Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Collectible chemistry...

Pyridinium - 18-3-2007 at 18:26

Somewhere around the lab I think I still have two chem bottles that were purchased from the Science Alliance when it was still around.

Not by a long shot the oldest or rarest bottles, but neat. (I have a couple early 19th c. apothecary bottles somewhere around here, in a box).

The science alliance reagents were purchased only because they were so much cheaper than Fisher. Completely legit, analytical reagents with no 'questionable' uses. Did a web search, they had the chems, and they didn't want astronomical sums. So it was a go.

I was frankly taken aback when I learned what happened to SA. Guess I'm just naive.

Anyway, in every hobby, "the gear" is always part of the allure.
So... what's your most interesting / storied chem bottle?

YT2095 - 19-3-2007 at 03:46

not exactly a Chem bottle, but in my Lab 1`st aid kit (1926), there`s a tin of boracic ointment equally as old.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/yt2095/dalma1.jpg
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/yt2095/dalma2.jpg
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/yt2095/dalma3.jpg

it looks usable still, although I wouldn`t risk it.

Zinc - 19-3-2007 at 07:24

Quote:
Originally posted by Pyridinium
Somewhere around the lab I think I still have two chem bottles that were purchased from the Science Alliance when it was still around.


What happened to them?

Pyridinium - 19-3-2007 at 11:27

Quote:
Originally posted by Zinc
Quote:
Originally posted by Pyridinium
Somewhere around the lab I think I still have two chem bottles that were purchased from the Science Alliance when it was still around.


What happened to them?


Hobart Huson, the owner, went to jail for 8 years. They said he was involved in ecstasy or something. This was in 2003 I think. They also say he was connected w/ the Hive somehow. (I don't really know anything about the Hive, so you'd have to ask someone else about that one).

maozim - 1-4-2007 at 21:10

Hobart Huson stands accused of being "Strike" although it is suspected (strongly that many posted under this name. He wrote Total Synthesis and Sources, which continue to be popular books.

In addition to allegedly manufacturing MDMA, he was accused of conspiracy. The grounds were that he educated people on the manufacture of Schedule I amphetamines and List I chemicals, by writing several books; and by running the-hive. The conspiracy resolved around the fact that the reagents needed to manufacture the chemicals described by "Strike" were all sold by the Science Alliance, and that he also supplied the knowledge on how to do the illegal act.

The bottle labels were found in a large drug lab in Minneapolis (Spitball's) and computer records tied the lab back to the Science Alliance, and the-hive.

Dateline did a show on it, and the-hive was shut down for new members for a while. There's a lot more to the story, but that is a good enough little synopsis.