Reward of $550aud to anyone solving the mystery of the small Sealed bottle I dived last year.
It is offered to anyone who can
solve the mystery of what the seal stands for and
I imagine that will go hand in hand with the embossed one as well. This has to
be a definitive answer with some sort of proof/documentation to go with the
explanation. This may well be an impossible task but there is no harm in trying
as so far I am really no closer to working it out.
Here are some thoughts on where I am at with it so far but really this is just guessing and may be no help at all.
It is fair to say that the 2 bottles are connected in some way and there appears to be quite an age difference between them so whatever it was, they used it over a fair time span, this is probably the best hope of finding something in print.
I don't believe the W.MR is anyones initials because the other one would be the same instead of W.M.I. so I am leaning towards this representing what was actually in it.
After all the countless hours I have spent researching this, one thing that jumps out is the labels and transfers on Apothecary jars, particularly early ones. They seem to have their contents abbreviated with full stops and quite often have 3 groups like the W.M.I
Here are some thoughts on where I am at with it so far but really this is just guessing and may be no help at all.
It is fair to say that the 2 bottles are connected in some way and there appears to be quite an age difference between them so whatever it was, they used it over a fair time span, this is probably the best hope of finding something in print.
I don't believe the W.MR is anyones initials because the other one would be the same instead of W.M.I. so I am leaning towards this representing what was actually in it.
After all the countless hours I have spent researching this, one thing that jumps out is the labels and transfers on Apothecary jars, particularly early ones. They seem to have their contents abbreviated with full stops and quite often have 3 groups like the W.M.I
I also noticed some of these
jars had Mel Rosarum (Honey of Roses) as part contents, possibly the MR on the
seal. This has been used in Sea Surgeons kits
going back 400 years and one of its uses was to treat mouth ulcers. What you get
from scurvy. May be totally irrelevant but that's were I am sort of at
now.
I should also add that maybe the
4 on the embossed one isn't actually a number as there are also Apothecary
symbols very similar.
If you have any relevant information please contact me at jibby@netspace.net.au
