Parke, Davis & Company and the Working Bulletin System of Materia Medica Investigation

In the late 1800s, the pharmaceutical house of Parke, Davis & Company initiated a “working bulletin system” of materia medica investigation. The working bulletin system was an attempt to systematize the investigation of lesser-known remedies of the time and played a significant role in the research and popularization among medical professionals of herbs such as Oregon grape, grindelia, yerba santa, kava, Jamaican dogwood, and cascara sagrada.

This lecture summarizes the principles and history of the working bulletin system, explores some of the published bulletins in detail, and discusses how some aspects of the system, such as compiling and publishing clinical case reports, could be mimicked by current-day herbalists.