22 Bull. Hist. Chem. 8 (1990)
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
22 Bull. Hist. Chem. 8 (1990) 15 nntn Cn r fr l 4 0 tllOt f th r h npntd nrpt ltd n th brr f th trl St f nnlvn n thr prt nd ntn ntl 1 At 1791 1 frn 7 p 17 AS nntn t h 3 At 179 brr Cpn f hldlph 8Gztt f th Untd Stt Wdnd 3 l 1793 h ntr nnnnt rprdd n W Ml "njn h Cht"Ch 1953 37-77 h pn pr dtd 1 l 179 nd nd b Gr Whntn th frt ptnt d n th Untd Stt S M ntr h rt US tnt" Ar rt Invnt hn 199 6(2 1- 19 ttrfld ttr fnjn h Arn hl- phl St l rntn 1951 pp 7 9 20h drl Gztt 1793 (20 Sptbr Qtd n Ml rfrn 1 1 W Ml rfrn 1 pp 7-75 William D. Williams is Professor of Chemistry at Harding r brt tr University, Searcy, Al? 72143. He collects and studies early American chemistry texts. Wyndham D. Miles. 24 Walker their British cultural heritage. To do this, they turned to the Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, is winner of the 1971 schools (3). This might explain why the Virginia assembly Dexter Award and is currently in the process of completing the took time in May, 1780 - during a period when their highest second volume of his biographical dictionary. "American priority was the threat of British invasion following the fall of Chemists and Chemical Engineers". Charleston - to charter the establishment of Transylvania Seminary, which would serve as a spearhead of learning in the wilderness (1). Transylvania thereby became the 16th college established in the United States and the first established west CHEMICAL ARTIFACTS of the Allegheny Mountains. In 1789, the school was moved to Lexington, the commer- h Apprt M t rnlvn Unvrt cial center of the region, and on 22 December 1798, it was merged with the Kentucky Academy to form Transylvania George M. Bodner, Purdue University University. At their first meeting, the board of trustees of the new university established several colleges, including a Medi- In March, 1775, Colonel Richard Henderson purchased 20 cal Department staffed by Doctor Samuel Brown, Professor of million acres from the Cherokees in an unsettled region of the Chemistry, Anatomy, and Surgery, and Doctor rdr British colony of Virginia then known as "Kan-tuck-ee" and Ridgely, Professor of Materia Medica, Midwifery, and Prac- hired Daniel Boone to mark a permanent trail into this territory tice of Physic. (1). In May of the same year, the legislature that was assembled In 1799, Professor Brown was authorized to use $500 to to organize a government for the new country voted to name it import books and other items for instruction in the Medical "Transylvania" (literally: across the woods), perhaps because College. Another $800 was allocated in 1805 for the purchase the Romans had used this name to describe a region of eastern of apparatus for teaching natural philosophy, which included Europe that also lay beyond a great forest ( chemical apparatus and a galvanic battery. The Board of When news of this purchase reached the Virginia assembly, Trustees, in a public announcement that fall, proudly pro- it was declared illegal because this body had reserved the right claimed the arrival of this apparatus, as well as additions to the to extinguish Indian title to lands within its borders. Between college library, which now totaled some 1300 volumes. 1775 and 1800, however, 150,000 people crossed through the In 1816, the trustees made an offer to Dr. Thomas Cooper Cumberland Gap and traveled down Boone's Wilderness to become the first professor of chemistry. The salary, how- Road into the region that the Virginia assembly eventually ever, was purposefully set so low that he would refuse the offer, established as "Kentuckee county". which he did. In 1818, Professor Charles Caldwell arrived One of the problems colonists faced was that of preserving from the Medical School at the University of Pennsylvania. ll t Ch 8 (199 3 r ltr Cldll nvnd th lltr t v h rnlvn Unvrt p t 1 W 3rd Strt n $5 fr th prh f b nd pprt fr th Mdl xntn A f f Cldll prh hv rvvd prtnt At th t th t f xntn lnd nldn v pp nd n Atd Mhn pr- nthr $ t th ll fr th prp nd n hd fr x n r nd prtbl Sr hrtr ddtnl $ rd fr phn thrht th Mt f th lltn hvr tr b t tr tr Sth In 11 Cldll nt t Erp t prh b vt t Erp n 139 nd tr ll prh fr th nd pprt tht frd th r f n f th fnt dl Elt Inttt lbrr n th ntr Cldll rt ( h lltn t n tnd trbt t th ffrt f rfr lnd rn h dd n 3 At 199 t th th t f rrvl n r nnl nd nxptdl f 91 rn jnd th flt n 193 prfr f prpt t tht prp rd th l f tht ttrph (th bl tn prdnt fr 19 t 195 nd rtrd n rnh vltn th lbrr f n lth nd ltrr prn 195 v prdnt fr d ffr A rl 191 hd lttl fnd thr nt th hlv f th bllr prt f th lltn trd n bt th jrt I pprd f th vr pr rptr nd pr- thr n r trd n vr dprtntl bnt hd t rdd pr n nndrbl nbr f th ht nd tr hlv h prrvtn f th lltn b r f th fthr f dn fr pprt dn t th rvvl pll nrtn n 1933 hn th d- f lttr - r hh n n thr nd prhp t n thr t ntld nd trd n n tt ld hv bn lltd rdl nd rtnl nd n tr Ovr prd f r bnnn n 199 rfr rn fvrbl n th rd prrt f th xntn brr lnd bld nd dntfd th pprt - hn p- n th r t n thr n th hl Untd Stt bl - nd prprd t fr dpl n t prnnt h In 1959 tl drbn th lltn pblhd ( In 13 tr brt tr t xntn t hlp rn p f hh n b btnd b nttn rfr h Knt l Elt Inttt n b n Mnr Mn t rnlvn Unvrt r Crln djnt prfr t rnlvn nd n 13 ltd t lrn rtr f th lbrr pl lltn t rnl- th hr f htr t tht ntttn In 139 h nd tr vn A f t drbd n tht tl r n th h pnt t f th r n ndn nd r Wtn nd ll bln th blpp nd dbl bll prhn b nd pprt fr ntrtn n th Mdl th r ld th nll hrtr th ltr- prtnt In h rrpndn tr rt (5 nt hn th pth-bll ltrtr th lpl r tn nn th ntr th p pprt fr W hv bht rt n fn b nd rt dl f xllnt rn th dnt f tr t dffrnt tprtr th pprt nd ntl nd thr dl rnlvn ll hn Mrt t pprt fr hn th rltnhp b- thr ntttn n r prt f th rld ll b bl t pr tn prr nd tprtr nd th ft lp dvl- th hr n th n f ntrtn In ft I hv n nn n pd b v In pt f th l th lltn bth Erp tht r pltl prprd t th drn dn xtnv nd n xllnt ndtn A rlt f th prh n 11 th rnlvn Mdl prtnt drbd th "bt ndd dl hl n Ar" (1 tn 117 nd 159 5 tdnt nrlld n th Mdl prtnt t rnlvn nd th dr f tr f Mdn nfrrd n 11 f th rnlvn thrb prvdd th fndtn fr th prt f dn thrht h f th Sth h Mdl Cll ld n 159 rlt f bn- tn f pltl l nd n fr tdnt nd flt drftd t thr ntttn n t tht hd rn lrr thn xntn h thrd jr r f pprt fr th hl th prh f th hlp S ll lltn n 157 r ll th fndr f th Elt Inttt ntnd prvl fr hh th pprt hd rnll bn prhd A nfnt frtn f th pprt prhd fr n th Mdl prtnt n tll b fnd n th M f Erl hlphl Apprt n Old Mrrn ll n th r lnd rn 24 ll t Ch (199 Under the heading "Mathematical Construction," the inscrip- tion goes on to state: It ll b brvd tht th ldr f th l rdtd nt dvn nd b-dvn ntnll n lnth fr t th tp t 33 nr th btt h dvn rrpnd n rltv lnth t th dffrn f th lrth [] f th nbr pld ppt th It then goes into a protracted discussion of the mathematics of "logarythms" and notes that the distance between any two numbers on the scale is equal to the distance between any other pair that give the same ratio. Under the heading "Chemical Explanation", the inscription states: A nrl v f th h ppltn f th ltr l t Chtr fndd n th The collection includes a variety of items of chemical t prtnt ft n th n; hh tht ll bd hthr interest, including a balance purchased from Charles Cheva- pl r pnd tht ntr nt Chl bntn l lier; a voltaic pile 23.5" tall and 3" wide that contains 58 nt n ht r n ltpl fht tht hv th ntnt separate metal disks; an eudiometer designed by Robert Hare rt t h thr And th rltv ht hv th fft of the University of Pennsylvania; an eudiometer designed by n frn ntrl pnd nd n prdn thr hl Volta; a large (10-qt.