Hey Folks,

We are working on cataloguing materials from a privy on the edge of the
red light district in San Antonio, Texas.  We have a small purple bottle
that stains our hands when touched.  The bottle is only missing the neck
and lip, has turned completely purple and  there is still some dried
material in it.  I was hoping someone out there would know what color
bottles they would have used for this material and if the bottles would
have discolored over time.  Also, does anyone know a test we can perform
to find out if this is really gentian violet.  

Thanks in advance.

Marybeth 

Marybeth S.F. Tomka, M.A. 
Laboratory Director and Curator 
Center for Archaeological Research 
The University of Texas at San Antonio 
State Certified Curatorial Repository 
One UTSA Circle 
San Antonio, Texas 78249 
(210) 458-7822 
(210) 458-4397 Fax 
http://car.utsa.edu/ 
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