21 teeth in vials
Date: circa 1900
Inventory Number: 2006-1-0008
Classification: Anatomical specimen
Maker: Harvard Dental School (founded 1867)
User: John B. Little
User: Harvard School of Public Health (founded 1913)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
archival box: 9 × 31 × 14 cm (3 9/16 × 12 3/16 × 5 1/2 in.)
Description:
Collection of teeth in stoppered glass vials. Several different disorders are listed on the labels: pigmentaton, increase in number of roots, hypertrophy of cementum, flexion of roots, fusion of roots, salivary calculus.
In Collection(s)
Signedunsigned
Inscribedin brown ink on paper: Donor / W. E. Page, D.M.D.
Historical AttributesThese vials of teeth were prepared for study at the Harvard Dental School at the turn of the 20th century.
The teeth were later used as evidence for the levels of polonium in the environment of Boston in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the later experiment, carried out by Dr. John Little of the Harvard School of Public Health around 1960, the teeth were ground up and the levels of toxic materials present were measured. Dr. Little then compared these baseline findings to the levels of polonium absorbed from tobacco smoke into the human body that he measured in his Boston laboratory approximately 50-60 years after the teeth had been pulled.
The teeth were later used as evidence for the levels of polonium in the environment of Boston in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In the later experiment, carried out by Dr. John Little of the Harvard School of Public Health around 1960, the teeth were ground up and the levels of toxic materials present were measured. Dr. Little then compared these baseline findings to the levels of polonium absorbed from tobacco smoke into the human body that he measured in his Boston laboratory approximately 50-60 years after the teeth had been pulled.
Curatorial RemarksA portion of the donated collection was transferred to the Warren Anatomical Museum.
Primary SourcesJohn B. Little, Edward P. Radford Jr., Louis McCombs and Vilma R. Hunt, "Distribution of Polonium in Pulmonary Tissues of Cigarette Smokers," New England Journal of Medicine 273 (1965): 1344. (CHSI Lib.6067)
ProvenanceHarvard Dental School, circa 1900; Dr. John B. Little, Harvard School of Public Health, circa 1960; gift to CHSI, 2006.
Published ReferencesFor an article describing the role of polonium research on the understanding of the causes of lung cancer from tobacco, see:
Brianna Rego, "The Polonium Brief: A Hidden History of Cancer, Radiation, and the Tobacco Industry", in ISIS v.100 (2009), pp.453-484.
