Rawhide bag for storing cinchona bark

Made:
1777-1785 in Peru
Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

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Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London.

Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Bag for cinchona bark, known as a Seron, rawhide, brought from Peru, by the expedition of Ruiz and Pavon, 1777, with contents

Known as a seron in its native Peru, South America, this rawhide bag was used to store and carry cinchona bark. For centuries, local people had chewed or ground up the bark as a treatment for fevers and malaria. As the European powers began to expand both their trade routes and empires, cinchona became a highly important commodity. In the early 1800s, quinine, the primary anti-malarial component of cinchona, was first isolated, allowing the production of more effective drugs to combat the disease.

The bag was originally collected by the expedition of Hipolito Ruiz Lopez and Antonio Pavon y Jimienz, which was sent to Peru in 1777 by the Spanish monarch Charles III to explore the region.

The bag was later presented to the Wellcome collections by Alfonso XIII, King of Spain (1886-1941), in 1930.

Details

Category:
Materia Medica & Pharmacology
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A654763
Materials:
bag, rawhide, contents, bark and contents, cloth
Measurements:
overall: 8.618 kg
type:
bag
credit:
Alphonso XIII