Gregory’s Powder.
The original of the Pulv. Rhei Co. of the British Pharmacopœia was a prescription very frequently given by Dr. James Gregory, of Edinburgh, in his time the most famous physician of that city. He died in 1822. This Dr. Gregory was Professor of Medicine in Edinburgh University, as his father was before him. His son became Professor of Chemistry in the same university. Direct ancestors of these Gregorys had been professors of history, astronomy, and mathematics at Edinburgh, Oxford, and St. Andrews. Within a century and a half the family furnished sixteen professors to British universities, and it is a curious coincidence that the Church of Rome likewise counts sixteen Gregorys among its Popes.
Dr. James Gregory.
Professor of Medicine in Edinburgh University, 1790–1821. Author of Conspectus Medicinæ Theoreticæ and inventor of Gregory’s Powder.
(From a mezzotint, “after Raeburn,” in the British Museum.)
It does not appear that the Gregory of powder fame ever published any special recommendation of his compound. He wrote a “Conspectus Medicinæ Theoreticæ” (1788) but the formula for his powder does not appear in that book. Annexed is a facsimile of one of Dr. Gregory’s prescriptions for his powder. He gave this prescription very frequently, but occasionally varied the proportion of the ingredients.
Facsimile of Dr. Gregory’s Prescription.