A Century of Caring: The Health Sciences at the University of Iowa, 1850-1950: College of Pharmacy

Objects

Adrienne Drapkin, Director

The Weighting Game

Measuring by volume,* it was discovered, is not a precise enough method to ensure a standard dose of medicine. Many medicines are very powerful, and taking the wrong dose may harm a person. The aim of this exhibit is to demonstrate how measuring by weight** gives greater accuracy than measuring by volume.

Note that the three containers of corn are the same size, thus each has the same volume. But because one holds popped kernels, another whole kernels, and the third cornmeal, the weight of each is different.

Using the balance, weigh each container and arrange them from lightest to heaviest.

Which has the greatest weight?
Which is lightest?
Why?

Imagine that the corn is a kind of medicine, and your doctor has instructed you to take a teaspoon of it each day. Which container would yield the strongest dose of "medicine?"

Which the weakest?

Taking a teaspoon of the whole kernals or the cornmeal might result in an "overdose," while a teaspoon of the popcorn might not be "strong" enough to treat your condition. So even though you were taking the same volume of medicine (a teaspoonful), the "strengths" of each would be very different.

Medications we use today are measured by weight. When we purchase a prescription or over-the-counter medication, we can be assured of obtaining the identical product in any American city. This was not true one hundred years ago when most pharmacists still measured by volume.

**Weight is the relative heaviness of an object or substance. Weight may be measured by, for example, milligrams, grams, ounces, and tons.

* Volume is the amount of space taken up by a three-dimensional object. Volume is measured in cubic units such as inches, yards, or meters.

Labels - Pharmaceutical Items:

Pharmaceutical Items

The objects in this case illustrate some of the pharmaceutical tools and products that were common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Can you find them?

• Label Dispenser. Patented in 1906, this cabinet was filled with rolls of labels stamped with the names and dosage instructions for the most common pharmaceutical preparations.
• Forni's Alpen Krauter. This laxative is made from all natural ingredients-including mandrake root, four kinds of mint, sarsaparilla and sassafras-and contains 14% alcohol. Instructions are written in English and German.
• Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. This "Tonic for the Blood and Nerves" was used for treating anemic conditions and other problems brought on by "Thin, Impoverished Blood."
• Kidney plasters were used to treat pains from kidney disorders, backache, rheumatism, lameness, soreness, liver and bladder troubles, spinal weakness, muscular weakness and chest troubles.
• Pan Balance. This measuring instrument has been a standard pharmaceutical tool for several centuries. Initially used for measuring solids, the United States Pharmacopoeia recommended in 1880 that pharmacists begin using it to measure liquids as well.
• Dr. Shoop's Night Cure is a suppository that was used to "relieve Ulceration, Inflammation, Congestion or falling of the Womb."
• Kodol for the Stomach was billed as "an assistant to stomach digestion." With an alcohol content of 10%, it is perhaps no surprise that "it makes your stomach feel good. Don't dilute Kodol-just take it as it is."
• Lead-Opium Compound. Many pharmaceuticals of the past were made from ingredients that are now known to be quite harmful and/or addictive. This preparation was used to treat diarrhea.
• Measuring Spoon. This collapsible tool advertises "Iodosyl, an antiseptic and germicide" manufactured by Nelson, Baker and Company.
• Baker's Relief Medicine. S. F. Baker of Keokuk, Iowa, manufactured and sold proprietary medicines in the rural Midwest from the 1880s until 1943. Baker's Relief Medicine, an indigestion remedy, was just one product in a linewhich included pain relief medicine, liniment, cosmetics, kitchen spices and extracts, and pain cures for cows and horses.
• Watkins Herb Tablets. This all natural laxative contains, among other things, aloes, rhubarb, senna and jalap, and was made by the J. R. Watkins Company. Chocolate-Coated Aloini Compositae. Containing belladonna and strychnine, these "Pulverous Pills" were manufactured by the O. F. Schmid Chemical Company of Jackson, Michigan.

Pharmaceutical Jars
circa 1900

Drug jars have been standard pharmacy equipment for at least seven centuries. While early jars were ornately decorated with a variety of glazes and pigments, the examples displayed here are much more practical in nature. Substances not harmed by exposure to light were stored in clear glass jars, making it possible for a pharmacist to take inventory at a glance.

Anisi-Sem, gift in memory of Eugene F. Ritter, MD, Centerville, IA; 1996.1.13
Newbro's Herpicide jar, gift of Richard Caplan, MD, Iowa City, IA; 1995.9
The remaining jars are part of a gift in memory of William C. and Isabel B. Gardiner, Adair, IA; 521

Mortar and Pestle

The mortar and pestle has been a symbol of the profession of pharmacy since the thirteenth century. This two-piece instrument for crushing and grinding materials into powders has been made from stone, wood, ivory, glass, metal, and clay. Sizes have ranged from the tiny, as shown in the case of dental items behind you, to those so large and heavy that the pestle had to be suspended from a chain attached to a wooden beam.

Gift of the estate of Dr. Frank Haven McClurg, Fairfield, IA; 1997.23.69.

Pharmacy Books
circa 1900

As knowledge of the human body and treatments for illness grew, so did the need for reference books to store the new information.

The Practice of Pharmacy, gift in memory of William C. and Isabel B. Gardiner, Adair, IA; 570
Dungison's Medical Dictionary and United States Dispensatory,14th ed., gift of the estate of Dr. Frank Haven McClurg, Fairfield, IA; 1997.23.119 and 1997.23.120

Cork Compressor
circa 1900

Have you ever tried to fit a large cork into a small bottle? The cork compressor was primarily used by pharmacists to overcome this problem. The device compressed a cork in order to fit whatever container the pharmacist wished to seal. The example on display was owned by Dr. James Kessler who was a dermatologist at the UIHC.

Gift of Carol Thompson, Cherokee Village, AR; MM #518