New information sheet looks at domestic medicine chests
An image from the information sheet, showing a medicine chest in
the museum collection dating from about 1800 |
The museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has produced an illustrated information sheet on medicine chests. It is the 16th in a series on objects in pharmacy history.
“Domestic medicine chests” says that, although they are commonly
believed to have held supplies for travelling physicians, medicine chests
were in most cases intended for domestic or personal use — as a
forerunner of the modern bathroom cabinet or first aid box. They arrived
in Britain in the late 18th century and reached the height of their popularity
in the mid-19th century.
The leaflet goes on to look at how medicine chests were made, how they
were used and what their contents were. It gives some ideas about how
the style and contents of a medicine chest can help to date it. It also
explains the purpose of some of the stranger pieces of equipment that
are sometimes found in medicine chests.
Briony Hudson, keeper of the museum collections, said: “Medicine
chests are often incredible time-capsules reflecting the ailments and
treatments in a particular household. The museum has a fascinating collection
of medicine chests dating from the late 18th century to the early 1900s.
Having recently carried out some detailed research on one dating from
about 1800, it seemed appropriate to produce an information sheet on
the subject.”
As well as the 16 information sheet in this series, the museum has published
four sheets on aspects of the Society’s history. All the information
sheets are illustrated, with many of the illustrations based on images
available as postcards from the museum.
All the information sheets are available from the museum office (tel
020 7572 2210; e-mail museum@rpsgb.org) or can be downloaded from the “services” page
of the museum
section of the Society’s website.
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal