REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1922. 95 



An unusually attractive and complete series of 127 specimens of 

 essentials oils and related substances were received by transfer 

 from the Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture, through 

 Dr. F. B. Power, pharmaceutical research chemist of that depart- 

 ment. These specimens were prepared by Fritzsche Brothers, of 

 New York City, who are the American agents of the largest Euro- 

 pean manufacturers of essential oils and aromatics. In addition to 

 a very complete series of the true and synthetic oils used in 

 medicine and perfumery there are a number of rare and valuable 

 specimens of aromatic substances, such as ambergris, Tonquin musk, 

 artificial musk. etc. The addition of this series to other material 

 on the subject of essential oils fairly completes the Museum's ex- 

 hibit of this subject. 



Although absorbent cotton and gauze only found a place in medi- 

 cine with the birth of Listerism, a form of aseptic and antiseptic 

 surgery introduced late in the eighteenth century by the English 

 physician. Lord Joseph Lister, its growth and development coinci- 

 dent with the evolution and revolution of surgical methods has been 

 so great that to-day entire mills and factories are engaged in car- 

 rying out the processes which transform the raw cotton fiber into 

 surgical dressings of various sorts and kinds. Johnson & Johnson 

 (Inc.), New Brunswick, N. J., donated 56 specimens, 6 descriptive 

 charts, 1 book, and 28 photographs illustrating the treatment to 

 which cotton is subjected on its long journey from the field to the 

 finished surgical dressing. There are also included packages of 

 plain, medicated, and strengthening bandages and complete first-aid 

 kits and packets for emergency use. This firm also presented 

 an exhibit intended to show how plasters are made and compris- 

 ing 55 specimens and 10 illustrations. Plaster medication has always 

 enjoyed considerable popularity because of the convenient man- 

 ner of application. This popularity and increased demand has re- 

 sulted in the invention of plaster-making machinery of ingenious 

 construction and the development of an industry. The making of 

 plasters by doctors and druggists has now become a lost art because 

 of these machines. The fact is brought out that medicated plasters 

 are divided into three classes with regard to their therapeutic or 

 medicinal effect, as follows: Those which act epidermatically — that 

 is, upon the surface of the skin; those intended to produce an en- 

 dermatic effect by penetrating into the skin; and those for constitu- 

 tional and systematic effects by not only penetrating into but through 

 the skin. 



Research work and clinical observation have led to ,-i remarkable 

 growth in the employment of animal derivatives in medicine and 

 surgery. In addition to the specimens of glandular products, or- 



