CASTOR EUM

18th century

The label applied in the cold paint technique is marked in black and red <i>CASTOR Eum.</i> The jar is blown green glass and is covered with paper secured with string. The late historian J. Worth Estes, former professor of pharmacology at Boston University describes Castoreum as <i>a fatty material from the glands lying between the anus and external glands of the Russian beaver.</i> It was used as a nerve tonic, an antiemetic, and an emmenagogue to hasten menstruation. Today Castoreum is still used in perfumes. The jar contains two folded paper packets.