THE EQUIPMENT, INSTRUMENTS AND DRUGS OF
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO
BY HOWARD DITTRICK, M.D.
In the equipment, instruments and drugs
of the Ohio physi-
cians prior to 1835 there was exhibited
a wide divergence, depend-
ing on differences in training,
financial means, and on contact with
medical supplies as well as with
educational stimulation. Nor is
this strange; the same factors operate
today in the same directions:
it is only a question of degree. Those
few pioneer physicians who
had the opportunity to attend good
medical schools of the time,
to visit medical centers of the East and
perhaps even to visit
Edinburgh or Paris, these fortunate ones
were furnished with all
things needful for the practice they
came to seek in Ohio. But
the majority of those pioneer doctors
had studied only under a
preceptor, had gleaned some further
instruction from a few charts
and text-books, and were familiar with
only the simplest tools of
the profession. In addition to lack of
broad training and almost
complete lack of means to buy equipment,
most of them came from
far off Connecticut, Philadelphia or
Virginia, by boat, covered
wagon or horseback, and could bring few
possessions. They were
obliged to bring food, clothing, arms
and tools to sustain life on the
wilderness journey. Frequently they had
even to include in their
limited baggage a small store of goods
to sell or barter on arrival
to provide means to live while getting
established. Little room
remained for medical supplies.
Probably the origin of these pioneer
doctors had a definite
influence on their training, their
ability, and their equipment. There
were two distinct main streams of
medical penetration into the
Ohio wilderness, the north and the south
portals. They came into
northern Ohio through interest in the
Connecticut Land Company,
(198)
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 199
usually down the Hudson, overland to
Lake Erie, and then pro-
ceeded to settlements at the mouths of
rivers, such as Ashtabula,
Willoughby and Cleveland. Some came
across Pennsylvania by
horseback, replacing depleted baggage at
Pittsburgh by additional
stores of medical supplies. Generally
speaking, the group from
New England had less training and less
contact with either sup-
plies or further education than had the
southern group who had
stemmed from Philadelphia medical
culture. They had the ad-
vantage of closer association with
university stimulation, that of
Transylvania University at Lexington,
Kentucky, which was then
a part of Virginia. Ephraim McDowell
(1772-1830) and Ben-
jamin Winslow Dudley (1785-1871) were
eminent teachers in
Transylvania, and Daniel Drake
(1785-1852), founder of the
Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati,
was an outstanding physi-
cian of that time. The north was tardier
in establishment of
equivalent medical instruction.
Unquestionably the acute need for
medical care, even such
as the most poorly equipped pioneer
physician could supply, was
a factor in short cuts to training.
Under the same pressure of
need, the same scarcity of medical schools,
Russia is doing the
same today. The population of Ohio in
1800 was only 45,000;
however, by 1820 it was 500,000, but
doctors did not increase
in proportion. Lack of adequate means of
transportation and
communication made it impossible for
each doctor to care for
any great number of scattered families.
Hence numbers of phy-
sicians were needed. But medical schools
were few, and courses
of the time inadequate, educational
standards lacking. It is true
that many of the northern pioneers had
had some lectures in the
medical schools of New York,
Philadelphia, or New England,
in proof of which some of them kept
lecture cards, such as those
of Dr. Leonard Hanna of Lisbon, dated
1827, from the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania. Some came with
letters "To whom it may
concern" from bankers, preachers,
or even governors of states.
Again they came with such a certificate
as the following, dated
1797, now belonging to this doctor's
descendant. It reads:
This may certify that the Bearer Doctor
Adam Denison has lived
with Doctor Ebenezer Wright of
Plainfield about two years and with
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OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
myself seven Months in the Study of the
Theory and Practise of Phisic and
Surgery in which he hath made more than
common good Profitiency and do
recommend him with confidence to all
those who have occasion to call upon
the healing Art for assistance as one
that is well qualified to grant them
relief--with a Bright genius and an
unblemished character and his Friendly
disposition to all that he has contact
with is what I sincerely Esteem--an
acquaintance with him will prove to all
that the above recommendation
is just This from
PHINEAS PARKHURST, M.D.
Mark you the requirements of a good
physician, never more
skillfully enumerated--"a bright
genius," "an unblemished char-
acter," and a "friendly
disposition." Who shall say these were
not an important part of his stock in
trade?
Let us look over the conditions under
which they worked
and the equipment with which they met the
challenge of frontier
practice. The doctor's home was his base
of operations, his
equivalent of an office. He had very few
text-books, because of
expense and difficulty of transport, but
among those chosen by
Ohio doctors were Bell's Surgery, Cullen's
Practice, Rush on
Fevers, Senac on Fevers, Brown's Elements of
Medicine, Burns'
Midwifery, John Hunter on Blood, Inflammation and Gun Shot
Wounds.
Dr. Erastus Goodwin practiced in Burton
which was then
in the midst of a wilderness. Although
taught only by a preceptor,
one of his descendants states that he
possessed a good library.
Furthermore, on his long rides it was
his invariable custom to
take along a medical book or journal.
Dr. Gideon Case,1 who died in
Hudson in 1822, had books
valued at $35.25 listed in his estate.
Dr. J. J. Tyler2 of Warren
has discovered important data on the
costs of books, equipment
and drugs used by the doctors of this
era. In addition to a few
books, the doctor had usually a mortar
and pestle and apothecary
balances, together with his own supply
of crude drugs and herbs,
for the drug store being inaccessible,
he must provide what he
prescribed.
1 F. C. Waite, "The Historian's
Note Book," Ohio State Medical Journal (Co-
lumbus, 1905-), May, 1986.
2 J. J. Tyler, "Dr. Luther Spelman, Early
Physician of the Western Reserve,"
Ohio State Medical Journal, April, 1988.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 201
Some doctors kept a record of
prescriptions issued, neatly
set forth in a special book. In account
books, such as the one
used by Dr. A. H. Wheeler of Austinburg,
we read of current
fees, diagnosis, methods of treatment,
and prices of commodities
accepted in barter. These books are of
value in learning about
medicine of the period. One neatly kept
book included prescrip-
tions and recipes for man and beast,
together with formulae for
whitewash, dyes, stains, paints, even
methods of restoring the
hair.
Sometimes the doctor had access to
pewter bedpans, clysters,
and other forms of syringes. Hot water
bottles of pewter and
crockery existed, but more often any
container sufficed. Or hot
applications were used, but a heated
stone or chunk of wood
could be had in any cabin. For fractures
the most convenient
piece of shingle, slab or board was
used. However, there are in
the museum at Marietta a few specially
prepared splints that
belonged to Dr. J. Cotton of Marietta,
who was president of the
Medical Society of Ohio in 1830. Leeches
were standard equip-
ment, used even for treatment of fistula
and some forms of
blindness. The roller bandage was
employed to control swelling
of the extremities and of course the
tourniquet to check bleeding
in injuries or amputations.
About the end of the period under
discussion, Dr. Erastus
Cushing of Cleveland, unlike Chaucer's
doctor, "lovede silver in
special." In addition to his
reputation for having a silver door-
bell practice, he devised a silver
nipple instead of the proverbial
silver spoon in infant feeding. Such a
nipple was connected with a
long slender tube of the same material,
which extended down
into the bottle. Naturally it was
impossible to keep clean. It was
seventy years before the tube menace was
removed from infant
feeding.
Occasionally pulsometers were found.
These were dumb-
bell shaped containers made of glass,
about six inches long,
partially filled with colored spirits,
and fitted into a plush case.
By holding one end in the closed hand,
air bubbles would rise to
the other end. It had really no relation
to the pulse, and was
connected with physics rather than
physic. We have a replica of
202
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
a pulsometer in our Museum of the
Cleveland Medical Library.
One such appliance was submitted to us
for purchase by a lady
from Texas, who hoped to dispose of it
for a sum sufficient to
purchase a home and live in ease the
rest of her life.
Pioneer doctors prior to 1835 made their
visits on horseback.
Their equipment, therefore, included a
good saddle and saddle-
bags. In those days saddles represented
quite an outlay. Saddle-
bags were thrown over the horse's
shoulders in front of the saddle,
and in them drugs and instruments were
carried. Sometimes a
case of instruments was fitted into the
bag. One pair of saddle-
bags in our Museum has a note attached
recording that they
were made by a saddler in Allentown,
Pennsylvania, at a cost of
ten dollars. In crossing swollen streams
the bags were hung
around the doctor's shoulders to keep
dry. If the doctor was not
able to finish his journey by nightfall
he tethered his horse and
slept, pillowing his head on the
precious bags. When he had ex-
amined his patient he sat down with the
bags across his knees,
exploring their double pockets for
appropriate medication.
By far the most important equipment of
this old time phy-
sician was his horse. Not infrequently
he had two in order to
rest one after a tiring journey to a
remote settlement. The great-
est obstacle between doctor and patient
was communication. Once
he could reach the patient's bedside
with his meager equipment
he was ready to battle any emergency.
His horse was the link
with his patient. It had to be a good
swimmer for every spring
the trails led to washed out bridges, or
the usual ford would be
found swollen in flood. The story is
told of Dr. David Long,
Cleveland's first physician, that he
once returned at night from
beyond Rocky River by the same road he
had taken to reach
there. The next day he was surprised to
learn that his horse had
brought him back in the dark over a
single stringer of the bridge
which was washed out after he had gone
over it on his outward
journey.
When Dr. Peter Allen of Kinsman attended
the Medical
Convention in Columbus in 1835 it
required more than a week
each way. Tales remain of doctors being
out on a round of dis-
tant visits for two weeks at a stretch.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 203
The pioneer's thermometer, blood
pressure apparatus and
X-ray tube, were all combined in his
fingers. Though the stetho-
scope was used in southern Ohio, in the
early 1830's, by a few
doctors who were in touch with
Transylvania University, it did
not appear in other parts of the state
until after 1835. Yet types
of cough, cry, breathing and changes in
the voice registered in
the doctor's attuned ear, as signs of
certain diseases. Blueness or
pallor of the lips, the jaundiced
sclera, the lemon tint or the
greenish-yellow hue of the skin, even
the slight passing glimpse
of a rash, did not escape his critical
eye. Most uncanny was his
ability to sniff cases of typhoid or
measles. If he had no means
to make a chemical test, taste and even
smell enabled him to
diagnose the coma of glycosuria. Yes, he
lacked equipment which
we use today with such abandon, he had
to meet emergencies
with few external aids. But he did have
courage, perseverance
and fearlessness, and I shall presently
give you an example of
that side of his character.
It is interesting to speculate on the
conditions present at
the time, conditions the physician was
called upon to treat, and
hence to provide for in the restricted compass
of his saddle-bags.
Mothers in childbirth were just
beginning to call in male
physicians. There was plenty of dental
trouble, for which the only
treatment was extraction. There were
bronchitis and pneumonia
in the winter, fevers and dysentery in
the summer. Ague, as
malaria was then called, was present in
the swampy regions.
Periodic attacks of smallpox, angina of
the throat and mem-
branous croup, all required the
appropriate treatment of the
period. Among the common surgical
conditions were abscesses,
wounds from horse kicks, axe cuts, scalp
wounds, fracture of the
skull and extremities from falling
timber. In medical cases an
assortment of drugs were used which will
be discussed later.
However, the popular treatment for most
diseases was blood-
letting, which was accomplished by the
spring and trigger lancet,
the phlebotomy knife, or the simple
thumb lancet. Another lancet
of special shape was used for the
incision of swollen gums. A
procedure frequently employed in this
era was cupping, carried
out by a series of glasses, varying in
size. A syringe which could
204
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
be screwed into the top of the cupping
glass provided increased
suction.
Heat was applied externally in the form
of poultices, some
of which were crude, even revolting, but
always the means at
hand were those employed. Smallpox was a
serious scourge be-
fore the days of vaccination
(Waterhouse, 1800). But Dr. Peter
Allen of Kinsman used the natural virus
after the manner of
Boylston, who first employed this
procedure in Boston in 1721.
The thumb lancet for vaccination was
carried in a small case and
was protected on either side of the
blade by tortoise shell leaves
which rotated back to form a handle.
Fracture of the skull from falling
timber, or even from
horse kicks, occasionally required the
treatment used by some of
the Indians, namely trephining. We have
in the Museum a
trephine which belonged to Dr. Horace
Ackley, who came to
Akron in 1835. Scalp wounds or bad cuts
were sewn up, and
abscesses opened by means of the spring
lancet.
Southern Ohio physicians were doubtless
familiar with the
elaborate collections of instruments
illustrated in A. H. Barkley's
Kentucky's Pioneer Lithotomists.3
Ephraim McDowell and Ben-
jamin W. Dudley had enjoyed excellent
training in Britain and had
visited medical centers on the continent
as well as those of our
own Atlantic seaboard. Transylvania
University in Lexington
where they taught must have provided
inspiration for southern
Ohio men.
In contrast to such affluence in instruments,
note the meager
supply which Dr. John L. Richmond4 had
at hand when he per-
formed the first successful Caesarian
section in Ohio, in Newton,
April 25, 1827. The patient had been in
labor over thirty hours,
because of a stenosis in the upper part
of the vagina. The story
is best told in his own words.
She had fits and the pains did no good.
To prevent the convulsions
and to recruit the system I gave
laudanum and sulphuric ether and applied
3 A. H. Barkley, Kentucky's Pioneer Lithotomists (Cincinnati,
1918).
4 J. L. Richmond, "History of the
Successful Case of Caesarian Operation,"
Western Journal of the Medical and
Physical Sciences (Cincinnati,
1827-1838), III
(1829/30).
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 205
flannel with hot spirits to the feet . .
. After doing all in my power for
her preservation, and feeling myself
entirely in the dark as to her situation,
and finding that whatever was done must
be done soon, and feeling a deep
and solemn sense of my responsibility,
with only a case of common pocket
instruments, about one o'clock at night,
I commenced Caesarian section.
Here I must digress from my subject and
relate the condition of the house,
which was made of logs that were green,
and put together not more than a
week before. The crevices were not
chinked, there was no chimney nor
chamber floor. The night was stormy and
windy, insomuch that the assis-
tants had to hold blankets to keep the
candles from being blown out. Under
these circumstances it is hard to
conceive the state of my feelings, when I
was convinced the patient must die or
the operation be performed.
Without anesthetics, without
antiseptics, but with sound
judgment and undoubted courage Richmond
of the hamlet of
Newton, made Ohio medical history in
saving this mother's life.
One of the few medical monuments in Ohio
was erected in New-
ton to commemorate the event.
There exists a court record of a list of
the instruments which
belonged to Dr. Gideon Case,5 who
died in Hudson in 1822. This
inventory included a pocket case of
instruments, a set of dental
instruments, male and female catheters,
lancets and a syringe.
Though the type of syringe is not
mentioned, it may have been
pewter, usual at that period.
It would seem that few doctors at that
time carried with
them forceps or other obstetrical
instruments, for indeed "meddle-
some midwifery" as it was called in
pre-antiseptic days, was very
dangerous practice. Dr. John B. Harmon,
who came to Warren
in 1808, had three hand-made obstetrical
instruments, which,
though crude, showed good craftsmanship.
The forceps and
crotchet have walnut handles to which
the metal part is riveted,
while the Smellie perforator has ring
handles which have been
hammered out over the conical end of an
anvil. A walnut case
containing cupping glasses, a very
sturdy saw and other amputa-
tion instruments are also attributed to
Harmon, together with the
well-known turnkeys for extraction of
teeth.
Other turnkeys were those of Dr. Peter
Allen of Kinsman
and Dr. Leonard Hanna of Lisbon. Dr.
Hanna also had other
5 Waite, "Historian's Note
Book."
206
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
dental instruments, including an
elevator and packer, both having
wood handles. Scarificators, numerous
spring and trigger lancets,
some nested in ingenious carved wood
cases lined with velvet and
covered with leather; gum lancets, thumb
lancets, protected by
tortoise shell handles; larger lancets
in a brass handle and used
for bleeding horses; many leather cases
with emergency instru-
ments such as those belonging to Dr.
Gideon Case of Hudson;
all of these types of the period are to
be found in the Museum
of the Cleveland Medical Library, most
of them having been the
property of early Ohio physicians.
As to drugs, these physicians used many
of the drugs of
folk-lore and of course these were
indigenous to Ohio. Among
these we find horseradish,
skunk-cabbage, sage, thorn-apple,
butternut, elder, thoroughwort, slippery
elm, etc. Other crude
drugs of proven worth came from the
East, Pittsburgh, as we
have said, being a popular distributing
center for Ohio doctors.
A favored method of treatment was hot
applications, utilizing
such remedies as hops, wormwood,
turpentine, bear's grease, etc.
In addition to bloodletting, and other
drugless treatments, sweat-
ing was produced by Dover's powder,
blistering by cantharides,
vomiting by ipecac, and purging by
calomel and jalap. There were
practically no pharmacies, drugs being
obtained in some centers
of population from shops whose signs
read "Physician and Drug-
gist," "Chemist and
Druggist," or "Druggist and Grocer."
In the first United States Pharmacopoeia
published in 1820,
we learn that the Medical College of
Ohio was invited to take
part in the compilation, and although
the college approved of the
undertaking still on account "of
the infancy of their institution
they did not think it proper to appoint
delegates." There had been
a pharmacopoeia of the Massachusetts
Medical Society published
in 1808 and one of the New York Hospital
published in 1816.
The founders of the first U. S. P. saw
that their small volume
would become larger with the progress of
medical discovery for
they noted "the Materia Medica must
soon grow to an unmanage-
able size if its enlargement be not
followed by a corresponding
retrenchment of superfluities."
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 207
In the first United States Pharmacopoeia
the following drugs
of unusual interest appear--garlic,
gold, cinchona, hops, digitalis,
bitter-sweet, geranium, guiac,
haematoxylin, isinglass, juniper,
tulip tree bark, musk, opium, prunes,
sago, sassafras, amber,
tobacco, tapioca, and yeast. While in
the secondary list we note
carrot, wild potato, mayweed,
delphinium, parsley, gaultheria,
pomegranate, iris, wild lettuce,
magnolia, violet, golden rod, and
spurred rye or ergot. Under official
preparations the following
are described--infusion of Peruvian
bark, infusion of foxglove,
infusion of tobacco, Dover's powder,
paregoric and burnt sponge.
In the United States Pharmacopoeia of
1830, a few rather
ineffective remedies were dropped. Among
those of recognized
value we find potassium iodide, quinine
sulphate, and morphia
sulphate. In this issue we find in the
list of new drugs colchicum,
iodine, oleum tiglii, and in the
secondary list hepatica and sesame.
There was at this time considerable
discussion regarding change
in names. Muriatic acid was not altered
because it could not be
determined whether the change should be
to hydrochloric or
chlorohydric acid. The terms chlorinated
lime and ammoniated
mercury were retained because of their
descriptive character. The
mild chloride of mercury and the
corrosive chloride of mercury
were preferred to the protochloride and
the bichloride of mercury.
Drugs listed in the Pharmacopoeias of
1820 and 1830 repre-
sent those to which Ohio physicians had
possible access. Actually
these were not always available for
treatment. Scarcity of drug
shops, meagerness of their stocks and
difficulty in procuring fresh
supplies from the East, especially in
the winter, must have left
the doctors with recourse frequently to
folk-lore remedies of
local materials. An example was the
Indian mixture of hickory
ashes and honey for a vermifuge, or
white oak bark and
geranium for some of the dysenteries.
Study of the contents of a number of
saddle-bags would be
a valuable contribution of pharmacy. We
have listed from two
pairs of saddle-bags as many drugs as we
have been able to
identify through the co-operation of the
staff of the School of
Pharmacy.
208
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
The first pair belonged to Dr. Peter
Allen6 who came to
Kinsman in 1808. Within the bags are
many original labelled
packets of drugs and two leather cases
of bottles, one for liquids,
the second for powders. The square
folded packets of herbs are
carefully wrapped in two papers, inner
and outer, each tied with
rough homespun linen thread. The
contents are mainly crude
drugs in distinction to the processed
drugs of a later era. Each
packet contains the amount necessary for
one decoction, and the
dried herbs have preserved well their
characteristic form and
taste. The liquid content of bottles has
completely vanished with
time, but the bottles themselves are of
interest, hand-blown, thin
and light, with slender necks and wide
flanges. They are contained
in leather rolls tied with thongs.
We gain an insight, too, into the
ailments he was prepared
to meet and for which he carried these
precious drugs. Among
the packets there were senna, rhubarb,
and calomel for laxative,
while for diarrhoea there was bismuth
subnitrate and mercury
with chalk. Quinine was ready for
malaria and other fevers.
Serpentaria, iron pyrophosphate, iron
and ammonium citrate were
used as tonics and blood purifiers, and
valerian as a nerve vital-
izer. A distinctive bottle, unmarked and
with well-worn cork, con-
tained morphine, suggesting frequent use
in the days of no
anesthetics. Digitalis leaves, well
preserved, remind us that bad
hearts were present even then. In one
package was a mixture of
senega, Irish moss and sarsaparilla to
which he may have added
from the packet of squills or from the
morphine bottle to provide
a cough remedy. For the child with worms
there was pumpkin
seed, and as vehicles he carried Irish
moss and the compound
tincture of cardamom. These drugs appear
quite potent today,
and reflect care and precision in
handling.
A richer find was made in the second
pair of saddle-bags of
Dr. Erastus Goodwin (1784-1869). Goodwin
came to Burton in
1811 and in caring for his patients rode
a circuit as far north
as Painesville and south to Warren. He
had a very liberal supply
of remedies including many powdered
crude drugs and liquid
6 H. Dittrick, et al., Medical Pioneers
of the Western Reserve (Cleveland, 1932).
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 209
preparations. In the two pockets of his
saddle-bags there were
seventy-seven different packages and
containers, some of the
latter being of unusual interest.
Several of the crude drugs and
dried up specimens in bottles we were
unable to identify, but the
following medicines were readily
recognized: aloes, myrrh,
serpentaria, magnesia, senna, camomile
flowers, cloves, liquorice,
uva-ursi, rhubarb, cubeb, castor,
sarsaparilla, anise, juniper,
squills, gentian, gum arabic, gamboge,
opium, benzoin, red precipi-
tate of mercury, Rochelle salts, soluble
blue, chalk, mustard, cam-
phor, bismuth subnitrate and balsam
Peru.
Dr. J. J. Tyler7 gives exact
dates of drugs purchased and
prices paid for them. These drugs were
bought in Pittsburgh,
Canfield and Youngstown between the
years 1811 and 1816 by
Dr. Luther Spelman (1779-1863) who
practiced in Youngstown,
Petersburgh and Wayne. His drug supply
included opium, senna,
sulphur, castor oil, Glauber's salts,
ipecac, lead acetate, orange
peel, magnesia, potassium bitartrate,
rhubarb, ginger, calamine,
gingseng, citrine ointment, oil sweet
almonds, ferrous sulphate,
guiac, Peruvian bark, calomel,
saltpeter, wormwood, rosin,
cantharides, Burgundy pitch, balsam
copaiba, mercurial ointment,
gum ammoniac, aloes, camphor, myrrh,
sweet spirit of nitre,
serpentaria, zinc sulphate, alum,
liquorice, steel filings, gum
arabic, calumba, tartar emetic, white
arsenic, silver nitrate,
sponge, jalap, asafetida, anise,
gentian, cloves, squills, kino, creta
preparata, juniper, red precipitate of
mercury, turpentine, dyan-
thos, peppermint, spigelia, lavender,
nitric acid, muriatic acid,
cassia, castile soap, and olive oil.
Referring again to the inventory of the
effects of Dr. Gideon
Case8 of Hudson, over forty
drugs are listed, including tartar
emetic, iron sulphate, ipecac, flowers
of benzoin, balsam capivi,
oil peppermint, oil mint, nitric acid,
muriatic acid, balsam Peru,
zinc ointment, calomel, red precipitate
of mercury, Peruvian
bark, camomile flowers, orange peel,
cloves, sugar of lead, borax,
squills, rosin, rhubarb, gum ammoniac,
digitalis, guiac, canthar-
ides, emplastrum stomachicum olivea,
magnesia, arsenic, liquorice,
7 Tyler, "Luther Spelman."
8 Waite, "Historian's Note
Book."
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OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
castile soap, asafetida, aloes, white
oil, camphor, turpentine, cream
tartar, ammonium hydroxide, laudanum and
salts.
At the Ohio Medical Convention held in
Cleveland in May,
1839, Dr. S. P. Hildreth9 of
Marietta in his presidential address
mentioned a number of drugs used thirty
years previously. These
included calomel and jalap as cathartics
and Peruvian bark and
serpentaria as tonics. For the prevalent
fevers, yeast, charcoal,
Fowler's solution, sulphate of quinine
(after 1823), and powders
of nitrate of potash and antimony
tartrate, were given internally.
We note in passing that already there
was a division of opinion
regarding the use of alcohol as a
therapeutic measure. However,
additional relief in fevers was obtained
by some who wrapped
the patient in a sheet saturated with a
mixture of red pepper,
spirits and water. Often in these fevers
physicians administered
an alkali, on the theory advanced by Dr.
Samuel Mitchell of New
York that "malignant fevers were
caused or greatly aggravated
by the generation of septic or nitrous
acid in the stomach and
bowels." To counteract this
acidosis, they employed the subcar-
bonate of soda as an alkalizer.
We conclude, therefore, that very few
doctors of pioneer
days in Ohio had sufficient equipment.
Even of the known reme-
dies, their available supply was meager
and its replacement un-
certain, probably at all times less than
adequate. Because of their
modest training the earliest men were often
not even familiar
with some of the instruments and
procedures of the period. In
spite of these handicaps they frequently
accomplished astonishing
results.
9 S. P. Hildreth, ed.,
Journal of the Proceedings of the Medical
Convention of
Ohio (Cleveland, 1839).