Green cardboard box with white and black label and red Lilly logo. Box contains ten (10) small metal tins each containing two (2) wax capsules and a paper insert. Two tins are missing from the original dozen tins in the box. Printed on box label: "For the Prevention and Treatment of Ophthalmia Neonatorum."
Ophthalmia Neonatorum is an infection of the newborn's eyes usually contracted from exposure to bacteria during vaginal delivery. Historically, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria causing gonorrhea, was of the greatest concern. In the late 1800s, Dr. Carl Credé (1819–1892), a German gynecologist and obstetrician, began using a 2% solution of silver nitrate to prevent this infection.
