It is with considerable gartitude that the Museum of Drugs Paraphernalia And Related Antiquities is able to present this exhibit, donated in October 2009 by an erstwhile friend and patron to the Museum.

A blown in mold aqua glass bottle, which stands at six and a half inches tall.

The bottle dates from the 1880s with an embossed inscription on one side baring the details:
Chemist - R.J Jones M.T.P - Nevin

Donanted to the Museum of Drugs Paraphernalia and Related Antiquities October 2009 by an anonymous patron

The bottle dates from the 1880s with an embossed inscription on one side baring the details:
Chemist - R.J Jones M.T.P - Nevin

The end panels are embossed with the inscription: One Table Spoon

Lines delineate the measurements along the corners.

The bottle's label reads: Griffite Owen, Chymist to the Royal Family, Laudanum - POISON 25-27 High Street Carnarvon

A History of Laudanum

Paracelsus, a 16th century Swiss-German alchemist, discovered that the alkaloids in opium are far more soluble in alcohol than water. Having experimented with various opium concoctions, Paracelsus came across a specific tincture of opium that was of considerable use in reducing pain. He called this preparation laudanum, derived from the Latin verb laudare, to praise.Initially, the term "laudanum" referred to any combination of opium and alcohol. Indeed, Paracelsus' laudanum was strikingly different from the standard laudanum of the 17th century and beyond. His preparation contained opium, crushed pearls, musk, amber, and other adulterants.

Laudanum remained largely unknown until the 1660s when an English physician named Thomas Sydenham compounded a proprietary opium tincture that he also named laudanum, although it differed substantially from the laudanum of Paracelsus. In 1676 Sydenham published a seminal work, Medical Observations Concerning the History and Cure of Acute Diseases, in which he promoted his brand of opium tincture, and advocated its use for a range of medical conditions.By the 18th century, the medicinal properties of opium and laudanum were well-known. Several physicians, including John Jones, John Brown, and George Young, the latter of whom published a comprehensive medical text entitled Treatise on Opium extolled the virtues of laudanum and recommended the drug for practically every ailment.

By the 19th century, laudanum was used in many patent medicines to "relieve pain... to produce sleep... to allay irritation... to check excessive secretions... to support the system... [and] as a soporific".The limited pharmacopoeia of the day meant that opium derivatives were among the most efficacious of available treatments, so laudanum was widely prescribed for ailments from colds to meningitis to cardiac diseases, in both adults and children. Laudanum was used during the yellow fever epidemic. Innumerable Victorian women were prescribed the drug for relief of menstrual cramps and vague aches. Nurses also spoon-fed laudanum to infants. The Romantic and Victorian eras were marked by the widespread use of laudanum in Europe and the United States. Mary Todd Lincoln, for example, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, was a laudanum addict. Initially a working class drug, laudanum was cheaper than a bottle of gin or wine, because it was treated as a medication for legal purposes and not taxed as an alcoholic beverage.

The early 20th century brought increased regulation of all manner of narcotics, including laudanum, as the addictive properties of opium became more widely understood. In the United States, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 restricted the manufacture and distribution of opiates, including laudanum, and coca derivatives. Toward the middle 20th century, the use of opiates was generally limited to the treatment of pain, and opium was no longer a medically-accepted "cure-all." Further, the pharmaceutical industry began synthesizing various opioids, such as propoxyphene, oxymorphone and oxycodone. These synthetic opioids, along with codeine and morphine were preferable to laudanum since a single opioid could be prescribed for different types of pain rather than the "cocktail" of laudanum, which contains nearly all of the opium alkaloids. Consequently, laudanum became mostly obsolete as an analgesic, since its principal ingredient is morphine, which can be prescribed by itself to treat pain. There is no medical evidence that laudanum is superior to treating pain over morphine alone. Further, laudanum contains a significant amount of alcohol, which can contribute to respiratory depression.

Courtesy of Wikepedia 2009