edly 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 \ary widely. .Ml the formulas collected for 

 Bateman's Pectoral Drops, for instance, contained 

 opium, but the amount of opivun to liquid ingredients 

 in one formula submitted was 1 to 14, while in another 

 it was 1 to 1,000. 



Setting forth boldly to slri|) these I'.nglish nostrums 

 of "their extravagant pretensions," the connnittee 

 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 com- 

 mittee. This botanical, which still finds a place in 

 laxati\e products today, was retained by the com- 

 mittee as the cathartic base, and to it were added '"the 

 Extract of Hellebore, the Sulphate of Iron and the 

 Mvrrh as the best emmenagogues." 



.Anderson's Scots Pills had been a ""mild" purgatixe 

 throughout its long career, varying in composition 

 "according to the judgement or fancy of the pre- 

 parer." Paris, an English physician, had earlier re- 

 ported 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 ver- 

 sions existed than of any of the others. The commit- 

 tee setded 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 

 cornmittee chose a formula which would provide a 

 grain of opium per ounce, to which was added sassa- 

 fras "as the carminative which has become one of the 

 chief features of the medicine." 



English apothecary Dalljy had introduced his "Car- 

 minative" 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 Rob- 

 ert Turlington for his Balsam of Life, the committee 

 settled on the official formula of Compoimd 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 fla.xseed 

 oil. The committee decided that both oil.s, 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 appar- 

 ently 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." 



Thu> 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 asser- 

 tions," the committee recommended that the wrap- 

 pers be modified to present only truthful claims. If 

 the College trustees .should adopt the changes sug- 

 gested, 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 Ijeen 

 made, in an increased public confidence in the Insti- 

 tution and its members; the influence of which would 

 be felt in extending the drug business of our city." " 



The trustees felt this counsel to be wise, and ordered 

 250 copies of the 1 2-page pamphlet to be printed. So 

 popular did this first major undertaking of the Phila- 

 delphia College prove that in 1833 the formulas were 

 reprinted in the pages of the journal published by the 

 College.'^" 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." 



8» Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Formulae Jot the pupara- 

 tion of eight patent medicines, adopted by the Philadelphia College of 

 Pharmacy, May 4, 1824; Joseph VV. England, cd., The first century 

 of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 1S21-1921, Philadelphia, 

 1922. 



»» "Patent medicines," Journal of the Philadelphia College of 

 Pharmacy, .\pril 1833, vol. 5, pp. 20-31. 



" C. Ellis, "Patent medicines," American Journal of Pharmacy, 

 .-\pril 1839, new ser., vol. 5, pp. 67-74. 



P.\PER 10: OLD ENGLISH P.XTKNT MEDICINES IN .AMERICA 



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