from 1887, 72-piece Blowpipe Reference Mineral Set (ex Larson Coll)

Item Description

A fascinating historical artifact of significant 19th Century chemical mineralogy - blowpipe analysis. This is an boxed set of three trays holding 72 glass vials of mineral samples for comparison and use in learning to perform the analyses with a 1887 date and owner on the inside cover of the box. Vial 31 contains magnetite. "The blowpipe was one of the most analytical tools for identifying metallic elements by their different physical reactions (fusibility, volume and color change etc.)." It was instrumental in the discovery of over 15 elements. Blowpipe analysis was in wide use in Europe from ca. 1760 to 1860. This tradition declined in Europe following the introduction of the Bunsen burner and the spectroscope to chemical laboratories. Blowpipe analysis persisted much longer in the United States due to the extensive exploration of ore deposits in the Western states. Blowpipe kits were available until the 1940s! This set is probably from the United States. See the fine article in the 1994 Mineralogical Record Vol. 25, No. 4. Rarely on the market, an old scientific assay tool! ex Bill Larson collection.