Radium Ampoule, Wider
notes: label: Description
content: This ampoule was removed from a display of objects (see 1993.0262.13) donated to the New York Academy of Medicine by Dr. Robert Abbe [b. April 13, 1851; d. March 7, 1928], a surgeon and early proponent of radium therapy. The ampoule’s contents are described on the display as: "Ashes, with a small remnant of radium recovered from a fireplace after burning surgical dressings...This radium (measuring 1 milligram) is the remnant of the historic 150 milligrams RADIUM-BARIUM-CHLORIDE" SENT by Mme. CURIE TO Dr. ABBE IN 1903. ONE-SEVENTH OF WHAT SHE USED IN CALORIMETRIC TESTS."
label: Description
content: This description is curious for several reasons. There were a number of methods used to administer radium to a patient in the early 20th century, but almost all of these methods had the radium encapsulated in some kind of container that could be reused. Radium was both expensive and difficult to acquire. It is therefore unusual that the radium in this display was applied to surgical dressings and then burned. The reason for this is unknown.
label: Description
content: The display specifically draws attention to the quantity of radium Abbe obtained in 1903 and states that 150 milligrams of the radium compound was one-seventh of what was used in Marie Curie's calorimetric tests. This appears to be an error. In 1903, Pierre Curie (not Marie) and Albert Laborde measured the heat produced by a quantity of radium, but they did not use 1 gram of radium in these experiments. They used 1 gram of barium chloride that included about one sixth of its weight of radium chloride, and a different sample of 0.08 g of pure radium chloride. However, the results were stated in terms of the heat that would be given off by 1 gram of pure radium. This might explain Abbe's statement.
label: Description
content: In 1903, Dr. Abbe started experimenting with radium on seeds, animals, himself, and patients, becoming one of the first American physicians to do so. He found success in treating some abnormal growths and cancers, publishing his findings and becoming an authority in the field of radiotherapy. Abbe was a surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital in New York. Near the end of his life, Abbe suffered from the effects of aplastic anemia, likely caused by years of radium exposure, requiring regular blood transfusions.
label: Description
content: Abbe, R., “Radium and Radio-Activity," Yale Medical Journal 10 (1904) p. 436-447.
label: Description
content: Gibson, C., "Robert Abbe 1851-1928," Annals of Surgery 88 (1928) p. 794-797
label: Description
content: Stark, R., "Robert Abbe: Pioneer in Plastic Surgery," Bull. N. Y. Acad. Med. 31 (1955) p. 927-950.
label: Description
content: Curie, P. and Laborde, A., "Sur la chaleur dégagée spontanément par les sels de radium,” Comptes Rendus l’Académie des Sciences 136 (1903) p. 673-675.
label: Description
content: “Radium Applicators,” Radium Chemical Company, Pittsburgh PA (1923) https://www.cppdigitallibrary.org/viewer/show/4355
label: Description
content: Eimer & Amend correspondence to Robert Abbe, "Earliest Sale of Radium in America," scrapbook from the Robert Abbe Papers held at the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, https://www.cppdigitallibrary.org/items/show/4344
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: France: Île-de-France, Paris
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Pharmacy
label: See more items in
content: Cancer
label: See more items in
content: Cancer: Treatment
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of New York Academy of Medicine, through Steven A. Pelovitz, Vice President for Management and Fiscal Affairs
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1993.0262.03
label: catalog number
content: 1993.0262.03
label: accession number
content: 1993.0262
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Pharmaceutical, Vial of
label: Object Name
content: ampoule, radium therapy
label: Other Terms
content: Pharmaceutical, Vial of; Pharmaceutical; Powder
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: radium (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: light brown (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: estimated from images: 1 5/8 in x 7/16 in; 4.0894 cm x 1.1176 cm