(Letter sent from Urmia, Persia, 4 February 1836: ABC 16.8.7)

[comments by G.T.]

 

10        lb.        Super Carb. Soda [a basic carminative (gas-releasing) compound]

8          “           Tartaric Acid  [used in dilute solution as febrifuge (fever remedy)]

4          “           Chloride of Soda [table salt, more or less]

4          “           Chloride of Lime [bleaching powder; spread about during epidemics]

1.5       ”           Ether Sul [ether sulphate—distillation of ethyl alcohol & sulph. acid]

1.5       ”           Spts Nitre Dulc  [sweet spirits of nitre; dist. with alcohol, sulph. acid]

5          “           Spts Amm Nol (strong) [spirits of ammonia; ‘smelling salts’ ]

2          “           Mur Ammonia [muriate of ammonia; stimulant]

8          “           Tart Antimony  [tartar emetic; tartrate of antimony; powerful emetic]

1          “           James Powder [oxide of antimony + calcium phosphate; used for fever]

5          “           Gum Ammoniac [fr. No. Asian plant; stimulant; antispasmodic]

6          “           Bals Copaiba [copaiba balsam; resin of So. Am. tree: diuretic]

1.5       “           Bals Folic [?--possibly a balsamic infusion of medicinal leaves]

4          “           Camphor [fr. Camphor tree: stimulant, expectorant, diaphoretic]

4          “           Spermaceti  [“sperm of the whale”; whale oil wax used in ointments]

5          “           Prepared Chalk [powdered; mild antacid]

4          “           Litharge [lead monoxide; fr. Gk., ‘silver stone’; used as pigment]

4          “           Castile Soap [white soap made with olive oil and lye]

2          “           Colchicum Seeds [meadow saffron: yields colchicine, used for gout]

4          “           Blist Plaster  [plaster used to raise blisters & ‘draw out poisons’]

4          “           Adhesive (? Unreadable)

1          “           Thoroughwort  [boneset; agueweed. Used as febrifuge]

2          “           Sulphate of Iron [used in making iron-gall ink; tonic; for indigestion]

2          “           Carbonate of Iron [iron tonic; restorative; digestive aid; stimulant]

4          “           Gamboge  [gum resin used as cathartic, yellow pigment; fr. ‘Cambodia’]

1          “           Corrosive Mur of Mercury [muriate of mercury; for ulcers, skin problems]

6          “           Calomel [mercurous chloride; widely-used purgative]

0.5       “           Iodine [probably tincture of iodine; used topically for pain]

0.25     “           Hydriodate of Pot [hydriodate of potash; used topically for pain]

8          “           Jalap [Mexican root used as purgative]

10        “           Cream Tartar [potassium bitartrate; used in laxatives & baking powder]

6          “           Gum Catechu [astringent; from a tree of South Asia]

1          “           Lobelia (Inf.)  [infusion; poisonous cryst. alkaloid; respiratory stimulant]

2          “           Carb Magnesium [magnesium carbonate; releases gas]

1          “           Calcined Magnesium [powdered Mg reduced by heat; cathartic]

3          “           Castor oil [cathartic]

12        oz.        Quinine [anti-malarial]

4          lb.        Rhubarb [purgative]

5          “           Glauber Salts [hydrated sodium sulfate: cathartic, fr. J.R. Glauber]

10        “           Epsom Salts [hydrated magnesium sulphate; used as cathartic]

0.25     “           Sponge ___ [? Used in dressing wounds]

6          “           Spts Turpentine  [spirits of turpentine; used as liniment]

1          “           Slippery Elm [used for digestion; to soothe the throat]

0.25     “           Worm Seed [presumably wormwood seed; bitter purgative]

1          oz.        Oil of Creo__ [oil of creosote; used to treat tuberculosis & bronchitis]

1          lb.        Caustic Potash  [potassium hydroxide; lye; used for wart removal]

2          “           Colocynth [herbaceous vine (aka bitter apple) used as cathartic]

12        “           Aloes Gum [from aloe; used as cathartic]

2          “           Myrrh Gum [aromatic gum resin]

3          “           Guaiac Gum [resin from lignum vitae trees; stimulant; cathartic]

3          “           Cantharides [dried beetles; counter-irritant for blisters; “Spanish Fly”]

1          “           Stramonium Seeds [seeds of jimsonweed; toxic; used for asthma]

6          “           Sal Eratus [bicarbonate of soda]

2          “           Blood Root, Sang Can [sanguinaria canadensis: expectorant, emetic]

3          “           Sul Morphine [morphine sulphate; painkiller]

1          gross    Phials __?

3          “           Corks (some of them large sized)

2          “           Selon needles [Salon needles? Sewing needles? Brand name?]

5          lb.        Arrowroot [edible starch; used by American Indians for arrow wounds]

2          “           Cocoa powder [served as a restorative for convalescents]

5          “           Rochelle Salts  [laxative]

4          “           Nitric Acid [raw chemical used for making compounds(?)]

4          “           Muriatic Acid [hydrochloric acid; raw chemical for other compounds(?)]

4          “           Mercury metallic [metallic mercury]

1          ream     Wrapping Paper

0.5       lb.        Oil of Rosemary [carminative; tonic for various ailments]

2          “           Chocolate [?? Probably not used for enjoyment!]

 

For a clue to the pharmacological methods probably used in Dr. Grant’s time, consider the following, from “King’s American Dispensatory,” 1898:

 

“The old absurd and unscientific style of combining eight or ten articles in one preparation is fortunately becoming unpopular, and, though a few preparations of the kind are retained, yet the major amount of our present compounds consist of but two or three, and rarely exceeding four substances. In the former the articles were too frequently thrown together without any guide or rule, or any regard to compatibilities, and, though benefit might have been, haphazardly, derived from these heterogeneous mixtures, it was always difficult to ascertain upon which article or articles the effect depended, or whether it was owing to a third agent, the result of decomposition.”  [This, of course, was before antibiotics were invented.—G.T.]