418  Manufacture  of  Medicinal  Plasters.  {g^ie/iS' 
grocery  shops,  thus  robbing  the  druggist  of  a  source  of  profit  that 
he  is  justly  entitled  to.  Ointments  and  plasters,  which  certainly 
belong  to  the  exclusive  field  of  pharmacy,  are  now  dispensed  by 
barbers  and  physicians,  who  are  neither  justified  by  precedent  nor 
by  qualification  to  handle  these  things." 
In  our  own  country  there  is  evidence  of  an  ancient  and  advanced 
civilization  which  existed  on  some  parts  of  the  continent,  and 
among  the  relics  of  this  ancient  civilization  are  implements  of 
pharmacy.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Pueblo  Indians,  who  are 
descended  from  the  Aztecs,  have  from  a  remote  time  made  plasters, 
salves,  and  cerates,  which  they  sometimes  spread  on  skins,  leaves, 
and  flexible  barks,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  knew  the  art  of 
applying  them  in  surgery. 
The  early  colonists  derived  a  great  amount  of  medical  knowl- 
edge from  the  Indians,  and  the  gums  of  the  new-found  world  were 
early  made  articles  of  commerce  in  the  shape  of  salves,  plasters, 
etc.,  which  were  lauded  as  "  new  discoveries  "  possessing  miraculous 
virtues.  Many  a  colonial  quack  gained  his  reputation  on  the  sup- 
posed merits  of  his  "  wonderful  healing  plasters,"  and  at  times 
these  were  sent  back  to  the  old  country.  An  early  American 
industry,  conducted  by  the  Huguenots,  was  the  preparation  and 
tanning  of  skins  for  the  use  of  the  plaster  makers  of  France. 
In  the  early  days  of  medical  practice  in  this  country  the  plasters 
were  made  in  the  doctor's  office  by  the  apprentice,  or  by  members 
of  the  family  of  the  practitioner.  Colonial  merchants  handled  in 
considerable  quantities,  plasters  in  sticks,  rolls,  and  spread  plasters, 
the  mass  for  which  was  imported.  These  were  mainly  diachylon 
and  epispastic  plasters.  Blister  plasters  were  evidently  popular  in 
colonial  days.  In  one  physician's  bill,  noted  by  the  writer,  blister 
plasters  were  charged  to  the  same  patient  twenty-six  times  in  two 
months,  the  average  price  for  these  plasters  was  three  shillings. 
From  the  colonial  days  until  about  1874,  the  pharmacopoeial 
plasters  were  made  up  almost  entirely  with  the  diachylon  base. 
There  are  probably  pharmacists  who  are  familiar  with  the  once  well- 
known  names  of  De  La  Cour,  Wyeth,  Maxwell,  Shoemaker,  Ellis, 
Skidmore,  Shivers,  and  Husband  as  plaster  manufacturers.  These 
makers  produced  plasters  in  rolls  to  be  spread  by  the  pharmacist, 
or  which  were  spread  upon  kid,  sheepskin,  or  cloth.  Products 
of  this  character  were  in  common  use  as  late  as  twenty-five  years 
ago. 
