Mandrake--an ancient herbal discovered.
I recently purchased the pharmacy container (illustrated) from an antique dealer friend who had kept three of these tins for 20 years intending to convert them into lamp bases. Fortunately I persuaded him to sell them to me rather than being hacked up. The other two are labeled 'BETT. RT PUL' 'LUNGWORT'. (All three are similarly painted, lidded tins and all stand 13 inches high, with a diameter of seven inches.) The label 'MANDRAKERT' immediately conjured up two impressions, firstly my boyhood reading of Mandrake the magician comics, and secondly a strong interest to research the story behind this 19th century tin's mystical contents.
Sutcliffe
Terry
T
D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000266:history*; D000077406:History of Pharmacy; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D026781:Mandragora; D009229:Mythology