Letter from Sir thomas Bernard of Wimpole Street, [London] to Samuel Parkes, chemist, 20 Nov 1816. Thanking him for making corrections to Bernard's proposals for the repeal of the salt duties. Autograph, with signature. The blank leaf is endorsed: 'Sir Thos. Bernard, 22d Nov. 1816'.

The correspondence, papers and diaries of Sir Charles Blagden. Blagden's papers are interesting on several levels, generally for his close contact with European men of learning, and his relationship with Sir Joseph Banks. Blagden's professional researches are represented by medical notes in the boxed sequence. These are grouped with papers on other subject interests, including linguistics, e.g. a draft Tahitian-English dictionary, compiled from conversations with Omai, whom Blagden inoculated after Omai's voyage to England with James Cook. Blagden's interest in antiquities and travel is documented by diary entries, as is his intercourse with fellow scientists, particularly those associated with the founding of the Royal Institution.

Papers of Francis Howard Carr, 1890-1969, comprising research notes on laboratory work on aconitine (poison taken from aconite plants), [1892], at the Pharmaceutical Society Research Laboratory, and Imperial Institute, [1896-1898]; papers and correspondence, notably photographs of Leverkusen, Germany, 1919; lecture manuscripts, 1890-1960, including an essay on lectures by Professor Raphael Meldola; press cuttings, 1908-1967; obituary for Dr Carr, 1968-1969.

Letter from Thomas A Cook of Newcastle upon Tyne to H B Jordan, Esq of the Alkali Works, Bristol, 8 Dec 1845. Acknowledging Jordan's letter of 4 Dec 1845. Discussing at length the relative efficiency of stone stills [for manufacturing alkalis] used by Cook [at Walker, Newcastle], by Jordan and by Lee and Co; advising Jordan to visit Lee and Co and copy their stills exactly. Mentioning a Mr Bell's patent, the surprising cheapness of coal, and a meeting of masters [i.e. factory owners] which he was unable to attend. Noting that the returns show an increase of stock.

Autograph, with signature. A note [in Jordan's hand] on page 3 states: 'Ansd. 5 Jany'.

Papers of Sir Richard Doll arranged as follows: Section A. Correspondence and papers from Doll's period as Regius Professor of Medicine in the University of Oxford (1969-1979). Includes the administration papers of medical departments. During Doll's professorship, most of the planning and development of the John Radcliffe Hospital complex was undertaken, and many of the papers relate to this project, including building specifications and architect's plans as well as numerous reports prepared for committees on which Doll served, including those concerned with the re-organization of Oxford hospital services.

Section B. Papers deriving from the conduct of trials and other epidemiological research. The collection contains material from a range of clinical trials in the field of gastroenterology, conducted initially under Francis Avery Jones at Central Middlesex Hospital. The trials investigated a variety of treatments of ulcers: from an investigation of the influence of smoking, to the role of blood group distribution and family history, from the efficacy of liquorice treatment to the efficacy of intragastric milk drips in uncomplicated gastric ulcer, and from comparative trials to determine rates of healing, to investigating cortisone in ulcerative colitis. Occupational epidemiology is well-represented, including material on both vinyl chloride and asbestos. The latter incremental research into the link between asbestos exposure and lung cancer (at the Turner and Newall factory in Rochdale) includes related correspondence, draft papers and original data, beginning with Doll's landmark paper of 1955. Other research-based material includes papers relating to a Medical Research Council trial of mild hypertension (completed in 1985), for which Doll acted as Chair of the Ethical Committee. Papers on smoking and lung cancer are less well-represented: spanning the period 1956-1972, they do not, unfortunately, include papers from formative research conducted with Bradford Hill. Correspondence relating to ISIS-3: Third International Study of Infarct Survival (for which, Doll acted as Chair of the Data Monitoring Committee) can be found at D/3/82, amongst the lecture papers where it was originally filed.

Section C. Doll's international reputation prompted a number of requests for his professional assistance, from both private and public sectors. In addition to formal consultancy conducted in America and Europe, Doll's international lecturing itinerary sometimes incorporated local consultancy - see, for example, D/3/41 (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Study), D/3/42 (correspondence with Shell Oil, Houston, concerning peer-review of a case-control study of fourteen leukaemia deaths at an oil-refinery), or D/3/54 (a new Centre for population health studies in Tasmania). More extensive consultancy is represented by papers concerning the Spanish Toxic Oil Syndrome: the WHO invited Doll to weigh evidence gathered to determine the cause of the epidemic and prepare an expert report.

Section D. Lecture texts and papers, published and unpublished from 1968 to 1991. Many files contain germane correspondence, notes and background material. For instance, D/1/20 ("Osler's English School") contains brief correspondence with the Dept of Pathology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford on Osler's post-mortem record; D/1/32 ("Pott and the path to prevention") contains photocopied medical notes of James Chard, chimney sweep (St Batholomew's Hospital, 1848); D/2/28 ("Avoidable cancer: attribution of risk") contains clinical correspondence on beta-carotene; and D/3/24 ("Medical effects of smoking: problems and perspectives") includes correspondence with Austin Bradford Hill on the origins of the prospective study of doctors and their smoking habits. Some additional papers, prior to 1968, can be found in Section B, where they are filed together with contemporaneous research materials.

Section E. Audio and video tapes amongst Doll's papers. A small collection of materials drawn from 1981-1984, including an interview on Japanese television.

Papers of Thomas Graham comprising notes, chiefly on chemistry, and some correspondence, 1821-1868.

Papers of Matthew Hay on chemistry, 1882-1884, in particular its application to the life sciences; nitrogen compounds and their use in treating angina pectoris comprise the largest subject. One item (MS.2796) is produced in collaboration with Sir David Orme Masson (1858-1937).

Papers of Robert Hetherington, predominantly concerned with contraception (especially oral contraception) drug toxicity and thalidomide. It consists mainly of press cuttings but there is a large collection of advertising material for oral contraceptives with some notes and correspondence. Dr Hetherington was collecting material during the 1960s and 1970s both agreeing and disagreeing with his own ideas on these contentious issues.

Two tracts on acids by John McNab comprising:

1. Experiments on Mineral Acids and Rectified Spirits of Wine, for finding the greatest degree of cold.

2. Experiments on the Congelation of Vitriolic and Nitrous Acids in Hudson's Bay.

Out letter book, 1848-1852, containing copy letters relating to applied chemistry, in particular to the role of Professor William Allen Miller as a consultant retained by the Western Gaslight Company, and charged with improving the efficiency of its manufacturing facility at Vauxhall, Surrey, and in a similar capacity to undertake the analysis of particulate residues and other by-products of incomplete combustion in an industrial setting; the experimental analysis of various phosphates and salts; commentary upon the telegraph and upon suggestions that the earth itself could act as a substitute electrical conductor over distances.
Chemistry teaching and research notes, c 1845

Papers of the Nassau Phosphate of Lime Company relating to a proposed sale of phosphate works, and of rights of boring for and carrying away phosphate, on land at Edelsberg and Freienfels, near Weilburg in Nassau, Germany, including descriptive records of inspections of the phosphate deposits and the mining property.

Robinson's volatile temperament and his impatience with administration and routine have seriously affected the survival of material. Thus little survives of his correspondence which he usually wrote in longhand and without copies, or of his public life, service on committees, advisory boards, learned societies, and in the launching of new journals. There are, however, many manuscript notes in varying lengths of sequence and a few notebooks relating to research topics. Examples are a sequence of ideas on the possible structure of strychnine, tentatively dated 1945-1947 by J.W. Cornforth, and from a later period two relatively extensive sequences of research and correspondence, on the origins of petroleum and on drug research. Lacunae in the collection are to some extent compensated for by the autobiographical material. There are the background material and corrected proofs for the first volume of his memoirs published in 1976, and substantial typescript drafts of the second volume which was unfinished at his death together with narratives, correspondence and photographs sent to him by colleagues. There are also tape-recordings of conversations with colleagues covering similar types of recollections.

Records of Wilkinson Novatex Limited, manufacturers in plastics, including articles of association; minutes, agendas and papers presented; annual reports and accounts; and papers relating to liquidation.

Papers of Sir William Henry Willcox, relating to a variety of topics: murder trials, criminal abortion, the use of insulin and the production of table salt.