blowpipe set for chemical analysis
Date: circa 1889
Inventory Number: 4510b
Classification: Blowpipe
Subject:
Maker: T. H. Letcher (born 1836)
User: Charles Palache (1869 - 1954)
User: Department of Geology and Geography, Harvard University (1890 - 1961)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
10.5 x 27 x 12 cm (4 1/8 x 10 5/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
Accessories: a bottle of barium hydroxide (4510a) may have been part this set.
DescriptionA small wood case which used to contain a brass blowpipe, now missing except for a dark, plastic-like trumpet head. There are several chemical reagents on wooden vessels which all are seated on wooden compartments. Below these compartments there is space for several small tools (see inventory below) including a horseshoe magnet, rods, wires, tweezers, dishes, a file and other unidentified objects (junk?). The box also has a drawer near its bottom in front which contains an almost complete (42 of 48) set of selected minerals in small long narrow tubes.
The box's lid has a long inventory but many of the objects in it are missing or unidentifiable.
CONTENTS
1. Blowpipe 2.Spirit Lamp 3.Grease Do 4.Hammer 5.Anvil 6.Pestle and Guard 7.Platinum Forceps 8.Brass 9.Lamp Tweezers 10.Test Tube Holder 11.Chisel 12.magnet 13.File 14.Scissors 15.Cuper Striker 16.Bone Spatula 17.Platinum Wire 18.Platinum Foil 19.Tin Do 20.Magnesium Ribbon 21.Pastille and Cupel Holder 22.Pastilles 23.Boiling Dish 24.[illegible] 25.[illegible] 26.Glass Roo[illegible] 27.Blue Glass 28.[illegible] 29.[illegible] 30.Brazil Wood Do 31.Soda Do 32.Agate Mortar and Pestle 33.Gold Bead
REAGENTS
34.Carbonate of Soda 35.Microcosmic Salt 36.Borax 37.Bone Ash 38.Fluor Spar 39.Assay Lead 40.Nitrate of Cobalt 41.Bisulphate of Potash 42.Oxide of Copper 43.Chloride of Silver 44.Potassic Iodide and Sulphur 45.Selected Minerals
The box's lid has a long inventory but many of the objects in it are missing or unidentifiable.
CONTENTS
1. Blowpipe 2.Spirit Lamp 3.Grease Do 4.Hammer 5.Anvil 6.Pestle and Guard 7.Platinum Forceps 8.Brass 9.Lamp Tweezers 10.Test Tube Holder 11.Chisel 12.magnet 13.File 14.Scissors 15.Cuper Striker 16.Bone Spatula 17.Platinum Wire 18.Platinum Foil 19.Tin Do 20.Magnesium Ribbon 21.Pastille and Cupel Holder 22.Pastilles 23.Boiling Dish 24.[illegible] 25.[illegible] 26.Glass Roo[illegible] 27.Blue Glass 28.[illegible] 29.[illegible] 30.Brazil Wood Do 31.Soda Do 32.Agate Mortar and Pestle 33.Gold Bead
REAGENTS
34.Carbonate of Soda 35.Microcosmic Salt 36.Borax 37.Bone Ash 38.Fluor Spar 39.Assay Lead 40.Nitrate of Cobalt 41.Bisulphate of Potash 42.Oxide of Copper 43.Chloride of Silver 44.Potassic Iodide and Sulphur 45.Selected Minerals
Signedon lid with inventory: Manufactured by T. H. LETCHER St.DAY CORNWALL / T.H. LETCHER'S POPULAR BLOWPIPE SETS [and] SOCIETY OF ARTS / BEST / BLOWPIPE SET / WITH EXTRA / APPARATUS / AND MINERALS
FunctionBlowpipes were a standard tool for chemical analysis until the mid-20th century. The blowpipe was a small tube with a trumpet-like mouthpiece on one side and a narrow opening on the other, sometimes on a thin side tube at right angles to the other, like the one in the picture (now missing). The user would blow into the mouthpiece, producing a small air stream at the other end, which was placed in front of a flame. This generated a small blowtorch that was directed at the sample to be examined.
The chemical elements in the sample would be recognized by how the sample reacted to different parts of the flame, to heat, to different chemical reagents, and other physical tests such as magnetization.
This particular kit also had didactic uses as it includes a large number of mineral samples that the user could test to familiarize himself with how they reacted during the analysis.
The chemical elements in the sample would be recognized by how the sample reacted to different parts of the flame, to heat, to different chemical reagents, and other physical tests such as magnetization.
This particular kit also had didactic uses as it includes a large number of mineral samples that the user could test to familiarize himself with how they reacted during the analysis.
Historical AttributesBlowpipe outfit used by Prof. Charles Palache while a student at Berkeley in 1890.
Curatorial RemarksT. H. Letcher won a prize with his brother John Teague Letcher in 1878 for a new type of blowpipe. On this prize, see the following website.
ProvenanceFrom the Department of Geology and Geography (mineralogy), Harvard University.
