Historical information

Wikpedia : James Murray (physician)
Sir James Murray (1788–1871) was an Irish physician, whose research into digestion led to his discovery of the stomach aid Milk of Magnesia in 1809. He later studied in electrotherapy and led the research into the causes of cholera and other epidemics as a result of exposure to natural electricity. He was the first physician to recommend the breathing in of iodine in water vapour for respiratory diseases. Born in County Londonderry, Murray became a licentiate in midwifery having studied at the Edinburgh College of Surgeons in 1807. He undertook studies in pharmaceuticals, an area in which he became competent. In 1809 he developed the foundations of a fluid magnesia, which contained a base ingredient of magnesium sulfate. He modified it in order for it to act as an aid for "weak nerves", low fever, spasms, cholera, and diarrhoea. He named his recipe Fluid Magnesia, and set up the company Sir James Murray & Son in order to successfully market it. Murray graduated from the University of Edinburgh as a Doctor of Medicine in 1829, and became the resident physician to Henry Paget, 1st Marques of Anglesey, in 1831, a post Murray held until the 1840s. Murray was knighted in 1833 and received an honorary degree in Medicine from Dublin University the following year. He was appointed as an inspector of anatomical schools in Ireland, and was a member of the central board of health, as well as the resident physician to the Netterville Dispensary and the Anglesey Lying-In Hospital, Dublin. Murray died at his home in Dublin on 8 December 1871.

Physical description

Large clear green tinted glass bottle with small neck, for stopped seal, oval in section. Embossed text on two sides, concave impression in base. Seed bubbles in the glass

Inscriptions & markings

Side 1 : 'SIR J MURRAY'S PATENT RECARBONATED FLUID MAGNESIA'. Side 2 : 'LONDON & DUBLIN'.