug Store (Latrobe, PA),soda fountain (David Stricker createdthe Banana Split), and a pestle used onthe Peary Expedition when the NorthPole was discovered. Elegant fixtures(1850) from a Scotland pharmacy.$95,000 or a reasonable offer. Willsell memorabilia and fixtures sepa-rately but memorabilia must go first.Jacob L. Grimm, 209 S. Market St.,Ligonier, PA 15658 (724) 238-6893; e-mail grimm209@helicon.net

FOR SALE: One hundred year oldhistorical pharmacy documents con-taining historical signatures. A DoctorIn Pharmacy certificate issued toEphraim Shaw Tyler in 1902 andsigned by Joseph P. Remington andHenry Kraemer and others and issuedelection issued to Ephraim Shaw Tylerby The Alumni Association of thePhiladelphia College of Pharmacy in1902. Both are well framed. Charles

* * * * *

The AIHP brings together those whowish to buy, sell, or trade artifactsor books related to the history ofpharmacy. Free classified advertis-ing is available to members ($5.00 aline to non-members). Send copy toApothecary’s Cabinet, AIHP, 777Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53705,or NOTES@aihp.org.

R. Weiss at (330)633-4342 orCWEISS6@juno.com.

FOR SALE: Own a piece of the fi-nancial history of the drug, chemical,pharmaceutical and health care com-panies. Stock/Bond certificates (can-celed) are both history and an artform.Most priced under $7.00 each. SendSASE for list. Interested in buyingsimilar items. Wayne Segal, Box 181,Runnemede, NJ 08078. e-mailWaynePharm@aol.com

GOOD HEALTH TO ALL FROMREXALL! I collect anything madefor The Rexall Store. Especially wantearly consumer products and phar-macy items manufactured by theUnited Drug Company (1903-46, Bos-ton). Also Rexall AD-VANTAGESmagazines, calendars, almanacs, pho-tos, and other franchise and advertis-ing materials. United Drug brands:Puretest, Firstaid, Elkay, Kantleek,Jonteel, Liggett’s, Fenway, Harmony(cosmetics), Electrex (appliances), OldColony (inks), Klenzo, etc. Whathave you? Frank Sternad, P.O. Box560, Fulton, CA 95439; (707) 546-3106, e-mail fasternad@iscweb.com

WANTED: Apothecary jars, mortars& pestles and pharmacy memorabiliaincluding advertising cards, displays,cabinets, etc. Please call (602) 443-9358, fax (602) 443-0185 or write Ed-ward Saksenhaus, 8430 E. AppaloosaTr., Scottsdale, AZ 85258.

FOR SALE: Apothecary Antiques in-cluding drug jars, apothecary bottles,manufacturing tools, medical instru-ments including leech jar and variousdental items; books dealing with theabove subjects available, cataloguesissued. Always buying similar items

WANTED: Show globes, fancy apoth-ecary bottles, porcelain jars, trade cata-logs, window pieces, patent medicines,and advertising. Mart James, 487Oakridge Rd., Dyersburg, TN 38024;(901) 286-2025; e-mail: kjames@usit.net

WANTED: Books & journals on Phar-macy (pre-1920), Pharmacognosy,Herbal/Botanic Medicine, Eclectic &Thomsonian Medicine, Phytochemis-try, & Ethnobotany. I will purchaseone title or entire libraries. David Win-ston, Herbalist & Alchemist Books,P.O. Box 553, Broadway, NJ 08808,(908) 835-0822, fax: (908) 835-0824,e-mail: dwherbal@nac.net

THE SNAKE-OIL SYNDROME,by A. Walker Bingham; 196 pagesoversized, more than 500 illutrations,60 pages in full color. An in-depthreference work on patent medicineadvertising in the context of efficacy,and the selling images used. Cross-indexed by subject and productnames, with notes, bibliography, andlist of public collections. Hardcover,$44.00 postpaid from the ChristopherPublishing House, 24 RoacklandStreet, Hanover, MA 12339.

or collections. John S. Gimesh, MD.,202 Stedman St., Fayetteville, NC28305; (910) 484-2219.

No. 5 13

What is it?

AIHP StudentMembership

Students can join the American In-stitute of the History of Pharmacyat the special rate of $20, insteadof the regular $50. Even thoughthe rates are reduced, the benefitsare the same:

•subscription to Pharmacy in History,with research articles placing phar-macy in historical perspective

•Apothecary’s Cabinet, with informa-tion for collectors as well as com-pact articles covering broad histori-cal topics, and interestinganecdotes

•pharmaco-historical calendar to puton the wall in your office

•40% discount on materials in our pub-lications catalog--some of whichare books used in pharmacycourses

•the benefits of understanding the longand respected history of your pro-fession

Join today by sending a check to:AIHP, 777 Highland Ave., Madi-son, WI 53705, or calling to placea credit card order (608)262-5378.Don’t forget to include your ship-ping address and year of gradua-tion.

New Edition of Ethics TextbookNow Available

The second edition of Ethical Responsibility in PharmacyPractice, by Robert A. Buerki and Louis D. Vottero is now avail-able for purchase. The authors have added more case studies withfull commentaries, developed a glossary of pertinent terms, and in-cluded current issues of ethical concern. You can order your copytoday for $25 postpaid (contact AIHP, 777 Highland Ave., Madi-son, WI 53705; 608-231-1205; books@aihp.org).

The cover of the Second Edition of EthicalResponsibility in Pharmacy Practicedepicts the triad of pharmaceutical care:pharmacist, physician, and patient.

In 1905, the Proceedings ofthe American Pharmaceutical Asso-ciation, announced the invention ofa new machine for the making ofpills. Unfortunately for the inven-tor, this dosage form was in swiftdecline being supplanted by mass-produced compressed tablets.

“Jacob Swidker has devised[a new] pill machine. . . . It con-sists of a wooden frame or tray withraised edges and a lip for the conve-nient removal of the finished pills,which are formed by the machine,consisting of a metal disc providedwith concentric grooves and a re-volving lid, correspondinglygrooved. The pill mass having beenrolled into a pipe of the required di-ameter and length is placed on thedisc as shown at b, and by turningthe adjusted lid, by means of theknob a, is divided and rolled into

pills. . . . The pills are perfectlyspherical, and do not require subse-quent rounding, as is usually neces-sary when they are made on the olderform of pill machines.”

14 Apothecary’s Cabinet

Drachms & ScruplesTerms according to the Encyclopedia of Pharmaceutical Technology, Dekker, 2001*

Grants for Visiting Researchin the History of Pharmacy

Assistance for short-term historical research re-lated to the history of pharmacy, including the historyof drugs, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison isavailable periodically. Historians, pharmacists, andother scholars working in the field (of any nationality)may apply for the next available Sonnedecker Grantfor Visiting Research in the History of Pharmacy. Theprogram provides assistance for travel, maintainingtemporary residence in Madison, and meeting re-search expenses associated with utilizing the collec-tion.

A brochure is available on request that describesthe pharmaco-historical collections, which have beendeveloped in Madison during more than a century bythe University of Wisconsin-Madison, the State His-torical Society of Wisconsin, and the American Insti-tute of the History of Pharmacy. Printed sources em-phasize pharmaceutical literature of Western Europe

Cucufa: Cucufa is a cap, dusted on theinside with medicinal powder,which is applied to the head tostrengthen the brain.

Dragées: Dragées are candied or pre-served roots and fruits described bythe Arab Najm ad-dyn Mahmoud inthe eight century and reintroducedin the eighteenth century by the fa-mous French pharmacist MoiseCharas. By the middle of the nine-teenth century, the term was ex-tended to include a type of sugar-coated pill formed by repeatedlyshaking slightly moistened, tiny 6-mg (1/10 grain) sugar granules (ornonpareils) in a basin of finely pow-

*Robert A. Buerki and Gregory J. Higby, “His-tory of Dosage Forms and Basic Preparations,”Encyclopedia of Pharmaceutical Technology,Dekker, 2001.

dered drug mixed with sugar. Aftera sufficient number of layers hadbeen built up, the dragées wouldreceive a final coating of sugar orcopal and tolu balsam, a painstak-ing process described by ErnestAgnew in the American Journal ofPharmacy (1870).

Draughts: Draughts are liquid medi-cines usually prepared to be takenin a single dose or “draught.”Draughts are also known as po-tions.

Spasmadraps: Pieces of linen or othercloth dipped in or spread with amedicinal plaster, popularized in

and the United States of America, from the Renais-sance to the present day. Manuscript sources representmainly American pharmacy, from the late nineteenthcentury to the present day. These resources are rein-forced by collections of comparable importance in thehistory of medicine and history of science.

At least $2000 becomes available annually todefray part of the expenses of a recipient, for what-ever period of residence is appropriate. Grants aremade throughout the year on the basis of the merit ofprevious historical work and on the appropriateness ofhistorical resources on the University of Wisconsincampus to the research proposed.

For further information contact: Professor Gre-gory J. Higby, 777 Highland Ave., Madison, WI53705, phone (608)262-5378.

1514 by Gionvanni da Vigo (1460-1525), physician to Pope Julius II.From the Latin spasma meaning“healing powder” and the Frenchdrap meaning “cloth.” Also knownas sparadraps or cerecloths.

No. 5 15

100 Years Ago

75 Years Ago

50 Years Ago

25 Years Ago

EDITED BY GREG HIGBY

A Backward Glance atAmerican Pharmacy

A pharmacist from Scotland visiting the United States made these remarks: “I had great pleasure in meet-ing a number of typical pharmacists in your larger cities, some of these apparently carrying on highly suc-cessful businesses; but I cannot say I was impressed with the conditions that obtained in the rank and fileof drug stores. The hours, generally speaking, are exceeding long, and the predominance of the cigar andsoda fountain trade was rather depressing. The legend ‘cut-rate drug store’ was also painfully frequent,and, on the whole, I came to the conclusion that while a retail drug store might be a good paying businessthe conditions under which it is carried on leave something to be desired in America.” (American Drug-gist, September 1902, p. 113.)

“What is probably the first conviction in Virginia under what is known as the ‘ginseng’ act has been re-ported by . . . the commission of game and inland fisheries. Ginseng grows wild in the mountains of Vir-ginia. Its roots bring $15 a pound in New York, from which the available supply is shipped to China. . . .[I]n the mountains of Virginia, most of the killing of wild turkeys out of season is done by ginseng dig-gers, who camp in the mountains and live off of wild game while digging for the roots which bring suchfabulous prices. Accordingly, the commission instructed its wardens to keep a watch on the ginseng dig-gers and, as a result, one of them was recently arrested. . . . He was convicted of violating the game lawand of digging ginseng in the summer. The statute against summer digging of ginseng is an old one, butfor many years it has been dormant. It was enacted because the destruction of the ginseng plant before ithas time to drop its seed means its ultimate extinction.” (Pharmaceutical Era, September 1927, p. 260.)

“As the 1952 political campaigns drew closer to a showdown, socialized medicine once again assumedthe limelight as a major issue. In a formal statement on the subject, Republican candidate DwightEisenhower said he is ‘opposed to a federally operated and controlled system of medical care’ of the typeadvocated by the [Truman] Administration because it would ‘wreck the system’ which provides adequatemedical care to the great majority of the American people. . . . On the very next day after Gen.Eisenhower made his statement, President Truman . . . revived his appeal for a national health insuranceprogram. . . . In challenging the GOP candidate’s recommendations for providing adequate medical care,Mr. Truman declared: ‘the fact that the best medical care costs so much today is not anybody’s fault. It issimply because we have found how to do so much for the people who are ill that, if we do all of it, it takesa lot of time and requires a lot of equipment, personnel and expensive drugs. Nobody is to blame, butthese costs have to be met somehow if we want to reap the blessings of medical research.’” (AmericanDruggist, September 29, 1952, p. 19.)

“Arkansas Pharmacists Association is the new name of the organization formerly known as ArkansasPharmaceutical Association. The change was provided for in a new constitution adopted by the group.Earlier this year, Michigan pharmacists did the same thing—replacing ‘pharmaceutical’ in the name oftheir organization with ‘pharmacists.’ In both cases the reason was the same — to make sure that legisla-tors, public officials, the news media and the public officials, the new media and the public know that theassociation represents pharmacists only, and not the pharmaceutical industry. Several other states arethinking of making similar changes. . . . In the case of Arkansas, the association is going back to its ori-gins. When it was founded in 1882, it was known as the Arkansas Association of Pharmacists.” (Ameri-can Druggist, August 1997, p. 63.)

16 Apothecary’s Cabinet

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDMadison, Wisconsin

Permit No. 881

from a unique agency of pharmacyThe American Institute of the History of Pharmacy

777 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53705-2222

CALL FOR PAPERS

AIHP Section on Contributed Papersat the APhA Annual Meeting

28 March-1 April 2003New Orleans, LA

•Titles and 200-word abstracts for 15-minute podium presentation must be re-ceived by October 1, 2002. With your abstract please include name, affiliation, ad-dress, phone number, and email address if available.

•Send abstracts to Michael Montagne, AIHP Section Chair Contributed Papers:email: mmontagne@mcp.eduphone: 617-732-2995mailing address (hardcopies): 179 Longwood Ave., Boston MA 02115 USA

•For additional information, contact the AIHP office (608-262-5378);email (aihp@aihp.org).