Just a meter away from the glass syringe was a hard rubber (Goodyear)
male/urethral irrigator used for this purpose.  It was fully intact and the
plunger still worked.  It had a smooth needle-less tip and a simple
plunger...they are even listed in the 1898 Sears Roebuck catalog on page 29
(mine was older and without the loop).  I tested it for any traces of DNA
but I think the dark red-black dye from the rubber inhibited the
amplification process, hence, no DNA.  I was hoping to link the syringe DNA
with the irrigator and tell a really good story.
    Another question for the list...in addition to sandalwood oil and
"Special Pigeon Milk" what other solutions may have been injected with these
irrigators.  In the next couple of months I would like to analyze any
residue on the artifact.  (It is always easier in forensic science if you
know what you should be looking for)  I believe most of the irrigators were
used for venereal diseases (syphilis, gonorrhea) and was wondering if they
could or would have injected a mercury based solution.  I understand mercury
was primarily a topical treatment for syphilis.  I also saw a modern
reference that described these artifacts as "washing irrigators" for the
ears, nose, and eyes.  Julie Schablitsky

----- Original Message -----
From: Allen Vegotsky <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 8:39 AM
Subject: Re: MEDICAL SYRINGES


> I have been reading the comments on medical syringes with much interest
and
> can comment on the syringe type with the plunger tip wrapped with cotton
> thread.  I have been researching the artifacts in Dr. Hatchett's Drug
Store
> Museum, a collection of late 19th century and early to mid-20th century
drug
> store products.  One of my favorites was a product used for treatment of
> gonorrhea and gleet with the unlikely name of "Special Pigeon Milk".  The
> red cardboard package contained among other things a syringe of the type
in
> question.  It had a glass tip and was not designed for injection into the
> skin.  Instead the directions instructed the unfortunate user to inject a
> solution (also provided) into the urethral orifice of the penis 5-6 times
a
> day.  Other instructions to the patient was to "Live well but do not use a
> drop of spirituous liquors, or coffee, or spiced foods, and as little
> tobacco in any form, as possible, none if possible, and avoid ladies'
> society, and sustain from any sexual excitement, absolutely, until
entirely
> cured."  The product could be accurately dated because the base had two
tax
> stamps that were only issued and required from 1898 to 1900.  The
> manufacturer was a Dr. Rust of the Rust Medical Company of Philadelphia
and
> St. Paul.  For the pleasure of this treatment, the consumer was charged
two
> dollars a package.  (Sorry, Julie, we are veering away from your original
> question and syringe, but I couldn't resist telling this story.)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel H. Weiskotten <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Sunday, August 05, 2001 9:57 PM
> Subject: Re: MEDICAL SYRINGES
>
>
> >Many years ago in an old house in Central New York (Upstate) I found
> >several glass syringes that were not for needle injection, but were
clearly
> >enemas.  They were exacly as several people described, glass tubes, with
> >glass plungers, the end wrapped in twine to form a seal when wet, a cork
> >with hole in it to plug the top opening.  The only difference was that
the
> >business ends had several small holes like a watering can spout to
diffuse
> >the fluid.  In the deposit I also found a very decayed rubber tip, almost
> >like a small baby bottle nipple, but which was more like the tip of a
> >turkey baster.  While several baby bottles were also found, this tip did
> >not fit any of them (was not the usual nipple form, either) and therefore
I
> >surmised that, since it would have fit perfectly over the tip of the
enema
> >syringe, it was an adapter for a secondary usage - I hazard to guess
what,
> >though.
> >
> >I dated the deposit through contents and historical documentation to the
> >1890s, and assign it to the superannuity of two residents, the wife who
> >died in 1892 at the age of 86 or the husband who died in 1898 at the age
of
> >93.  Also found were several medicine bottles including a local drug
label
> >for laudenum, a couple dozen bottles of Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup, cattarh
> >pills, etc.
> >
> >A small selection of baby bottles, children's toys, including a tin
horse,
> >gun, doll parts, magazine clippings of lithographed childrens' subjects,
> >and parts of a doll tea set, could be associated with the grandchildren
who
> >were born and lived in the extended household between 1882 and 1905.
> >
> >A few years ago on some now anonymous project I found a brass syringe
which
> >was exactly the same in virtually every way shape and form as the glass
> >ones I found in the old house.  No temporal context was determined.
> >
> >        Dan W.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >CRCG (formerly RAM) from New Brunswick, NJ excavated a doctor's privy
which
> >AI believe dated to around 1876.  This privy had a load of glass syringes
> >in it.  Richard Veit wrote an article on the privy in CNHA's bulletin a
> >while back but I don't known if mentioned the syringes as they were not
the
> >focus of the article.  But as the excavator and lab supervisor at the
time
> >I remember they were very large.  I have a glass syringe that I picked up
> >at a flea market.  The tube is clear (4") but the plunger is cobalt blue
> >and at the end of the plunger it was wrapped with cotton thread (I think
> >this swells when wet thus producing the suction needed for it to work.
The
> >other end goes through a cork which can be removed for filling.  The end
of
> >the glass tube has a black hard rubber tip attached.
>