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CORTEX LIGN QUASSIAE
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This drug jar is marked <i>CORTEX LIGN QUASSIAE</i>. Cortex refers to the skin or peel of a plant. Ling is probably an abbreviation for Lignum or wood, and Quassiae is a bitter wood. The tree is native to the West Indies and South America. The bark can be made into a tea or tonic by soaking chips of wood in water or alcohol. It was used as a tonic, an antispasmodic, and to reduce fevers. Cups were made from Quassia, and when filled with water, properties from the wood would create a tonic which popular in the 19th century.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionCredit lineCORTEX LIGN QUASSIAE. 1790-1810. National Museum of American History, Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. CC0.
