As the years went by and therapeutic laissez-faire continued to
operate, conditions worsened. By the early 1820's, the old English
patent medicines, whether of dwindling British vintage or of burgeoning
American manufacture, were as familiar as laudanum or castor oil.
With the demand so extensive and the state of production so chaotic,
the officials of the new Philadelphia College of Pharmacy were
persuaded that remedial action was mandatory. In May 1822, the Board of
Trustees resolved to appoint a 5-man committee "to select from such
prescriptions for the preparation of Patent Medicines ..., as may be
submitted to them by the members of the College, those which in their
opinion, may be deemed most appropriate for the different
compositions."
The committee chose for study "eight of the Patent Medicines most in
use," and sought to ascertain what ingredients these ancient remedies
ought by right to contain. Turning to the original formulas, where
these were given in English patent specifications, the pharmacists soon
became convinced that the information provided by the original
proprietors served "only to mislead."
If the patent specifications were perhaps intentionally confusing, the
committee inquired, how could the original formulas really be known?
This quest seemed so fruitless that it was not pursued. Instead the
pharmacists turned to American experience in making the English
medicines. From many members of the College, and from other pharmacists
as well, recipes were secured. The result was shocking. Although almost
every one came bolstered with the assertion that it was true and
genuine, the formulas differed so markedly one from the other, the
committee reported, as to make "the task of reformation a very
difficult one." Indeed, in some cases, when two recipes bearing the
same old English name were compared, they were found to contain not one
ingredient in common. In other cases, the proportions of some basic
ingredient would vary widely. All the formulas collected for Bateman's
Pectoral Drops, for instance, contained opium, but the amount of opium
to liquid ingredients in one formula submitted was 1 to 14, while in
another it was 1 to 1,000.
Setting forth boldly to strip these English nostrums of "their
extravagant pretensions," the committee sought to devise formulas for
their composition as simple and inexpensive as possible while yet
retaining the "chief compatible virtues" ascribed to them on the
traditional wrappers.
Hooper's Female Pills had been from the beginning a cathartic and
emmenagogue. However, only aloes was common to all the recipes
submitted to the committee. This botanical, which still finds a place
in laxative products today, was retained by the committee as the
cathartic base, and to it were added "the Extract of Hellebore, the
Sulphate of Iron and the Myrrh as the best emmenagogues."
Anderson's Scots Pills had been a "mild" purgative throughout its long
career, varying in composition "according to the judgement or fancy of
the preparer." Paris, an English physician, had earlier reported that
these pills consisted of aloes and jalap; the committee decided on
aloes, with small amounts of colocynth and gamboge, as the purgatives
of choice.
Of Bateman's Pectoral Drops more divergent versions existed than of any
of the others. The committee settled on a formula of opium and camphor,
not unlike paragoric in composition, with catachu, anise flavoring, and
coloring added. Godfrey's Cordial also featured opium in widely varying
amounts. The committee chose a formula which would provide a grain of
opium per ounce, to which was added sassafras "as the carminative which
has become one of the chief features of the medicine."
English apothecary Dalby had introduced his "Carminative" for "all
those fatal Disorders in the Bowels of Infants." The committee decided
that a grain of opium to the ounce, together with magnesia and three
volatile oils, were essential "for this mild carminative and laxative
... for children."
Instead of the complex formula described by Robert Turlington for his
Balsam of Life, the committee settled on the official formula of
Compound Tincture of Benzoin, with balsam of peru, myrrh, and angelica
root added, to produce "an elegant and rich balsamic tincture." On the
other hand, the committee adopted "with slight variations, the
Linimentum Saponis of the old London Dispensatory" to which they, like
Steers, added only ammonia.
The committee found two distinct types of British Oil on the market.
One employed oil of turpentine as its basic ingredient, while the other
utilized flaxseed oil. The committee decided that both oils, along with
several others in lesser quantities, were necessary to produce a
medicine "as exhibited in the directions" sold with British Oil. "Oil
of Bricks" which apparently was the essential ingredient of the Betton
British Oil, was described by the committee as "a nauseous and
unskilful preparation, which has long since been banished from the
Pharmacopoeias."
Thus the Philadelphia pharmacists devised eight new standardized
formulas, aimed at retaining the therapeutic goals of the original
patent medicines, while brought abreast of current pharmaceutical
knowledge. Recognizing that the labeling had long contained
"extravagant pretensions and false assertions," the committee
recommended that the wrappers be modified to present only truthful
claims. If the College trustees should adopt the changes suggested, the
committee concluded optimistically, then "the reputation of the College
preparations would soon become widely spread, and we ... should reap
the benefit of the examination which has now been made, in an increased
public confidence in the Institution and its members; the influence of
which would be felt in extending the drug business of our city."[89]
[89] Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, _Formulae for the
preparation of eight patent medicines, adopted by the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy_, May 4, 1824; Joseph W.
England, ed., _The first century of the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy_, 1821-1921, Philadelphia, 1922.
The trustees felt this counsel to be wise, and ordered 250 copies of
the 12-page pamphlet to be printed. So popular did this first major
undertaking of the Philadelphia College prove that in 1833 the formulas
were reprinted in the pages of the journal published by the
College.[90] Again the demand was high, few numbers of the publication
were "more sought after," and in 1839 the formulas were printed once
again, this time with slight revisions.[91]
[90] "Patent medicines," _Journal of the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy_, April 1833, vol. 5, pp. 20-31.
[91] C. Ellis, "Patent medicines," _American Journal of
Pharmacy_, April 1839, new ser., vol. 5, pp. 67-74.
Thus had the old English patent medicines reached a new point in their
American odyssey. They had first crossed the Atlantic to serve the
financial interests of the men who promoted them. During the Revolution
they had lost their British identity while retaining their British
names. The Philadelphia pharmacists, while adopting them and reforming
their character, did not seek to monopolize them, as had the original
proprietors. They now could work for every man.