Glass bottle of distilled water for use with desiccated human plasma

Glass bottle of distilled water. The lid is sealed with wax. A rubber seal sits in the upper neck of the bottle. A gummed label attached to the bottle reads: '300 cc. DISTILLED WATER Pyrogen-free, Distilled, and Sterilized. To which has been added 0.1 percent solution sodium chloride. Lot no 305457. ELI LILLY AND COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS, USA'. The bottle is made by TCW-CO, USA.

After an inter-war hiatus, the Second World War provided a real impetus to the development of blood transfusion and storage, and the preparation of plasma and serum. In Australia, the outbreak of war saw the formation of a Medical Coordination Committee which recommended that the Red Cross should take responsibility of blood donor recruitment; this was developed in conjunction with the New South Wales Blood Transfusion Service which concentrated on serum preparation. Additionally, 2 Australian Blood and Serum Preparation Unit was formed to handle the frontline organisation of blood and serum distribution. Serum proved life-saving in the treatment of burns victims (many thousands of whom required treatment during this conflict), demanding a high workload on the Blood Transfusion Service. The development of desiccated serum also took priority in the United States, with research and commercial development led by the pharmaceutical company of Eli Lilly and Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, who had, by 1943, developed the means for full-scale production of penicillin. The Australian Red Cross supplied huge amounts of blood, plasma and serum to American Pacific Forces, and much American material, usually supply by Eli Lilly, was used in Australia.