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.

Date: 1900s

Utah Kidney Beans

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:Cures all troubles of the kidneys, bladder and urinary organs. Dissolves and expels gravel or stone from the bladder.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
Cures all troubles of the kidneys, bladder and urinary organs. Dissolves and expels gravel or stone from the bladder.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Turners
ID Number
MG.M-10413.35
catalog number
M-10413.35
accession number
246707

Uncle Ben Jo's Bell Tongue Syrup

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A blood purifier, purgative, diuretic alterative, cures all liver, stomach, bowels and kidney diseases, nervous debility, dropsy, scrofula, salt rheum, all skin diseases, worms, gravel and other bladder disease
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A blood purifier, purgative, diuretic alterative, cures all liver, stomach, bowels and kidney diseases, nervous debility, dropsy, scrofula, salt rheum, all skin diseases, worms, gravel and other bladder diseases, ague, cough, cold, heart disease, rheumatism, asthma, bilious and intermittent fevers, jaundice, chronic diarrhea, flatulency, internal inflammation, erysipelas, constipation, dyspepsia, brain diseases, vertigo or dizziness, gout, lumbago, leuccorrhea and all female diseases, epilepsy, swollen feet and limbs, boils, tumors, tetters, scaldhead, ringworm, ulcers and general debility
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
ca 1880
maker
F. Rumsey Gridley
ID Number
MG.M-10426.66
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Brandreth's V.U. 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
1898-1902
Associated Name
Brandreth Pill Works
maker
Brandreth Pill Works
ID Number
MG.M-10413.19
catalog number
M-10413.19
accession number
246707

Dr. Flint's Quaker Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A stomach tonic. For nervousness, catarrh of the head and stomach, scrofulous humor, canker, pimples and humors on the face, summer complaints, female weaknesses. Restores the appetite, purifies the blood.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A stomach tonic. For nervousness, catarrh of the head and stomach, scrofulous humor, canker, pimples and humors on the face, summer complaints, female weaknesses. Restores the appetite, purifies the blood. For dyspepsia, constipation, sick headache, dizziness, low spirits caused by disordered stomach, rheumatism, neuralgia, kidney and liver complaints, bilious attacks, piles, malaria, torpidity of the system, languor, general debility, fever and ague.
date made
1885-1908
maker
Quaker Bitters Company
ID Number
MG.M-12151.01
catalog number
M-12151.01
accession number
271464

Menlyptol Inhaler

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Cures cold in the head, catarrh, hay fever, headache, asthma, bronchitis, etc.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Cures cold in the head, catarrh, hay fever, headache, asthma, bronchitis, etc.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Montis Chemical Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1252
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.1252

Trial Bottle of Dr. King's New Discovery for Consumption

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:By taking the contents of this small bottle, you will readily perceive the remarkable curative qualities of this great New Discovery for Consumption, Coughs, Colds, and all Diseases of the Throat, Chest and Lun
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
By taking the contents of this small bottle, you will readily perceive the remarkable curative qualities of this great New Discovery for Consumption, Coughs, Colds, and all Diseases of the Throat, Chest and Lungs, which will convince you of its wonderful merits, and show you what can be done by a regular one dollar size bottle. Give it a trial. Dose for adults one teaspoonful every three hours.
Proprietary (patent) medicine makers employed a wide array of advertising and marketing techniques to sell their products. The free sample, or trial size, was one of these. Dr. King's New Discovery, developed by Dr. Z. L. King of Elkhart, Indianna, was purchased by Herbert E. Bucklen around 1878. Bucklen spent lavishly on advertising which brought national recognition to his New Discovery and other medicines.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
maker
H.E. Bucklen and Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1232
catalog number
293320.1232
accession number
293320

Johnson's American Anodyne Liniment

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For diphtheria, coughs, colds, influenza, bronchitis, asthma, whooping cough, cramp and pain in the stomach, bowels, or side; rheumatism, spitting of blood, and all lung complaints; sore throat, spinal complain
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For diphtheria, coughs, colds, influenza, bronchitis, asthma, whooping cough, cramp and pain in the stomach, bowels, or side; rheumatism, spitting of blood, and all lung complaints; sore throat, spinal complaints, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, chapped hands, burns, wounds, sprains and bruises
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881-1906
maker
I. S. Johnson and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10409.15
catalog number
M-10409
accession number
246707

Egyptian Regulator Tea

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A remedy for constipation and biliousness. Keeps the bowels clean.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A remedy for constipation and biliousness. Keeps the bowels clean.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Egyptian Drug Company
ID Number
MG.M-10416.03
catalog number
M-10416.03
accession number
246707

Anti-Tuberculosis Brick from Manhattan, Kansas - Imprinted "Don't Spit on Sidewalk"

Following the 1908 International Congress on Tuberculosis, Samuel J. Crumbine (1862-1954), a Kansas physician and public health reformer, devised the slogan "Don't Spit on Sidewalk" to help control the spread of communicable diseases.
Description
Following the 1908 International Congress on Tuberculosis, Samuel J. Crumbine (1862-1954), a Kansas physician and public health reformer, devised the slogan "Don't Spit on Sidewalk" to help control the spread of communicable diseases. This “DON’T SPIT / ON / SIDEWALK” brick came from Manhattan, Kansas.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
Associated Name
Crumbine, Samuel Jay
Crumbine, Samuel Jay
ID Number
MG.M-10405
accession number
246434
catalog number
M-10405

Kennedy's Laxative Cough Syrup

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For coughs, colds, croups, la grippe, whooping cough, and bronchitisCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For coughs, colds, croups, la grippe, whooping cough, and bronchitis
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1906-1908
maker
E. C. DeWitt and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10766 [dup18]
catalog number
M-10766
accession number
256193

Mountain Herb Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For dyspepsia, liver complaint, fever and ague, and general debility of the systemCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For dyspepsia, liver complaint, fever and ague, and general debility of the system
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Dr. J. W. Wengert and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.52
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Pond's Extract Catarrh Cure

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For catarrhCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For catarrh
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1906-1908
maker
Pond's Extract Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.46
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Dr. Petzold's Genuine German Bitters

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:As a tonic and for weakness, indigestion, dyspepsia, nervousness, sick stomach, general debility, nausea, dysentery, biliousness, asthma, ague and fever, and all other malarious diesases.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
As a tonic and for weakness, indigestion, dyspepsia, nervousness, sick stomach, general debility, nausea, dysentery, biliousness, asthma, ague and fever, and all other malarious diesases. For sudden attacks of cramps, cholera, colic, diarrhea, and cholora morbus. For loss of appetite.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1884-1906
maker
Petzold Drug Company
ID Number
MG.M-09916
catalog number
M-09916
accession number
238503

Hoff's Malt Extract (Tarrant's)

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A dietic and healing remedy recommended by European physicians for complaints of the chest and stomach; dyspepsia; obstinate cough; hoarseness, etc.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A dietic and healing remedy recommended by European physicians for complaints of the chest and stomach; dyspepsia; obstinate cough; hoarseness, etc. and especially constipation; also a pleasant table beverage
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1894-1906
maker
Tarrant and Company
Leopold Hoff
ID Number
MG.M-10766 [dup12]
catalog number
M-10766
accession number
256193

Bromo Soda

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For sick and nervous headache, indigestion and insomnia, sleeplessness, excessive study, dyspepsia, acute migraine, nervous debility, mania, depression following alcoholic and other excessives, mental and physi
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For sick and nervous headache, indigestion and insomnia, sleeplessness, excessive study, dyspepsia, acute migraine, nervous debility, mania, depression following alcoholic and other excessives, mental and physical exhaustion, brain fatigue, sea sickness
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1906-1908
ID Number
MG.M-10410.12
catalog number
M-10410
accession number
246707

Smith's Triple Cure

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For catarrh, dyspepsia, and bloodCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For catarrh, dyspepsia, and blood
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1901-1906
maker
W. F. Smith Company
ID Number
MG.M-12151.17
accession number
271464
catalog number
M -12151

Lazy Liver Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For stomach, liver, and kidney troubles; constipation; indigestion; all headaches; dizziness; biliousness; the complexion; coated tongue; bad breath; liquor and tobacco excessesCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For stomach, liver, and kidney troubles; constipation; indigestion; all headaches; dizziness; biliousness; the complexion; coated tongue; bad breath; liquor and tobacco excesses
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Lazy Liver Pill Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.30
catalog number
M-10413
accession number
246707

Mann's Wonderful Catarrh Remedy

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For catarrh, colds, headache, sore throatCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For catarrh, colds, headache, sore throat
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1870-1900
maker
Mrs. E. C. Mann
ID Number
MG.M-12151.24
catalog number
M-12151.24
accession number
271464

Rocky Mountain Tea

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For the treatment of constipationCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For the treatment of constipation
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1909
maker
Hollister Drug Company
ID Number
MG.M-10416.01
catalog number
M-10416.01
accession number
246707

Godfrey's Cordial

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:Sedative. Dosage: Infants, 0.3 cc.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
Sedative. Dosage: Infants, 0.3 cc. or 5 minims [Epitome of the Pharmacopeia of the United States and the National Formulary, with Comments, 1921]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1906
maker
Alexander Drug Company
ID Number
MG.M-06989.02
catalog number
M-06989
accession number
215013

Akerue! French Liver and Kidney Regulator

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A liver and kidney regulator; blood purifier.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A liver and kidney regulator; blood purifier. For costiveness and constipation; all forms of liver and kidney complaints; Bright's Disease of the kidney; diabetes; catarrh of the bladder; gravel and stricture; malaria; sick, bilious or nervous headache; neuralgia; rheumatism; loss of sleep, appetite or energy; tired, weary feeling; melancholy; dry, hacking cough or not feeling well; more tired on rising in the morning than on retiring; irregularity of the bowels.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Akerue Medicine Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.13
catalog number
M-10413
accession number
246707

Bouquet Des Alpes

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Perfume for Toilet and HandkerchiefCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Perfume for Toilet and Handkerchief
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860-1900
maker
E. Coudray
ID Number
MG.M-12151.19
catalog number
M-12151
accession number
271464

Alexander's Liver and Kidney Tonic

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Neuralgic or rheumatic pains in the back, side or limbs, sick headache, liver complaint, kidney affections, dyspepsia, jaundice, loss of appetite, debility, giddiness, nervous diseases, weakness, and com
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Neuralgic or rheumatic pains in the back, side or limbs, sick headache, liver complaint, kidney affections, dyspepsia, jaundice, loss of appetite, debility, giddiness, nervous diseases, weakness, and complaints peculiar to females, and all diseases arising from a disordered stomach or liver.
Cures bilious fevers, intermittent fevers, remittent fevers, fever and ague, prevents yellow and typhoid fevers, and all fevers arising from impure blood, or marsh-miasmatic influences.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1906
maker
W. W. Alexander and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10719.02
catalog number
M-10719
accession number
254860

Pyramid Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For constipation, inactivity of the liver, eructations, etc.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For constipation, inactivity of the liver, eructations, etc.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Pyramid Drug Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.41
catalog number
M-10413
accession number
246707

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