This small wide mouthed drug jar has a whitish glaze. The jar is decorated with a painted oval medallion and is surrounded by vines of purple and blue flowers and green leaves. The interior of the medallion is marked, "EXTR TORMENTI.” Extract Tormentilla or Potentilla Tormentilla is a small yellow flowering plant made up of over 500 species found around the globe. It is used as an astringent and tonic for chronic diarrhea, dysentery and to stop the flow of blood.
George Urdang attributes the containers 1991.0664.0760 through 1991.0664.0825 to Hanau in the late 18th century based on the floral design surrounding the medallion and the initials HN on the bottom of many of the jars in the series. However, in a letter dated August 1983, the pharmaceutical history scholar Wolfgang Hagen Hein states that he believes the unmarked containers and those marked FH were made in Florsheim in the German state of Hesse.
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