Label cabinet with three drawers containing numerous labels, used by N. F. Tyler (late R. S. Dampney), London

Individual pharmacists made up prescriptions from physicians before the rise of large manufacturing chemists in Britain in the 1880s. Inside each of the three drawers of the mahogany cabinet are labels with names of drugs and instructions on how to apply or take medicines. Each label was stuck on to the box, bottle or sachet containing the medicines. Two pharmacists’ names are on the labels: N F Tyler and R S Dampney, both of whom were based in London.