lacking; l)ai-k, ipecac. rhul)arb, camphor, and salts; 

 and only one-half ounce of jalap and 2 ounces of gum 

 opium remained in the chest outfitted by Christopher 

 and Charles Marshall on April 25 in Philadelphia. 

 The 15th Regiment of Foot at Mount Independence 

 claimed 2 ounces of bark and \y, ounces of gum 

 opium, while the 6th Regiment at Ticonderoga was 

 as well off as any with one-half pound of bark and 4 

 ounces of gum opiimi.'*'^ Compared with the mini- 

 mum need of 20 pounds of bark and 2 pounds of gum 

 opium, even this was not of much comfort. 



The inventory "of the Medicines in the Continental 

 Store at Fort George" dated September 9 was not 

 very comforting either. While the store included 

 137 different items, including equipment and con- 

 tainers of all the capital medicines, only Epsom salts 

 appeared to be available in a sufficient quantity. 

 Seven pounds of rhubarb were also on hand, but con- 

 spicuotis by their absence were bark, ipecac, jalap, 

 gum camphor, and gum opium. '*" 



With their continuous requests and demands, the 

 regimental surgeons made life miserable for Potts. 

 Surgeon Mate of the Pennsylvania 1st wrote that the 

 "Chest of Medicine . . . is not yet arrived but expect 

 it hourly. . . ." Trumbull asked: "Have your Med- 

 icines arriv'd? Have Stringer or McHenry made their 

 appearance yet? Our people fall sick Ijy Dozens. I 

 not a Pennys worth of Medicine have for them, even 

 in the most virulent disorders." Surgeon Johnston 

 begged: "Pray if possible send me 4 pounds Pulv. 

 Cort. Peruv. [Bark] and 3 ounces Tart[ar] Emet[ic]. 

 With those medicines I think I could restore a number 

 of our best Men to perfect Health." *- 



In those instances where some drugs were on hand, 

 the shortage of pharmaceutical equipment hampered, 

 if not prevented, the preparation of proper dosage 

 forms. Surgeon McCrea on board the Royal Saroge 

 wrote on .September 2 that he "found a great in- 

 convenience for want of .scales & waits," *' and the 

 surgeon at Crown Point wrote on .September 19 that 

 "the Medicines which I rec'd a few days ago will be 

 of very little Benefit as I have no fit Mortar &c to 

 prepare them with & must use them in Decoction." *' 



S" Potts Papers, vol. 1, folios 102-106, 108-1 11. 114. 119. 



*" Ihid., folio 99. There was a listing for 170 pounds of 

 "Cathart: Am" (Epsom salts). The 7 pounds of rhubarb was 

 listed as "3 lb. Rad. Rhaei and 4 lb. Pul. Rhaei." .Mso on 

 hand were 1 'j pounds of "Mithridat" (opium). 



88 fhtiL, folios 73, 94, 124. 



89 Ihiil.. folio 4; McCrea to Potts, .September 2, 1776. 



™ Jhii/., folio 124; Johnston to Potts, .September 19, 1776. 



It wasn't until October that any relief arrived, and 

 even then there were disappointments. Andrew 

 Craigie, at Fort George, received a wagonload of 

 herbs on October 3, but, as Craigie reported to 

 Potts, "one half the load is enitrely useless, containing 

 Saffron, Pink flower, and whole H[eade]d Penny- 

 royal, &c. &c. Dr. Brown thinks his broad shoulders 

 would carry all the articles that are worth anything." 

 Craigie recommended to Potts that payment should 

 not be made for all the useless articles. "' 



The long-lost Stringer finally arrived at Albany 

 from Boston on October 5 and reported to Gates that 

 he had met the greatest success in procuring £5,000 

 of medicines. "- Ten days later. Stringer wrote Potts 

 that he was now forwarding "by waggon two Barrels 

 & 1 Box of Medicines . . . [which] will suffice for 

 the present, not thinking it prudent to send up the 

 whole, especially as we can always get them up as 

 they are wanted." '^ 



Even after the long delay, most of the supplies were 

 still held in Albany instead of being distributed among 

 the surgeons who needed them. This infuriated 

 Potts to a point that even Stringer found it necessary, 

 on October 25, to explain: 



I received yesterday a letter from \'ou . . . before this time 

 you will have rec'd such of the articles you desired as we 

 had to spare [from] the Medicines I purchased at Boston . . . 

 I thought [it] not proper to risque [them] up here; neither 

 were any of them in powder, and all that were so at this 

 place we sent you, and have two hands bus\- in preparing 

 more for our own use. I hope that [the shipment] sent will 

 be sufficient for your purpose. '^ 



Andrew Craigie had sent three barrels and four 

 boxes of supplies to Ticonderoga on October 22, ^" 

 but the shipment obviously did not suffice. On 

 November 7 Stringer wrote that "as soon as possible 

 the Medicines you wrote for shall be prepared and 

 sent, but they are chiefly to be pulverized." In his 

 typical style he added, "I cannot conceive what use 

 vou will have for five sieves when vou have no large 

 mortar." ^^ 



The November 27 report of the committee of 

 Congress on the conditions in the general hospital 



91 IbuL, folio 125; Craigie to Potts, October 3. 1776. 



»2 American Archives, ser. 5, vol. 2, p. 923. Stringer also wrote 

 Potts on October 6 to advise him of the stork (Potts Papers, 

 vol. 1, folio 126). 



"' Potts Papers, vol. 1, folio 131; Stringer to Potts, October 

 15, 1776. 



»< Ihid., folio 133; Stringer to Potts, October 25, 1776. 



95 Ib„l., folio 132; Craigie to Potts, October 22, 1776. 



»» //))>/., folio 138; Stringer to Potts, November 7, 1776. 



120 



BULLETIN 225: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY .\ND TECHNOLOGY 



