Summary
Drug - Evarsan, trade name for neoarsphenamine manufactured at the Evans Biological Institute in England, 1948. Stocked in the pharmacy of a mental health hospital in Victoria. Neoarsphenamine was used in the treatment of syphilis and especially neurosyphilis. Tertiary syphilis was a common cause for mental health conditions. Also known as Neosalvarsan, it superseded Salvarsan due to its lower toxicity. Both arsenicals still carried significant risk of side-effects and were themselves replaced by penicillin in the 1940s. Prior to the use of arsphenamine and neoarsphenamine, syphilis was treated with the malarial fever cure developed by Austrian psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg.
Physical Description
The drug Evarsan (neoarsphenamine) is a yellow powder contained in a glass capsule (elongated egg-shape with large nipple at one end, which is cased in a long, thin, oblong, pale brown, cardboard box. Box also contains a tiny file (to open capsule) and a manufacturer's instruction leaflet.
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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Manufacturer
Evans Medical Supplies Ltd., Liverpool and London, England, Great Britain, 1948
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Place & Date Used
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Inscriptions
Text on box: EVANS/ EVARSAN 0.6 grm./ Regd. trade mark Gt. B brand/ (Neoarsphenamine B.P. Evans)/ Sodium 3;3'-diamino 4.4'-dihydroxyarsenobenzene N-methylenesulphoxylate Text on vial: 0.60 grm./ EVARSAN/Neoarphenamine Evans/ Evans Medical Supplies Ltd./ Liverpool and London/ AB1530/ U.K. Manufa. Lic. 18
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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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Exhibition Collection Management
80 mm (Width), 18 mm (Depth), 18 mm (Height)
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Overall Dimensions
8.3 cm (Length), 1.8 cm (Width), 1.8 cm (Height)
Packet only.
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References
British pharmaceutical codex, 1963, London. Pharmaceutical Press.
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Keywords
Hospitals, Psychiatric Services, Syphilis, Pharmaceuticals, Psychiatric Hospitals, Psychiatric Institutions, Medicinals & Drugs, Drugs, Medicines, Mental Health, Mental Health Institutions, Making History - Psych Services, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
