Marco Posted 13 November , 2003 Share Posted 13 November , 2003 Doeas anyone know if morphine came in anything other than the ampules you had to break off? Did it also came in small (5ml) bottles? TIA! Regards, Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWRCo Posted 13 November , 2003 Share Posted 13 November , 2003 Hi Marco, yep - the morphine ampoules were packaged. They were normally wraped in white cotton wool, which was then put into a short but thick/stout cardboard tube. This normally had an estra plugof cotton wool or a wadding to stop it moving around, this was then sealed over with brown paper tape, and lastly, the instruction sheet ws pasted over the lot of it! Hope this helps, GWRCo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted 14 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Thanks for the reply. I've posted an image: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aur/Debris/itis.htm Regards, Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Marco I would think that all drugs to be given by injection would have had to be produced in a form that was sterile, safe, leakproof and free from future contamination. I can't see that the sort of glass bottle in the picture would have fitted the bill in any of those ways. Morphine was available in a form to be taken orally, but then would have come in much larger bottles. I've often thought that the large ampoules of Morphine would have been unwieldy to use and keep after opening, and [perish the thought] could have been put into other containers, but, if your bottle came up at auction as a perfume bottle, I might be tempted to bid! Regards - Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted 14 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Very true Sue. The only reservation I have is that it is very small for a parfume bottle, isn't it? Or am I too much an 'Old Spice by the liter man'? Serious, the bottleneck is not 'made rough' (don't know the correct English phrase) that you usually see when a bottle is closed by a glass stopper. It does however have a rim similar to that we have these days on bottles/vails in our laboratory so they can be closed with a crimp-cap septum. This septum can then be pierced by a needle..... Regards, marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Marco I have asked a few people over the last 24 hours about the start date for bottles with a rubber septum, but haven't found anyone old enough yet who remembers! The general consensus is that it was not happening widely prior to WW2, and became more important following the general use of antibiotics. But perhaps you have more historical information on that. I've got a few bottles in front of me now - blue poison, white medicine, perfume etc. and the only one that is rough on the inside is the blue poison, although the others must have originally had glass stoppers - or possibly cork, but less likely I think. As for the size of your bottle - I think it would fit very nicely in a ladies travelling case for upper class grand tours of Europe! Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Marco, From the picture the bottle looks very like a dropping bottle. The stopper may have a thin line cut halfway down and the neck a thin line from midpoint to the bottom of the neck. When you line up the ' grooves ' you can drip very small amounts out. They were used for dripping ether onto a mask. I have one in the Chemistry lab at school but not as old as your one. Designed when anesthetics became used in the late 1880s. Aye Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 I saw a morphine ampule on a television programme hosted by Richard Holmes. The glass ampule was quite large - about the same diameter as a test tube (the type you used in school) but only half the length. The glass was 'pinched' at both ends and contained one heck of a lot of morphine. RH said that enough morphine was in each ampule for more than one soldier. The full contents would only be used "to send a badly wounded soldier on his way [or words to that effect]." The morphine contents appeared yellow - but this may be because of age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted 14 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Sue, I took care to avoid the word 'rubber septum'. I also believe rubber is from a later date. But since condoms were once made of goat-stomach (or whatever) I'm pretty certain they had something in those days other then rubber that worked as a septum Interesting observation on there not being many roughened bottlenecks. It could indeed have been a cork stopper.... Malcolm, unfortunately there is no groove that would make it a dropper. Teapot: those are the ones I know too. It's defenitely not such one. Do you have a clue on their content in ml? Guessing I would say 5-10 ml. Unfortunately it's impossible to search the internet on the markings 'TM' for obvious reasons Thanks for your interesting replies. Regards, Marco ps. I've been sometimes accused of being cold-hearted. This forum proves them wrong: I was notified that I had put 'too many emotions' in my message! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Teapot: those are the ones I know too. It's defenitely not such one. Do you have a clue on their content in ml? Guessing I would say 5-10 ml. Well a teaspoon is 5ml. I have to say that the ampule I saw on the television programme looked more like it was at least 10 ml - maybe quite a bit more. I remember being amazed at how big the ampule was. But I am guessing. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 If you think it is a scent bottle, you may like to look at this website http://www.javaslublu.com/Directory.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted 14 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Teapot: I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's not from 'Two Men' ! Regards, Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 The same thought crossed my mind. But I was too polite to mention it at the time. Tee hee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSeptember1918 Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Whats this about condoms made from goats !!....did you have to wear the whole goat ?....or did he kindly donate his stomache to a good cause Phil.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 LB might be able to tell us more on the subject...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted 14 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 14 November , 2003 Interesting to see how within 14 messages we ended up from WW1 morphine to 'Two men' parfume wearing goat shaggers.... And I for the world can't tell where it went wrong... Regards, Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 I'm working at present [tea-break!], but have grabbed some glass ampoules and will try and post a photo later - I think it will show that the WW1 ones held well in excess of 10 mls. p.s. Ampoules are water/saline - not willing to get arrested. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 14 November , 2003 Share Posted 14 November , 2003 This shows a 2ml ampoule, a 5 ml one, and a 20 ml multi dose vial. Couldn't find a 10 ml one, but they really are relatively small. I seem to think that the large WW1 Morphines are much bigger. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now