_By George B. Griffenhagen and James Harvey Young_
_Bateman's Pectoral Drops, Godfrey's Cordial, Turlington's Balsam of
Life, Hooper's Female Pills, and a half-dozen other similar nostrums
originated in England, mostly during the first half of the 18th
century. Advertised with extravagant claims, their use soon spread to
the American Colonies._
_To the busy settler, with little time and small means, these
ready-made and comparatively inexpensive "remedies" appealed as a
solution to problems of medical and pharmaceutical aid. Their
popularity brought forth a host of American imitations and made an
impression not soon forgotten or discarded._
THE AUTHORS: _George B. Griffenhagen, formerly curator of medical
sciences in the Smithsonian Institution's U.S. National Museum, is now
Director of Communications for the American Pharmaceutical Association.
James Harvey Young is professor of history at Emory University. Some of
the material cited in the paper was found by him while he held a
fellowship from the Fund for the Advancement of Education, in 1954-55,
and grants-in-aid from the Social Science Research Council and Emory
University, in 1956-57._
In 1824 there issued from the press in Philadelphia a 12-page pamphlet
bearing the title, _Formulae for the preparation of eight patent
medicines, adopted by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy_. The
College was the first professional pharmaceutical organization
established in America, having been founded in 1821, and this small
publication was its first venture of any general importance. Viewed
from the perspective of the mid-20th century, it may seem strange if
not shocking that the maiden effort of such a college should be
publicizing formulas for nostrums. Adding to the novelty is the fact
that all eight of these patent medicines, with which the Philadelphians
concerned themselves half a century after American independence, were
of English origin.
Hooper's Female Pills, Anderson's Scots Pills, Bateman's Pectoral
Drops, Godfrey's Cordial, Dalby's Carminative, Turlington's Balsam of
Life, Steer's Opodeldoc, British Oil--in this order do the names appear
in the Philadelphia pamphlet--all were products of British therapeutic
ingenuity. Across the Atlantic Ocean and on American soil these eight
and other old English patent medicines, as of the year when the 12-page
pamphlet was printed, had both a past and a future.