Signedprinted in black on tan paper label: MEDICAL COLLEGE OF ALABAMA / Lac-dye / ROUSSEAU FRÈRES, Rue de l'Ecole de Medicine, 9, Paris.
Inscribedhandwritten in pencil on tan label: 15/63
printed in white on red label near base of bottle: 2327
FunctionMedical/teaching/chemistry. From Webster's 1913 Unabridged: "Lac: A resinous substance produced mainly on the banyan tree, but to some extent on other trees, by the Coccus lacca, a scale-shaped insect, the female of which fixes herself on the bark, and exudes from the margin of her body this resinous substance. Stick-lac is the substance in its natural state, incrusting small twigs. When broken off, and the coloring matter partly removed, the granular residuum is called seed-lac. When melted, and reduced to a thin crust, it is called shell-lac or shellac. Lac is an important ingredient in sealing wax, dyes, varnishes, and lacquers.
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.
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.