692 
BRISTOL PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. 
compounding of these marvellous ingredients, which are, however, much too long to 
quote. 
Imagine, gentlemen, the Right Hon. W. Ewart Gladstone gravely rising from his 
seat on the front ministerial bench, and in his most earnest and impressive tones pro¬ 
posing a Royal Commission to inquire into the virtues of “ Holloway’s Ointment and 
Pills,” with a view of securing the secret of their preparation for the public good, and 
of rewarding the truly distinguished philanthropist who had offered for the trifling 
sum of a few thousand pounds, to divulge it for the sake of sore and suffering hu¬ 
manity. 
When the condition of medical knowledge was such as I have indicated in the me¬ 
tropolis—the fountain of learning and law—it will readily be imagined that in the 
provinces matters were much worse. And in fact this was the case ; there were at this 
time very few, if any, educated men out of London, who carried on a trade in drugs, 
apart from medical practice ; and it is stated that so late as 1750 there were not more 
than six persons in London who kept what might fairly be called a chemist’s shop. 
The whole of the country districts, however, were covered by a horde of itinerant 
quacks, and the cheap Jack of medicine, a popular but infamous impostor, attended 
every hiring and fair throughout the kingdom, professing to cure ague, consumption, 
fever, dropsy, gout, palsy, and every other ailment known or unknown; and making 
up the lack of his knowledge by the abundance of his impudence. Occasionally meet¬ 
ing with a rough reception, and sometimes even assaulted and stoned by a daring and 
miserable unbeliever, he yet upon the whole was very successful in his attempts to 
gull the unhappy rustics, and seldom left any market-town without a full purse and a 
host of admirers. 
As a further indication of the character of much of the treatment of diseases, even 
by educated men, I will give you two or three prescriptions, taken from Bates’s * Dis¬ 
pensatory,’ a popular medical text-book, which was mucli esteemed during the earlier 
portion of last century. 
And first I will give you a remedy for consumption and diseases of the lungs. 
Aqua Antiphthissica, a Water against Phthisicks. 
R. The blood of a Calf, newly killed, freed from its Fibres, by heating them together, 
lbiij ; Venice Turpentine, ten ounces ; Liquorice not dried, lbj ; Raisins stoned, §xij ; Fat 
Figs, No. ioo; Garden Snails, No. 70 ; fresh Orrice-rootes, ^vj ; Spanish Tabacco cut, 
Jij ; Crums of white-bread, lbj. Mix and distil according to art. Dose ^ij> with its pro¬ 
per quantity of Oyl swimming thereupon, being all mixt together with a Pectoral Syrup, 
and taken for fifteen days. 
Here is a cure for the headache, which, if it failed, was certainly not for lack of in¬ 
gredients ! 
Aqua Cephalica , a Water for the Head. 
Rt. Male Peony rootes, ^iv; Rootes of Angelica, Valerian, ana ^iss ; Leaves of Sage, of 
Rosemary, Betony, Marjoram, Bawm ; Flowers of Lavender, Betony, Peony, Marigolds, 
Sage, Rosemary, Lilly-Convully, of the Tile Tree, ana, M.j ; Stachas, ^iss ; Red Roses, 
Cowlips,ana Mij ; Lignum Rhodium, yellow Samders, ana 3 vj ; Nutmegs, ^iss ; Galangal, 
*ss ; Cardamoms, Cubebs, ana jiij ; infuse in the best white wine, lbxiv, for ten days, then 
add of the best Cinnamon, lbj. Digest for two days, and distil according to Art. 
It is profitable against intemperature of the Head, Head ach, &c. Dose two spoonfuls. 
Let it be drawn up the nostrils, bathed well upon the temples, and places about the ears, 
dropt into the eais, and held in the mouth ; and Lint dipt in it may be applied to the Nape 
of the Neck. It gives comfort to many, tho ’ to others it is used in Fain. 
It would puzzle some of our ablest chemists to make a nice granular effervescing 
preparation, containing the active principles of the— 
Water of Magpies Compound. 
]pt. Young Magpies, No. vj ; White of Peacocks, lbss ; Missletoe of the Oak, Male Peony 
rootes, ana ; Fresh Cowslip flowers, lbj; White and Spanish Wine, ana Ibv ; infuse and 
distil, S.A. Dose 3h r . 
