Turlington's Balsam
Turlington's Balsam of Life was a popular patent medicine created by English merchant Robert Turlington. In 1744, King George II granted him a royal patent, one of the earliest licenses to protect a medicine from imitation. Turlington claimed his balsam had 27 ingredients and could help with kidney and bladder stones, colic, and general weakness; he expanded this list in a 46-page advertising brochure. The remedy quickly became popular in England and the American colonies. To stand out from similar medicines, Turlington changed the bottle shape at least four times in ten years after his patent, finally introducing an elaborately embossed, tablet-shaped bottle in 1754.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:00 (CET).