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COCHLEAR
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This blown and molded wide-mouth jar has a white oval baked enamel label that is surrounded by a blue ribbon and topped with a golden crown. The jar is marked <i>COCHLEAR</i> with the alchemical symbol for spirits above. This jar would have contained Spiritus Cochlearia, or Spirits of Cochlearia. Cochlearia, or scurvygrass, would have been steeped in alcohol to create a spirit solution. As the name scurvygrass would imply, the solution was used as an antiscorbutic to combat and prevent scurvy as well as a diuretic and an aperient, a mild laxative.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionCredit lineCOCHLEAR. National Museum of American History, Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. CC0.
