3. Medication

1. A classic horn medicine spoon: c. 1800.
2. Medicine spoons: mid-19th century, porcelain.
To accommodate illiterate nurses, dosage
quantities were defined as “spoons“
(tablespoon, dessert spoon and teaspoon).
3. Three medicine spoons: mid-19th century,
covered medicine spoons for forcing medicine
into the patient’s mouth and to prevent spillage.
A richly decorated silver spoon, c. 1880, and
a metal spoon, c. 1900. The smaller spoon was
also used for ear and nose drops, c. 1905.
4. Two decorated double-ended, double-dose
medicine spoons: c. 1860.
5. Medicine bottle for poisonous drugs: mid-19th
century. The irregular form is designed to allow
the bottle, with its dangerous contents, to be
identified in the dark, just by touch.
6. Mortar and pestle: bronze, 17th century.
Other models and a richly decorated one, c.
1630, are in Gallery Showcase D: Antique
Pharmacy and Mortars.
7. a. Indian elongated boat-shape marble mortar
and pestle.
b. An Indian rotating grinder: for drugs and
spices, c. 18th century, on the leftft.
c. A wooden mortar with pestle made of
wood with an ivory tip.
8. Antique Egyptian mortar and pestle, and a
medicine jar made of alabaster: c. 2000 BC.
9. a. Folding Chinese weights: 19th century,
used for weighing medicines, herbs and
opium. See the wooden statue of an opium
smoker with a poppy-like pipe bowl, c. 1900.
b. An Indian weight: both with their wooden
carrying cases.
10. Classical apothecary weight, 19th century.
11. Two suppository molds for producing rectal
suppositories, c. 1850.
12. From leftft to right:
a. Hypodermic syringe, early mid-19th century,
originally used mainly for morphine and
cocaine injections.
b. Two classic sterilization containers
with metal and glass syringes and nondisposable
hypodermic needles, c. 1930.
c. A set of syringes to be used with prefilled
ampoules, c. 1920.
d. A set of pressure syringes for applying
pressure of the injected medicine into
tissues (i.e. gums), c. 1900.
13. Nasal insufflation tube: 16th century,
beaten copper, used to insufflate powdered
medicaments into the patient’s nose. Various
powdered substances were used, including
materials extracted from Egyptian mummies,
human parts taken from gallows executions,
and substances from animals, plants and
minerals.
14. Laxatif Miraton: With embellished presentation
demonstrating great esteem for its contents,
this metal box, adorned both inside and out,
advertises treatment for the most banal of
medicaments – a laxative, French-made since
Pictures showing the two Lids, inner lid and the antidiarrheic
“modern Miraton”
114 115
1902, to relieve constipation, migraines, as well
as liver and intestinal diseases. Recently this
old and reputed name has been used by another
firm as an anti-diarrheal drug, so the name
survived the drug and the use. It seems that in
medicine, the packaging, appearance, proper
name and reputation are as important as
efficacy and safety, at least for business.