The Medicine Chest

Items

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  ‘Mrs Glover attending to an ill African chief.’

  "The figure of ‘Mrs Glover’, kneeling and treating what appears to be a very ill man, exudes not only the authority of Western medicine within the local context but conveys her as the self-sacrificing and caring European ‘civilizer’ in service of expanding the empire, ‘the medicine chest conveniently by her side’ (Johnson 2008b: 259)" (Liebenberg 2021: 63 - 65).
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  BWC Cape Town premises

  "When Burroughs died of pneumonia in 1895, Wellcome became BWC’s sole owner, and the next 20 years (until the outbreak of World War I) constituted a period of massive expansion for the company (Bailey 2008: online). In 1898, the first overseas branch opened in Sydney and was followed by seven more branches – in New York, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Milan, Shanghai and Bombay – by 1912. The Cape Town branch opened in 1902, seven years after Wellcome made his first visit to the city in 1895" (Liebenberg 2021: 49 - 51).
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  BWC Cape Town premises (drawing)

  Line drawing of the Burroughs Wellcome & Co. office, Cape Town, South Africa.
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  Tabloid medicine chest from Scott Polar Expedition

  The expedition carried with them a Tabloid Medicine Chest. On the 11th of March, knowing that the party was unlikely to survive, Scott ordered Edward Wilson, the expedition’s Chief Scientist and a qualified doctor, to divide the painkillers between them so they could each end their life on their own terms. Writing in his diary on that day, Scott states, “I practically ordered Wilson to hand over the means of ending our troubles to us, so that anyone of us may know how to do so". ​ Scott, Bowers and Oates had thirty opium tabloids apiece and Wilson, the morphine. Scotts diary entry on either the 22nd or 23rd of March showed that they had a change of heart however: “no fuel and only one or two left of food — must be near the end. Have decided that it shall be natural — we shall march for the depot with or without our effects and die in our tracks".
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  Corrections

  Examples of Wellcome's design changes annotated on tracing paper. 1914–1938. WF/M/I/PR/O01/3, 4, 9, 8. Wellcome Collection.
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  BC666

  A page of the Tabloid guide.

• 'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  Wounds

  A wounded bottle in Special Collections, BC666, UCT
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  Holes

  A page from the Tabloid guide, BC666, UCT
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  Situations in which a Tabloid medicine chest made by BWC would be useful.

  Situations in which a Tabloid medicine chest made by Burroughs Wellcome and Co. would be useful. Colour process print, ca. 1909. The Tabloid medicine chests were distributed free to well known explorers such as H.M Stanley and Ernest Shackleton. The word 'tabloid' was coined by the firm of Burroughs Wellcome and registered as a trademark.
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  Soda-Mint (Neutralising)

  "Antacid, exhilarant and stimulant. From one to three as a neutralising agent, in irritable and acid conditions of the stomach, dyspepsia, flatulence, etc. They may be swallowed with water, or be powdered and dissolved in water and taken as a draught" (BWC 1925:138).
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (Back cover)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (End pages)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p148)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p146,147)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p144,145)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p142,143)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p140,141)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p138,139)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p136,137)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p134,135)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p132,133)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p130,131)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p128,129)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p126,127)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p124,125)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p122,123)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p120,121)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p118,119)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p116,117)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p114,115)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p112,113)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p110,111)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p108,109)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p106,107)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p104,105)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p102,103)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p100,101)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p98,99)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p96,97)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p94,95)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p92,93)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p90,91)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p88,89)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p86,87)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p84,85)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p82,83)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p80,81)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p78,79)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products
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  'Tabloid' A Brief Medical Guide (p76,77)

  A guide to illnesses common to tropical regions and how to cure them using Burroughs Wellcome & Co.'s products