Collecting and Recollecting: Gifts from the Recent Past

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This book provides authoritative information about hundreds of common and exotic medicinal agents known to mid-nineteenth century pharmacists. It identifies the properties of plants and minerals, details their known medical effects, and gives medicinal formulas. Conceived as a textbook as well as a reference, it was accompanied by a volume of Dr. Wood's lectures.

The first pharmacopoeia published in England appeared in the early seventeenth century. American druggists relied upon English texts until 1820, when the first Pharmacopoeia of the United Stateswas published. Stating the need for a more practical and accessible reference guide than the Pharmacopoeia,the authors of the Dispensatorydescribed their publication as sensitive to "the history of our commerce in drugs, and of the nature, growth, and collection of our indigenous medicinal plants, and in the modes of preparing, dispensing and applying medicines" peculiar to the United States.

An entry in the appendix, discussing non-medicinal remedies, describes the effects of coffee:

The action of coffee is directed chiefly to the nervous system. When swallowed it produces a warm cordial impression on the stomach, quickly followed by a diffused agreeable nervous excitement, which extends to the cerebral functions, giving rise to increased vigors of imagination and intellect, without any subsequent confusion or stupor such as characterizes narcotic medicines. Indeed one of its most extraordinary effects is a disposition to wakefulness, which continues for several hours after it has been taken.

Gift of Dawn Cozine, Iowa City

The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser, 17th edition,
By R.V. Pierce, MD
Buffalo: World's Dispensary
1907

R.V. Pierce, physician and entrepreneur, created a medical empire which engaged a variety of therapeutic methods and philosophies of his time.

The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser,an encyclopedia of medical knowledge intended for home use, sold over two million copies by the printing of its 17th edition in 1907. Human anatomy and physiological functions are simply, if crudely, explained and illustrated; current theories of diagnosis and treatment are discussed, and temperate advice is given on all aspects of personal hygiene and family life. The author speculates briefly upon topics as difficult as the origins of life and counsels on the debilitating effect of tobacco. A brief pharmacopoeia is included, describing herbs and their traditional medicinal uses.

While Pierce often recommended traditional medicines, the book is laced with self-promotion for his line of proprietary medicines, explaining that "it will often happen that we cannot prescribe better or cheaper remedies nor those which are more effective or easily obtained, than some of our standard preparations, which are sold by all druggists." Attempting to distinguish his products from other less reputable remedies, he assures readers that the term "Patent Medicine" does not apply to his own remedies, as no patent has ever been asked or obtained for them, nor have they been advertised as "cure-alls."

It was Dr. Pierce's stated aim to draw from the best of a wide array of medical information and address the full range of human maladies. His method was based in self-help, and the bulk of this book describes common and major diseases and remedies "within the easy reach of all, and which may be safely employed" at home.

When self-help fails, Dr. Pierce's Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institutein Buffalo, New York, is offered as the best resort for the chronic sufferer. The "Hotel's" staff of physicians drew from "the whole broad field of 'materia medica,' allowing themselves to be hampered by no school, 'ism,' 'pathy,' or sect." Fashionable treatments, including "a large variety of batteries, dynamos and other electrical appliances," are advertised for their value in treating "American nervousness."

Testimonials, with accompanying pictures and signatures, are interspersed throughout the book. Even a hearsay endorsement by President Garfield is boasted. Engaging the full spectrum of contemporary medical practice -- self-help, conventional medicine, and eclectic methods -- Dr. Pierce created a formula for success in a growing mass market for medical services.

Gift of Elizabeth Keyser Means, Iowa City