Carl:
 
I would be interested in hearing more about the excavation of the "de la
Howe" site.  I have several small glass vials (phials) from 33Wo41, a cabin
occupation part of a rural farmstead dating 1831-1839 in Wood County, Ohio.
 
The probate records show receipts for medicines (combination of chemicals),
mostly purgatives, but their abbreviations I have not been able to translate
to the known chemicals themselves.  Three of the five Dunlap family members
who resided on the farmstead were sickly in health and died within a year or
two of each other due to the harsh conditions of frontier settlement.  Copies
of the probate records were sent to two medical specialists, one in Buffalo,
NY and the other in Pittsburgh, PA, who teach the history of medicine, to see
if they could determine the names of the chemicals and their medicinal
properties.  I have not as of this date received any information back on what
these vials may have contained.
 
Pat Tucker
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