Signedprinted in black on a tan paper label: MEDICAL COLLEGE OF ALABAMA / Phosphate / de Chaux Artif / ROUSSEAU FRÈRES, Rue de l'Ecole de Medicine, 9, Paris.
Inscribedpainted in black on back of bottle: Ca 60
handwritten in black on tan label: Ca_3P_2O_8
handwritten in pencil on tan label: 4/7
printed in white on black label near base of bottle: 1907
FunctionMedical/teaching/chemistry. WARNING! DIRECT CONTACT WITH EYES MAY CAUSE SEVERE IRRITATION OR BURNS. CAUSES IRRITATION TO SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED.
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.