I did a web search for aspirin:
Hippocrates records the use of a "bitter"
extract of willow bark for the tx of "aches &
pains" in the 5th century BC. Credit for it's
"discovery" however, goes to an Edward
Stone (an Englishman, I presume) of the
18th century.

1893 - Felix Hoffman, of A.G. Bayer
GmBh, a German Industrial Chemical
Co., developed a commercially viable
synthetic process for mnfctr.

1897 - A.G. Bayer registers the trade
name Aspirin.

More is known about it's Mech. of action
than I realized.

Do we have any health science majors in
the class; nursing, EMT, PT, etc.? If so,
and you haven't had this already, cheer
up, you WILL! Acetylsalicylic acid inhibits
the production of prostaglandins, a family
of 20-carbon-chain, unsaturated fatty
acids involved in the production and
release of inflammatory mediators such
as mast cells, eosinophils, and
leukotrienes. This, at least, indicates a
direction of inquiry for further study. It
does not, however shed any light on the
anti-infammatory effects of aspirin with
regard to osteo/arthritic inflammation or
on the action of aspirin to relieve the pain
of headache. !!Breaking News!! - Just
released identification of mutant gene on
human chromosome 1 responsible for
enlarged, obtunded cranial endothelial
cells which reduce circulation &
gas-exchage in cranial vasculature
resulting in MIGRAINE HEADACHES!!
Consensus is that therapeutic relief for
migraine, as well as minor, headache
pain may come soon!! back to aspirin -
Some evidence points to direct action on
certain brain receptors, especially on the
thermal receptors of the hypothalamus,
thus up- or down-regulating body
temperature. Aspirin is known to exert an
isothermic effect on the body, e.g., it
stabilizes, or "flat-lines", thermal spikes.
It will lower a raised temperature or raise
a depressed temperature.

The precise mechanisms of these
actions remain a mystery.

Ain't science about the most fun one can
possibly experience while still clothed??
Ciao, the monkeywrench