Antique small Vapo Cresolene inhalation device

Dating from circa 1880’s, this small item was a medical tool of choice for those with breathing difficulty from colds and for something completely different - measles. The metal frame holds a glass reservoir which would have been filled with Kerosene which, with the aid of a wick and milk glass funnel, brought flame underneath the top metal funnel to a shallow metal dish which would have held the creosote based liquid. Heated by the flame below, the liquid warmed and slowly vaporised giving much the same effect as today’s Tincture of Benzoin (if people still use inhalations at all).

Standing 160mm tall this compact ornate device is complete with the top plate, which is proven to easily lost in some other devices that I have seen.

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