Cathartic Compound U S P
date: label: date made
content: 1920-1921
name: label: maker
content: Eli Lilly and Company
notes: label: Description
content: One of twenty-nine (29) specimens illustrating the manufacture of pills and tablets donated by Eli Lilly and Company in 1921 for the pharmacy exhibits. The specimens illustrate the ingredients used to produce Phenasbic Tablets (see M-01196 through M-01201) and Compound Cathartic Pills (see M-01206 through M-01214) as well as various steps in the manufacturing process for these products. The specimens were exhibited along with photographs of the Lilly manufacturing plant in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both products are laxative, or cathartic, medicines used in chronic constipation.
label: Description
content: The exhibit as described in the 1922 Smithsonian Annual Report: “It has not been so many years ago since all pills and tablets used in medicine were made by hand. Necessity, the mother of invention, created the demand for machines to do this work, and an exhibit was installed during the year to give an idea of the workings of a modern pill and tablet manufacturing plant. For this Eli Lilly & Co., of Indianapolis, Ind., contributed 29 specimens and 14 photographs. With the compound cathartic pill and the phenasbic tablet as types, each progressive step - weighing, mixing, kneading, shaping, and coating - have been illustrated so that each process can be easily understood.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Indiana, Indianapolis
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Eli Lilly and Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.M-01220
label: catalog number
content: M-01220
label: accession number
content: 66991
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pills, sugar coated, bottle of
label: Other Terms
content: Pills, Sugar Coated; Dosage Forms; Drugs; Non-Liquid
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)