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Colored
glass medicine bottles.
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Colored
Glass Medicine Bottles
During
the 19th century, colored glass bottles such as these housed medicinal
preparations. In early America, no distinction was made between
apothecaries, physicians, merchants, or druggists. All sold drugs
and many also practiced medicine. Pressure for standardization and
quality control of drugs began early in the nineteenth century and
centered on Philadelphia. By 1822, the College of Pharmacy was established
which took responsibility for creating and maintaining drug standards.
Still, by the mid-nineteenth century only courses in chemistry and
materia medica were available for the study of drug preparation
and these were directed toward physicians, not pharmacists. Educational
institutions expanded after the Civil War and several created programs
for the study of pharmacy. However, the practice of licensing pharmacists
did not become a standard until the end of the nineteenth century.
These bottles are
examples of the many materia medica artifacts preserved in the Memorabilia
Collection of the University Archives and Special Collections.
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