Summary
Green apothecary jar containing potassium permanganate used in the pharmacy of a mental health hospital in Victoria, Australia, circa 1920. A solution of potassium permanganate was used for its antibacterial properties. Examples of use include cleansing ulcers, mouthwash, vaginal irrigation, urethral irrigation, wet dressings and in baths for the treatment of eczema. It was also used for the treatment of gonorrhoea cases during and after World War I.
Potassium permanganate was formerly known as permanganate of potash or Condy's crystals.
Physical Description
Small, green glass apothecary's jar with round, concave base, straight sides hemispherical shoulder, thin, shortish neck and slightly protruding rim. Has plain glass stopper (stuck in jar) with oblong top. Has yellow label, printed in black, for liquor of potassium permanganate. Jar stained iridescent brown.
Significance
Example of phrmaceuticals used in Victorian mental health hospitals.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation from Office of Psychiatric Services, May 1985
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Place & Date Used
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Inscriptions
LIQ. POTASS. PERMANG printed in black on yellow on paper label on side of jar. mark embossed on base.
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Classification
Medicine & health, Mental health - pharmacy, Pharmaceuticals
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Overall Dimensions
70 mm (Depth), 210 mm (Height)
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References
Martindale. The extra pharmacopoeia, 26th ed. London. Pharmaceutical Press. 1972 Raden Dunbar, 2014. The Secrets of the Anzacs. The Untold Story of Venereal Disease in the Australian Army, 1914-1919, Scribe, Melbourne.
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Keywords
Antibiotics, Pharmaceuticals, Psychiatric Hospitals, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), Making History - Psych Services, World War I, 1914-1918
