From the 1920s, this medicine chest was kept and used by the Gall family on their dairy farm near Berry. It remained in the family until the property sold, around 2007. It is a simple but captivating artefact that offers an insight into basic medical care on a family-run farm in twentieth century Australia. In […]
Keyword: castor oil
Colonial Medicine at Carcoar
Kept inside this mid-nineteenth century cedar-chest are original medicine bottles with their glass and cork stoppers, and a glass ‘dropper’. The bottle contents include castor oil, tincture of rhubarb and the opioid labelled ‘Laudanum Poison’. These medicines were used to treat a range of common ailments such as colic, toothache, and headache in this era. […]