# Darbys Prophylactic Fluid



## ellisnowens (Mar 23, 2010)

Found this bottle today.Does any one know if it is rare and valuable?


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## cyberdigger (Mar 23, 2010)

..not if it's empty! []

 Actually I don't know but chances are it's not rare.. I'd think it would sell well anyhow..


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## deacon_frost (Mar 23, 2010)

dont know what the value of it is but its very cool


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## surfaceone (Mar 24, 2010)

Hey Antonio,

 Nice bottle, sir. There was a discussion on a variant, here a while back: https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-273649/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#273767 There's some excellent links in that discussion.

 John M. Darby had a lot of ties down yer way, in Culloden and Macon. "Culloden was early a seat of learning. Culloden Academy was chartered in 1830, Culloden Female Academy in 1834, and Culloden Male and Female Academy in 1837. It is interesting that the organization of the county and the establishment of these schools was simultaneous. The schools which did the most to establish the excellence of reputation were the Mason school for boys in the same building as the Methodist Church and the Darby School for Young ladies which stood on the site now occupied by Rev. Albert Parker. The girls' dormitory was across the street on the Wilson property. The first school was headed by Mr. Marvin Massey Mason from New England and later by John Darby of Macon. He was an author and discoverer and manufacturer of the famous Darby's Prophylactic Fluid." From.

 Here's a mention from A Report on Gangrene in Andersonville Prison; "The treatment adopted in all forms of the disease (when we have it) is tonics, such as quinine, tincture of iron, salix alba, eupatorium perfoliatum, and such other indigenous remedies as we can obtain from the woods. We are now making some experiments with a decoction of the baptisia tinctoria, which grows abundantly around the hospital. As local applications we use pure nitric acid, nitrate of silver, tincture of iodine, oleum terebinthinÃ¦, and Darby's prophylactic fluid, followed by emollient poultices made of pulverized lini, or a common mush poultice made by thickening a strong decoction of quercus rubra with corn-meal." From.

 "â€œTYPHOID, SCARLET AND YELLOW FEVERS, MEASLES, DIPTHERIA, SMALL-POX, CHOLERA, ETC.â€”Darbys [sic] Prophaylactic Fluid will destroy the infection of all fevers and contagious and infectious diseases.  Will keep the atmosphere of any sick-room pure and wholesome, absorbing and destroying unhealthy effluvia and contagion.  Will neutralize any bad smell whatever, not by disguising it, but by destroying it.  Use Darbys [sic] Prophylactic Fluid in every sick-room.â€

 Crowley Signal, May 12, 1888." From.

 There is the matter of that pesky word "Prophylactic," though. It certainly is a fancy term for a disinfectant. Might it have had gynecological applications? The LA Times seems to imply as much, "Evidence of Seamy Past Is Dug Up in Downtown L.A.
 Archeology: Researchers unearth foundations and artifacts of 19th century brothels near Union Station.
 May 31, 1996|HECTOR TOBAR, TIMES STAFF WRITER
 Archeologist Mike Stoyka was excavating an old outhouse in downtown Los Angeles near Union Station. A century-old map said there once was a brothel at the site, but Stoyka wasn't so sure.

 "Slowly, I started to find medicine bottles, salve bottles," he said. Digging deeper, he found perfume flasks and, strangely enough, fine china and the remains of oysters and other shellfish. Then came the clincher, an aquamarine bottle dating to the 1890s, labeled "Darby's Prophylactic Fluid." From.

 "Approximately, two-hundred medicinal bottles were uncovered from the privy; this doubled with surrounding working-class neighbors. A common and easy boost of preventative insurance used in the parlor house was called "Darby's Prophylactic Fluid," and was manufactured in Philadelphia by J.H. Zeilin and Company. Six ointment syringes were uncovered as well as a breast pump, again showing evidence of children being raised. Douche formuias and gynecological accoutrements were also detected, which support preemptive safeguards of women's health." From "Unity in Numbers: The Archeology of the Demimonde (1840-1917) by Megan Sharpless, May 2008

 There's one from St Louis @ worthpoint.


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## sandchip (Mar 24, 2010)

Must be catching, ellis.  Pulled this one out of the creek Friday when it was too pretty to be working.  Found one in the same creek many years ago that's smaller and lacks the shoulder embossing.  Thanks for all the great info, surface.


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## sandchip (Mar 24, 2010)

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