ORATORY AND STUDY ROOM of the
apothecary shop. On the left, the German-Swiss bronze mortar and pestle
(1686) sign and above it an 18th-century German painting on canvas of
Christ, "the apothecary of the soul." The drug containers represent "the
fruits of the spirit," faith, patience, charity, etc., and the scales
represent justice. Underneath is the verse from Matthew, 11:28, "Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest." (_Courtesy of the American Pharmaceutical Association._)]

During his almost-three and a half years of service, Thomas acquired
hearing-aid appliances from which he designed an exhibit on the
development of these aids, surgical sutures, early samples of
Aureomycin, and a static-electricity machine made by Henkel about 1840.
He also published three short articles under the title, "Now and Then,"
in the _National Capital Pharmacist_ (1950), no. 1, pp. 8-9; no. 2, pp.
18-19, 29; and no. 3, pp. 15-16. In early 1952, Dr. Arthur O. Morton
presented to the Division, a Swiss-made keratometer which he had
purchased in 1907, and it is believed to be one of the first used in the
United States to measure the curves of the cornea.

The achievements of the Division reached their highest point, thus far,
in significantly increasing the national collection, as well as in
contributing to the scientific, historical, and professional literature,
under the curatorships of George B. Griffenhagen (December 8, 1952, to
June 27, 1959) and John B. Blake (July 1, 1957, to September 2, 1961).
Their reorganization of exhibits and collections, their competence and
industry, fulfilled the hopes, plans, and purposes laid down by earlier
curators for the Division.

Immediately after assuming the responsibilities of the Division and
throughout 1953, Mr. Griffenhagen (M.S. in pharmaceutical chemistry from
the University of Southern California) undertook to develop the
collections still further. He increased the emphasis not only on
historical pharmacy, but also on medicine, surgery, and dentistry. He
also renovated the exhibits in the medical gallery.

In 1954, several antibiotics were donated to the Division including a
mold of _Penicillium notatum_ prepared and presented to the Smithsonian
Institution by Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), the discoverer of
penicillium (1929), and a few Petri dishes used by botanist Benjamin M.
Daggar who, while working for Lederle Laboratories, developed Aureomyc