Health & Medicine

Iron Lung

The Museum's collections of medical science artifacts represent nearly all aspects of health and medical practice. Highlights include early X-ray apparatuses, such as one of Wilhelm Roentgen's tubes, penicillin mold from Alexander Fleming’s experiments, and Jonas Salk's original polio vaccine. More recent acquisitions include the first artificial heart implanted in a human, the earliest genetically engineered drugs, and materials related to David, the "Bubble Boy." Other artifacts range from artificial limbs and implant devices to bloodletting and dental instruments, beauty products, and veterinary equipment. The contents of a medieval apothecary shop and an 1890s drugstore form part of the collections, along with patent and alternative medicines. The collections also document the many differing perspectives on health and medical issues, from patients, family members, doctors, nurses, medical students, and out-of-the-mainstream health practitioners.

Topic: Laxatives

Porter's None Such Laxative

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:LaxativeCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
Laxative
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1920
maker
George H. Rundle Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.33
catalog number
M-10413.33
accession number
246707

Pullman Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:They assist in throwing waste and other products from the system.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
They assist in throwing waste and other products from the system.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1920
maker
Anti-Uric Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1350
catalog number
293320.1350
accession number
293320

Dr. Swayne's Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A prompt purifiying medicine; removes all unhealthy bilious secretions of the stomach, liver, bowels, bladder and kidneys; purifies the blood causing a perfect state of healthCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A prompt purifiying medicine; removes all unhealthy bilious secretions of the stomach, liver, bowels, bladder and kidneys; purifies the blood causing a perfect state of health
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1880
maker
Dr. Swayne and Son
ID Number
MG.M-10413.08
catalog number
M-10413.08
accession number
246707

Carter's Little Liver Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:A laxative aiding bile flowCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
A laxative aiding bile flow
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1938
maker
Carter Products Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1194
catalog number
293320.1194
accession number
293320

Gelatin Coated No. 155 Cascara Sagrada Nux Vomica and Belladonna Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:For use as a laxative, cathartic, hepatic and intestinal tonic. It relieves constipation by restoring tonicity to the bowels.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
For use as a laxative, cathartic, hepatic and intestinal tonic. It relieves constipation by restoring tonicity to the bowels. [Physicians' Manual of Therapeutics: Referring especially to the products of the pharmaceutical and biological laboratories of Parke, Davis & Company, 1901]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890s
maker
Parke, Davis and Company
ID Number
MG.M-07237
catalog number
M-07237
accession number
220009

Pulvis Aloes et Canellae, N. F. (Powder of Aloe and Canella)

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:One of sixty-seven (67) specimens of crude drugs and pharmaceutical preparations of aloes, camphor, ginger, and rhubarb donated by Parke, Davis and Compan
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
One of sixty-seven (67) specimens of crude drugs and pharmaceutical preparations of aloes, camphor, ginger, and rhubarb donated by Parke, Davis and Company in 1928 for the pharmacy exhibits. The museum curator solicited these preparations for an exhibit of medicines “telling the story of the cultivation, collection, marketing, and medicinal use of well-known and extensively used drugs.” The official drugs were exhibited along with examples of the crude botanical drug and photographs of the cultivation and processing of aloes, camphor, ginger, and rhubarb. The curator requested that the specimens be supplied in the company’s regular stock containers whenever possible rather than using the uniform display bottles often employed in the pharmacy exhibits. "The idea is to give the visiting public information concerning the numerous official medicines which contain the drugs in question. For this purpose, I think a variety in the style of the containers is desirable."
For use as a laxative but is rarely employed today. It has gained some reputation as an abortifacient and therefore must be sold with caution. [Remington's Practice of Pharmacy, Seventh Edition, 1926]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1928
maker
Parke, Davis and Company
ID Number
MG.M-02398
catalog number
M-02398
accession number
101594

Rexall Little Liver Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Regulation of the liverCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Regulation of the liver
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1938
maker
United Drug Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1356
catalog number
293320.1356
accession number
293320

Hall Family Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For sick headache, vertigo or dizziness, constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For sick headache, vertigo or dizziness, constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1871
maker
F. J. Cheney & Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.11
catalog number
M-10413.11
accession number
246707

Atwood's Physical Jannaice Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:For biliousness due to constipation. Recommended as a laxative, stomachic and carminative, for use in constipation and sour stomach resulting in headache.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
For biliousness due to constipation. Recommended as a laxative, stomachic and carminative, for use in constipation and sour stomach resulting in headache.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1931-1939
maker
Wyeth Chemical Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1172
catalog number
293320.1172
accession number
293320

Emerson's Modern Treatment

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:To assist nature in all the many diseases that originate in a disordered system, impure blood, poor circulation, indigestion and constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
To assist nature in all the many diseases that originate in a disordered system, impure blood, poor circulation, indigestion and constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1906
1906-1908
maker
Modern Remedy Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.47
catalog number
M-10413
accession number
246707

Primley's Iron Of Wahoo Tonic

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:For Burning Bush (Euonymus atropurpureus) also known as Wahoo: It is tonic, laxative, alterative, diuretic and expectorant.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
For Burning Bush (Euonymus atropurpureus) also known as Wahoo: It is tonic, laxative, alterative, diuretic and expectorant. It is serviceable in dyspepsia, torpid liver, constipation, dropsy, and pulmonary diseases. In intermittents [fevers] it serves a good purpose. [source: The Complete Herbalist; Or, The People Their Own Physicians by Oliver Phelps Brown, 1885]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1884-1920
maker
Jones and Primley Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1066
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.1066

Crane's Quinine and Tar Compound

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:An expectorant for coughs, colds, hoarseness, tickling in throat, bronchial coughs, and coughs resulting from la grippe [influenza]Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
An expectorant for coughs, colds, hoarseness, tickling in throat, bronchial coughs, and coughs resulting from la grippe [influenza]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921 -1938
maker
Crane Medicine Co.
ID Number
MG.M-10426.43
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Nux Vomica (Strychni Semen)

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:For use as a cardiac and nerve stimulant [Remington's Practice of Pharmacy, Seventh Edition, 1926]Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
For use as a cardiac and nerve stimulant [Remington's Practice of Pharmacy, Seventh Edition, 1926]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1964
maker
George Washington University. School of Pharmacy
ID Number
MG.M-10904.017.01
accession number
259201
catalog number
M-10904.017

Electric Brand Laxative

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:LaxativeCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Laxative
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1938
after 1917
ID Number
MG.293320.1321
catalog number
293320.1321
accession number
293320

Aloe Pills, U.S.P.

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:For hemorrhoids, constipation, amenorrhea [absence of menstrual periods], jaundice, and chlorosis [chronic anemia] [Merck's Index, Fourth Edition, 1930]Cu
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
For hemorrhoids, constipation, amenorrhea [absence of menstrual periods], jaundice, and chlorosis [chronic anemia] [Merck's Index, Fourth Edition, 1930]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1935
ca 1935
maker
Parke, Davis and Company
ID Number
MG.M-04029
catalog number
M-04029
accession number
134667

Weismann's Bitterer Ansatz

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For constipation, dyspepsia, fever and ague, piles, jaundice, headache, female irregularities, malaria, impurities of blood, rheumatismCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For constipation, dyspepsia, fever and ague, piles, jaundice, headache, female irregularities, malaria, impurities of blood, rheumatism
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1890
maker
A. W. Weismann
ID Number
MG.M-12151.26
catalog number
314016.30
M-12151
accession number
271464

Dr. Pierce's Alterative Extract or Golden Medical Discovery

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For the cure of all severe, chronic or lingering coughs, bronchitis, laryngitis, weak lungs, bleeding from lungs, public speaker's sore throat, hoarseness and suppression or loss of voice.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For the cure of all severe, chronic or lingering coughs, bronchitis, laryngitis, weak lungs, bleeding from lungs, public speaker's sore throat, hoarseness and suppression or loss of voice. A remedy for torpor of liver (generally termed "liver complaint" or "biliousness") and for habitual constipation of the bowels. For loss of appetite, indigestion and dyspepsia, and for general nervous disability or prostration, in either sex. An alterative, or blood purifier; valuable in all forms of scrofulous and other blood diseases. For skin diseases, eruptions, pimples, rashes and blotches, boils, ulcers, sores, and swellings, arising from impure blood.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1890-1906
ca 1898
ca 1900
ID Number
MG.M-10766 [dup11]
catalog number
M-10766
accession number
256193

Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills

[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]Currently not on view
Description
[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1901
maker
Wright's Indian Vegetable Pill Company, Inc.
ID Number
MG.M-10413.54
catalog number
M-10413.35
accession number
246707

Chelf's C. C. Comp'd

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A mild laxative; efficacious in flatulence, excessive gas in stomach, headaches, neuralgia, head coldsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A mild laxative; efficacious in flatulence, excessive gas in stomach, headaches, neuralgia, head colds
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1929
maker
Chelf Chemical Company
ID Number
MG.M-10410.05
catalog number
M-10410
accession number
246707

Ramon's Pink Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Sluggish liver, biliousness, constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Sluggish liver, biliousness, constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1930
ID Number
MG.293320.1351
catalog number
293320.1351
accession number
293320

Simmons Liver Regulator or Medicine

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For disorders of the liver; sick headache arising from bilious condition; constipation of the bowels; sour stomach; biliousnessCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For disorders of the liver; sick headache arising from bilious condition; constipation of the bowels; sour stomach; biliousness
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
J. H. Zeilin and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10410.01
catalog number
M-10410.01
accession number
246707

Sal Laxa

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Treatment of constipation, rheumatismCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Treatment of constipation, rheumatism
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1938
maker
Sharp and Dohme
ID Number
MG.293320.1363
catalog number
293320.1363
accession number
293320

Goff's Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Indigestion caused by inactivity of the stomach, constipation, heartburn, coated tongue, loss of appetite, inactive bowels, sour stomach, gas belching, flatulence, bad tasteCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Indigestion caused by inactivity of the stomach, constipation, heartburn, coated tongue, loss of appetite, inactive bowels, sour stomach, gas belching, flatulence, bad taste
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1906
maker
S. B. Goff & Sons Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.37
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Thedford's Velvo or Laxative Liver Syrup

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Remedy for constipation, biliousness, sick headache, indigestion and all disorders of liver, stomach and bowelsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Remedy for constipation, biliousness, sick headache, indigestion and all disorders of liver, stomach and bowels
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1908-1918
maker
Chattanooga Medicine Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1289
catalog number
293320.1289
accession number
293320

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