Chang'an, East Market, sick house.
The news of Penicillin's advent brought a tremendous flow of people to the sick house; the curious, the sick, and those who believed themselves to be ill formed long lines on the already cramped streets.
Through the open doors of the sick house, one could see a peculiar sight. Glass bottles filled with a transparent solution were suspended from the ceiling beams by netted pouches. The openings of the round glass bottles pointed downward, extending a slender rubber tube that connected to the back of the patients' hands.
All the patients wore masks, sitting on benches, either chatting and laughing or looking up, somewhat anxiously, at the round glass bottles.
This was a new medical device that appeared alongside Penicillin. According to Mr. Li from the Academic Palace, it was called an intravenous drip. It could also be called a drip bottle. The name was quite fitting.
