In medieval Europe, apothecaries and alchemists appealed to their ailing customers by displaying bottles in their windows, each filled with a different preparation of dried herbs steeped in liquid. In 18th-century England, more than 200 cure-all elixirs and serums, many with their own registered brand names, were being sold. Indeed, the British market was flooded with patent and proprietary medicines, remedies with secret formulas known only...Continue Reading