In 1847, Henry Thayer M.D., opened a laboratory
on Main Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts to produce his newly developed
line of herbal extracts for sale to the medical profession. Born in
1828, into one of Massachusetts' founding families, he was trained
in the medical arts of his day by his physician father. His method
produced, for the first time, standardized strengths, enabling physicians
to regulate dosages accurately. The company, named Henry Thayer &
Company, prospered and broadened its line of products and has been
described as the largest manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in America
at the time of the Civil War.
