"AMYLUM" is another name for starch found in the seeds, roots and tubers of plants. It is used to thicken liquids and bind ingredients. In the eighteenth century it was used in enemas to curb diarrhea.
Pharmaceutical historian George Urdang attributes the containers 1991.0664.0760 through 1991.0664.0825 to the town of 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 to museum curators dated August 1983, the pharmaceutical historian Wolfgang-Hagen Hein wrote that the containers without initials and those marked "FH" were made in Florsheim in the German state of Hesse twenty-three miles southwest of Hanau.
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