Pill box containing 'Sul. Magnesia'. This is probably Sulphate of Magnesia (sometimes called epsom salts). It is found in some spring water and is used as medicine for various digestion related ailments. This compound is also used in fireproofing, ceramics, matches, explosives and fertilizers.

This sample and pill box come from a 14-drawer cabinet found in the Herschel family home in the 1950s. The contents of this and a similar cabinet seem to suggest that they were used by successive generations of the family to store specimens, material and apparatus for carrying out experiments. This is one of a set of pill boxes each containing a different chemical and/ or mineral sample presumably used by John F.W. Herschel or his children (it may even have been used by John F.W. with his children) as the raw materials for experiments.