Medicine in Wax Shells
date: label: date made
content: ca 1884
notes: label: Description
content: Yellow paper box with paper-hinged lid and red paper label on top with Chinese characters in black ink. Box contains four wax balls (shells) containing medicine (one is broken and only pieces of the wax shell remain). Two folded paper inserts line the inside of the box.
label: Description
content: Part of a group of imported crude drugs and medicinal products donated to the Smithsonian in 1884 by George W. Jewett, Examiner of Drugs, New York City Custom House. The museum record does not disclose why this specimen was retained by Dr. Jewett.
label: Description
content: The position of Examiner of Drugs was established by the Import Drug Act of 1848, the country’s first major effort at federal drug regulation. The Act sought to address the rampant problem of drug adulteration and contamination (although only in drug imports) and authorized the appointment of a special examiner of drugs in each of the major ports of the United States. According to an 1891 account, Dr. Jewett had been employed at the New York City Customs House since the 1860s. By the beginning of the 20th century, authority for the examination of imported drugs was shifting from the Customs Service to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This shift was solidified in the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act which combined responsibility for domestic and imported drugs under the USDA.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
label: Location
content: Currently not on view (paper insert)
place: label: place made
content: China
label: associated place
content: China
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of George W. Jewett, Examiner of Drugs, New York Custom House
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.053478
label: catalog number
content: 053478
label: accession number
content: 14174
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Crude Drug
label: Object Name
content: otc preparation
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: pills in wax shells (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper; cardboard (container material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/4 in x 2 5/8 in x 2 3/4 in; 5.715 cm x 6.6675 cm x 6.985 cm