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Vintage Chloral Hydrate Bottle
For your consideration:
Here is a rare and vintage MERCK Chloral Hydrate empty bottle, which stands around 3 and 3/4 inches tall with original label.
Chloral Hydrate bottles are incredibly rare, even more rare than Laudanum bottles - this one is from my own personal collection.
The label says 1/4 lb. Chloral Hydrate, Loose Crystals and HABIT FORMING - POISON.
First synthesized in 1832, chloral hydrate was the first depressant developed for the specific
purpose of inducing sleep. In Victorian England, a solution of chloral and alcohol constituted
the infamous "knockout drops" or "Mickey Finn."
In the nineteenth century, however, chloral hydrate was often used by alcoholics whose sleep patterns
had become disturbed by excessive drinking. The danger of such a potent mixture and the highly addictive
properties of chloral resulted in "two cravings for a single craving," as detailed in 1880 in the
Quarterly Journal of Inebriety. At the end of the century, the medical community was finally becoming
aware of the problems associated with the increasing popularity of hypnotic drugs such as chloral hydrate.
Chloral hydrate, like several other nineteenth-century depressants, found eager users among the literary
and artistic community of Victorian England. Poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (in the picture) became
a virtual recluse after his wife Elizabeth Siddal died of a laudanum overdose, and his grief and guilt
led to a debilitating addiction to chloral hydrate, which lasted until his death in 1882.
Bottle and label are in excellent condition.
Order by ITEM# Vintage-535
PRICE: $64.95
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