214 
A  Bit  of  History. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1920. 
The  drugs  which  the  apothecary  had  on  his  shelves  were  imported ; 
and  so  were  also  his  bottles,  his  jars,  and  in  fact,  even  his  window- 
panes,  which  made  up  his  odd  little  show-windows.  At  this  time, 
when  Fulton's  great  invention,  the  steamboat,  was  still  a  novelty, 
and  the  word  sailor  still  had  its  original  meaning,  the  Delaware 
harbored  ships  from  the  most  distant  shores.  And  the  inventories 
of  cargoes,  as  published  in  the  old  time  newspapers,  include  a  large 
and  varied  list  of  drugs.  It  is  from  these  inventories,  in  fact,  that 
one  may  best  reconstruct  the  old-time  drug  stock,  for  very  few 
indigenous  medicinal  plants  had  received  recognition.  Here  are 
some  of  the  drugs  which  were  deemed  important  in  1820 — for  they 
were  obtained  from  overseas  in  large  quantities:  Aconite,  Aloes, 
Asafetida,  Belladonna,  Benzoin,  Camphor,  Cantharidis,  Capsicum, 
Castile  Soap,  Cinchona,  Colchicum,  Colocynth,  Copaiba,  Cubeb, 
Ipecac,  Gamboge,  Licorice  Root,  Licorice  Extract,  Hyoscyamus, 
Jalap,  Lobelia,  Myrrh,  Nux  Vomica,  Opium,  Rhubarb,  Castor  Oil, 
Sarsaparilla,  Scammony,  Squill,  Tolu,  Tragacanth,  Valerian,  Veratrum 
Album,  Veratrum  Viridi,  Ginger.  Yes,  the  general  aspect  of  the  1820 
drug  store,  with  its  old-fashioned  shelf -ware,  was  odd  enough ;  but  the 
antique  bottles  held  drugs  which  have  retained  their  popularity  to 
the  present  day. 
The  apothecary's  stock  was,  however,  not  limited  to  vegetable 
drugs;  he  had  a  sundry  supply  of  chemicals,  as  follows:  Hydro- 
chloric Acid,  Nitric  Acid,  Sulphuric  Acid,  Citric  Acid,  Arsenic, 
Alum,  Ammonium  Chloride,  Black  Antimony,  Barium  Sulphate, 
Lime,  Chalk,  Marble,  Copper  Subacetate,  Copper  Sulphate,  Prus- 
sian Blue,  Sulphate  of  Iron,  Mercury,  Calomel,  Corrosive  Sublimate, 
Magnesium  Carbonate,  Magnesium  Sulphate,  Lead  Oxide,  White, 
Lead,  Saltpeter,  Potassium  Carbonate,  Cream  of  Tartar,  Salt, 
Borax,  Sodium  Carbonate,  Sodium  Sulphate,  Zinc  Carbonate  and 
Zinc  Sulphate.  His  stock  included  the  elements,  Antimony,  Bis- 
muth, Copper,  Iron,  Mercury,  Lead,  Zinc,  and  Sulphur.  These 
chemicals  he  bought,  for  they  were  even  then  made  industrially. 
But  many  chemicals  now  made  exclusively  on  the  industrial  scale 
were  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  made  by  the  apothecary  in  his 
own  little  laboratory.  To  be  sure,  there  were  some  then,  as  at 
present,  who  chose  to  buy  rather  than  to  manufacture.  But  the 
list  of  chemicals  actually  made  in  stores  at  that  time  is  surprisingly 
large,  and  included  the  following:  Solution  of  Ammonium  Acetate, 
Tartar  Emetic,  Solution  of  Magnesium  Bicarbonate,  Silver  Nitrate, 
