My guess would be that the bottles contained one or more varieties of tobacco and (logically, if one can assume such in this case), a lubricant.

A quick perusal of "smoke enema" hits in google books indicates that the practice persisted into the late 19th century, and perhaps later, in human and animal medicine.  (There is an illustration of smoke enema device for horses in an 1860s veterinary manual.)  At that time physicians were aware of the poisonous qualities of nicotine, but they believed that in small doses it could relieve impacted bowels (via the smoke enema).  Perhaps they were on to something as I seem to recall, in an episode of "House," the doctor prescribing one cigarette per day to alleviate the symptoms of Crohn's (sp?) disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  Of course I'm mixing fact and fiction, but I'm fairly sure there was a factual basis (as well as medical consultants) behind the T.V. show.

I find it interesting that the device and the practice lingered for so long, as if to say "Well, it doesn't save people from drowning, but it must ge good for something."  In other words, there was strong believe in the practice that outweighed the medical evidence.  

Marty Perdue
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----- Original Message -----
From: Allen Vegotsky 
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:17:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: medical kit?

Bob,
Very interesting image and discussion.  Is there any chance that the glass
vessels are paper-labeled?  That would help.  Another question-  Are the
vessels pontilled or free blown?  Incidentally, while the vessels appear to
contain powders, it should not be assumed that the chemicals or substances
were used as powders.  Doctors in the 18th and 19th century often prepared
their own solutions.
Allen


> [Original Message]
> From: Bob Skiles 
> To: 
> Date: 7/26/2009 1:33:27 PM
> Subject: medical kit?
>
> Dear Listers,
>
> I am wondering if any subscriber may recognize what this specialized kit
of (medical ?) instruments was used for (see image at):
>
> http://skiles.net/medical_kit.jpg
>
> The kit is believed to have come from the estate of a medical doctor (who
served several terms as a member of Congress in the early 1800s); it is
suspected to have had a very specialized medical purpose, as none of the
modern medical doctors I've shown it to could identify it.
>
> ~ Bob Skiles