stoppered glass bottle of "Asphalte"
Date: circa 1862
Inventory Number: 4652
Classification: Chemical
Maker: Rousseau Frères (1820 - 1870)
User: Medical College of Alabama (1859 - 1945)
User: Chemistry Laboratory, Harvard College (founded 1850)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
21.5 x 8.2 x 8.2 cm (8 7/16 x 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
Material:
Description:
Class B chemical. Non-hazardous. Asphalt. In a cylindrical bottle with a ground glass stopper and a ground neck. The bottle has its original paper and twine seal covering the glass stopper. The paper is slightly torn.
Signedprinted in black on tan paper label: MEDICAL COLLEGE OF ALABAMA / Asphalte / ROUSSEAU FRÈRES, Rue de l'Ecole de Medicine, 9, Paris.
Inscribedhandwritten in red on white label near base of bottle: 2253
FunctionMedical/teaching/chemistry.
Historical AttributesEarly in the U.S. Civil War, the Medical College of Alabama placed an order for some chemicals with Rousseau Freres, a chemical supply house in Paris, France. In 1862, those chemicals were loaded onto a Confederate ship, bound for the Deep South. As fate would have it, this ship was intercepted on the high seas by a Yankee Clipper ship that proceeded to tow the ship into Boston Harbor, where the goods were sold at auction. Harvard College won the bidding for the chemicals, which ended up in the Chemistry Building.
Excerpted from the reminiscences of George Kenyon, former student and benefactor of the Chemistry Department, Harvard University. Online at the Department's website.
Excerpted from the reminiscences of George Kenyon, former student and benefactor of the Chemistry Department, Harvard University. Online at the Department's website.
Curatorial RemarksThe white label with a handwritten four digit harvard number is probably a replacement for an original black or red label that fell off.
Published ReferencesSara J. Schechner, "Museum Education and Instruction on the History and Nature of Science", in Regina Lee Blaszcyk (Ed.), Partners in Innovation: Science Education and the Science Workforce. Philadelphia, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 2005. pp. 84-85.