Ohio History Journal

EARLY OHIO MEDICINE: A MUSEUM DISPLAY

 

 

By EDWARD S. THOMAS

 

As a compliment to the medical history section of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society, the Museum of the

Society arranged a special exhibit featuring early days of Ohio

medicine, which attracted a great deal of attention, not only on

the part of medical practitioners, pharmacists and students, but

also the general public. Emphasis was placed on medical practice

prior to 1860, but some concessions were made so as to include

especially interesting material of a later date.

As the visitor entered the display alcove in the north end of

History Hall, his attention was attracted to a large colored poster

of a pioneer doctor and his horse making their weary way to a

cabin in the midst of a snow-covered landscape in the cold dawn

of an early Ohio winter. The legend, "Early Ohio Medicine"

appeared in large letters above.

The feature of the display was a replica of a pioneer doctor's

office, carefully done in every detail. On an authentic desk from

early times was shown an open ledger owned by an early Ohio

physician, with a quill pen, sand blotter and an old-time pair of

spectacles near by. The doctor's medical saddle-bags were thrown

over an antique chair, just as he might have left them upon his

return from a midnight call.

At one side was the room occupied by the doctor's apprentice,

a veritable crow's nest, for the apprentice led an unenviable ex-

istence, being "maid of all work"--hostler, lackey, and pharmacist

when he was far enough advanced. In many cases he even

washed the diapers of the numerous brood in his master's home.

The apprentice's room showed his work bench, with mortar,

pestle, other materials for concocting medicines.  Dried herbs

hung from the ceiling. There too, were an old skeleton and some

medical books which the apprentice studied as opportunity per-

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mitted. His rude pallet of straw was on the floor beneath the

bench.

Recognizing the fact that many early physicians were also

druggists, "The Old Apothecary's Shop" was shown at the oppo-

site side of the display room, the equipment being generously

lent to the Society by Mr. George Kiefer, of Piqua, Ohio. In

addition to the handsome antique black walnut prescription

counter with its array of jars and its work bench, there was a

large selection of early equipment for making tinctures, pills,

tablets and suppositories. The apparatus for making tinctures

was especially interesting: a stout drug mill for grinding the

drugs, roots or herbs; the "percolator" in which the ground ma-

terial was steeped in alcohol; the tincture press, by means of

which the last bit of liquid was pressed out, after the tincture

had been run into a bottle.

Close by was a photographic enlargement of an old-time drug

advertisement, with the legend, "No cigarettes! No candy! No

ice cream! No cosmetics! No stationery! No dry-goods!" No,

not 1945! But an 1833 drug store advertisement from the Lan-

caster, Ohio, Gazette and Enquirer.

Bordering the old apothecary shop were two cases, displaying

drugs used in early times: camphor, cinchona bark, asafoetida,

digitalis, ginger, opium, nux vomica and the like. Attention was

called to the fact that a great many of the drugs used in early Ohio

days are still standard in the present-day Pharmacopoeia.

Along with the natural nux vomica seeds were shown some

which were dyed and drilled to be used as buttons--"Quaker

Buttons," they were frequently called, really handsome, with a

satiny sheen and so tough as to be nearly indestructible. A label

beneath explained that nux vomica is the source of the deadly

drug, strychnine, and that it was said to be routine practice in

pioneer homes using the "Quaker Buttons," to count the buttons

on the clothing every night. If one should be missing, all the

children in the family were given a powerful dose of castor oil!

A large, upright case showed herbs and roots as they were

received by the pioneer chemist. Among the more striking fea-

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MUSEUM DISPLAY                     383

 

tures were crystallized sap of aloes from Africa, one lot shipped

in a gourd, another in a monkey skin. There were also cinnamon

bark from  Saigon and Ceylon, and sarsaparilla from   South

America in the neat, original bundles, as they were packed by

the native laborers.

A third case showed specimens of the equipment of the pio-

neer doctor: obstetrical instruments, surgical apparatus, a micro-

scope used by Dr. J. M. Wheaton, early physician-scientist of

Columbus; and several of the ingenious little machines, with

wicked, razor-sharp blades for making incisions for bleeding and

cupping. A physician who was examining the display commented

on the fine workmanship of the instruments and stated that the

obstetrical equipment was as fine as any modern set and of much

the same design.

Early medical books were also displayed, typical of those

shown in the inventory of the estate of Dr. Gideon Case, at

Hudson, Ohio, in 1822. It is remarkable that almost all of the

books listed in the inventory were obtainable either in the Society's

Library or in the Ohio State University Library.

Large portraits, with brief biographical sketches, of Ohio's

three great pioneer physicians were hung on the walls. They

were:  Daniel Drake (1785-1852), leader in medicine, public

health and civic affairs; Samuel P. Hildreth (1783-1863), writer,

geologist, archaeologist; and Jared P. Kirtland, outstanding med-

ical figure of the Western Reserve, teacher, horticulturist,

zoologist.

The master label to the exhibit contained "highlights of early

Ohio medicine," among which may be mentioned: first doctor to

practice in Ohio was Jabez True, Marietta, 1789; first in Co-

lumbus and Franklin County, Lincoln Goodale (1805). First

Caesarian section in the United States performed by Dr. John L.

Richmond at Newtown, Ohio, in 1827. First Medical College

in Ohio was founded by Dr. Daniel Drake, Cincinnati, 1819.

Professional education for dentists (the first in America) began

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384   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

at Bainbridge, Ohio, in 1825. First hospital in Ohio was the

Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum for the State of Ohio

at Cincinnati, 1820. First hospital in Columbus was that which

is now St. Francis Hospital, 1847. First medical school in the

world which also operated a teaching hospital was Starling

Medical College, of Columbus, 1849.

It is something of a coincidence, perhaps, that the settlement

of Ohio was contemporaneous with what may be considered the

dawn of modern medicine. Among the less progressive practi-

tioners, medicines reminiscent of the dark ages, such as "cat's

eyes," "water of frog spawn," and the like, were still dispensed.

Such things as antisepsis or anaesthetics were as yet undreamed

of. There were no thermometers, stethoscopes, X-rays. Such

barbarous treatment as bleeding and cupping, brutal purges,

emetics, plasters, were still standard practice and were not to be

completely abandoned until late in the century.

On the other hand, texts of the day attacked the ancient

"witch-doctor" practices and emphasized "the new  medicine."

Innoculation for smallpox was practiced at Marietta by Jabez

True as early as 1793, vaccination for smallpox by Goforth, at

Cincinnati, in 1801. The use of "Peruvian Bark" (Cinchona)

as a specific against malaria was prevalent in earliest Ohio days,

the refined quinine at least as early as 1823. Under the guidance

of Drake and Kirtland, Ohio became a leader in the establish-

ment of medical colleges and the teaching of scientific medical

practice.

Invaluable service in the planning and execution of the dis-

play was rendered by Dr. Jonathan Forman and Dr. Robert G.

Paterson, while Dr. L. D. Hiner, of the College of Pharmacy,

Ohio State University, assisted greatly in the loan of material and

in other ways. Appreciation is also expressed for materials and

other help from Mr. Earl N. Manchester, librarian of Ohio State

University; Dr. Dwight Palmer, Dr. George Curtis, Professor

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MUSEUM DISPLAY                    385

 

A. E. Waller, Professor C. M. Brown, and Professor C. L. Wil-

liams, all of the Ohio State University faculty.

The exhibit was under the general direction of staff-member

Edward S. Thomas; Mrs. Irma P. Anderson planned the in-

stallation of the early doctor's office; James Rodabaugh and

Richard Morgan, the pharmacy shop; Cyril Webster made the

painting of the pioneer doctor and managed the installations,

while many other members of the staff participated actively.

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