Original envelope for rubber catheter from 'Tabloid" medicine chest, style 260, supplied to 1938 Everest Expedition, prepared by Burroughs Wellcome and Co. (The Wellcome Foundation Ltd.), London 1937-1938

The medical equipment carried by the British land expedition to Mount Everest in 1938 consisted of two ‘Tabloid’ aluminium medicine chests made by Burroughs, Wellcome & Co. The chest certainly looks as though it has been to Everest and back. The team reached over 27,000 ft (8,200 m) via the north-west ridge without supplemental oxygen before being forced down due to bad weather and sickness.

The chests were filled with first aid equipment for the journey. The report of the exploration states “…the equipment and the containers were extremely satisfactory”. Tabloid medicine chests were taken on the Everest expeditions of 1921, 1922 and 1924. It is shown here with a medicine chest from the 1924 expedition (A700003).