Penicillin Culture Vessel
date: label: date made
content: 1940
name: label: maker
content: James Macintyre and Company
notes: label: Description
content: Rectangular slip-cast ceramic (porcelain) culture vessel used for the batch production of penicillin by the University of Oxford research team. The vessel was designed by Dr. Norman G. Heatley and made by James Macintyre and Co. Ltd, Burslem, England. The first lot of culture vessels was produced in December, 1940.
label: Description
content: Each culture vessel was about 11 inches long by 9 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches deep, made of impervious stoneware or porcelain, and glazed on the inside to allow for sterilization. Each vessel held a liter of broth at 1.5 cm deep. The vessels could be efficiently stacked during the fermentation process and when emptied and cleaned they could be placed vertically (upright) in a sterilization chamber.
label: Description
content: Dr. Heatley obtained this vessel for the Smithsonian in 1953 for the museum's exhibition on antibiotics.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, Burslem
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, through Dr. N. G. Heatley; Accession 199422 (1953)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.M-06669
label: catalog number
content: M-06669
label: accession number
content: 199422
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Penicillin Culture Vessel
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ceramic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/2 in x 9 in x 13 5/8 in; 8.89 cm x 22.86 cm x 34.6075 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9.5 cm x 22.5 cm x 34 cm; 3 3/4 in x 8 27/32 in x 13 3/8 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/2 in x 9 in x 13 5/8 in; 8.89 cm x 22.86 cm x 34.6075 cm