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The Ebay Auction

Two Vintage Pill Bottles

Two early 20th century (c 1910) lay-down circular pill bottles

One is embossed glass

The other bottle has a label
"Compressed Tablets Cascara Sagrada Gr2"
It also includes the directions and the chemist's name
"J.E. Coudrey Rundle St Adelaide"

These are in excellent condition with original working lids

Both bottles measure 6cm from top to bottom and 3cm at their widest point

Item location - Camperdown New South Wales Australia
Auction ended on Sunday 27th September 2009
The starting price was set at $12.00 and there were five bids during the auction
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We won
with a bid of $30.75 plus $7.15 for postage/insurance

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This is Joseph Edward Coudrey
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Son of Joseph William Coudrey
Uncle of my Dad, Ronald Coudrey

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The Shop in Rundle Street

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Looking for Staff

and click here to see the full page from the Advertiser

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Rundle Street Adelaide

in the early 1900's

Rhamnus purshiana (Cascara Buckthorn, Cascara, Bearberry, and in the Chinook Jargon, Chittam or Chitticum; syn. Frangula purshiana, Rhamnus purshianus) is a species of buckthorn native to western North America from southern British Columbia south to central California, and inland to western Montana

It is the largest species of buckthorn, occasionally growing up to fifteen metres tall, though more commonly a large shrub or small tree five to ten metres tall, with a trunk twenty to fifty centimetres in diameter

The bark is brownish to silver-grey with light splotching
The leaves are deciduous, alternate, clustered near the ends of twigs ... they are oval, 5–15 cm long and 2–5 cm broad with a 0.6–2 cm petiole ... dark shiny green on top ... fuzzy and paler green below
The flowers are tiny, 4–5 mm diameter, with five greenish yellow petals ... the flowering season is brief, disappearing by early summer
The fruit is a berry 6–10 mm diameter, bright red at first, quickly maturing deep purple or black, and containing three seeds

It grows in moist, acidic soils in the shady side of clearings or in the marginal forest understory, near the edges of mixed deciduous-coniferous forests
It typically grows as a second-generation tree after alders have colonized a barren plot of land

Uses

The dried, aged bark of this tree has been used continually for at least 1,000 years by both native and immigrant Americans as a laxative natural medicine, commercially called "Cascara Sagrada", but old timers call it "chitticum bark"

The laxative action is due to the Cascara glycosides(cascarosides A,B,C & D)

Cascara Sagrada means "sacred bark" in Spanish

The much more pertinent name chitticum means "shit come" in Chinook Jargon ... chittam comes from the Chinook Jargon phrase chittam stick = "laxative tree" which is similarly from the English word "shit"

Long used as a laxative by Native American groups of the northwest Pacific coast, chitticum bark or Cascara Sagrada was accepted in medical practice in the United States in 1877, and by 1890 had replaced the berries of the European Buckthorn (R. catharticus) as a commonly used laxative

It has been the principal ingredient in many commercial, over-the-counter laxatives in North American pharmacies
On May 9 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule banning the use of aloe and cascara sagrada as laxative ingredients in over-the-counter drug products

The bark is harvested mostly from wild trees ... over-harvesting in the middle 1900's eliminated mature trees near many settled areas

Once stripped from the tree, the bark is aged for about one year to make its effect milder
Fresh cut, dried bark causes vomiting and violent diarrhea

Cascara sagrada is an herb with laxative effects that has a long history of use in Native American medicine

It is made from the bark of the Rhamnus purshiana, a type of buckthorn shrub native to western North America, spanning parts of British Columbia and the northwestern United States

While cascara sagrada has been a popular ingredient in over-the-counter medications for over ten years, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned its use in over-the-counter products in 2002 because of inadequate data concerning its toxicity

The name cascara sagrada is Spanish for "sacred bark" and the herb is also commonly called chitticum bark

The bark of the Rhamnus purshiana is gray or brown and splotched
The plant can grow up to 50 feet (15 meters), but is usually 16 to 33 feet (5-10 meters)
It has shiny green leaves, tiny yellow-green flowers, and berries that mature from bright red to purple or black

Cascara sagrada must be dried and aged for at least a year before it can be used medicinally
Ingesting fresh bark can cause vomiting or bloody diarrhea

The herb's active ingredient is anthroquinones, which induce peristalsis, or muscular contractions, in the colon

It may be taken in capsule or liquid extract form, or the dried bark can be used to make tea

300 mg is a standard dosage of cascara sagrada, and it is usually taken at night to induce a bowel movement in the morning, as it takes six to twelve hours to have an effect

If you live in an area where cascara sagrada is available, be aware that its safety has not been confirmed by the FDA and that it should be taken with caution

Cascara sagrada is not intended to be taken long term and can in fact cause dependence ... do not take it for more than seven days in a row

Children and pregnant women should not take cascara sagrada
It is also dangerous for people suffering from Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease, severe hemorrhoids, blood vessel disease, heart disease, severe aenemia, liver or kidney disease, congestive heart failure, abdominal hernia, appendicitis, gastrointestinal cancer, or recent colon surgery

Some side effects of cascara sagrada include abdominal cramps, electrolyte imbalance, and melanosis coli, a dark discoloration of the colon

Excessive use can cause bloody diarrhea or vomiting
If you experience such symptoms after taking cascara sagrada, discontinue use and contact your doctor

Long term use of cascara sagrada has been linked to abnormal growths in the colon called adenomas and cancer