John Uri Lloyd (April 19, 1849 – April 9, 1936) was an American

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

and leader of the

eclectic medicine Eclectic medicine was a branch of American medicine that made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, popular in the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. The term was coined by ...

movement who was influential in the development of

pharmacognosy Pharmacognosy is the study of medicinal plants and other natural substances as sources of drugs. The American Society of Pharmacognosy defines pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical, and biological properties of dru ...

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

economic botany ''Economic Botany'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers all aspects of economic botany. The editor-in-chief is Robert A. Voeks (California State University, Fullerton). The journal was established in 1947 and is published by ...

, and

herbalism Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern reme ...

.Michael A. Flannery, ''John Uri Lloyd: The Great American Eclectic'', Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1998. He also wrote novels set in northern Kentucky. His most popular novel was the science fiction or allegorical '' Etidorhpa, or, the end of the earth: the strange history of a mysterious being and the account of a remarkable journey'' (1895). First distributed privately, it was later illustrated and printed in eighteen editions. Translated into seven languages, it was widely read in Europe as well as the United States.

Life and career

John Uri Lloyd was born in upstate New York to teachers Sophia Webster and Nelson Marvin Lloyd. His family relocated to Florence and Petersburg in northern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, near

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, in 1853. Lloyd took an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

ship with the chemist William J.M. Gordon when he was 14 years old and later apprenticed with George Eger. His younger brothers Nelson Ashley Lloyd (1851–1926) and

Curtis Gates Lloyd Curtis Gates Lloyd (July 17, 1859 – November 11, 1926) was an American mycologist known for both his research on the gasteroid and polypore fungi, as well as his controversial views on naming conventions in taxonomy. He had a herbarium with abou ...

(1859–1926) also became chemists. During 1886 the brothers bought the Merrell and Thorpe Company, renaming it Lloyd Brothers, Pharmacists, Inc. John Lloyd's innovations include a "cold still" for plant extractions and the first buffered

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of simila ...

(made with hydrous

aluminium silicate Aluminium silicate (or aluminum silicate) is a name commonly applied to chemical compounds which are derived from aluminium oxide, Al2O3 and silicon dioxide, SiO2 which may be anhydrous or hydrated, naturally occurring as minerals or synthetic ...

), called alcresta. In 1919, Lloyd and his two brothers established trusts to fund the Lloyd Library and Museum. Today it is considered by many to house the finest collections in the world devoted to

, medical botany and pharmacy. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the

movement was popular, which incorporated the use of medical botany. The movement led to the founding of associated medical schools, including the Eclectic Medical Institute, first located in Worthington in 1833, which later moved to Cincinnati where it had students from 1845 to 1939. Lloyd died on April 9, 1936, at the home of his daughter in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

. He was buried in Florence, Kentucky. After Lloyd's death, S.B. Penick bought the Lloyd Brothers firm in 1938. In 1960, the German pharmaceutical manufacturer

Hoechst AG Hoechst AG () was a German chemicals then life-sciences company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999. With the new company's 2004 merger with Sanofi-Synthélabo, it became a subsidiary of th ...

purchased the operations. In 2013, the American company

Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by, and named after, Colonel ...

bought Hoechst AG.

Writings

Lloyd combined his interests by writing a series of local description novels about the northern Kentucky area. His most popular and influential work was ''

Etidorhpa ''Etidorhpa, or, the end of the earth: the strange history of a mysterious being and the account of a remarkable journey'' is the title of a scientific allegory or science fiction novel by John Uri Lloyd, a pharmacognocist and pharmaceutical man ...

'' (1895), a scientific allegory that some consider a work of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

. It was part of what are called the genre of "

Hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...

" novels, based on a journey to the interior of the earth and another world. He first distributed the book privately. When it was printed commercially, illustrations by J. Augustus Knapp were added. It ran to eighteen editions and was translated into seven languages.

Legacy and honors

*The John Uri Lloyd House in Cincinnati was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1973. *The Lloyd Library and Museum, Cincinnati. * Lloyd Memorial High School in

Erlanger, Kentucky Erlanger is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. It had a 2010 census population of 18,368. Erlanger is part of the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Erlanger was founded in the ...

Bibliography

Pharmaceutical: *''Elixirs And Flavoring Extracts: Their History, Formulae, & Methods of Preparation'' (1892) *''Life and Medical Discoveries of Samuel Thomson, and a History of the Thomsonian Materia Medica, as shown in "The New Guide to Health", and the Literature of that Day'', Cincinnati: Lloyd Library, 1909
Digital edition
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of t ...

*'' The Eclectic Alkaloids, Resins, Resinoids, Oleo-Resins and Concentrated Principles'' (1910) *''History of the Vegetable Drugs of the Pharmacopeia of the United States'', Cincinnati, Ohio: Lloyd Library, 1911
Digital edition
by the

*''A Lesson In Mind Study'' (19xx, repr. 2006) Other works: *''

'', illustrated by J. Augustus Knapp (1895; rpt. 1997 ) *''The Right Side of the Car: A Story of the Northern Pacific Railway'' (1897) *''Scroggins'' (1900, repr. 2007) *''Stringtown on the Pike: A Tale of Northernmost Kentucky'' (1901, repr. 2009) *''Warwick of the Knobs: A Story of Stringtown County, Kentucky'' (1901) *''Red Head: Illustrations and Decorations by Reginald B. Birch'' (1903, repr. 2007) * ''Hydrastis canadensis : facsimile, reprint and illustrations of the article in "Drugs and medicines of North America"''. Lloyd Library, Cincinnati 1908
Digital edition
by the

*''Felix Moses: the Beloved Jew of Stringtown on the Pike'' (1930)

References

External links