Item 19: Macquarie family travelling medicine chest, 182-

Lachlan Macquarie and the Macquarie family aggregated collection of papers, pictorial and other material, 1787-1844

CHEST, DRAWER, TRAY AND COMPARTMENTS
The medicine chest is an example of nineteenth century campaign furniture. It is made of mahogany with crushed blue velvet lining in the lid and in the sides of bottle compartments and the sides and base of two empty drawer compartments. It is finely figured to the front with a plainer grain mahogany timber used on the sides.  The lower drawer has a tray with compartments that fits within the drawer when it is closed in the chest, measuring 1.9 x 15.6 x 9.6 cm. There are eight compartments in the drawer and eleven in the top of the chest. There is a handle on the top of the lid and on the front of the drawer. There is a key hole on the front of the chest above the drawer. A locking pin fits through a barrel opening on the lip of the chest lid when opened, through the front of the chest and into a hole in the drawer when it is closed, to fasten the drawer in place. The chest has small, regular scratch marks on the back in an arc shape.


APOTHECARY BOTTLES AND BOX
The chest is filled with 15 glass bottles with glass stoppers which housed various medicines, 11 in the top and 4 in the separate lower drawer. The apothecary bottles are of irregular size in the top and regular size in the drawer, all with ground-glass stoppers to fit inside the dimensions of the chest.

Chest: There are five apothecary bottles in the first row, three bottles in the second row and three in the third row. Three of the bottles in the middle of the first row are identical in size, and the two either side of these are shorter in height, to fit inside the chest. Bottles left to right, front to back, manuscript and printed labels, contents and measurements:

1. 'Camphor Pilules'
Some liquid residue, wide bottle neck, hexagonal glass stopper, label detached, 10.5 x 3.1 x 3.3 cm

2. 'Friar's Balsam'
Very small amount of liquid residue, label damaged, 11.0 x 3.1 x 2.4 cm

3. Empty bottle
Unlabelled, 11.0 x 3.1 x 2.4 cm

4. 'Olive Oil'
Some residue, 11.0 x 3.1 x 2.4 cm

5. 'Glycerine'
Some residue, narrow bottle neck, 10.8 x 3.5 x 3.0 cm

6. 'Army & Navy Co-operative Society Ltd. [logo with an army and naval officer shaking hands] Ammoniated Tincture of Quinine (British Pharmacopoeia) Dose. One or two teaspoonfuls in a wine-glassful of water', printed label is over the top of another label it obscures
Some powder remains, 10.5 x 4.9 x 4.2 cm 
The Co-operative was founded in the 1870s

7.'Sal Volatile'
Some residue on sides of glass only, wide bottle neck, 10.5 x 5.0 x 4.2 cm

8. Empty bottle
Unlabelled, wide bottle neck, 10.5 x 5.0 x 4.0 cm

9. 'Pond's Extract' 
Manuscript in both ink and pencil, with printed label underneath '[logo with an army and naval officer shaking hands] Oil Eucalyptus Globulus Dose three minims, Hall to the Army & Navy Co-operative Society Ltd. Victoria Westminster', some residue, 10.4 x 5.0 x 4.3 cm

10. Unlabelled bottle
Powder residue, string around bottle neck, 10.4 x 5.0 x 4.2 cm

11. 'Camphorated Oil' 
Empty, bottle cracked from stopper to side edge and repaired with sticky tape, 10.3 x 5.0 x 4.2 cm

Drawer: There are four apothecary bottles all measuring 7.5 x 16.5 x 14.7 cm. Left to right, label and contents:

12. No label
Clean and empty

13. 'Tincture of Iodine External Use'
Some remains

14. 'Bicarbonate of Soda'
Very small residue in corners

15. 'Ipecacuanha Wine'
Some liquid contents remains, string around neck of bottle. (Liquid medicine from the plant)

The drawer also houses a [lead or zinc] box which would possibly have stored dangerous, toxic, light/moisture sensitive or expensive substances, measuring 4.3 x 3.7 x 4.5 cm with loop 0.9 cm.


WEIGHING INSTRUMENTS
The tray which sits flush inside the top of the drawer houses five square weights and a small set of scales to measure dosages.
Each weight is engraved with a symbol and four are engraved with their weight value: 2 Scruple (1.3 x 1.2 cm), 2 dram (1.7 x 1.7 cm), 1 dram (1.3 x 1.2 cm), 1/2 dram (1.1 x 1.0 cm), 0.8 x 0.7 cm. A scruple is a unit of weight that was in the apothecary system equivalent to 1.296 grams, a dram is equivalent to 1.77 grams, or 3 scruples.


TEXTUAL MATERIAL
Accompanying the box are manuscript and printed chemist labels for the jars, of typical 19th Century preparations, and a manuscript inventory of the medicine chest.

A. Apothecary Bottle Labels, printed, some with manuscript additions
'Butler’s Medical Hall Spirit Hartshorn 54, Lower Sackville St. Dublin'. (Butler's operated from this address in 1822)
'Butler's Essence of Peppermint'
'Butler's Medical Hall Salvolatile 54. Lower Sackville St. Dublin'
'Pure Ponderas Calcined Magnesia A small Teaspoonful for a Dose'
'Dr. Gregory's Concentrated Stomachic Powder A small Teaspoonful for a Dose'. (used for stomach complaints until World War I)
'Butler’s Medical Hall Spirit 54, Lower Sackville St. Dublin Pure Epsom Salts Charles Butler, M.D. Proprietor'
'Best Indian Rhubarb'
'English Paregoric Elixir' with manuscript pencil 'Poison'
'Sulphate of Quinine'
'Calomel'
'Dr. Gregory's Stomachic Powder'
'Powd. Jalop'
'Dovers Powder'
'Sweet Sp. Nitre'
'Calcined Magnesia'
'Healing Ointment, Duncan F. Lockhart & Co. Druggists : 52 NorthBridgeEdinr.LateDuncan&Ogilvie' (this firm was named Duncan &  Flockhart in 1833 and styled Duncan, Flockhart & Co. from 1836)
'Glasgow Apothecaries Hall Croton Oil 34 Virginia Street' with manuscript on verso 'Croton Oil Poison' (noted as being open at 34 Virginia Street in 1822)

B. Inventory
The manuscript inventory was in an envelope labelled 'List of Contents of Medicine Chest belonging to Lachlan MacQuarie of Glenforsa, as taken over by A.M.D. in 1843. checked correct by R.G.G. & A.D.G.G. on July 28th 1933, ADGG'.  The inventory is transcribed below:

"Inventory of Medicine Quarter Chest & Medicines Received from Lachlan MacQuarie Esquire of Glenforsa 28th February 1848
Class 1st
No. 1 Calcined Magnessia Phial 1/2 full
No. 2 Paregoric Elixir ditto 1/2 ditto
No. 3 Gregory’s Mixture ditto empty
No. 4 Butcher’s Pure Epsom salts ditto ditto
No. 5 Spirits Hartshorn ditto ditto
No. 6 Empty Space None (Bottle furnish? by Mrs Macquarie in April)
Class 2nd
No. 1 Best Indian Rhubarb Phial 1/4 full
No. 2 Volatile Salt ditto full
No. 3 Empty without label ditto Empty
No. 4 Sweet Spirit of Nitre ditto Full
No. 5 Sulfate of Quinine in drawer ditto 3/4 Full
Class 3rd
No. 1 Powder of Jalap ditto 3/4 Full
No. 2 Dover's powders ditto 3/4 Full
No. 3 Calomel  ditto Empty
No. 4 Essence of Peppermint ditto 1/3 full
No. 5 Empty space None
No. 6 Blistering Ointment Box Empty
No. 7 Chrystal Mortar
No. 8 Mortar
Note, received no Key for the chest. Comp? VExam? W.M.D.[?]"

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