Letter from Fred to Sibyl Hosking: 1/25/1927
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A letter from Fred Stokey in Dondi, Angola, to his fellow missionary Sibyl Hosking in Chissamba, Angola
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I was going to make some slight joke about Fred wooing Sibyl with medical information, and then it occurred to me that there might well be some truth to it. In the Angola mission in 1927, how many doctors would be willing to take the time to give a female nurse the technical information that she wanted?
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Dondi Jan 25 1927
Dear Miss Hosking:
Here is your drug list + cataloging of the Alliance Drug Co.
Aspirin is a trademarked name for acetylsalicylic acid. It is non better or purer than the P.B. article and costs much more.
Hydrochloric acid, Ether, Chloroform + are accepted only as deck cargo and should be bought in England (or Germany) to avoid excessive freight charges.
Mag. Sulph. can be imported by the Ag. Dept. hence the local [???illegible???] is better.
Santonica is unduly expensive and can be substituted for dispensary administration by wormseed oil or carbon tetrachloride. You see by the catalog it is quoted at 700/per. lb. or $12.00/oz. Registered first class mail avoids duties.
Liq. Ext. [???illegible???] has no advantage over any other 5% solution of quinine. Roll your own.
I hope your eye droppers are straight but you can't trust them. Even those who look you in the eye may be lying.
yours FES
[list on the back]
Licorice powder.
Writing.
Castor oil (why did you cross it off)
What is dif. between Pulchloride + Bichloride of mercury if any.
Silk-worm gut suture
Ampules sterile Quinine chlorohydrate
Please fill in reasonable quantity + size
as I can't find listed + don't know price.
Dear Miss Hosking:
Here is your drug list + cataloging of the Alliance Drug Co.
Aspirin is a trademarked name for acetylsalicylic acid. It is non better or purer than the P.B. article and costs much more.
Hydrochloric acid, Ether, Chloroform + are accepted only as deck cargo and should be bought in England (or Germany) to avoid excessive freight charges.
Mag. Sulph. can be imported by the Ag. Dept. hence the local [???illegible???] is better.
Santonica is unduly expensive and can be substituted for dispensary administration by wormseed oil or carbon tetrachloride. You see by the catalog it is quoted at 700/per. lb. or $12.00/oz. Registered first class mail avoids duties.
Liq. Ext. [???illegible???] has no advantage over any other 5% solution of quinine. Roll your own.
I hope your eye droppers are straight but you can't trust them. Even those who look you in the eye may be lying.
yours FES
[list on the back]
Licorice powder.
Writing.
Castor oil (why did you cross it off)
What is dif. between Pulchloride + Bichloride of mercury if any.
Silk-worm gut suture
Ampules sterile Quinine chlorohydrate
Please fill in reasonable quantity + size
as I can't find listed + don't know price.
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Fred's handwriting is dreadful, as usual, and I have particular trouble when he's talking about medical stuff that I know very little about.
1.
Here is your drug list + catalogue [???] of the Alliance Drug Co.
Alliance Pharmaceuticals still exists and is headquartered in the UK.
2.
Aspirin is a trademarked name for acetylsalicylic acid. It is non better or purer than the P.B. article and costs much more.
Wikipedia says:
Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is a novel organic compound that does not occur in nature, and was first successfully synthesised in 1899. In 1897, scientists at the drug and dye firm Bayer began investigating acetylated organic compounds as possible new medicines, following the success of acetanilide ten years earlier. By 1899, Bayer created acetylsalicylic acid and named the drug 'Aspirin', going on to sell it around the world. The word Aspirin was Bayer's brand name, rather than the generic name of the drug; however, Bayer's rights to the trademark were lost or sold in many countries.
I don't know what P.B. stands for. Maybe some current abbreviation for what we now call "generic"?
I gather that Sibyl was already using aspirin and had asked Fred for more information about it, because she said in a letter that she wrote to him the same day:Poor Esther has been feeling very miserable. More filling has fallen out and Mac has packed and repacked the cavity with cotton and creosote. This morning she remained in bed and took Aspirin and we tried Camphor-Phenol on the tooth.
3.
Santonica is unduly expensive and can be substituted for dispensary administration by wormseed oil or carbon tetrachloride.
I couldn't make "Santonica" out at all but fortunately Wikipedia came to the rescue when I googled on wormseed.
4.
I hope your eye droppers are straight but you can't trust them. Even those who look you in the eye may be lying.
This is a joke, obviously. And I like it. But I'm betting it refers back to some interchange between Fred and Sibyl, and, alas, I don't suppose I shall ever know what it is.
5.
yours FES
FES is Fred Eicher Stokey, of course.
6.
The list on the back looks like Sibyl's handwriting.
1.
Here is your drug list + catalogue [???] of the Alliance Drug Co.
Alliance Pharmaceuticals still exists and is headquartered in the UK.
2.
Aspirin is a trademarked name for acetylsalicylic acid. It is non better or purer than the P.B. article and costs much more.
Wikipedia says:
Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is a novel organic compound that does not occur in nature, and was first successfully synthesised in 1899. In 1897, scientists at the drug and dye firm Bayer began investigating acetylated organic compounds as possible new medicines, following the success of acetanilide ten years earlier. By 1899, Bayer created acetylsalicylic acid and named the drug 'Aspirin', going on to sell it around the world. The word Aspirin was Bayer's brand name, rather than the generic name of the drug; however, Bayer's rights to the trademark were lost or sold in many countries.
I don't know what P.B. stands for. Maybe some current abbreviation for what we now call "generic"?
I gather that Sibyl was already using aspirin and had asked Fred for more information about it, because she said in a letter that she wrote to him the same day:Poor Esther has been feeling very miserable. More filling has fallen out and Mac has packed and repacked the cavity with cotton and creosote. This morning she remained in bed and took Aspirin and we tried Camphor-Phenol on the tooth.
3.
Santonica is unduly expensive and can be substituted for dispensary administration by wormseed oil or carbon tetrachloride.
I couldn't make "Santonica" out at all but fortunately Wikipedia came to the rescue when I googled on wormseed.
4.
I hope your eye droppers are straight but you can't trust them. Even those who look you in the eye may be lying.
This is a joke, obviously. And I like it. But I'm betting it refers back to some interchange between Fred and Sibyl, and, alas, I don't suppose I shall ever know what it is.
5.
yours FES
FES is Fred Eicher Stokey, of course.
6.
The list on the back looks like Sibyl's handwriting.
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DOCUMENT LISTS FOR PEOPLE:
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- SIBYL: DOCUMENTS ----- Incoming
- NON-FAMILY: MISSION FOLKS ----- Related
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