Ginseng Root
date: label: date made
content: 1881
name: label: maker
content: W. H. Schieffelin and Company
notes: label: Description
content: This specimen of American Ginseng root <i>Panax quinquefolius</i> was donated to the Smithsonian in 1881 by the firm William Schieffelin & Company, a wholesale drug company that was founded in New York City in 1793. Ginseng was used in medicine as a tonic and stimulant, and was considered “useful in loss of appetite, slight nervous debility and weak stomach, [...] in nervous dyspepsia, and in mental exhaustion from overwork.” Beginning in the 18th century, the American root was collected in the wild and exported to China where ginseng was highly revered for its medicinal value, although the American species was considered inferior to the native Chinese ginseng <i>Panax ginseng<i>.
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
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content: Health & Medicine
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content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of W.H. Schieffelin and Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.050737
label: catalog number
content: 50737
label: accession number
content: 10696
objectType: label: Object Name
content: crude drug
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ginseng root (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (container material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 in x 2 7/8 in x 2 3/4 in; 15.24 cm x 7.3025 cm x 6.985 cm