Author Archives: dgm

In colonial Australia bottles were valuable things. Before 1872 next to no glass was produced in Australia until Felton and Grimwade, better known as a pharmaceutical manufacturer, established a bottle works at Spotswood in Melbourne. Incidentally, the Spotswood glassworks is … Continue reading →

We were on Norfolk Island, a rock in the Pacific halfway between Australia and New Zealand. Getting there had been fun with an international flight on Air New Zealand between two parts of Australia – a legacy of the time … Continue reading →

We spent last week on Norfolk Island. J had arranged to go on a painting trip to the island, and it was only the cost of a second airfare for me to tag along, so why wouldn’t you, especially as … Continue reading →

When we went to Laos at the end of 2005, on a complete whim, I bought myself a hardback Moleskine notebook at the airport, and started keeping a travel journal of our trip. I later used these notes to write … Continue reading →

Hunting through the SLV’s online databases for mentions of both Nitrous Oxide and Ether, it is interesting to note that while 1847 starts with ether being hailed as a wonder treatment, doubts about its side effects creep in and that … Continue reading →

Well not quite, but following on from my recent post about how , round about 1870, nitrous oxide became the anaesthetic of choice for dentists in New Zealand and Australia, I decided to see how much earlier the adoption was in … Continue reading →