In the spirit of the spooky season, our collection highlight this month features various potions, poisons, and prescriptions found in the Historical Society’s St. George Pharmacy Collection. Judson West, son of a former St. George Pharmacy owner, donated over eighty items from this staple St. Augustinian business to the Society. Including written prescriptions, medications, recipes, and equipment from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the collection represents over one hundred years of medical innovation. This is made exceptionally clear by the inclusion of poisonous and dangerous remedies that, if prescribed today, would be absolutely jaw-dropping (and not to mention incredibly illegal). Bottles of morphine-based syrups claiming to treat bronchitis and constipation, mercury powders used in pills to treat jaundice, and chloroform prescriptions for toothaches can all be found in this collection.
The exact purpose of each medicine can be difficult to ascertain from the bottles themselves. Many of the labels on them are vague, or have worn over time. Luckily, doctors, nurses, and other experts have written about the specific usage of each drug for over one hundred years. The 1870 Fundamental Treaty on the Medical Discipline and Practical Guide, published just over a decade before the St. George Pharmacy opened, discusses the origins, forms, purposes, and recipes for drugs and medications. This document helps to contextualize the strange cures and prescriptions found in our pharmacy collection.
1916 Morphine Prescription.
Two such medications that require additional information were Baume Tranquille and one ounce of red mercury iodide. The bottle of Baume Tranquille possesses an extremely faded label, with only the name of the product and the names of the creators visible. A tag from a New York-based distribution company implies the importation of this Parisian concoction to America. There are no ingredients listed on the packaging. The Practical Guide includes the recipe for Baume Tranquille, calling for fresh nightshade and poppy leaves, in addition to a host of other herbs. These plants were used to create an infused olive oil, which was utilized as a topical sedative. This ointment today is tinted a shade of bright green, reminiscent of Snow White’s poisoned apple— a reminder of the deadly ingredients contained within. The shocking red color of the mercury powder is similarly off-putting. Formerly used in tablets to treat jaundice and syphilis, modern medicine has since invented better cures for both that do not require patients to ingest these toxins.
This assemblage does include drugs like morphine that are still in use today. During the late 19th and early 20th century, however, doctors prescribed these mixtures for more run-of-the-mill illnesses, something not seen in the 21st century. Brooks Comp Syrup, a medication containing both morphine and chloroform, is advertised on the bottle as a catch-all cure for “diseases of the throat and lungs.” The label sports dosing instructions for both adults and children.
This is not the only morphine-based medication used to treat children in the St. George Pharmacy Collection; Mrs. Winslow’s Syrup contains the same active ingredient. It was specifically marketed for the treatment of kids, with the label stating “useful for the temporary relief of constipation in young children.” This remedy was denounced by the American Medical Association in the early 1900s once it was linked to infant deaths.
One of the most illuminating items in this collection is H.K. Jackson’s formula booklet. H.K. Jackson was the manager of the St. George Pharmacy from 1915 to 1920, and his recipes provide insight into the treatment options and popular ingredients of the time. A toothache remedy paired herb and spice oils, like peppermint and clove, with chloroform, alcohol, and morphine. Other mixtures and instructions seem more modern. Jackson’s treatment for corns, despite containing both cannabis extract and cocaine, paralleled current solutions to bothersome thickened skin. His concoction also contained salicylic acid, an active ingredient in many over-the-counter patches today. The instructions advised soaking the foot in hot water, another remedy still recommended over one hundred years later.
While thoughts of treating constipation and toothaches with morphine or jaundice with mercury are shocking today, doctors back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries prescribed these types of shocking cures as the best possible solutions to their patient’s ailments. It is easy to marvel at how far the medical field has come since this time, and the St. George Pharmacy Collection helps elucidate that story.
Written by: Sydney Livingston, Assistant Collections Manager
Edited by: Robert Covert, Collections Manager & Editor-in-Chief
Works Cited
Baume Tranquille, Webb Shelf 7B, Box 24, St. Augustine Historical Society.
Brooks Comp Syrup, Webb Shelf 7B, Box 24, St. Augustine Historical Society.
“Corns and calluses.” Diseases and Conditions, Mayo Clinic, Published May 9, 2024. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/corns-and-calluses/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355951
H.K. Jackson’s Formula Book, Webb Shelf 7C, Box 25, St. Augustine Historical Society.
Harry K. Jackson, Biographical Files, St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.
Les Soeurs de la Providence. Traité Élémentaire de Matière Médicale et Guide Pratique des Soeurs de Charité de L’Asile de la Provence. Seconde Edition. Montreal: Eusebe Senécal, 1870. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/bookviewer?PID=nlm:nlmuid-61820340R-bk
Mercury Powder Bottles, Webb Shelf 7B, Box 23, St. Augustine Historical Society.
Prescription, 1916, Vertical Files: Businesses-Pharmacies, St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.
“Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup.” DEA Museum Collection Spotlight, Drug Enforcement Administration Museum, Accessed December 30th 2024. https://museum.dea.gov/museum-collection/collection-spotlight/artifact/soothing-syrup.
Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, Webb Shelf 7B, Box 24, St. Augustine Historical Society.
“Soeurs de la Providence.” Répetoire du patrimoine culturel du Quebec, Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, Accessed January 21st, 2025. https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=18082&type=pge
Timeline, Vertical Files: Businesses-Pharmacies, St. Augustine Historical Society Research Library.