All Objects Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Belladonna Medicine Bottle |
Object ID |
2004.245.01.01 |
Description |
Glass bottle with white metal screw cap and yellowed paper label with black print. White pills inside. |
Materials |
Glass/Metal/Paper/Ink/Pills |
Manufacturer |
Manufacturer Label: D.L. Thompson, Homeopathic Supply, 844 Yonge St. Toronto, Canada |
Provenance |
In the early 1920s, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, began accepting medical artifacts for a historical museum. It remained an unofficial collection until it was turned into the Medical Museum and Archives at University Hospital in the 1970s. In the 1990s, many of these artifacts were spread out among various local institutions, and the remaining objects were reorganized into the Medical Artifact Collection at the University of Western Ontario, catalogued and organized by Michelle Hamilton. |
MeSH Search Terms |
Investigative Techniques Technology, Pharmaceutical Drug Packaging Pharmaceutical Preparations Materia Medica Homeopathy |
Research Notes |
Belladonna, from the Italian for "beautiful lady" because of its historical use by women to dilate their pupils for aesthetic purposes, has been used on the eyes for centuries. In the mid-nineteenth century, belladonna was used to treat blindness caused by cataracts, foregoing the need for surgery because the pupil becomes so dilated that the cataract is no longer obstructive. It was noted especially for the observation that its effects did not decrease with much use, as did those of many other medications. It is still used to dilate pupils today in the form of atropine eye drops. |