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-
381
382 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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-
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
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
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.