Preprohibition
EXCERPT:
Images from the preprohibition era when many psychotropic substances
were legally available in America and Europe

Many of the substances prohibited today were legally available in the past. This small exposition contains samples of the many psychoactive medicines widely available during the late-19th century through the mid-20th century. Some of the pictures are oversized to improve legibility. Additional photographs are available for some products in the author's private collection. For a quick comparison with current drug regulations, see Drug Schedules.

Note: Most contemporary pharmaceutical manufacturers and several spice companies produced products containing potent psychoactive compounds like opium. Some of these companies are prominent companies today manufacturing and distributing well-known consumer products. The incorporation of potent psychoactive substances in a company's product line was common practice during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was before the deleterious effects of habitual use of these substances was widely recognized.

In the late 1800s, Cocaine Tooth Drops were marketed as a fast-acting cure for dental pain video


Cracking (chemistry)
EXCERPT:
History and patents
The thermal cracking method (also known as "Shukhov cracking process") was invented by Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov and patented in 1891 in the Russian empire, patent no. 12926, November 27, 1891. This process was modified by the American engineer William Merriam Burton and patented as U.S. patent 1,049,667 on January 7, 1913.

In 1924, the delegation of the American "Sinckler Oil" paid a visit to Shukhov. The "Sinckler Oil" firm protested the personal right appropriated by the Rockefeller "Standard Oil" concern on the discovery of oil cracking. It indicated that Burton's patent used by the "Standard Oil" concern was the modified patent of Shukhov. Shukhov proved to the Americans that the Burton's method was just the slightly changed modification of his 1891 patents. However, an agreement between the American companies finally was made not to buy the patent from Soviet Russia.[1]

Vladimir Gregorievich Shukhov
EXCERPT:
In 1924 the delegation of the American "Sinckler Oil" paid a visit to Shukhov. The "Sinckler Oil" firm protested the personal right appropriated by the Rockefeller "Standard Oil" concern on the discovery of oil cracking. It indicated that the patent of the American engineer Barton used by the "Standard Oil" concern was the modified patent of Shukhov. The delegation came to check this assertion. Shukhov proved Americans that the Barton method was just the slightly changed modification of his 1891 patents. In this connection a long chain of litigations began in America. Eventually, it finished by clinching an agreement of lawsuit between the American companies, in order not to buy the patent in Russia.